HEDY LAMARR<br/><br/>I stood in the crew room absolutely fuming, hands on hips and watching this bunch of children at play. None of these people were acceptable. I was wasting my time. I raised my voice.<br/><br/><strong>"STOP! In here. NOW!"</strong>I stuck my head in the bunkroom door.<br/><br/><strong>"What are you people doing? Have you never attended a crew debrief in your lives? You get out of you plane and you walk to the pilots office and we discuss the flight. You don't go and claim a bed, you don't unload gear, you don't mess about getting pretty and you certainly do not get out of your flying clothes. Everyone, back in your flying gear <em>now</em>, you're taking off again at once."</strong><br/><br/>I stuck my head out the office door and called across the hangar deck to the Boss,<strong>"Bob, check fuel levels and if needed, fuel them up. The fuel gets deducted from the pilots pay. I want these planes ready for launch in twenty minutes!"</strong><br/><br/>I went back into the crew lounge and waited for the pilots to gather, ignoring all their chit chat.<br/><br/><strong>"Be quiet, I don't want to hear your prattling."</strong>I glared around the room, locking eye contact with everyone, my eyes blazing.<strong>"I hoped to have a few mercenary pilots to make up a useful squadron with which to fight a war. Yes, a war. A personal war. Where people get killed. As it is I think I got lumbered with some kindergarten rejects. Do none of you know the first thing about flight operations?"</strong>I glared around the room.<strong>"Anyone? Anyone at all? I didn't think so. That mission was a waste of time and fuel. None of you learned anything, though I learned a lot. I should throw you all off my ship and send you back to Haven to join the circus because I don't think you measure up. The <em>Blue Ridge</em> is not anywhere near the rendezvous point yet, you've all arrived at least thirty minutes early. It seems to me you just took off, flew a vector that followed the airship and caught it up to land on. Not one of you used their map board did you? No-one used a compass or a proper plot. No-one actually did any proper <em>navigation</em>."</strong>I glared around the room.<br/><br/><strong>"This ship is going to turn south, I have an appointment to keep and I'm going to keep it. I have a passenger to drop off and if necessary I'll pilot him myself because I still have no evidence that any of you can fly him to a map reference. You will all get back in your planes, launch at ten minute intervals, fly east fifty miles and then fly south. You will fly individually and not in formation because I need evidence that each of you can navigate. I will have my navigator wireless you a map co-ordinate, an altitude and a time and you will then fly to that position and dock back on board. That should bring us to around six o'clock, so you might miss dinner. I also, when you arrive, expect one of you to have been elected as squadron commander. You can discuss that in the air. If this is not acceptable to you say so now and you can then return to Haven because you won't be returning to the <em>Blue Ridge</em>. Now get off my ship!"</strong>