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Those Daring Young Men

Written by Rick Boatright

The door into the building opened, spilling young men and sunlight into the space.

"Rotgut, Henrich, all around. And the paint."

"We're out of the Grantville Rotgut. You'll have to make do with the Italian version."

"As long as it's corn liquor, and burns, it will do."

Heinrich scanned the faces, quickly assessing who was missing. "Johan?" He took the container of bright pink paint down from the shelf behind the bar and handed it across. Then he placed a tray of shot-glasses on the counter.

"Ja. The left aileron hinge tore loose from the wing root, but not cleanly. The Marie was never built to attempt an immelman. The main wing spar cracked, and he came in hard." Georg's hand made a twisting swoop through the air, and fluttered to the bar top.

A sound of scraping came from the far wall as tables were moved. Eleven bright pink pairs of wings flew in perfect coordination in two rows along the top. Quickly, tables were piled and a young man stood and added another pair.

Meanwhile, the pink silk scarves they all wore were folded and placed under their epaulettes.

The tray made its way around the group. Each man took a glass, then twelve shot glasses were placed in a "missing man" formation with one out front.

Isaac looked around to see if everyone was ready. "To Johan! And to the ...