Project Boussh: Honor Code by Josh Cochran For the thousandth time, Josh ran his finger along the cool metal of the weapon in the pocket of his flightsuit. It helped to ground him in the real world because, try as he might, he still couldn't believe what he was about to do. The silver moon shone bright and full in the sky and a gentle breeze blew across Josh's face. It felt good to be breathing Texas air once more. He'd been here to Carswell Air Force Base many times in his life, and it was as close to being home as he'd been in a long time. It'd been a long, lonely drive here from Tennessee, and only one thing had echoed through his mind constantly the whole time. "We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us any who do," he quoted aloud for the thousandth time. The honor code he'd once sworn to live by and uphold. The nearly-sacred guiding force of his youth, and he was about to break it by stealing something rather large. But it wouldn't be the first time he'd broken it. ---- "Ah, Lieutenant. Come in. I need to have a word with you," the Colonel said at Josh's firm double knock on the doorframe. Josh's heart threatened to beat right out of his chest with his excitement. He precisely marched to a point one pace from the center of the Colonel's desk and halted sharply. "Sir, Lieutenant Cochran reports as ordered." _This is it_, he thought. _I'm going to do it again. First in the class._ The Colonel leaned back in his chair and looked Josh over appraisingly. Josh noticed there was a file folder on his desk, presumably Josh's personnel records. "Lieutenant, do you know why I've asked you to report to me today?" "No sir." Although he was strongly suspicious, it was best not to assume anything. In the months he'd been under his command, Josh had met the Colonel only once before. He didn't think he knew the senior officer well enough to presume anything. "You have a very impressive record, Cochran. You went from the third quarter of your high school class to the top 10% of your ROTC class *nationwide*. You were a distinguished graduate at Field Training. Commander of your cadet wing your senior year. And above all, first in your class in basic flight training. Is all that correct?" Josh fought hard to swallow a smile. An itch began on the back of his neck, but standing at attention it was impossible to scratch it. "Yes sir, it is." "Not to mention the glowing reviews you've gotten from every commander you've ever had. Like this one, from Colonel McCoy at Field Training. 'Cadet Cochran exhibits the best traditions of the Air Force and the United States military. He will be held back only by the limits of his dreams. This cadet has 'future Chief of Staff' written all over him.'" With the itch distracting him, Josh was unable to hide a brief smile. "You have a lot to be proud of, Lieutenant." "Yes sir." "Then why the HELL do you want to throw it all away?" ---- Josh sighed and continued walking along the flightline. There ahead of him, illuminated by work lights and swarming with maintenance troops, was his objective. An F-16 Fighting Falcon. The plane he'd waited all his life to fly, then lost his chance at with mere days to go. To him the plane had always been pure power and grace given form. Seeing one now for the first time in a couple of years, a flood of memories came back to him. Seeing them at airshows, watching them on CNN during the Gulf War.and especially the day he found out he'd been chosen to fly them for a living. This particular example was loaded down with as much fuel and armament as it could carry. Three drop tanks, four medium range radar guided air to air missiles, and two shorter range missiles that were infrared guided. Josh grimaced. He'd been hoping for a Falcon loaded for an air-to-ground mission, but this was the only armed plane on the flightline. It'd have to do. Surely the Mendellians would have air support for their attack on the caverns up. This would probably work out for the best anyway, since the resistance and the friendly forces on the ground likely weren't prepared to repel close air support. A fuel truck pulled up and the crew began fueling the plane. _Almost time,_ Josh thought bleakly. He turned and headed for the Life Support building. ---- "Sir?" Josh asked, his heart frozen in his chest and the itch on his neck forgotten in a heartbeat. "You heard me, Lieutenant. You've worked so hard to have a shot at whatever job you wanted in the Air Force. Hell, just to *be* in the Air Force. Why would you want to throw all that away by being stupid?" "I don't, sir. I don't understand." "Let me make this crystal clear for you then, Cochran. The docs found an anomaly in your last vision check. Just a tiny thing. It could almost have been overlooked." Josh's heart was now racing ninety miles an hour. A cold sweat had started all over his body and was even now beading up on his forehead. "Do you know what I'm talking about now, Lieutenant?" the Colonel asked icily. When Josh failed to respond, he continued. "Your vision wasn't always the 20/20 required for pilots, was it?" "No sir," Josh admitted. "The ophthalmologist who did your last exam said your eyes bare minute signs of having had laser surgery. OSI did a very thorough investigation and found people from your high school who could recall you wearing glasses at the end of your senior year, but oddly enough nobody from your college could remember you having any." Tears stung Josh's eyes, threatening to spill out onto his face. Josh fought them with all his might. He didn't want to lose it in front of the Colonel. "Lieutenant, can you tell me what the Air Force Cadet Honor Code is?" "We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us those who do, sir." "That's correct. When you applied for a pilot slot, you were asked if your vision was perfect, and you said it was. That much, I suppose, was true. However, you were also clearly asked whether you'd ever had any type of corrective surgery on your eyes. Are you aware that having any type of corrective vision surgery is a disqualifying factor for any service in the Air Force?" "Yes sir, I am." "And yet, you chose to go for a pilot slot. The one career in the Air Force that requires regular vision checks. If you'd chosen any other career, you might have gotten away with it. You could have been *anything* other than a pilot, and no one would have ever been the wiser. Colonel McCoy was right, you had an incredible amount of potential." Josh winced at the Colonel's use of the past tense. "Who knows, you might have even lived up to his prediction. So, back to my original question. Why?" Josh blinked several times before responding, still trying to hold back the tears. "All I ever wanted to be was a pilot, sir. It's the only thing I wanted. This was the only way to do it." The Colonel sighed. "I can understand that. What I can't understand or condone is your ongoing, premeditated attempt to deceive the Air Force. 'We will not lie, steal, or cheat,' remember? Well, you've lied many times, and you've cheated the system for a year and a half on active duty and four years as a cadet before that. "Lieutenant, you can't be kicked out of the Air Force for violating the honor code. But you can be booted for falsifying your records and lying on your application. You've been dismissed from the United States Air Force, effective today. I want you packed and off the base by close of business today. You're career is over." Unable to hold back any longer, a single large tear rolled down Josh's face. ---- Josh pushed the memory to the back of his mind as he entered the dressing room of the Life Support building. He could hear the sound of someone moving around inside, getting equipment ready for flight. Josh peered carefully around the corner. Good, only one. One plane, one pilot. Simple. Stepping back behind the bank of lockers again, Josh pulled the unspeakably non-standard issue weapon from his flightsuit. When Sci had first sent him the blaster, Josh had thought it was a joke. He'd owned several of the toys when he was a kid, before the lawn mower chewed them up. This one was significantly heavier and more realistic than any of those had been. When he'd decided on his current course of action he'd dug the weapon out of the closet, along with his old flight gear and a few other useful items. Of course, he hadn't been really sure it'd work until he'd stopped in Arkansas on the drive home and tried it out. Boy did it ever work! That poor armadillo hadn't ever known what was coming. Neither had the one he'd tried the stun setting on, but that one was probably up and around again by now. The first one was probably being scraped up as yet another roadkill. The thought of the armadillo reminded Josh to double check the setting on the blaster now. Armadillos were one thing, but Air Force pilots were something else entirely. Josh swung around the corner and leveled the blaster at the other pilot from across the room. The officer's back was still turned to him, so the first he knew of Josh's presence was when the blue stun beam hit him square in the spine. He dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Josh rushed over and checked the pilot's pulse. It was strong and his breathing was shallow but regular. Josh quickly grabbed the Air Force pilot' s name tag and flightline pass from his flightsuit before stuffing him into an equipment locker and closing the door. Hopefully Josh would be far away before the pilot awoke or anyone opened the locker. Moving quickly, Josh grabbed another set of flight gear and a helmet from their racks. Yes, he'd lied and cheated to try to live his dream. And along the way he'd probably tolerated a few things he shouldn't have. _Only one article of the code left,_ he thought as he headed for the door to the flightline.