Page 81 - Brokenclaw - John Gardner

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the others were in the room.

They all shook hands rather soberly, and Bond was reminded of all those
stiff-upper-lip, ludicrous scenes from old war movies where the suicide
mission volunteers were told what a good thing they were doing for their
country and for the world.
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‘Any new information’ll be passed on as best we can, via Indexer.’ M
looked as solemn as a funeral director. Indexer was their crypto for Ed Rushia.
Chi-Chi was Checklist, and Bond, who always wondered how they came up
with cryptos, found himself cast as Custodian.

Grant made the final remark. ‘Don’t forget, all the baggage handlers will be
my people. Don’t be worried about that, it’s been set up and should go like
clockwork.’ They nodded and passed through to the aircrew briefing room,
where two young pilots were waiting for them, checking their route and
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refuelling points for the last time.
‘Okay,’ the senior of the US Navy pilots said after handshakes and no
introductions. ‘Either of you ever fly in a jet warplane before?’
‘I’m fully operational with Harriers.’ Bond tried not to sound patronising.

Chi-Chi answered with a ‘No’ at very low volume.
‘Right.’ The senior man stepped towards Chi-Chi. ‘I’ll drive you, ma’am.
My buddy’ll take you, sir.’
They separated in pairs. Bond’s aviator looked about nineteen, and the G-

suit apart, could well have just graduated from High School. ‘You’re in the
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GIB’s seat,’ he began, then, seeing the quizzical look on Bond’s face,
interpreted – ‘The GIB, sir, Guy In Back, the REO’s station.’
‘Let me guess. Radio Electronics Officer, right?’

‘Near ’nuff, sir. You’ll hear all the traffic through the headset, and you’ll
hear me. With respect, sir, please don’t mess with any of the gizmos back
there.’
‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’

‘Great. The tech who’ll strap you in and make sure you’re connected up’ll
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show you the ejector lever. Get that one right, please, and if I tell you to punch
out, for Pete’s sake do it.’
‘I’ll do it. You’re the boss.’

‘Okay, sir. Any questions?’
‘Let’s just get on with the whole business. I have a job to do.’
The young man nodded, and they followed the senior pilot, still talking in a

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