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or not?” Danny called through the door.
    Wes got back into the shower, letting the hot water stream over his head. He knew the others were going to want to know what he’d seen. They’d want to hear details. And if it didn’t happen tonight, it would happen tomorrow.
    Better to get it over with now.
    He finished his shower, pulled on some clothes, and was at the SUVs only a few minutes late. With the exception of Monroe, everyone was already there. But that wasn’t surprising. She seldom joined the crew after hours.
    Dione looked at Wes. “So, where should we go?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “To eat,” she said as if he were dense as a brick.
    He shrugged. “Hell if I know.”
    “Come on, Wes, we’re starving,” Tony Hall, the crew’s production assistant, said. Dione had kept him running errands all day, so he’d missed all the fun at the Pinnacles.
    “It’s been seventeen years since I’ve been here,” Wes said. But no one in the group seemed very sympathetic. He dug deep into his memory. “Uh … if it’s still there, John’s Pizza’s not too far away.”
    “John’s it is,” Dione said.
    John’s was still there. Unfortunately, though, the beer and the pizza didn’t last long enough for Wes to finish telling them about the crash. So, at Danny’s suggestion, they stopped off at a bar within walking distance of the motel named Delta Sierra.
    “That booth’s empty,” Alison said, pointing across the room.
    Danny laughed as they sat down. “Check this out.” He pointed at the table. It was glass topped, and underneath was a large piece of paper with the words pilot lingo in bold on top. Term number one, printed larger than the others, read:
DELTA SIERRA—Dumb Shit
    The aviation theme didn’t end there. The walls were covered with framed pictures of pilots and planes and hangars. And prominent on the list of drinks were a Bogey Shot, a Flattop Martini, and something called a Hornet in a Cage.
    Alison touched Wes on the arm. “Maybe we should have gone somewhere else.”
    “Why?” Danny asked. “This place is great.”
    “That’s because it was obviously named after you,” she scoffed. “I was just thinking that after the day we’ve had, maybe someplace a little less aircraft oriented might be better.”
    Anna smiled at Wes. “We don’t have to stay.”
    “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “It’s fine. Besides, Danny’s buying.”
    Laughter all around.
    Danny grinned. “I don’t believe I actually promised that.”
    “I don’t care if you promised or not, it’s what’s going to happen.”
    More laughter.
    When things settled down again, Danny said, “I’ll tell you what surprised me most out there today. I thought that plane was part of the Air Force, then all of a sudden we were surrounded by all these Navy people … sailors … whatever you call them. Since when is the Navy in the middle of the desert?”
    “China Lake’s a naval base, Danny,” Alison said.
    “Yeah, but where’s the water? Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the Navy’s thing boats?”
    “The Navy needs a place to test its planes and weapons,” Wes said. “So they set up out here a long time ago. Nothing better than the empty desert to drop a bomb in. And it’s ‘ships,’ not ‘boats.’ ”
    “Seriously, Danny,” Dione said. “It was all in the episode brief.”
    “Like I’m the only one who never reads those.” He looked around the table for support, but everyone stared back at him like he was an idiot. “Okay, fine. Sorry.”
    “I think it’s time for that first round?” Dione suggested.
    “Right.” Danny climbed out of the booth.
    “Take Tony with you,” Alison said. “So they won’t card you.”
    “Ha-ha,” Danny said, glaring at her. Though he was twenty-seven, he had one of those baby faces that made him look like he was barely out of high school. By comparison, Tony, a couple of years younger, actually looked like he was in his late twenties. As Danny