like the nose of a dog. “I know you’re disappointed it’s not a fighter,” she said, already feeling protective of the U-2. She wanted to cover its ears, make sure it didn’t hear it hadn’t been its pilot’s first pick. “But this girl will do us fine.”
“I know.” Yelena’s smile had a wistful edge as she came and patted the propeller. Nina hadn’t expected to be picked for the fighters, but Yelena had wept disappointment upon learning that she too had been assigned to the night bombers. Secretly, Nina was relieved. The regiment of fighters had claimed tiny fiery Lilia and a good many others she was surprised to realize had become friends. At least she wasn’t losing Yelena. The intensity of her own relief had startled Nina.
“Is it really so bad?” she ventured around an unexpected tightness in her throat. “Flying a U-2 with me?”
“I’d have liked to fly a Yak-1, but . . .” Yelena’s smile faded. “I told you I was born in Ukraine, before my family came to Moscow?”
“Yes.”
“My old village has been overrun by Germans,” Yelena said softly, and Nina’s hand fell from the propeller. “Mama had word from her sister. Everyone was fleeing, roads jammed with people carrying bundles, children screaming, dogs howling. And German planes flew along the roads, strafing the crowd. My grandparents are dead. My cousins, dead.” She stopped, lashes dropping in a quick, fierce blink. Nina wanted to put an arm about Yelena’s shoulders, but held back. “I don’t care if I only fly a U-2 and not a Yak,” Yelena finished. “I’d fly a broom, as long as I was able to fight the Fritzes.”
“And you’ve got the best navigator in the 588th,” Nina pointed out.
Yelena gave a watery smile. “The most modest too.”
They were going to fly well together, Nina already knew that. Marina Raskova had assigned all the pairings herself, and Nina’s heart lifted when she heard her assignment. Yelena was better but Nina was bolder; Yelena had sharper reflexes, Nina had keener eyes. They’d balance each other perfectly.
“So, Comrade Lieutenant Vetsina,” Nina said. “From here, it’s my job to keep you alive. You fly the plane and I fly you, so you have to do everything I say.” She said it jokingly, but the flash of protectiveness that went through her was oddly fierce. Were all the other navigators already so worried about their pilots’ safety?
“Don’t worry, Comrade Lieutenant. I’m a nice steerable creature. Just like her.” Yelena looked up at their U-2, slinging an arm about Nina’s neck. Nina leaned her head against that warm, firm shoulder. “What shall we name her?”
“I think . . .” Nina blew out a thoughtful breath, smelling the soap Yelena had used to wash her short glossy hair, contemplating their plane. What beautiful words those were: their plane. “I think she’ll tell us when she’s ready, don’t you?”
THEY FLEW OUT on a warm May morning, Raskova in the lead. She’d be taking command of the day bombers but had vowed to personally escort all the regiments to their front first. She rose into the air like an eagle, one hundred and twelve eaglets following her, red Soviet stars flashing in the May sunshine. They leveled off below the racing clouds, Yelena’s head moving in the cockpit ahead of Nina’s as she snugged their U-2 tight and swift into formation. Major Raskova waggled her wingtips as the last plane veered into line, and they all waved back, the ripple moving down the line of wings like laughter. Nina realized her eyes were streaming tears behind her goggles—she hadn’t cried since the very first time she’d taken to the air at nineteen. Yelena took her hand off the stick and stretched it back over her shoulder, giving Nina a blind wave, and Nina waved back. Without even seeing her pilot’s face, she knew Yelena had an ear-to-ear smile.
No one was smiling when they touched down at Morozovskaia. “Those bastards,” Nina spat. An escort of fighters from the Fourth Air Army had risen up to escort the 588th in, only the men hadn’t been content to fly escort; they’d flown attack patterns like advancing Messerschmitts.
“They’re friendlies,” Yelena had shouted back to Nina, who tensed as she saw the first attacking swoop. “They’re just playing—” She held their course, but several of the younger pilots had got flustered and dove out of formation.
“Raskova’s going to have their balls for earrings,” Nina snarled once everyone was safe on the ground.