Chapter 1, "The Angels" Summary

Jane Conrad is a new bride quickly learning the unspoken codes of Navy test pilots. Her husband, Pete, and all his friends are pilots. Slowly, the men of Group 20 are being killed; or, as they refer to it, "auguring in," "crunching," or "buying it." The same is true at Pete's first posting in Florida, as well as at the Navy's new test-pilot school at Patuxent River, where he is positioned after receiving a promotion. Although the men are saddened by the deaths, oddly enough it does not seem to bother them that there are so many casualties. Each man believes that, because of his own superior skills it could not happen to him.

On the other hand, Jane is deeply concerned for her husband's safety as evidenced by her having bad dreams and hallucinating that an official...