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.Tia flinched and pulled back as the boom swung inches from her windscreen, thinking it was surely going to smash through the glass.Another crack sounded and the left control winglet tore away from the boom.Jet fuel sprayed from the nozzle, washing over the upper fuselage of the B-2.It was impossible to see.Tia gripped the controls.“Breakaway!” Bradley shouted as he reached for the controls.He jerked the throttles back and Tia dropped the nose.The breakaway lights flashed on the bottom of the tanker as the B-2 dropped away.The boom suddenly jammed to the extreme right of the tanker, then broke away entirely from the tail of the KC-10.Broken pieces of metal scattered wildly in the wind.The main boom, eleven hundred pounds of metal, dropped toward the bomber, tumbling end over end, like a falling telephone pole.The main section of boom smashed into the side of the Stealth’s cockpit and slashed along the top side of the jet.A broken piece of nozzle hit the bomber on the beak then rolled across the wing’s leading edge.Pieces of steel and aluminum pattered the aircraft like hail.Tia gripped the control stick fiercely and pushed the jet down.Bradley grabbed the controls, helping her to hold it steady.The windscreen smeared with jet fuel like a dirty, oily rain.The jet fuel rolled back on the windscreen, then began to blow clear.“I got it,” Tia shouted.Her voice remained calm, though she held a death grip on the stick.Bradley nodded, then reluctantly pulled his hands away from the controls.The B-2 descended steeply and the tanker accelerated away.Tia leveled off a thousand feet below the tanker.She kept it in sight and held a position about a mile behind.Seconds later the radios came to life.For the first time since taking off, the combat aircraft broke radio silence.“Kill 31, say status,” the tanker pilot asked, his voice tight and distressed.Bradley ignored him while he ran through his checklist.He closed his air refueling receptacle, placed his rudder/brakes to their cruise flight position, visually cleared the tanker, monitored Tia as she leveled the aircraft, then initiated the automatic fuel balance system.“Kill 31, say status,” the tanker pilot demanded again.Bradley switched his radio.“Boxcar, this is Kill.Stand by,” he said.He released his broadcast switch, turned to Tia and asked.“How does it feel?”“I’ve had a slight buzz in the pedals, but it’s dissipating now.We must have broken some skin off of one of the control surfaces.”“The jet feels okay though?”“Yes, I think so.”The radios crackled again.This time it was the other B-2.“Kill Lead, this is Two.” The radio transmission was weak and barely understandable.Bradley paused, glanced at Tia, then answered, “Go, Two.”“Yeah, what the…what happened up there, Lead?”“We’re checking it.The boom broke.”“Yeah, well, ah…I would say so.And we’ve got a little problem back here.”Bradley grew more tense.With those words, he knew the mission lay in the balance.He shot another look to Tia.“What’s up down there, guys?” he asked.“Part of the boom—it came out of nowhere.We took a piece of metal up our intake.Looks like we’re going to lose engines three and four.”Bradley swore in frustration.“You going to make it back there?” he demanded.“Yeah, we’re okay, boss.But give us a minute while we sort this out.We do know that engine three is a goner, and four doesn’t look good.”“Standing by,” Bradley answered.He fumed, then turned to Tia.“All right,” he asked, “how is our jet?”“It feels okay,” she answered.“Certainly mission-capable.” She nodded toward the main computer display.“How do our systems look?”Bradley scanned his CRTs, bringing up various displays to check the health of his jet.The integrated computer system ran a check of every valve, hose, relay, engine, black box, pressure, and system.The computers indicated several systems were down; including the adjustable intake scoop on the number three engine and the communications antennae relay.“The number three bypass scoop has been damaged,” he announced.“That will give us a higher infrared signature, and that isn’t good when we’re going into combat.How significant it will be, there is no way to know.And our flush mount antennae relay was also hit.”“Which means we have no HF and satellite-radio capability,” Tia said.Bradley nodded unhappily.The HF and SATCOM were used for long-range transmissions.They were the only way to communicate with their command post or American forces on the ground.“We should still have UHF and VHF capability,” Tia said.“The central computer should automatically route those radio antennae signals through the other relay.”Bradley shook his head as he recalled the electrical schematic.“I don’t think so, Tia,” he said.“The relays sit side by side and are flush-mounted to the skin.If one was damaged, chances are, they both got hit.”Tia glanced at him.“How do you know that?”Bradley paused.“I can picture the schematic in my mind.”Tia nodded, impressed as Bradley worked his data input display.“I was right,” he said, looking up from his computer.“The integrated computer is indicating damage to both antennae relays.And without the antennae boost, not only do we lose SATCOM and HF, but both UHF and VHF radios will be broadcasting on raw power only.They will have a very short range, perhaps just a few miles.”“That isn’t going to help us much, is it?” Tia said ironically.Bradley nodded, then their radio broke in again: “Kill, this is Two.” The radio signal was so weak, it was barely understandable.“Go, Two,” Bradley answered.“Yeah, Lead, status report.It looks like we sucked up a couple pieces of the boom and it has cooked number three engine completely.Four is overheating, but hanging in there right now.It might give us a few minutes, but that’s about all.Looks like we’re done for the day.We’ve got to nurse this baby home.”“Rog,” Bradley said.“We copy,” the tanker pilot also replied.“We can escort Kill Two to Aviano.”“Okay, guys, stand by,” Bradley answered.“We’ve got a few things here we need to sort out.Meanwhile, tanker, continue on track.Two, stay with us.We’ll get back to you with the plan.”Bradley turned to Tia.“Okay, we’ve got to make a few decisions.First things first.Except for the radios, do we have a good jet?”Tia stirred the controls and the B-2 responded in kind.She pulled the nose up, then pushed down, completing her controllability check.“It feels good,” she answered, then nodded to the main console and said, “Try the radios.”Bradley punched at his control panel to broadcast over VHF radio.“No good on Victor,” he said.“COMSAT?”Bradley tried the satellite communications and data receiver.“No good.I’m getting a partial signal, but that’s it.Without the antennae relay, we won’t have a range beyond one or two miles.”“FM?” Tia asked.She was down to their last radio
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