As Kathryn walked into her office, her secretary said, “You need to get over to the wing headquarters building immediately. The deputy wing commander said he wants to see you ASAP.”
“Do you know what he wants?”
“No, but it sounds serious.”
Kathryn ran over to his office wondering what the big rush was about.
“Colonel Marcus will see you now, Captain Hardesty.”
“Thank you,” Kathryn answered as she went into the deputy wing commander’s office which was almost as big as the wing commander’s office.
Colonel Marcus let her stand at attention in front of his big desk for a long minute before he finally looked at her.
“The wing commander wanted me to fill you in on the status of your request to delay your school assignment. Frankly, I was surprised he’d even offered it to you in the first place when I think there are other officers on this base who are much more deserving of this opportunity.”
She listened to his words without moving. She’d never liked this self-serving ass and was usually able to avoid dealing with him.
“Captain Hardesty, you have exactly two choices here. One, accept this assignment to go to school and get promoted, or two, decline the assignment and you will immediately be sent to Thule, Greenland, to work in a non-flying job in their command post, which will effectively end any future career advancement you will ever have in the Air Force. So what’s it going to be?”
Kathryn tried not to gasp as his words sank in. After everything she’d done as an instructor pilot and accident investigator, after all the sacrifices she’d made for the Air Force, this was his response to her request to delay school? To punish her like she was a traitor? “Sir, may I have a few days to evaluate my options before I give you my decision?”
“If it was up to me, you’d be out of here tomorrow, but Colonel Johnson told me he’d give you twenty-four hours to make up your mind. If you’re smart, you’ll choose the school assignment, but it’s up to you. Report back to me by 0900 hours tomorrow. Now get out of my sight.”
“Yes, sir.” Kathryn did an about-face, then left his office trying to hold her head up.
She walked the few blocks back to her office. What was she going to do now? Her mind was spinning as she thought about her options, none of which were good. If she went to Alabama for Air Command and Staff College, at least she could fly home to Phoenix one or two weekends a month to see Casey, and the school assignment was only for one year, so maybe they could be together after that. Where could they be stationed together? What airplane would Casey fly? Kathryn knew the Air Force would send her back to fly the KC-135 tanker, but maybe Casey could get a fighter assignment to a joint base. A lot of pieces would have to fall into place to make that happen. A weight of dread descended on her shoulders.
*****
Casey was happy to see her name on the big schedule board for her last solo contact flight today. After the heavy discussion with Bulldog and all the thinking about assignments, she would be grateful just to get up into the sky and slip some surly bonds for a while. She was relaxed and confident as she climbed the ladder into the front seat of her jet. She quickly went through her preflight checks and was glad the backseat was empty of an instructor pilot. It would be just her and the White Rocket today.
As always, when she released the brakes for takeoff and pushed the throttles up into afterburner, her head snapped back against the headrest and she started to hyperventilate. She shot down the runway, lifted off, got the gear and flaps up, and calmed her breathing back to normal. It was a gorgeous day without a cloud in the sky and she was at one with the jet. She could sense every little vibration as her speed accelerated to three hundred knots. She didn’t have to look at the engine gauges to know where her power was—she could set the throttles by feel. She could hear her speed without looking at the airspeed indicator. She was the one flying through the sky, with this T-38 merely strapped to her body.
She wanted to run through all her acrobatic maneuvers. This practice area, which used to feel like it was the size of a postage stamp, was now her playground. She seamlessly went from a loop to a perfect barrel roll to a slice back to an Immelman. Her mind was three maneuvers ahead of the jet as she weaved her tapestry in the sky. She laughed out loud as she flew ten aileron rolls in a row. She heard music in her head and smiled. She had no doubt that she could handle any situation in this jet. After surviving the near-death experience of her electrical malfunction and no flap high-speed landing, she no longer had any fear flying the T-38. For the very first time during the year she’d been in pilot training, she was sure and confident in her ability to fly and felt like she was now a real Air Force pilot. She was higher than her altitude of thirty-nine thousand feet. The only thing that would have made this flight any more perfect would be to have Kathryn fly with her. She wondered if they would ever get to fly together again.
As she requested her clearance to return to Willie, she saw some small, white puffy clouds at the bottom of her practice area. They called her name to come and play. She lowered the nose to pick up speed and yanked and banked as she flew between, over, under, and around them.
After three touch-and-go landings and a picture perfect full stop landing, Casey taxied clear of the runway, opened her canopy to the crisp air, and now understood what she would put on her dream sheet—first choice, T-37 instructor pilot to Willie; second, T-38 to Willie; and third, F-15 to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. She was very excited about her decision and thought she had a good shot at getting her first choice. She couldn’t wait to tell Kathryn her news.
*****
Kathryn had been on the phone all morning trying to figure out what to do before she had to give her decision to the wing commander. She’d been calling in markers all over the Air Force to see if she could find a way out of this situation. She’d spoken to an old friend who now worked in tanker pilot assignments at the personnel center in Texas. Her friend hadn’t given her much hope and confirmed that it was within the wing commander’s power to send her to Greenland if he wanted to. It seemed her only option was to accept the school assignment and hope that she and Casey could survive a one-year separation. She was worried about that separation. Her friend Barb lost her relationship over a separation from her partner, as had many other women she knew. Maybe she and Casey would be different. They had something very special and she hoped they would be strong enough to make it. She would give her answer to the wing commander tomorrow and accept the school assignment, but she’d still try to find another way to work around this dilemma. She did not take no for an answer easily or she never would have become an Air Force pilot. She decided to hold off telling Casey until she had exhausted all her angles.
She didn’t want to ruin the surprise she had for Casey with this bad news. She’d been working on this for a while and was really looking forward to seeing Casey’s face when she found out.
Casey’s class was having their assignment night party in two days and she still hadn’t heard what she was asking for on her dream sheet. Despite trying not to influence Casey’s choices, she secretly wished Casey would ask to stay at Willie as an IP. She could be one of the first women to fly fighters, but Casey would also make a great IP. She was so smart and had developed into a very strong pilot. She communicated well, worked hard, and would be very dedicated to her students. Kathryn felt a pang of sadness that she wouldn’t be here to watch Casey grow into a great instructor.
Kathryn had been the only woman in her pilot training class, the only woman in her instructor pilot class, the only woman IP in her flight, and she’d wished for a woman mentor to help guide her, but there was no one at the time. Now, at least, there were some other women IPs who could help out Casey even if she couldn’t.
*****
The O Club was jammed as Casey’s classmates lined up to receive their new flying assignments. Casey was the third person in line, so she wasn’t the top stick, but she was in the top ten percent. The wing commander was at the podium and gave his usual admonition that all assignments were good and that the needs of the Air Force came first.
The first guy got an F-16 to Germany and he was elated. The next one got a KC-10 to Louisiana and was thrilled. Casey was next and Kathryn held her breath as they read out her assignment, “T-37 to Willie!” Casey was beaming as she pumped her fist into the air. Her entire class cheered for her, and Kathryn was filled with pride as she looked at Casey’s beautiful, radiant face. Kathryn couldn’t wait to tell Casey how proud she was of her and to throw her arms around her neck.
“Another one for our team!” Barb said as she slapped Kathryn on the back.
The assignments continued as the rest of the class got their airplanes. Almost everyone was happy, then the wing commander came back to the podium.
“I want to congratulate all of you on your flying assignments, and I want to share some more good news. We have three officers who just got selected for promotion to major: Captain Stavros from the 96th Squadron, Captain Marshall from the 97th Squadron, and Captain Hardesty from Wing Safety. Also, I’m happy to announce that Captain Hardesty got selected for Air Command and Staff College in residence at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. This is a very significant achievement. Please join me in congratulating all these fine officers. Oh, and you three new major-selects, you’re buying drinks for everyone!” A huge cheer erupted from everyone except Kathryn. I can’t believe he just did that in front of everyone. Oh my God, I have to talk to Casey.
Kathryn was surrounded by a throng of people, but she was desperate to find Casey and explain everything to her. She looked everywhere but couldn’t find her. She went out to the parking lot to look for her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Casey sounded hurt.
“Casey, I had no idea the wing commander was going to say that tonight. I was going to tell you about it as soon as I was sure. I’m so sorry. Please believe me.” Kathryn reached for Casey but she stepped away from her.
“How can I, Kathryn? All you had to do was pick up the phone and talk to me. I requested my IP assignment to Willie so we could be together. Now what’s going to happen? I can’t believe you did this to me on the most important night of my life. I don’t think you really want to be with me at all. You lied to me. I have to go.” She turned to leave.
“Casey, wait, please let’s talk about this.”
“Now you want to talk about it? It’s too late. It’s a done deal. I hope you’re happy in Alabama.” She turned her back on Kathryn and walked away into the darkness.