The Hunters by James Salter

gone, and I had two right in back of me that I damned near never got away from.”
    Pell came up, his face circumspect, but subduing a grin.
    â€œHow’d it go?” he said to Cleve casually. “I understand you got a MIG.”
    â€œThat’s right. I hear you got one, too.”
    â€œI did,” Pell said happily. “I guess I was pretty lucky. I got hits all over him, though.”
    â€œWhere did you get the idea that you could take off alone in the middle of a fight?”
    Pell’s expression was innocent.
    â€œI didn’t know I was alone,” he protested, “until I was just about to start firing on this MIG, and then it was too late to do anything else. I lined up behind him . . .”
    â€œWhat do you mean you didn’t know you were alone?” Cleve interrupted. “What made you think you could go off and leave your leader?”
    â€œHe said it was OK. I asked him.”
    â€œListen, you son of a bitch,” DeLeo began, “you never asked me a thing.”
    â€œYes, I did. I called out two MIGs to the right of us, and you said it was OK to go after them. I thought you were with me all the time.”

    â€œI didn’t tell you to go after anything,” DeLeo said flatly.
    â€œI thought you did. Well, that’s probably what caused us to become separated.”
    â€œI don’t care what caused what, Pell. You never said a word to me, and even if you did, I didn’t tell you anything about going after them. When you’re flying wing, your job is to cover me, and you stay there and do that no matter what you see or think. You almost got me killed today.”
    Pell did not reply.
    Cleve was tempted to let it go as a misunderstanding. Things like that could happen easily enough in the excitement of fighting, he reasoned. Meanwhile, it seemed as if a dozen people were crowding around him, offering handshakes and asking how he had done it. He found it difficult to sustain any displeasure. He was swept along in a flurry of rejoicing. There were two MIGs in his flight.
    â€œCleve,” Imil said, punching him on the flat of the shoulder, “I knew you’d do it. It took a while, but I knew you would.”
    â€œHe bailed out,” Cleve grinned. “I could have kissed him.”
    â€œYou should have given him a squirt.”
    â€œOh, no. That one’s my friend. He may be back tomorrow with another MIG for me.”
    Imil laughed.
    â€œIt’s only the beginning,” he said. “You’re on the way now. I hear a wingman in your flight got one, too.”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œWho was it?”
    â€œPell. He’s a second lieutenant.”
    â€œPell, eh? They tell me it was only his seventh mission at that. Well, that’s good work.”

    Everybody was saying nice going. Nolan came by, and Desmond. The debriefing was continually interrupted. A sergeant was standing by to take pictures for press releases. Cleve felt the full warmth of exhilaration devouring him. So this was what it was like to win. Already he could no longer recall the hunger and despair of days past.
    DeLeo stood in the background silently. Cleve took the opportunity to talk to him as soon as he could. He wanted to smooth it over.
    â€œIt won’t happen again,” he said.
    â€œHe’s going to get shot down,” DeLeo swore. “They’ll get him up there alone and murder him. He’s a smart one, but I don’t care how smart he thinks he is or how good he thinks he is. If he’s alone, he can’t cover himself, and they’ll get him. I don’t give a damn if they do. He’s asking for it. He’ll never leave me again, though. I won’t fly with him.”
    â€œHe’s all right,” Cleve argued, feeling the words awkward in his mouth. “It was probably a misunderstanding, that’s all. Give him the benefit of the doubt.”
    â€œIt was no