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"No, Sir," he said.

"Eric needs a ride home," Canidy said.

"We're going to take Lieutenant Darmstadter along with us."

"He just said he's never even been in a B-25," Commander Bitter said.

"That's the whole idea," Canidy replied. He turned to face Darmstadter.

"What I want to find out is whether a pilot with about your level of skill can be taught to land and take off from a dirt runway with a stream running through the middle of it."

"Sir?"

"It'll be two or three days before we go," Canidy said, "time enough for Commander Dolan to check you out in the B-25. That is, presuming you're still an eager volunteer?"

"Sir, I'm still confused," Darmstadter said.

"But maybe you've heard enough to rethink a little? Reconsider volunteering?

If you want to walk, you can walk right now. No hard feelings, and no black marks on your record."

"You aren't pulling my leg, are you. Major?" Darmstadter said.

"You're making a joke of it, but you really meant everything you said, didn't you?"

Canidy nodded.

"And that's all I'm going to be told, isn't it?"

The major nodded again.

"In or out, Darmstadter?" Canidy asked.

"It's up to you."

"In, Sir," Darmstadter said.

"Commander Dolan," the major said, "may I suggest we follow that delight nil naval custom of splicing the main brace to welcome a new officer to the wardroom?"

"Aye, aye. Sir," Commander Dolan said, and took a bottle of bourbon from a file cabinet.

"For Christ's sake," Commander Bitter said, "it's half past ten in the morning!"

"I'm Joe Kennedy," the third naval aviator said to Darmstadter, offering his hand. The gold letters below the aviator's wings on the leather patch sewn to his flight jacket identified him as LT. JR

KENNEDY, JR." USNR.

"It's a little crazy around here, but you get used to it."

Dolan passed around glasses that had once contained Kraft cheese spread.

They now held a good two inches of the bourbon. Commander Bitter shook his head but took one.

Canidy took a small swallow of the whiskey.

"Rule One around here, Darmstadter," he said, "is that you don't write home to Mommy about what you're doing or what you've seen. And you don't tell your pals, either. The Second Great Commandment is like unto the first.

You don't ask questions. But before we put that into effect, you can have one question."