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Show Flying - 119 If we ever get into combat, I'll make it a point to shoot you myself, you fat bastard. "Please not to mumble," says Specialist Tovar. "Just read the chart." Once in a while, Wilberforce comes by and takes him away for an afternoon drive into the hills to look for suitable operating sites. "How do you like working in Systems Control," says the lieutenant as they head up a steep dirt road near Atascadero, looking for a high flat field where the Fifty-third can set up a radio relay. "I like it fine, sir," says John Henry. "Specialist Tovar is a remarkable man," says Wilberforce. John Henry looks at him, but there is no sign of levity. The lieutenant is serious. "Yes, sir," says John Henry. Driving these dirt roads is not at all like driving the back roads around upstate New York, where John Henry used to wheel the family Rambler. Here the deep ruts in the sandy soil grab at the front wheels and keep wrenching the jeep toward the godawful drop on the left. Pieces of road that look solid come apart as soon as the jeep hits them and leave John Henry clawing in four-wheel drive to stay on the mountain. Patches of grass that look like good footing turn out slippery and treacherous. The road is barely wide |