Page 61 of Confessions of an Apache Pilot

Eventually, we reached the end of the clouds and had clear skies through the valley. Nick and I both let out huge sighs of relief. I took the controls and took over flying. Flying that low and in the clouds was tiring, Nick needed a break. I was about to start a climb, to get back high enough that we would be safe when a flare went off.

It shot up from the left side of the river and went several hundred feet in the air. Worse, it was higher than we were. They were illuminating us. We must have woken someone on the river, someone who called ahead. We were flying through an ambush. There was no time for any feelings of nervousness or unease, all I could do was react. It was that, or die.

As soon as the flare went over us machine gun fire erupted from both sides. A stream of tracers raced up towards us from the right like a red snake. I banked hard to the left only to have another stream of fire rise up on that side.

They had us. If I yanked hard on the controls to climb, I would slow down and be easy to hit before we got altitude. I couldn’t go left, right or forward. They had set up a perfect triangle.

I decided to try my luck banking left and right aggressively while slowly climbing. By climbing slowly, I could accelerate, and by weaving back and forth erratically I might be harder to hit. If I moved in three dimensions it would be harder to aim at us, even with the flare overhead. It was the only chance we had of making it out of this in one piece.

I banked back hard to the right and watched the tracers arc like a whip, trying to keep up with my erratic movements. Then everything went bright as day.

All I could do was watch in confusion and continue my course as the left side of the river erupted in explosions and lit up the valley. Two, then three… five. Then the right side lit up.

The silence that followed was deafening. My eyes adjusted from the sudden flashes back to darkness. All I could hear was my own heartbeat, and it might as well have been a hammer banging in my head.

“What… what just happened?” I asked. Nick muttered something incoherent.

While my mind was lost, my body was at least still in the fight. I had climbed up over one-thousand-feet and was still climbing and accelerating. That’s when my peripheral caught it. Him. Mark was flying beside us. He must have been waiting for us where the clouds cleared up. When we had lost him on the tracker, he had flown all the way through and waited to escort us the rest of the way. He was committed to making sure Sarah got home. Committed to making sure we were safe.

I turned and looked out the window at his aircraft. My whole body got warm and began tingling. I couldn’t help but smile because of the tornado of feelings that was swirling inside of me. I couldn’t make sense of them all right now. Somehow, I felt like, I hoped, he was smiling back at me.

He had done it again. He’d saved my life. How many times now? Two? Three? I let out a much-needed breath.

Had I even been breathing?

I laughed out of sheer relief. “Thanks for the assist,” I said on the radio.

It was a big enough risk for him to have flown into the pass before we launched. How much trouble he would be in for the ‘accidental’ radio calls. Just getting us clearance to take off could land him in a lot of trouble. But to go all the way through the clouds, clouds that are illegal for him to fly in, and then get into a firefight. He was going to have to explain a lot. He knew that the moment we had asked for help. Somehow, I didn’t think he was all that concerned.

Every time I’d needed him, he’d come through. Every time, I realized. He’d shown me through actions that he would be there for me when I needed him. Words were shallow and easy to manipulate. Putting his ass on the line for me was all the proof I needed. Just the thought of that had me blushing from head to toe. Thankfully, it was dark in the cockpit and no one would see it.

I looked over my shoulder into the back of the aircraft. Karolyn and Sarah were still strapped into their stations, their faces were pale, eyes wide, but now that we were up at altitude and things had quieted down we were all beginning to calm. “Everyone alright?” I asked. I got two sets of nervous hands giving me a thumbs up. I looked next to me; Nick’s face was devoid of emotion. I couldn’t tell if he was scared or relieved. I doubted he’d ever admit to it, but I’d guess he was as happy as I was to have Mark here. Well, maybe not as happy.

CHAPTER 35

Jen

The rest of the flight was uneventful. We made it to Bagram and as we were setting up to land, I heard Sheppard on the radio. “Phoenix Ops Center, Archer Zero-Nine. The clouds have dropped again, and we won’t be able to navigate through the pass. We will have to spend the night at Bagram.”

I could hear the shouting in the Ops Center well before Ross ever got back to the radio. He was going to lose his mind. All we got from him was, “Roger that.” His way of saying that he acknowledged and ‘fuck you’.

After landing, we met up with Arial on the flightline and helped Sarah find her way to her flight home. We all gave her big hugs and I couldn’t help the way my heart swelled when Mark scooped her up, her feet dangling, and gave her a huge squeeze before sending her on her way. I followed Mark back to his aircraft, where he tied it down in the parking area they had assigned him.

“So, what do I owe you for this one?” I asked, smiling.

He gave me the normal confused look he gives when a question doesn’t make sense to him. “You don’t owe us anything. You’re the one that got Sarah here. Your guys are the ones that took the bigger risk. It was a great thing that you did for her. There aren’t many pilots that would do something like that,” he said, reaching out and grabbing my hand. He gave it a gentle squeeze and shake before letting it go. My whole body felt the zip of energy from the contact of his hand against mine. “We’re just glad that Sarah made it to her ride. This was just another ordinary flight for us.”

He meant it wholeheartedly. ‘You don’t owe us. We’re happy to help.’ He never took credit. He always credited his team. I chuckled, “Hardly. You flew through clouds illegally, got into an engagement, and are staying the night at a base you were never supposed to be in. How in the world is that ordinary?”

He smiled back at me, and the warmth I felt earlier spread through me again. He looked toward the terminal where we left Sarah, then back to me. “When the right people are in need, I’m…we’re happy to do whatever we can. Besides, it gave us another chance to piss off Ross. For that, I should be thanking you.”

I smiled and turned to hide my ever-increasing blush. I wanted it to be personal. I wanted to think that he had done this for me. I wanted to be selfish. But I knew that he would have done this not just for me, or Sarah, but for anyone. He really would go to these lengths for anyone in need. And his team would follow, with full support. It just made me love him more. And yet, looking back at him, at the way he was smiling at me, it was personal. For the first time I could truly read him. He would do anything for me.

Dammit. How could you have wasted all this time? You were so afraid to admit that you loved this man, you nearly lost him.

Any lingering feelings of doubt, that he might hurt me, all of it evaporated completely. I knew without a doubt that if there was ever a man I could depend on, it was this one.

Nick came back from the terminal and approached us. I was grateful for the interruption. My feelings for Mark were beginning to overwhelm me. “Sarah is all set. We can tie down the aircraft and then head to the transient bunks for the night. First thing tomorrow, when the pass clears, we’ll be on our way back.” He and Sheppard looked at each other and both did a nod and grunt. It was the closest show of respect they were willing to give each other. That would have to do for now.

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