Читать книгу Chasing the Arrow - Charles Reid - Страница 8

“After all that blather about missiles replacing fighters, now the Yanks are saying they’re developing a long-range supersonic fighter of their own,” Crawford Gordon said to the CF-105 engineers assembled in his office. “Can you believe it?”

“Where’d you hear that, Crawford?” Jim Floyd asked.

Gordon grinned. “I have my little eyes and ears down there. Take it from me. It’s true. The project is code-named LRIX, Long-Range Interceptor Experimental, so, everyone, if you hear any more about this, let me know.”

“Well, in one way it might make our government a bit more confident about what we’re doing,” Joe Wilkie said.

“Maybe,” Gordon replied thoughtfully, “but it might also scare the devil out of them in case the Yanks get their long-range supersonic plane off the ground first.”

“I think we can expect more heat about our timetable and all sorts of unrealistic demands to speed the project up,” Floyd grumbled.

Gordon thumped his desk. “You can bet on it! Never knew a politician who didn’t have a knee-jerk reaction to everything. Anyway, men...and, Emily, let’s keep things moving as fast as we can. That’s it for today.”

The meeting broke up and everyone headed back to their various offices.

At the next Friday assembly in November at the Carter home, Robbie didn’t hear anything more about the CF-105 that he could understand. Feeling very drowsy, he was thinking of giving up when the next words he heard made him instantly alert.

“Jack, what do you think the Yanks are up to with this LRIX, the new long-range supersonic fighter they’re developing?” Robbie recognized Joe Wilkie’s voice.

“Who knows?” Jack Fowler said. “One thing’s sure, though. They’re bound to have a weight problem no matter what they build, because we have all the titanium supplies locked up.”

“Which means they’ll have to use steel,” added Emily, who had just come in from the kitchen with the sandwiches.

Fowler smiled. “Right you are. And that means weight, which means more power to achieve the same speed as the CF-105.”

“Which brings me back to the same question,” Joe piped up. “What are the Yanks trying to do? Surely they can’t have an engine up their sleeves that’s more powerful than the J-75.”

Fowler grabbed a ham sandwich and said between mouthfuls, “If they have, Joe, they’re hiding it well.”

“Even if they do have one, they must know we have the Iroquois coming online.”

“That’s true, but I guess it all comes down to who’s the farthest ahead,” Fowler said.

“Well, let’s not get too worked up,” Emily interjected. “After all, we’re only speculating.”

Joe sipped his tea before saying, “I think Emily’s right, and in a way, it’s good news because it demonstrates that the threat of everyone suddenly switching to a missile defence is overstated.”

Robbie couldn’t help grinning. He still found it strange and thrilling that it was his mother down there talking with all those experts as an equal.