The Intruders by Stephen Coonts Read Free Book Online Page B

properly adjusted.
    “We heard YOU were coming. The Nan just didn’t think usjarheads could
handle all this high tailhook tech. So we heard they were sending an
ace Navy type to Indoctrinate us ignorant jarheads, instruct us, lead
the way into & better, brighter day.” Grafton didn’t think that comment
worth a reply.
    “It’ll be a real pleasure,,, said Flap Le Beau warm, as he grabbed his
torso harness from his locker, ,flying with a master hookster. Just
think of me as a student at the fount of all wisdom, an apprentice
seeking to acquire Insights into the nuances of the arcane art,
appreciate the–,’
    “Are you always this full of shit or are you making a special effort on
my behalf?” Jake asked.
    Le Beau Prattled On unperturbed. “It’s tragic that so many Navy Persons
are dangerously thin-skinned in a world fun of sharp objects One can
infer from your crude comment that YOU share that lamentable trait with
your colleagues. It’s Sad, very sad, but there are probably gonna be
tensions between us. None of that male-bonding horse pucky for you and
me, hub? Tensions. stress. Misunderstandings. Heartburns. Hard
feelings. Ass kickings.” He sighed plaintively.
    “Well, I try to get along by going along. That’s the Cajun in me coming
out. I am so very lucky I got this white blood in me, ya know? Lets me
see everything in a better perspective”
    The Marine bent slightly at the waist and addressed his next comment to
the deck: “Thank you, thank you, Jules Le Beau, rotting down there in
hell.”
    Back to his locker and flight gear-“Lots of the bros ain’t as lucky as I
am-they can’t tell trees from manure piles, axid-”
    “Oh, for Christ’s sake, Flap,” someone in the next row said. “Turn off
the tap, will ya?”
    “Yeovm,” Flap howled, “I feet great! Gonna get out there and fly with a
Navy ace and see how it’s done by the best of the best!”
    “How did I wind up with this asshole?” Jake asked the major two lockers
down.
    “No other pilot wanted him,” was the reply.
    “Hey, watch your mouth over there,” Flap called. “This is my rep you’re
pissing on.”
    on, sir!”
    “Sir,” Hap echoed dutifully.
    The sun shown down softly through a high thin Curtis layer. The wind
out of the northwest was heaping the sea into long windrows and ripping
occasional whitecaps from the crests as gulls wheeled and turned around
the great ship.
    Two frigates and four destroyers were visible several miles away,
scattered in a haphazard circle around the carrier.
    They were the carrier’s escorts, an antisubmarine screen, faithful
retainers that would attend the queen wherever she led.
    On the eastern horizon land was still visible. It would soon drop over
the earth’s rim since the carrier would have to spend the next several
hours running into the northwest wind, then the universe would consist
of only the ships, the sea and the sky. The land would become a memory
of the past and a vision of a hazy future, but the solid reality of the
present would be just the ships and the men who rode them. Six small
moons orbiting one wandering planet …
    Jake’s vision fingered on that distant dark line of earth, then he
turned away.
    The ship rode easily this morning, with just the gentlest Of rolls,
which Jake noticed only because he didn’t have his sea legs yet. This
roll would become a pitching motion when the ship turned into the wind.
    Sensing these things and knowing them without really thinking about
them, Jake Grafton walked slowly aft looking for his aircraft. There-by
Elevator Four.
    She was no beauty, this A-6E Intruder decked out in dull, low viz paint
splotched here and there with puke green zinc dichromate primer. An
external power cord was already plugged into the plane. Jake lowered
the boarding ladder and opened the canopy, then climbed up and placed
his helmet bag on the seat. He ensured the safety pins were properly
installed in the ejection seat, let his eye rove over the