The Admiral Loses More Than a Few Good Men

*****

The Admiral's strategy for handling his problems on the base -to the extent that his thoughts could be so dignified- was shortly disrupted by Lieutenant Wye and Commander Taylor. With considerable help from Caroline and Susan.

Cat had taken an advanced trainer up that morning for dog-fighting exercises at ten thousand feet. Taking off and climbing to altitude he was nervous. An earlier sequence of maneuvers in the Yellow Peril had produced sharp pain in his upper spine. This time he blacked out somewhere during his plan to come out of an outside loop at the bottom into a snap roll and break off and cut speed to almost stall and then trap the attacker as he started to complete the loop. He awoke in a power spin at five thousand feet, got out of it and landed. He had been up less than thirty minutes.

-- It's over. So now what do I do?

Still groggy with the pain, he almost bumped into Mr. Hank who had been watching and waiting. Cat did not even try to smile; just shook his head once, gave Mr. Hank the carrier wave-off signal, and wandered away. Mr. Hank watched him out of sight and then, head down, went off to find Mitch.

At the gate, waiting for a bus, Cat accepted a ride with a rating who said he'd be happy to take the Lieutenant as far as Five Corners.

-- That's a good idea. I'll walk the rest of the way; give me time to figure how to tell Susan.

But Cat had never gone home to the cottage from Five Corners and soon realized that he was lost. Finally he pulled up short at the corner of the church. What he thought was a truck rumbled by, and the twisting puffs of air moved some of the leaves enough for the sun to ricochet off the brass plaque and make him blink.

His mind zipped him three messages.

-- The pain had retreated, was now a dull ache.

-- I've never really looked at that plaque.

-- Was that a bus?

He looked around just in time to see it begin to turn toward Five Corners.

-- Well, I'll be damned. Maybe ringing door bells actually accomplished something. I better go read that plaque. It must be magic.

From the plaque he walked up the steps and on down the center aisle. He had never seen the church when it was empty, and he remembered some of the stories about its history told by Mr. Hank and The Judge when they had been ringing door bells.

-- I wonder if the Colored Farmers' Alliance members would have voted for Clay?

Then the pain jumped up a notch and he wedged himself into the corner of a pew and dozed.

Table of Contents

• Introduction

1. Maggie and Mr. Hank
2. The Reverend
3. Squalls Along the Flight Line
4. Flying Home to Church
5. A Visit with The Judge
6. Communion
7. Afterthoughts
8. Monday Morning With The Admiral
9. Into the Dining Room
10. On Toward Walking the Streets
11. Glimpses of An Election
12. The Dream and The Reality of Violence
13. The Admiral Loses More Than a Few Good Men
14. Down That Lonesome Road

• Cast of Characters
• Credits and Acknowledgements