James Rouch - Sky Strike

Cover illustration: Harrier GR3.

Initial production of this type, 92 aircraft, all for the RAF to be used in the tactical support role. At the outbreak of war two squadrons were stationed at

Gutersloh in Germany. Less than half the serviceable aircraft were at dispersed sites at the time of the Warsaw Pact attack. Despite heroic efforts by ground and air crew, all of those remaining at the airfield were destroyed on the ground.

The surviving Harriers inflicted heavy losses on the Soviet advance in the first few days, though the number of sorties flown by No 3 Squadron after the fourth day was severely curtailed due to the difficulty of fuel and ammunition resupply over roads choked with refugee traffic, or by air due to WP intruder missions aimed specifically at such efforts.

It is generally acknowledged that had another squadron been available and the supply situation not been bedevilled by years of political penny-pinching, then the WP advances in the Northern and Central Sectors of the Zone could have been halted perhaps as much as fifty miles short of the point at which they eventually stalled.

Engine: Rolls Royce Pegasus. Max speed: Mach 1.3 in dive, 737 mph in level flight. Weapon load: any combination of cannon and rocket pods, free fall cluster munitions, laser guided iron bombs, super-napalm or air-to-air missiles up to a total of 8,000lb (Conventional take-off) or 51000lb (Vertical lift).

and in conclusion this committee recognising that the battlefield of the future will be dominated by the guided missile it is recommended that the production of manned combat aircraft be stopped as soon as is possible under the terms of existing contracts and that all new projects, at whatever stage of development, be cancelled immediately.

The above is taken from the last page of a consultative document, one of several, considered prior to the final drafting of the British Governments Defence White Paper published in April 1957 that declared manned combat aircraft to be obsolete.

This document was circulated among senior Air Ministry Staff, who were invited to append their comments. On this particular copy, now in private hands, the only note, pencilled alongside the conclusion in the margin, and alleged to be in the handwriting of an air commodore, is balls.

At the outbreak of World War III, taking the Warsaw Pact and NATO totals together, there were more than 5,300 manned combat aircraft in Central Europe, with over 9,000 in reserve and second-line units, with the Warsaw Pact out-numbering NATO by more than two-to-one.

She was struggling, trying to push him off, but he wasnt going to stop, not now. Christ it was hurting, the fastener of his zip was biting into the base of his iron-hard erection and the lace trimming on her knickers was like sandpaper against its sensitive tip.

Cant you wait? At least let me get them down this is no good for me youre making me wet

He had to finish, had to; hed waited so long and now, as hed been afraid it would, it was proving difficult. Just keep still. His face was in her hair and his every laboured breath was saturated with the blended scents of perfume, deodorant and hair lacquer.

There wasnt enough room on the back seat of the Opel, he could only thrust an inch or so at a time, or his feet became entangled in the door pull or ashtray. It hurt, hed be sore for days, but he had to finish.

Managing to push forward a fraction, he felt his penis slide on the silk-like material to the shallow smooth valley between her thigh and crotch. Suddenly he knew he could do it, could feel his body priming itself as he rubbed harder and harder and faster and faster; Now, it had to be now now

I dont like this, let me oh you sod, you dirty sod. Youve done it all over me, its running down my leg. Get up, get off me. No, stop, youre dragging my dress through it have you got a tissue..? be quick. You rotten sod, what a mess its all between my legs

Somehow Libby half-turned, opened the car door and backed out. Before he walked away he threw her his handkerchief. He didnt want to, but he saw her, by the pale illumination of the interior light. Shed pulled herself to a slumped position against the far door and was holding up her skirt and parting her legs. Grabbing the folded white linen she shook it out, bunched it and wiped the slow white avalanche from the hem of her underwear, and from among the stray strands of pubic hair escaping beneath it.

Well, hed done it, and he hated himself for it. Not because of her, shed been keen enough to leave the Naafi and go off with him, not because of the discomfort he experienced as he tucked his fast-shrinking self back into his clothes, thered been several times in the last couple of years when hed made it that bad himself by exercising it: no, he hated himself for having done it at all. Hed betrayed Helga, broken the impossible promise hed made to himself when hed heard she was among the millions of civilians trapped by the Russian advance.

He didnt look around when he heard the door slam, or when he heard her approaching. A small fist half-heartedly punched him on the arm. That wasnt fair, not after getting me going. Are you going to have a proper go? I dont mind, if you let me get ready this time.

No, no, I dont want anything else Im sorry, I cant explain, I just needed it that way, just once. So the Zone hadnt made him totally sub-human, yet. There was still some decency in him if he could summon up an apology of sorts for an easy pick-up like her. Look, Ill make it up to you, give you some money for some new things if you like.

Alright, Ill let you, seeing as how thats the least you can do. You must have stained them, you did a load, it went everywhere, Ive never seen so much. What are you looking at?

From the high ground, southern Germany stretched away into the night, marked randomly but liberally by the lights of farms and villages, and occasionally gashed by the beams from vehicle headlamps. But far short of the invisible horizon the sprinkling of white and yellow pinpoints ended abruptly, as though a black sheet had been draped over the landscape beyond.

Thats the Zone isnt it? I dont like being this close, gives me the shudders. Libby resisted the urge to push her off when she wrapped her arms about him. Yes, thats the Zone.

In the far distance a star shell burst and made a bright oasis for perhaps thirty seconds as the parachute-suspended fiery ball of magnesium drifted to the ground.

Are you going back in there?

Yes, soon.

Is it as bad as they say? Do you have to go?

Its worse actually, far worse, but I dont have to go, I want to go, want to. Now he felt her move away, as though she were suddenly afraid of him. Perhaps, perhaps he was no longer human after all.

TO: HEADQUARTERS-GROUP OF SOVIET

FORCES GERMANY ZOSSEN-WUNSDORF FOR: THE SPECIAL ATTENTION OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL ALEKSEEV DEPUTY COMMANDER AIR DEFENCE EASTERN EUROPE

FROM: GENERAL PAKOVSKI-OFFICER

COMMANDING AIR DEFENCE REGIMENTS CENTRAL SECTOR ZONE

Transmission. Priority. By Special General Staff Code AP/43. Secure link or hand only

Comrade Lieutenant General.