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Mac :})
Give a hobbit a fish and he eats fish for a day.
Give a hobbit a ring and he eats fish for an age.
----- Original Message -----
From: "GL Sandborn" <sandborn@kc.rr.com>
To: "FFML" <ffml@anifics.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2002 20:17
Subject: [FFML] [ROBOTECH] FOX Squadron - Episode 9 - Home, Sweet Home

     Somewhere along the way, Virginia made off with a
treasure
of her own.  When she heard that her old Sea Sergeant was
just
sitting unused out behind her former squadron's hangar, she
had
her sister drop her off within walking distance before dark.
With no one looking, she calmly climbed in and flew her
prized
helicopter over to be loaded onto a flatcar for the trip to
Ozark
Base.  {By the time : Before} anyone {notices or even cares if  it's:

noticed it was}

missing,
she'd have it parked outside the hangar at her new base.  A
couple of Fox Squadron's aging ground crew even knew how to
maintain rotary wing aircraft, so it would certainly get
regular
maintenance.

     The next morning, Jeff arrived with his wife and her
one
authorized carry-on suitcase.  She would be riding to Ozark
base
on the same transport as Cindy's office staff and half the
ground
crew.  While no stranger to flying, Kay Stuart looked
forward to
her ride in one of the RDF's huge transports with {all :} the
enthusiasm of a kid on holiday.

That seems a little odd considering her fears of what might happen to Jeff.

     At promptly 10 AM, two giant four-engine VC-27 Tunny
transports rumbled up to the tarmac and noisily shut down.
With
a hiss of hydraulics and {: a} whine of servos, they squatted on
their
main landing gear, their massive rear cargo doors swinging
up and
{in : out}, revealing a two-level interior.  Seats occupied the
upper
level, leaving the lower completely free for cargo stowage.
Four
heavy fork lifts from Base Logistics Command quickly began
loading the squadron's critical supplies and materials.
They'd
need them all until a regular supply situation could be
established.

That trick Samantha talked about of letting her cargo slide off the back
ramp is more likely to work if the doors can't be blocked by the cargo.

     "Hey, I'm the hottest thing with two wings," Samantha
crowed.  "Even Katherine said she's never seen a pilot like
me."

The Maintenance Officer had something to say about her flying too. :}b

     "This my wife, Kay.  I just wanted to meet the pilot
who is
going to be responsible for her safe {conduct : flight : trip} to Ozark

Base."

Jeff glanced nervously at the thin blonde then took a long
look
up the massive transport's side.  It was hard to imagine
someone
so delicate in control of something so big.

     As {each Veritech : the Veritechs} took up their positions, he

checked

each
pilot's station-keeping ability.  The veterans were
rock-solid,
only an occasional air current bobbing betraying the notion
they
were actually flying in formation.  The rookies, however,
wavered
between wandering out of position and overcompensating such
that
they veered dangerously close to other Veritechs.

     As they passed over rich farmlands that were being
painstakingly reclaimed and put back into use, Jeff
reflected on
how this part of the country appeared to have been spared
the
ravages of the Zentraedi Invasion.  He remembered how some
credited the Grand Cannon with taking out those battle
cruisers
assigned to this part of the world.  The fact that it was
less
populated probably had as much to do with it as a lucky
strike by
some oversized ray gun buried in the Alaskan tundra.  Wiping
out
unpopulated farmlands was very likely low on the {Zentraedi's : Zentraedi

: Zentraedis'}

targeting lists.

     Despite all that, outlaws and high-tech bandits roamed
the
countryside looking for easy prey.  Travelers had to be
especially careful as they were often ambushed, robbed, and
left
for dead.
     Much of the domestic RDF activities revolved around
hunting
down those bandits and protecting the civilians in their
districts.  In many regions, they represented the only law {
and
order :}.  It was a task Fox Squadron would most likely find
itself
doing at their new base.  Of course, that was in addition to
dealing with religious zealot Yorkies and aggressively
expansionistic Grays to the east, renegade Zentraedi to the
south, rebelliously independent Oakies to the west, along
with
the many high-tech, low-tech, and everything-in-between-tech
bandits that came within the jurisdiction of Fox Squadron.

     "Nobody told me you had all women pilots," Richard
lamented,
pulling out his little notebook and flipping through the
pages.
"We installed new urinals in all the bathrooms."
     Jeff chuckled.  "I wouldn't worry about it.  I'm sure
my
pilots will find something creative to do with them."

One woman I met at C school in the 1970's told me that she convinced some of
her classmates at boot camp that they were flower planters.

     "First of all, Captain, drop the 'sugar'," he answered
in a
business-like voice without looking up from the woman's
service
record.  "This is an RDF base, not the dorm of a girls'
school."

Huh?  She's already seen the squadron roster.

     Still holding his breath in anticipation of an
explosive
meeting between his wife and the red-headed Intel {officer : Officer},
he
flinched when someone grabbed his shoulder.

I kept waiting for Kay to walk in on them, but I guess there's plenty of
time for that later.

     "Staff meeting in one hour.  Be there," Jeff called as
he
headed towards the transports.  There was a lot of stuff to
get
unloaded and he wanted the tarmac cleared before dark.

If I were him, I'd also think about putting up a CAP for early warning until
the ground staff gets settled in.

     Large windows bordered two sides of the living room,
giving
it a light, pleasant atmosphere.  The only thing that gave
away
the fact it was part of a military base were the large red
buttons to drop the window armor in case of attack.  She
would
have to see about some material for curtains and the boring
beige
walls would have to be painted{: ,} but that would just give her
something to do while Jeffrey was working.

     "We'll have none of that, Lieutenant," Jeff said in a
low
but controlled voice.  "However we deal with Mr. Kidd, we'll
do
it legally.  I have no intention of running a military base
in
World Government territory surrounded by a hostile force
that {: can't} be
identified from the average civilian."

     "Oh my, that is a bit of a cock-up, eh what?"
Commander
Crittenton glanced at the heavily bearded Mad Dog and raised
an
eyebrow.  "Still, I'm certain you can find other suitable
duties
for him.  You will note by my record, I have over ten years
of
experience.  My last posting was with Norge Command in the
Scandinavian Quadrant."

It will be interesting to hear what CPT Liz Littlebear has to say about him.
I didn't see mention of the transport he came in leaving, so there may be
others with him.

     "I say," he gasped while rubbing his posterior.

Good for Dr Takahashi.  At least it's consistent for her.




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