“Sir, I would like permission to cull from my own squad as well,” Alisha said.
The general’s eyes rounded in outrage, but after an intense pause, he replied, “Granted, but make it DC.”
“Sir, I would not choose him—” Alisha tried to explain, but the general cut her off.
“You will choose him because I told you to. And attempt to question my orders again and I’ll have you in the brig right this minute!” he bellowed, and turned to Sparkes. “Observe the training and give me progress reports every fifteen minutes. If I’m not satisfied at any point, I’m pulling the plug on this nonsensical plan, and we’ll go with a plan that makes sense.” He turned back to Alisha. “You’d better be right about no major dealers coming in the morning, because if I see just one, I’ll open an inquiry on you.”
Sparkes put his hand firmly on the back of Alisha’s neck and escorted her from the tent. “Not another word, just go,” he ordered, his voice low and soft.
Chapter 36
The general remained angry as hell, and now with Sparkes and Alisha gone, all his rage landed on Logan.
“This is what happens when you screw around with your captains. Discipline falls to hell. You cannot mix personal and professional roles. It confuses the lines, and clearly this girl crossed the line today.”
Since Logan had already refuted the general’s claim once, he didn’t bother restating it. Powell wouldn’t believe him. He had his own source, and evidently, in the general’s view, DC was more credible.
“In her defense, General, this is her first day as a Ryder,” Logan said.
“As a captain, you mean…” He breathed in and out, visibly calming. “Yes, I’d forgotten that.”
“I mean as a Ryder, sir. I recruited her four days ago, and she had one day of rough training under DC, then she took her captain’s test yesterday.”
“That’s not possible. It’s not even allowed.”
“Given her skill level in flying, I felt comfortable requesting an exemption to the general flying test.”
“So how did she get to take the captain’s test?”
“MAC upgraded her. It saw her landing as she came in to the center, and evidently concluded a basic fly test would be a waste of time.”
“I’ve never heard of that happening before.”
“According to Colonel Riley, it hasn’t.”
“Clearly she passed on flying,” the general said, “but how’d she do on her other scores?”
“High marks straight across,” Logan replied, refraining from bragging about just how high those marks had been.
The general sat down in his chair and tapped away on his computer. “That doesn’t make any sense. I’ve got men who study for years before passing those tests. How can that little bit of a girl…” The general stopped talking.
Logan was certain he had just requested Alisha’s test scores.
“System’s screwed up,” he complained, and abandoned the computer. Instead he walked over to the charts. “Is this plan of hers going to work?”
“I think it’s our best alternative.”
The general nailed him with a hard stare. “You’d better see that it is, because if it fails, I’m laying this fiasco cleanly on your shoulders.”
So the scapegoat wasn’t going to be Colonel Sparkes; it was to be him. Now he understood why Sparkes had wanted Alisha to offer an alternative. He’d wanted to get his own neck out of the noose.
“If that’s the case, sir, then I’d like to give my captain any support necessary to make this plan work.”
“If your assistance means pulling DC from the training, you can forget it. I want him in the squad. He deserves a chance to regain his rank.”
Logan shook his head and left the tent. Arguing was futile.
***
Colonel Sparkes may have removed Alisha from the tent before she could vent her frustration, but that didn’t save him from getting an earful.
“I need flyers with open minds. How is that going to happen with DC in the ranks? He’ll put all his focus on discrediting me, and he’ll succeed, because I’m going tell those Ryders facts that contradict what they’ve learned.”
“Well, no one said leading was easy.” Sparkes kept his hand firmly on her neck as he moved her away from the tent. “And keep your voice down.”
Alisha stopped dead in her tracks. “It’s not going to work. I’m just going to waste time. If you’re dead set on attacking, then do it now. They should be less alert in the morning.”
Sparkes gripped both her arms and shook her. “You’re angry, and I understand that. But if you give up now, we send them out on my plan, and we both know the results will be disastrous.”
“If you know that, then why are we doing it?”
“I don’t have a choice. The general will not withdraw. My only option is to reach for the best plan I can, and your plan is the best. You cannot back down on this, Alisha. Too many lives depend on it.”
“I can’t teach them with DC there!”
“Trust me, if DC steps out of line, I will intervene. I promise you. No one wants your plan to succeed more than I.”
Alisha studied his way-too-good-looking face. She saw nothing but worried sincerity in those baby-blues.
“I’ll try.”
***
The selected flyers arrived with their gear. She saw a circle gathering at one edge of the area. Sure enough, DC stood in the center of the circle, no doubt poisoning the well. Trying to limit his negative influence, she suggested they get started.
Colonel Sparkes called them to order and introduced her.
Alisha explained what she planned to teach them and how they would first modify their catchers.
“Are these reversible modifications?” asked a Ryder next to DC.
“We’ll be shortening the tethers.”
“Do we actually have to cut the tethers, or can they just be knotted?”
“It would be better if they were cut.”
“Not if this fails and I need my catcher battle-ready,” another flyer on the other side of DC chimed in.
“There’s a risk they may tangle if you tie them off instead of shortening them. But tie them off if you don’t feel comfortable at this point.” As the men shortened the tethers, Alisha noticed that not one had cut off the extra line.
As she explained the air dynamics that enabled a vertical drop, DC began his serious campaign to undermine her training.
“Excuse me, Captain, but you’re wrong, and had you ever attended a single day of training, you would understand how wrong you are.”
She ignored DC and spoke to those farther away from him. “I understand some of what I’m telling you is a contradiction to what you’ve learned.”
“That’s because what you’re saying is bullshit!” DC yelled.
Why wasn’t Sparkes doing anything? She glanced at him. Great, he’s glaring at DC. Great help.
“And while the basics of what you were taught tend to be right, the actual laws of aerodynamics are more complex.”
“And you spent how many years studying this, making you smarter than all of our instructors?” DC asked.
Finally, she turned to DC. “Private, you are not helping.”
“You think I want to help you?” DC laughed. “Then you’re even more brainless than I thought. I’m just trying to get this pointless waste of time over as fast as possible so we can go into battle.”
***
By the time Logan arrived at the landing site, the windcatchers had all been modified and Alisha was trying to explain how to bring the catchers down. Logan saw the problem immediately. To follow her instructions, the Ryders had to let go of several tenets that had been ingrained in them since their first day of training. Under normal circumstances that would have been difficult to do, but with DC poisoning the water with his clear resistance to her instructions, Alisha had no chance of succeeding. This mission would fail because of one bad apple, and Logan had been strictly forbidden
to remove him from the training.
Colonel Sparkes joined him. “I see why your captain was so adamant not to have DC in the line. He’s a problem.”
“Yes, and unfortunately I’ve been ordered not to pull him,” Logan admitted.
“Mind if I intervene?” Sparkes asked.
Logan refused to answer but gave him a slight shrug. He was willing to accept Sparkes’ intervention, but he wanted to make damn sure Sparkes couldn’t claim Logan had asked him to intercede.
Sparkes wasted no time getting in DC’s face. “I’ve had enough of your mouth, Private. If you say another word, I’m pulling you from the line.”
Sparkes hadn’t stepped two feet away before he heard DC call him a ground pansy. Sparkes actually looked pleased as he turned about-face. “Report yourself to the brig, Private.”
“For what? Telling the truth? We’re wasting our time here. You can’t do vertical drops without drifting. The only reason she can is that catcher of hers. But we don’t have her catcher, so this is bullshit.”
“I gave you an order, Private,” Sparkes said.
“Well, the general wants me here.”
Sparkes calmly pulled his gun and pressed it against DC’s forehead. “We are in a battle. I can pull this trigger, and it won’t even be grounds to open an inquiry.” He gave DC a smile. “I can see your little brain working, trying to figure out if I’m capable of killing you. You alone stand in the way of my flyers learning to vertically drop, and I need them to learn that skill to ensure a successful mission. I won’t lose a minute’s sleep removing the problem in my way.”
DC paled. “You misunderstood, sir. I fully intend to obey your order.”
Sparkes placed the gun back into its holster. “Why are you still here, Private?”
DC stepped out of the line, pushed his way through the crowd, and headed in the direction of the brig.
Logan doubted DC would actually report to the brig, but getting him out of the line would at least give Alisha a chance.
Colonel Sparkes seemed to have forgotten DC altogether. His focus was on the men in his line. Logan watched him trying to read their eyes, to determine which were now contaminated beyond recovery.
“Re, Cannon, Hardiman…step out as well.”
“Why, sir?” Jason Re asked.
“Because I think you agree with the private’s comments about this being a waste of time.”
“It doesn’t matter what I think, sir. I obey orders,” Jason Re countered.
“Wrong, Jason. It does matter what you think. You cannot succeed in a mission if you do not believe it possible!” Sparkes stepped back and addressed the line. “You’ve all seen Captain Kane perform this maneuver, yet some of you still think it can’t be done. That tells me I don’t have my best flyers.” Sparkes walked up and down the line, pulling out five more Ryders. He then turned to the crowd of Ryders watching the lessons. “Anyone who thinks they can learn this maneuver, step up. I’ve got nine openings.”
Logan was surprised, yet very proud, as his entire remaining squad stepped forward.
“I’ve got four spots left now,” Sparkes called out. “Come on, guys. This is your chance to sparkle.”
Seven flyers came forward. Sparkes selected four and sent the rest back.
His actions surprised Logan. He’d expected Sparkes to send off some of Logan’s squad to make room for his own men, but he hadn’t. Logan might be forced to change his opinion of the fast-rising colonel. The man actually made good decisions.
Logan’s new goodwill was stretched when Sparkes walked over to Alisha for a private word. His eyes narrowed in on Sparkes’ hand, placed on Alisha’s back, near the base of her neck. Logan often placed his hand on the shoulder of a cadet when speaking with them, but this wasn’t the same. Sparkes’ actions were more caressing, like a gentle back rub—with clear intention to seduce.
And how could she not fall for it? Sparkes had just come to her rescue while Logan had stood silent, forbidden to intervene. He had failed her not just as a lover but as a colonel as well, and here stood his replacement, looking better in all ways.
Chapter 37
Alisha’s heart swelled with pride when her entire squad volunteered to learn the maneuver. When seven more stepped forward, she fought the surge of emotions going through her and forced herself to steady. If she cried, she’d lose all credibility.
She was still struggling when Sparkes’ hand pressed down on her back.
“You all right?” he asked.
“It’s just when my squad stepped up, it…kind of got to me.”
“You can’t cry.”
“No, sir.”
“You got forty-five minutes, max. Don’t let me down.”
“I can do it, sir.”
Alisha went through the procedure again. This time, no one interrupted. Everyone listened.
“Okay, I’m going to go up and then come back down, so you can see how it’s done. Stay focused on how I’m continually adjusting the back panels.”
Ascent with her own catcher would have been faster, but she couldn’t risk the squad thinking her “special” catcher enabled her to perform a vertical drop. She borrowed Ginnie’s catcher and ascended two hundred feet, then used the back tethers to prevent her descent from drifting on her mark.
When she landed, she saw she had convinced them that it was at least possible with their own modified equipment, despite their education to the contrary.
She returned the catcher to Ginnie and took her friend’s arm. “Ginnie, I need you to do it now.”
Ginnie’s eyes rounded like a terrified bunny’s.
“It’s not hard. We’ll be on mic. I’ll talk you through it.”
“Shouldn’t you get one of the others to go first? There are some really good flyers here.”
“Ginnie, you are a really good flyer. You just don’t know it. I need you to show them how easy this is.”
Reluctantly, Ginnie slipped into the harness as Alisha attached the mic to her ear.
“I’ll move your spot farther down, so don’t worry about your drift on takeoff. That’s not important. When you hit two hundred feet, engage the back flaps and bring it down straight.”
As Ginnie ascended, Alisha heard one of the flyers criticize her takeoff.
Jersey’s voice barked a cutting reply. Alisha didn’t turn around. She remained focused on Ginnie, but she was glad her squad looked out for one another. Now all she had to do was get Ginnie down successfully on her first try. It would spark the confidence she needed to teach this in the thirty minutes remaining.
“Okay, Ginnie, gently pull the back tethers until you come to a halt. Nice touch! Okay, while you’re still up high, take a little time to get the feel. Relax the tethers just a bit, so you can get a feel for the play you have. Good. Did you notice how you were slowing, but at a certain point you lost control and soared forward? The backplane momentarily collapsed on you. The forward momentum re-inflated it. That happens on occasion. You can’t go back, but don’t get flustered. Just set a new target and try to keep it off that edge. Your best downward slope is an eighth of an inch before a collapse occurs.”
Ginnie held remarkably still in the air. Alisha was so proud of her. “You look great, so let’s start down now. The only difference from hanging up there and descending is that you need to reach out and snag your forward tethers without changing your tension on the backs. It’s going to be awkward at first, but just concentrate on not changing the back tether pull even as you reach out.”
Alisha frowned as Ginnie soared forward, but then she stopped and held. “Good, you got it! Now ease it down, keeping the back tethers just like you have them. They’re absolutely perfect!”
Alisha didn’t breathe until Ginnie set down. Fifteen feet off the mark, but it was a great start.
She pushed her way through the crowd surrounding Ginnie as they gave her high fives. “Everybody in their harnesses. We don’t have time for any more private lessons. Hopefully you were paying
attention. Ginnie missed the mark by fifteen feet. That’s survivable. Anyone missing their mark by more than fifty feet is off the line, first run. We don’t have time for slow learners. So when you go up, remain focused on your catcher. You can feel when it’s going to collapse.”
Ginnie nodded in agreement.
“Line up, five at a time.”
True to her word, she cut the Ryders who couldn’t land within fifty feet of the mark. To her amazement, however, only five Ryders missed the mark. To her pride, her entire squad remained after the cuts.
“This time, we’re going up to a thousand feet. So move your takeoff to wherever you need it, but the mark doesn’t move. And the miss tolerance is only thirty feet.”
Her squad impressed her. She only had to cut one Ryder in this round. Next she sent them up to an altitude of two thousand feet. As she waited for them to climb, Colonel Logan joined her.
His stern, expressionless face gave her no clue what he was thinking. Finally, he touched her cheek. For a moment she thought it a caress, then realized he was only checking that her mic was off.
“You are amazing,” he said.
Alisha smiled. “They astound me. And Ginnie… Did you see Ginnie? Wasn’t she incredible?”
“I’m proud of the whole squad. They’re holding their own in a very tough competition.”
“They are!” she admitted, and stared up into the sky. The first line had begun its descent.
“Looks like you’ll have more than you need to choose from. Keep in mind that this isn’t a competition where the winner gets a trophy. The winner is going to be landing in a nest of well-equipped guards. Sparkes may choose for you, but if you’re given the honor, consider battle experience as part of your criteria.”
Alisha’s smile faded. The colonel was right. She had lost sight of the final mission. She couldn’t imagine sending Philly or Ginnie into a first-line situation. Yet to exclude them after their performance… How could she do it without humiliating them?
Scavenger's Mission (The SkyRyders Book 1) Page 20
