Attack and Response - 3. Soar Like The Turkeys

Jap put his arm around his lover and told him all about Erick and the rest of the New Jersey group. On the way down to the mess decks, they decided to take them out to the hangars and show them around the facilities after supper. Being Saturday of a two day weekend meeting, the mess decks were fully staffed by Jason Tembler's catering people, which included a four star chef. Better food could have been served, but only in places like New York, San Francisco, London or Paris. While some of the younger boys didn't pay any attention to anything but the quantity served, most everyone else knew how high the quality was and usually went back for seconds and sometimes thirds. While everyone was getting their fill, Jap and Jacky walked over to Jordan Littlelk and Connor Beck's table and sat down. Jacky looked at the two boys and said;"Matt and James said we should take you guys along when we take the visitors to the airfield in case some of them might want to jump."

Connor looked at the visitors and nodded, "If they haven't jumped before, we can do a 'static line jump’.”

Jap nodded;"Yeah, that's what James said, if they do jump we're going too. It's been awhile since we jumped and I kind of like it.”

The four Squadies gathered up their guests and moved them up to the garage via the elevator. Once in the garage, Jap introduced the group to Jordan and Connor, then asked;"We can truck you out to the strip, or you guys can use one of the FAV's or the Quad Runners."

You could see the looks of anticipation on their faces, that is until Jacky dropped his bomb;"Two things guys, number one; you gotta wear a helmet, number two; you guys can't go hotrodding around on these things. The terrain is nothing; I repeat nothing like you've seen before, if you loose it here, someone's going to get hurt."

The little guy, with round gold rimmed glasses who looked like he was one of the boys being protected stepped out along side of Jacky;"Listen up guys, you follow these men's orders or I guarantee that whoever doesn't will be taking a nap while everyone else will be doing something neat."

Naturally Mark was the first one to say something;"Oh man, why do you old guys have to fuck with us all the time?" Noah started walking towards Mark who said;"Oh yeah, now I remember, come on Noah, I was just ragging on you, can't you take a joke?"

Mark moved behind a much larger boy, a boy who looked like an older more muscular version of Mark. As Noah approached the two boys, the larger boy quickly moved to the side and gave him a clear shot at Mark. Before Mark could move, Noah reached around his back and did something to him. Mark's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed to the floor, Noah and one of the other boys caught him before he hit the floor and eased him the rest of the way down. Noah looked at the sleeping form and said;"That's for calling me 'Old'."

Jap and Jacky gawked at Noah, Jap asked;"Is he Okay, I mean he's not hurt or anything is he?"

All of the Jersey boys laughed, the one Mark resembled spoke for the group;"Naw, he's okay, Noah has to make him take a nap every once in a while just to get his attention. We can just put him in one of those Dune Buggy looking things and he'll be awake and ready to go when we get to where you're taking us to.”

Jap and Jacky had a couple of the boys put Mark in the back seat of the HUMVEE they were taking and then got everyone set up with a FAV or Quadra Track. When everyone was ready they drove to the hangar the Jumpers used; half way there Mark woke up;"Fuck, I hate it when he does that."

Jap and Jacky had no idea what the 'that' was, but they laughed at Mark's comment anyway. Mark hadn’t been awake for thirty seconds when he started taking pictures again. He noticed Jap driving the HUMVEE and asked;"Do the Batemans know you're driving this Hummer?"

Jap chuckled;"I've been driving these things for over a year and a half now, I just can't drive them on the public roads until I'm old enough for a driver's license."

It only took the caravan about fifteen minutes to get to the hangars, once there the four Squadies had the boys and men park the vehicles along side the hangar, Connor went over to a cipher pad mounted on the wall by the hangar doors and punched in a series of numbers, after the last number was entered, an ‘aooogah’ horn sounded and the huge doors started sliding open. As they opened, a C-130 Hercules could be seen parked in the hangar; towards the rear of the hangar several sets of shelves could be seen. The shelves contained what looked like backpacks and brightly painted helmets, one whole section contained nothing but camouflaged helmets. As they were looking around, Fred Brown and Bill Carson walked off the after ramp of GhostRyder One Seven and waved at Connor and Jordan.

When the visitors saw the pair coming down the ramp, they all stopped and gaped at the two men. The shorter of the pair looked like a large khaki covered bowling ball with blue hair, the taller man, at least six and a half feet tall was extremely handsome, extremely well built and was totally a flamer. He wore a tailored flight suit with a 'Rainbow Triangle' on his right shoulder and a pink scarf around his neck. Both of the men had multiple body piercings, including several earrings each.

The short one looked at Jap and asked;"Hey Jap, whatcha got going?"

"Nothing much sir." Jap responded. "Matt wanted me to see if this old clunker could get off the ground today or if we'd have to use One Six."

Brown laughed at the little redhead before saying;"You just remember you called 'Ole Maxwell' here a clunker when we take you up next time."

When the laughter was finished, Jap introduced the boys to Fred and Bill. Two-thirds of One Seven's flight crew, the two crew members then took the boys on a quick tour of 'Maxwell' and answered any questions they had. Afterwards Connor and Jordan took the group to the back of the hangar and explained the gear to the boys and men and answered any questions they had. After the briefing, Mark stepped forward and asked Jordan;"I've never been sky diving before, any chance we could do some?"

Jordan nodded and said;"Sure, but you gotta put your camera away and do everything we tell you."

Mark smiled at the big handsome Indian boy and said;"Everything?" When Jordan nodded his head yes, Mark's smile got bigger and he said;"Well all righty then, let's get started."

Hearing the 'all righty then' Noah came over and put his hand on Marks shoulder before saying;"Mark, you wanna another nap? You remember what Bucky said before we got here don't you?"

At the touch of Noah's hand on his shoulder Mark cringed and moved to get away from the bodyguard’s hand on his shoulder while saying;"Yeah, I do and I wasn't going to do anything, honest Noah."

Noah looked him in the eyes for a couple of seconds and nodded;"Okay, I'll take your word for it, just be sure you remember it." Releasing his hold on Mark's shoulder he turned to Jordan and said;"If Mark or any of the rest of the guys gives you any shit, let me know and I'll take care of them."

Jordan smiled back at the shorter Noah and said;"No problem sir, if any of them give me too much trouble, I'll turn my boy friend loose on them and he'll whip their ass for me."

Noah got a surprised look on his face and glanced at the blonde boy standing behind Jordan. The boy had long blonde hair, appeared to be in good shape and was close to being a total flamer. Noah knew that appearances could be deceiving so he just nodded and went back to the group of body guards and talked softly with the two youngest of the group.

Jordan and Connor took the group of boys through an abbreviated ground school on parachuting, after which they issued them each a flight suit and the necessary equipment and made sure everyone was properly set up. While Jap and Jacky were donning their own suits and equipment, Jap noticed that Erick seemed to be scared. When he was finally dressed out, he waddled over to Erick and asked;"Hey bud what's the matter, are you okay?"

Erick stood there and nodded than shook his head, like he didn't really know. Looking at Jap he said;"I think I'm about to shit myself Jap, I've never done anything like this before and I'm scared."

Jap nodded his head and said;"Been there, done that, I even got the T-Shirt. All I can say is that it's one of the neatest things you can do with your clothes on. The first time I jumped, I almost pissed myself, for the next six jumps I did I had a hard on you wouldn't believe. Last summer my boyfriend Jacky was kidnapped by a local asshole's kids; we made a jump from close to 25,000 feet, at night, with no moon. I was worried about Jacky, but you know what, the minute I went off the ramp, the only thing I could think of on the way down was how great it was to be flying without an airplane. I didn't even know it when the chute deployed I was so happy. Look don't sweat the small shit, I'll be the guy who checks you out before its time to jump and I'll be right in front of you on the way out the door."

Erick smiled and nodded at Jap;"Thanks Jap, I think I'll be okay now. Maybe you should let me be in line before you so you can, well; you know maybe give me a push if I need it?"

Jap chuckled and nodded;"No sweat, I'll help you out the door if you need it."

Jacky had taken it on himself to shepherd Mark Wilcott; he knew that the guy needed someone to watch after him, actually, he needed a ‘Keeper’. When everyone was suited up, Connor had them all put on their helmets, then spoke to them over the Unit net;"Okay, I know you all have a communication net of your own, the net I'm talking over will allow you to communicate with us and the flight crew. I just want you to remember what we've shown you in the last couple of hours and do what any of the Squadies or flight crew tell you too. When we get on One Seven, every one find a seat along the port side of the aircraft just forward of the door. Bill's going to be the 'Jump Master' today, so make sure you listen if he says anything. When we get to jump altitude, we'll go through final jump prep, Jordan will be the first out the door and I'll be last. So if there are no questions, everyone line up in the order you want to go out the door in and follow Jordan on board."

While the jump training had been going on, GhostRyder One Seven had been towed out of the hangar and parked on the ramp facing the runway. The necessary walk around and pre-flight checks were completed while the boys were going through their ground school.

Naturally Mark wanted to be second out the door so he could get pictures of the rest of the group coming out after him. Jacky put him second in the stick followed by himself and then Erick followed by Jap. The big Germans arranged themselves so that they would have their two 'Principals' Evan and Billy between them, with Herman first and Hans behind them. When the 'stick' was arranged according to everyone's satisfaction, Jordan led them onboard and took the first seat, securing the safety belt at his waist. As everyone got comfortable, Jap looked at his charge and asked;"You gonna make it?" Erick gave him a weak smile and nodded.

Fred Brown came over the helmets' communications net and said;"Sorry for the delay, but we got a couple more people who want to jump. You guys relax; it'll only be a few more minutes. To help you pass the time we'll provide you with some music for your listening pleasure."

The Jersey Boys heard groaning through their earpieces just before they heard an off key voice trying to sing;"Momma, don't let your babies grow up to be . . . Now stop that dang it, ahm a singing here."

The next thing they heard was the voice of the co-pilot;"On behalf of the crew of GhostRyder One Seven, I apologize for the static and interference in the communications net. I promise you it won't happen again."

The sound of the Unit One Squadies laughing came through loud and clear to everyone's earpieces, Connor was the first to speak;"You guys got to forgive Fred, he thinks he's a country and western singer and tries to do that to us every time we go up."

Shortly after the aborted C and W concert by Fred, a HUMVEE pulled up to the back ramp which was still down. The passenger side doors opened and the man named James got out and was followed quickly by the blond headed kid who always carried a medium sized canvas bag with him and followed James around all the time. Both were dressed like the other jumpers who were already on the plane, with the exception of their helmets which they both carried in the crook of their arms. They climbed up the rear ramp and found seats near the end of the 'stick'. Connor who was going to be the last out of the door had gotten up and given James his seat and then sat down again in the last available seat.

As James was putting on his helmet, everyone on the aircraft heard him say;"Yes Nana, I'll listen to Connor and Jordan."

Erick noticed Jap looking at the blond kid and giving him the 'thumbs up' sign. Looking at Jap he said;"What?"

Jap smiled at him and clicked off his radio and motioned for Erick to do the same;"James lost his arm and leg in an auto accident last May, this is his first jump since before the crash. That blonde headed guy is Jesse Stevens; he's been acting as James' aide and physical therapist here at the house. So far, Jesse has saved the lives, or been instrumental in saving two guys and helping several others . . . Including me. As you can see, he won't let James get away with anything. This is only his second jump, when we went in to get Jacky back from them fucking Princes, he jumped in with us from twenty some thousand feet. That guy has balls the size of melons and the whole Unit loves him."

Just then the port outboard engine started its whining spool up, with a burst of grayish white exhaust smoke, the engine caught; soon the multi-bladed prop was up to speed. When the flight deck crew were satisfied with the way the jet turbine was working they lit off the other three engines and completed the preflight checklist. While the flight deck crew were getting One Seven ready for takeoff, Erick said something to Jap, Jap quickly turned his radio back on and asked what he had just said.

Erick repeated his question;"What altitude are we jumping from?"

"From what Jordan and Connor had said, I think it'll be about 8,000 feet AGL. When we get up to jump altitude, the command pilot, Fred, will give us the latest wind speed and direction. Once your canopy opens use your guy lines to steer with. Make small adjustments with them and when you're close to landing try to maneuver so you're facing into the wind.”

Erick seemed to be calming down, he wasn't shivering anymore and he gave Jap a weak smile;"Okay, by the way, what's 'AGL' mean?"

Jap returned Erick's smile before replying;"AGL means Above Ground Level, the area we're jumping into is around 200 meters above sea level. Our jump altitude will actually be around 2,600 meters or so, in feet that would be around 8,700 feet above sea level.”

When the 130 got to its jump altitude, it started to bank in to a gentle left turn orbit over the Bateman brothers' property. After the racetrack turn was set up a red light by the port side aft personnel door came on, accompanied by a buzzer that could be heard throughout the cargo bay. Bill Carson stood and spoke into the radio;"Stand up." The jumpers released their seat belts and stood, you could tell by looking at them which ones were really scared, Bill's next command was to;"Hook up." Everyone hooked their static line to the steel wire rope that went from the personnel door all the way forward to the front of the cargo bay. When everyone was hooked up he ordered;"Check equipment." Every one turned to one of the other jumpers in line and inspected the other persons' parachute and other equipment. When everyone's gear was checked out Bill ordered;"Stand in the door." Jordan Littlelk moved to the opening and leaned forward and braced himself with both hands on either side of the door. The green light came on, the red light went out and the buzzer was replaced by a ringing bell. Bill leaned forward and slapped Jordan on the butt while saying;"Go." Jordan, using his hand to propel himself out the door leaped into the sky above the Bateman property. Mark, closely followed by Jacky, stood in the door, just as Bill slapped him on the ass, Mark reached back and unhooked his static line and leaped out of the door. Jacky, realized what the kid had done, he released his own static line and leaped out of the doorway, quickly putting his body into a delta track, legs straight back, arms at his side and head up he dove after the beautiful empty headed Mark.

Mark was having a good ole time taking pictures of the one boy with an open parachute and another one diving straight at him. Just before Jacky collided with him, his body flared out and he grabbed him with both hands, Mark not knowing what was going on tried to struggle, The next thing he knew, his canopy deployed, the jerk from it's opening greater than it would have been because of the weight of both of the boys. Mark was wondering what the fuck was going on when everything went black.

Back on the plane, Jesse saw what happened and unhooked himself from the static line and moved to the door and dove out after Mark and Jacky. Like Jacky he dove on the two boys but released his chute at around 1,000 feet AGL instead of Mark and Jacky's 400 feet. As he descended, he noted that both the boys were down, speaking into his chin mic;"GhostRyder One Seven this is Medic One, over."

"Medic One . . . One Seven, go."

"One Seven . . . Medic One, contact GhostRyder base and have Doctor Davidson respond to my location for a medical emergency, over"

"One Seven."

Just as Jesse's feet hit the ground, he saw both boys start to move their arms and legs. Dumping his chute, he opened the quick disconnects on his harness and moved quickly to the boys. Mark was unconscious and had stopped moving while Jacky was fully awake and tried to stand;"Stay the fuck down you fucking idiot, you could a killed yourself with that stunt,"

Jacky moaned a little and lay back down. Jesse quickly started to check Jacky for any breaks or bleeding. Finding nothing, he said: "You just stay there while I checkout 'numb nuts' here." Jordan landed next to the recumbent bodies as Jesse moved to the still unconscious Mark and went over him just as thoroughly as he did Jacky, finding no apparent injury he stood up and watched as One Seven was making another drop run. Soon the sky immediately overhead was filled with canopies; shortly the jumpers were landing all around them and rolling up their chutes.

The first one to reach them was a highly pissed Jap; Going to his boyfriend, he asked;"What the fuck were you doing you stupid fuck, ya shoulda let the little shithead auger in. If he doesn't have to go to the hospital because of this, I'll fucking send the cocksucker there myself." All the time he was talking, Jap was crying and touching Jacky's face with one hand while the other was gently rubbing his shoulder.

Paul Wilcott ran over to his brother and knelt down beside him;"You stupid cocksucker what the fuck were you thinking of, if it weren't for Jacky, you'd be dead. Well if he don't kill you when you wake up I will asshole."

Jap looked at Paul and said;"You're gonna have to stand in line, he almost killed my boyfriend and I get first crack at him."

James limped over to the group surrounding Jacky and Mark;"Jesse, here's your gunbag; you kind of forgot it on the way out the door." James looked at the two boys lying on the ground then stared at Mark before saying;"Okay, who's first and where do I get in line to strangle the little fucker?"

This caused everyone to laugh, including Jap. As the group was laughing, Doctor Davidson was driven up by Mitch Babcock in one of the F-250 Crewcabs, followed closely by another one. Getting out he ran over to the boys and started examining them while Jesse told him about the examination he had done after landing. The Doctor looked at Jesse and said;"Jesse, if you don't go to med school when you graduate from high school, I'll personally strangle you."

Jesse looked at the doctor and blushed;"Umm, I just did what I learned in NOLS and from you Doc, that's all."

Jap looked at Jesse and said;"That's bullshit and you know it." Looking at the Doctor he went on;"Before anyone knew what was really going on, this guy was out the door in a low altitude freefall jump. By the time everyone else was on the ground, he'd completed his exam of these two and was keeping Jacky from moving and maybe hurting himself."

As the men and boys were talking, two HUMVEE's arrived, the first one out of the front vehicle was John Wilcott;"Is he okay, is he alive, because if he is I'm going to strangle him."

This caused everyone to laugh, John looked at the group of men and boys and asked;"What?"

James, still chuckling looked at John and said;"Mark seems to make everyone want to strangle him, at least most of the people here."

The noise from everyone laughing caused Mark to wake up;"Unnnnnnh, what . . Where . . . Where's my camera?"

Paul who was standing on the other side of Mark from his father said;"It's going to be up your ass if half the people here have anything to say about it."

Mark looked around at everyone and asked;"Hunh?"

The Doctor broke in;"Alright, lets all calm down." Looking around the group, he saw Jordan and Connor;"How bout you two grabbing the backboards out of the back of the Ford for me?" The two nodded and headed to the pickup. Turning to Jesse he asked;"Do you have any neck braces in your gunbag"

Jesse nodded and started digging in his bag, shortly he pulled out two plastic wrapped packages and a very small hand pump. Handing the first one to the Doctor, he opened the second and gently adjusted it around Jacky's neck. Taking the small hand pump, he inflated the neck brace until it was just snug. Jesse handed the pump to the doctor who repeated the procedure. Being a good doctor he didn't allow himself to pump the brace so much that it choked Mark, although the urge was definitely there.

When the boys returned with the backboards, Doc had the men and boys help strap them to the boards and then put one of the boys in the bed of each pickup. Doctor Davidson told Jesse to ride with Jacky while he went with Mark. Naturally Jap climbed in the back of the truck with Jacky in it and rode back to the house with his lover and Jesse. As they were about to turn the corner of the house, Mitch slowed the lead vehicle and stopped. The reason was soon apparent; one of Moreland's Traumahawk air ambulances was landing in the parking lot. When the helicopter was down, Mitch moved the truck closer to the Traumahawk and the onboard EMT's transferred Jacky to the aircraft. Jap had to be restrained because of the lack of space as Mark was loaded on. James took Jap by the arm and spoke to him softly;"Calm down, we're going to drive into town, Mr. Wilcott can't even fly with his son. Just take it easy, he's going to be okay."

End of Chapter 3
Next, Chapter 4; We're Going To War
By; Jamie Haze and GhostRyder15