Two Aviators Squared Up On Me Mid-Launch—Then One Move Shocked Everyone

I had timed my arrival for the busy half of a launch cycle so the deck would be crowded and I would be no one, one more float coat learning the deck before it learned me. I had eleven minutes aboard when two of the pilots I had crossed an ocean to lead decided a woman with no name on her gear did not belong on their flight deck, and put a hand on my arm to move me. What my hands did in the next three seconds is not the part of that morning I am still thinking about.