Ten-odd minutes later, the Helicarrier climbed to an altitude of thirty thousand feet...
Wu Lie stood on the carrier's deck, bare-chested and holding a huge mop. Enjoying the unobstructed sunlight, he loudly complained into his communicator...
"Bro, hey, bro, can you let me in? My skin's about to peel off!"
As he spoke, Wu Lie took off his sunglasses and walked to the edge of the carrier to look down. Then, a little irritably, he shouted into his communicator, "Don't do this~
What if I fall? What am I supposed to do then?
I'll wash the dishes, okay?"
While Wu Lie was still chattering away, trying to get back inside, Alvin welcomed the pilots who'd come to help in the command room.
This was actually Alvin's first time meeting Bird in person, but the man's cowboy temperament suited Alvin's standards for a friend...
Looking at the tall, middle-aged man before him, Alvin smiled and gave him a hug. "I've been meaning to invite you to my restaurant for a drink...
But it looks like you really are busy!"
Bird nodded cheerfully. "I really am busy...
Busy training, busy risking my life, busy getting myself sent to a court-martial..."
As he spoke, Bird turned and pointed to the ten pilots behind him. "Ben Gannon, Kara Wade, and Henry Purcell are ace pilots sent by the Department of Defense...
The rest are my buddies from Pennsylvania Air Force Base..."
Alvin narrowed his eyes and studied the three pilots Bird had singled out: a young white man, a young white woman, and a Black man...
He'd expected the United States military to make some kind of move, but he hadn't expected the Department of Defense to get involved directly.
Lin Shaoqing and the others were amateurs. If they wanted to fly their spaceship