Chapter One - part ten

   The problem was that they were now down and alone in disputed territory. There was no doubt that they were in Turkey. The question was who was actually in control. As soon as Sarah was out of her plane she ran towards where James had crash landed his. He was still getting out when she arrived.  She threw her arms around him and burst into tears.  When she finally stopped crying, she stepped back and hit him in the chest with her fist. "You are an idiot and a fool! No sensible pilot would ever directly engage five F-22's alone! Even in a perfect plane that would be the act of a fool! BUT NO, you have a plane with half it weapons gone, no landing gear, losing fuel and you still tackle them... HEAD ON!!! James Andrew Cooper, I could have shot you down myself!"James stood there rubbing his chest and grinning as she continued to yell at him. "Well what do you have to say for yourself?"

   He just grinned and very softly replied to her question. "Ma'am, I was just following orders, Ma'am."  Then he added just as softly. "That is more than you can say for yourself." His grin became laughter at the stunned look on her face. Then he wrapped her in his arms and whispered. "Orders or not, I am sure glad you showed up. It was getting real lonely up there." Sarah began to laugh with him and then taking his arm she started walking towards the NATO position as she spoke. "I was very happy to see you too... even if you did scare me more than I have ever been scared before. Let's go see how big a mess we are in and if anyone is coming to get our rears out of it."

  James and Sarah made it to the position the NATO unit had secured. James got another real shock. Corporal Matthews was in fact Tony Matthews, his old friend from school. Tony recognized James first and swore as he stood up. "Hell fire!! Andy Cooper, is that you?" James stopped dead in his tracks and stared back at Tony before bursting into laughter and running forward. "Tony, man if I had known it was you I would have let you get yourself out of this mess!" The pair laughed and joked for a moment until Sarah reached them. James quickly introduced Sarah. "Tony, this is Captain Sarah Cooper, my wife." Tony had been about to give a salute when he heard that. He stopped short, but did manage to finish the required salute. Then he looked over at James and shook his head as he spoke. "I thought I was joking when I teased you about fringe benefits, but I guess I wasn't." James turned red, but before he could say anything Tony turned and spoke to Sarah. "No offense ma'am. I mean Andy is a great guy, but I never dreamed he was good enough to marry someone as beautiful as you who can fly a fighter too!" They didn't get a chance to say anything more.

   They came under fire again and had to take cover. The fighting wasn't finished after all. They spent the next six hours exchanging small arms fire with whoever was out there. Everything in the rest of the region had suddenly been changed in the space of just a few minutes. Air Force commanders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Incirlik, Turkey had ordered planes into the air to secure the area surrounding those downed F/A-48's. NATO was rushing troops and equipment there as well. The jets arrived within a short time, but they couldn't do a lot to help them with the ground forces. Those forces were too close and too scattered to make a decent target. Tony and James had soon proven to be the best defense they had against them, one of them would fire to draw return fire. The other would wait and watch until they spotted someone returning fire. One shot from either of them would usually end the return fire by eliminating the shooter. After four times at it the return fire stopped completely. Only an occasional shot was fired to keep them pinned down. Finally relief arrived and the entire area was secured both on the ground and in the air. Sarah was able to refuel and take off from the road the next morning. The other two planes had to be partially disassembled and hauled away. They also had to gather up the pieces from the destroyed plane. That took a few more days. Those days were spent in debriefings for all of the people involved.

   Those days had been long and very difficult for the pilots. They were all kept isolated and allowed to speak with nobody outside the debriefings. Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey were all in a state of turmoil. The Saudi King was furious that his demands had been ignored. Turkey was accusing Iraq and especially Iran of acts of war. Syria wasn't a lot worse than it had been except they were threatening to kick NATO out now. Finally the debriefings seemed to be over, but all of the pilots were still being held in isolation at Incirlik. Another week passed. By now they weren't really sure of what was going on in the world outside. They weren't allowed much news and nobody could talk to them. James was beginning to wonder if he had been a part of starting the next world war.  He had worried a lot about that for a while until he was reading in a bible. It wasn't his Bible. It was a New Life version, but he was glad to have it. It gave him the only real comfort he could find. He was reading Luke chapter 21 when he found the answer to his concerns about starting a war, Luke 21:9 to be exact. It said, "When you hear of wars and fighting in different places, do not be afraid. These things have to happen first, but it is not yet the end."

   Simple words, but they gave James comfort. He had done what he had been sent there to do. He had followed his orders. He had completed his mission. They all had. True enough, Sarah had disobeyed her orders to return, but without her help what might have happened? James prayed and gave thanks for Tony coming to the aid of Major Hawks. He gave thanks for Lt. Colonel Wilson surviving and getting picked up by friendly civilians in the area.  He gave thanks for Sarah's courage and determination which had saved his life. Maybe they had almost started a major war, possibly even a world war. That didn't matter in the end though. They had done their duty and James knew they couldn't have done anything else. It might be the end of his career, but somehow he didn't think this would be the end of the world. It might be a great tragedy for the world, but it wouldn't be the end of it.