“What’s so funny?” he asked.
Now she laughed. “You present such an interesting silhouette.” Jake looked down and understood what she meant.
Callie said, “I wish I’d thought to bring my sketchbook with me. You cut such a heroic figure.”
Jake turned away from her and said, over his shoulder, “You’re not going swimming with my T-shirt on, are you?”
“I might.”
“That’s my good shirt, you know.”
“Jake, do you really think it’s swimming that you’re UP for?”
Jake laughed. He sidled back to the blanket in a half crouch. She held up her arms and he helped her take off the shirt. They stretched out on their sides and held each other. Callie loosened her embrace and lay back on the blanket while Jake, still on his side, propped himself up on one elbow. With his fingers he gently fingered her nipples and felt them become erect under his touch.
He leaned over and kissed her breasts, then softly kissed her belly and ran his tongue around her navel. “That tickles,” Callie said with a chuckle. “Are you sure that cab driver doesn’t have binoculars?”
“They’d have to be infrared for him to see anything.
Anyway, he can’t see over this climb.”
Callie suddenly sucked in her breath and sighed as Jake’s hand, having traveled lightly up her thigh, stopped where he found moistness.
“You’re a beautiful person, Callie.”
Later they stood holding each other in the swirreling shallows, watching the dark waves glistening in the moonlight- The only sound was the rhythmic rushing of the sea.
The room reeked of insecticide. Jake concluded that the motel clerk he had bellowed at earlier had taken him seriously. The bathroom didn’t look much cleaner but Jake conceded that not much could be done with it. They dressed hurriedly for dinner, having decided that it would be wise to leave the windows closed to allow the insecticide to do its job well.
The dining room in the Subic Bay O Club was nearly empty. The picture window reflected the flickering candle on their table. Callie said, “I have a present for you.”
“What is it?” She handed him something flat wrapped in tissue paper. He opened it up. Callie said, “It’s a sand dollar. I found it on the beach today. A perfect specimen.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“It’s for good luck.”
“Then I’ll take good care of it. I need all the good luck I can get.” He swallowed some beer before going on. “What do you think about what I did-bombing an unauthorized target?” Callie finished chewing a cracker, then took a sip of her gin and tonic. “I guess I feel as you do. You shouldn’t have done it. But I can understand what drove you to it. And I know that I don’t think any less of you because of what you’ve done. You know how I feel about the war, but I have to admire you for risking your life-and your career-to do what you believe in. “I appreciate that. I’m sure glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad I’m here, too. But I regret that I didn’t bring my sketch pad with me.”
Although the windows in the room were wide open, the smell lingered.
Callie asked, “Where’re your pajamas?”
“I don’t own any. I always sleep in my underwear.”
“The modern gentleman,” she said, carefully turning back the bed covers and looking between the sheets before she climbed in.
Jake turned off the overhead light and felt his way to her bed. The springs groaned loudly as he sat on it, and she laughed.
“What’s’s so funny?” he asked.
“My friends think I’ve dashed away for a wildly romantic weekend. And here we are. In a dreadful hotel. And you in your underwear.”
“Next time, I promise champagne, roses, and violins.” He shifted his weight deliberately to provide crealing accompaniment. He said softly, “Callie, it’s been a great day.”
Her hand found his. “Yes, it has.”
He bent down to her lips. They were moist and firm and parted willingly.
Her breath was warm on his cheek. She still smelled of the sea. “I hope we have more days like this.”
“Kiss me again.”
His bed was more comfortable than he had expected, and he went to sleep quickly. When Callie left her bed and moved in with him sometime during the night, he turned on his side; she did the same and nestled against him. He fell asleep again luxuriating in her warmth and closeness.
Shortly after seven they checked out of the hotel and took a taxi to the B O Q. While they were having breakfast Jake kept looking for Cole. Finally he excused himself and called Tiger’s room.
“What’s up?” Cole asked groggily.
“You forgetting we have to fly today?”
“No.”
“Don’t you think you ought to haul your ass out of bed?”
“No. I checked in at ops yesterday.”
“When are the planes due in?”
“About ten-thirty. They called me a while ago with an in-bound report. Just show up at the field with your flight gear. I’ll take care of everything else.”
“Sounds good.”
“No need for you to check in with the duty officer either. I’ve got it covered.”
“Hey, thanks.”
“Anytime.”
After breakfast they took a cab to the aircraft parking mat beside the carrier pier. Jake put his gear and Callie’s overnighter in front of the line shack and paid the driver.
He and Callie sat on a bench in the sun in front of the small one-story tin building. It was warm, and the sharp kerosene smell of jet fuel wafted through the air. Jake heard a distant murmur. Then he saw the two Intruders, glinting in the Sun, far away over the mouth of Subic Bay. He said to Callie, “See them?”
“Not yet.” A half minute later she said, “Now I do.
The jets dropped their landing gear and flew the final approach in formation. Jake ducked into the line shack. “Here they come,” he told the crew chief. “Got a beer?”
“Plenty.” Jake took a six-pack from the refrigerator and gave the chief a five-dollar bill. Then he went and sat with Callie as the bombers taxied in, trailing shimmering exhaust gas, their whining engines growing louder. They stopped not more than fifty yards away and Callie plugged her ears. When the pilots shut down the engines, she said, “‘They’re so loud.” Jake walked out quickly to the planes and threw cans of beer to the men in the cockpits.
Jake brought the airmen over and introduced each man to her. She stood and chatted with them about their trip across the Pacific while Jake went back to the aircraft to supervise the fueling and servicing. When the crews had departed in a gray navy van, she returned to the bench and watched Jake hover around the sailors working on the planes, making a comment here, lending a hand there.
When he came back he asked Callie, “Want to see an A-6 up close?”
“I’d love to.”
As they neared the planes, Jake said, “Not exactly beautiful, with that blunt nose. Flies great, though.”
“The wings look huge.”
“Fifty-three-foot wing span. The top of the tail is sixteen feet off the ground. The plane’s fifty-five feet long.” “It’s big.”
“It has to be, to carry all the fuel and ordnance.” He put his hand on the nose of the plane. “It’s a great plane. Built by Grummand. They built it to fly.”
Jake led her around the aircraft, identifying major components and explaining their functions. Then he climbed up the boarding ladder and stepped on the air intake of the left engine. He stooped and held out his hand.
