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."Under the circumstances, I think you should do with him what Dick would dowith him," he said finally."Go out and get drunk with him." The Air Corps colonel appeared with Fulmar a few minutes later."I'm sorry about this, Colonel," Fulmar said."So am I, Eric," Colonel Stevens said."How's the guy I hit?" Fulmar asked."He's probably going to lose an eye," the Air Corps colonel said, "and I,Lieutenant, intend to see that you are brought before a court-martial.""I'm sorry," Eric said."I'm really sorry.""Sorry won't wash, Lieutenant," the colonel said."I'm going to do whatever isnecessary to take that bar off your collar and put you in the stockade."Colonel Stevens gestured for Fine and Fulmar to precede him out of the room.When Fine and Fulmar reached the Dorchester, where Canidy, at Stevens's order,was waiting for them, it was long after hours and the bar was closed.There was nevertheless the sound of voices and feminine laughter behind thedoor.Fine knocked, and a bartender quickly let them in.Page 228 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlCanidy was inside, by himself.Fine wondered where Ann Chambers was.The Scorpion was there with the usual crowd of young officers hovering closeto her.Her eyes lit up at the sight of Fulmar."What happened?" Canidy asked when they sat down beside him."The colonel had to call Bedell Smith to get him turned loose," Fine said.Canidy shook his head."They're going to court-martial me.I put a guy's eye out," Fulmar said.They're not going to court-martial you.You could have put Bedell Smith's eyeout, and they wouldn't court-martial you.Not now."You're leaving town just in time, then, aren't you?" Canidy said.The Scorpion came over."And where have you two been all night?" she asked.She slipped into a chairfacing Eric."As a matter of fact, they've been out carousing," Canidy said."Whiskey, wild women, brawling.That sort of thing.""That sounds terribly naughty," the Scorpion said."If I asked you a question," Fulmar said to her, "could I get an honestanswer?" She leaned forward across the table and ran her fingernails acrossthe back of his hand."You can ask me anything you want, darling," she said."Whether you get an--""Have you got someplace we could go?" Eric interrupted."Or would you rather we stayed here and groped each other?""Don't be a bastard, darling," she said, stiffening."I've never done anythingto you.""The question, then, is do you want to? And if so, where?" Canidy said.The Scorpion angrily flashed her eyes at Canidy and then moved them to Fulmar.He stood up and walked to the door, then turned and looked back at the table."Opportunity knocks but once," Canidy said."Fuck you, Canidy," the Scorpion said.He laughed, and she glowered at him.Then she got up and went to Fulmar.She put her hand on his arm and turned."Good night, everybody!" she cried.It pleased her, Fine saw, to have the world know that she had sunk her stingerinto the plumpest baby rabbit of them all.Page 229 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"Do you think there will be anything left?" Canidy asked."By that, I mean,when she has sucked him dry, will she also eat the empty shell?""It was pretty bad with his mother, Dick," Fine said.I was afraid it would be," Canidy said."Going to see her was not a goodidea." iii'm not sure his going with the Scorpion is such a good idea,either," Fine said."Well, you know what Benjamin Franklin said about older women," Canidy said."st hey don't yell, they don't swell, and they're grateful as hell.n Finelaughed."Franklin didn't say that.""What is it you ambulance-chasers say? Or words to that effect'?" Finechuckled again."I was going to run her off," Canidy said."But then I had a sudden insight.Ithink she's just what he needs tonight.Now, what can I do for you?""What?""I hate to send any of my loyal legion into the mouth of death without gettingthem a farewell live-today-for-tomorrow-we-die piece of ass.How does yonderredhead strike your fancy?" Fine laughed.isem going to the U.S.Embassy inBern, he said."First, Canidy said.Fine smiled."Thank you, sir, but no thank you, sir.I am one of the few surviving membersof that rara avis, faithful husband."' Canidy chuckled."Is that what loveis, Stanley, not wanting to fuck anybody else?" Fine sensed that it was aserious question.iyou can look, but not touch," he said."They call itfidelity.ii Then I must have caught it," Canidy said."Maybe you're coming down with a cold, Fine said."Screw you," Canidy said fondly.FOUR] Ferdield Army llir Corpn Station Bedlordshire, England ZSB January 1943It.Commander Edwin W.Bitter was torn between annoyance and pleasure when hesaw the Packard limousine bouncing directly across the airfield-rather thantaking the access road or even the taxiway--toward the ancient B-17.He couldsee Sergeant Agnes Draper behind the wheel.That was fine.But there were two others in the backseat, two officers with the golden UnitedStates eagle on their caps.One of them was almost certainly Canidy, and theother more than likely Stanley S.Fine.Hexd suspected Canidy would show up, and that he would probably bring Finewith him.Fine was, after all, a former B-17 squadron commander with far moretime in seventeens than eithersoe Kennedy or Dolan.He was even, Bitter recalled now, a rated Instructor Pilot.Page 230 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlBut when Agnes parked beside the sandbag revetment where the B-17 sat, PeteDouglass, not Fine, emerged from the Packard."Anchors aweigh, you-all," Douglass called out.Then Dolan and Joe Kennedyalso appeared from inside the B-17.i, And who is this booze-nosed old saltall dressed up to go flying?" Douglass asked."Why," Dolan said, chuckling, ii thought the major knew Lieutenant KennedylxAnd then he corrected himself.ii The colonel, that is.When did that happen? Xw , Yesterday," Douglass said.4"It will not benecessary for you to prostrate yourself.Kissing my hand will suffice.""Congratulations, Pete, "' Bitter said."Well deserved." "Don't get carriedaway," Douglass said, suddenly bitter."Eighth Air Force has a regulation.Lose half your command on a dumb mission, but come back yourself, and you getpromoted.""You were promoted because you deserved it," Bitter insisted loyally.Good morning, Agnes Draper said as she walked up to them."Good morning, Sergeant, Bitter said."Oh, what a tangled web we weave," Canidy quoted as he shook Dolan's andKennedyss hand, , iwheneer we try to deceive." Bitter glowered at him.AgnesDraper showed no reaction at all."The radio types aren't here?" Canidy asked."Inside," Dolan said, jerking his thumb up at the B-17."You want to have alook?""Yeah," Canidy said."And so does the colonel.I figured maybe he'd seesomething we don't." "Christ," Douglass said, looking up at the B-17."Willthis fugitive from the bone yard actually fly?" It was less a flippant remarkthan a statement of fact.The B-17 had been reclaimed from the salvage yard.There were crude patches riveted to the fuselage and wings where it had beenstruck by antiaircraft and machinegun fire.Just below the pilot's sidewindow, a shiny new duralumin patch covered about half of the representationof a large-bosomed, scantily dressed female.It cut off her head, one breast,most of the legend--"Miss Twen" was all that was left--and what looked likehalf of a row of small bombs representing missions.There were other crude patches fairing over what had been the Plexiglas in thenose and the gun positions in the fuselage.The fuselage and the wings hadbeen painted white
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