The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut, #1)(37)

I’d heard Nicole’s story before, so I just sipped my cocktail and enjoyed the show as Nicole pointed a manicured nail at her. “Yes. Over the ocean. Well, I hadn’t any other choice, had I, but to circle back to the aircraft carrier and tell them I was coming in.”

“No! Without an engine?”

“It was that or land in the ocean. When I landed, it turned out that the mechanic had missed a damaged fuel line. You should have heard the chief tear him up and down.” Unpowered landings were part of training, but landing on an aircraft carrier was a whole other ball of wax. She caught my eye and gave a wink. “Tell them about the Messerschmitts, Elma.”

I had been perfectly content to sit among the other women and listen to Nicole tell stories, but when your hostess invites you to take the floor … “Oh. Well. We weren’t supposed to be flying combat missions, because it was too ‘dangerous’ for women.”

Nicole snorted and shook her head. “Not that the Germans could tell who was flying a plane.”

“Exactly. So, I was delivering a Mustang to the Amb érieu-en-Bugey Air Base and a trio of Messerschmitts comes up out of nowhere.” The crowd around us had gained a few men, which I’d been hoping the topic would draw, but still … there were suddenly a lot of people listening to me. I took a sip of my champagne. “Bear in mind that I was flying a fighter plane, but it didn’t have any ammunition.”

“Oh no.” That came from Senator Wargin, who had joined his wife. He was a stout man who carried the weight well, beneath a full head of hair that was just beginning to gray.

“Oh yes. I had just enough time to radio for help, and then they started firing. All I could do was evade, and hope to outmaneuver them. And of course the day was utterly cloudless. But there’s this river valley that runs toward the base, and I thought that maybe I could find some cover there.”

Nicole leaned forward. “Which comes with its own set of problems, because you’re flying low, and there’s no room for mistakes.”

“But it was better than being shot at. So I’m tearing down the valley, with this da—dratted—German on my tail, and another one flying cover for him.” I tried to demonstrate where the other planes were in relation to me without spilling my drink. “I have no idea where the third is. All I’m trying to do is use the river bends to make sure they can never get a straight shot at me, and praying that our boys are going to find me in time.”

“And clearly they did.” Ah … the sound of smug masculinity.

I turned in my chair. “Actually, Colonel Parker, they didn’t.”

Of course he’d been invited to the dinner. Senator Wargin was excited about the space program, so naturally, he would want the first man in space there as another trophy guest, like Nathaniel.

Nicole laughed at the look of shock on Parker’s face. “She got one of them to shoot the other, flew the second into a cliff, and … what happened to the third?”

“I never saw him again. I’m assuming that when our boys did arrive, they chased him off.”

“Wait—” Parker held up his hand. “You’re telling me you downed two Messerschmitts without ammunition?”

The nice thing about anger is that it overrides my anxiety about being the center of attention. “I had the advantage of knowing the terrain. I’d been ferrying planes in for months and knew where the river forked. They clearly didn’t.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Are you calling my wife a liar?” Nathaniel does this thing with his voice when he’s angry that always reminds me of my father. It gets very low, and very controlled. Right now it was so tense, you could have stabilized a rocket with it. He stood just behind me, only a few feet from Parker.

“No, no … Of course not, Dr. York. I just wondered if it was really a Messerschmitt.” He smiled, charmingly, and winked at Senator Wargin. “You know how excited ladies can get—one plane becomes three. A biplane becomes a Messerschmitt. Maybe the sun was in her eyes on this ‘utterly cloudless day’? I’m sure she’s not lying, but maybe a little confused. That’s all.”

I set my glass down on the nearest table so I didn’t crack the stem in my fist. “Oh, Colonel Parker, you’re so clever! Why, that must be just what happened.” Laying my hand on my bosom, I turned to Nicole. “Don’t you think?”

She joined me, like the world’s best wingman. “I’m sure you’re right. And to think, all these years, we’ve been confused by the wreckage. Why, that prisoner must have lied about what kind of plane he was flying to make himself look good.”

“I declare! I think you’re right.” Turning back to Colonel Parker, I beamed up at him. “Thank you ever so much for straightening that out for me. I feel like such a fool.”

Perhaps that was a tactical error. His face had red blotches at the cheeks, and it wasn’t from embarrassment. He inclined his head. “Still. The danger you were placed in demonstrates why letting women near a combat zone was a mistake.”

“I’m curious, Colonel Parker. How would you have handled being unarmed? As a man?” Tactical mistake or no, this got right to the heart of the astronaut issue.

He held up his hands. “Look. You were clearly very fortunate. I’m just saying that you should never have been put in that position.”