Scavenger's Mission (The SkyRyders Book 1)

by Liza O'Connor

  “Which are?”

  “You’re grounded. And that’s a direct order from your commander.”

  “Did he say why?” she asked, wishing again she’d never offered to transfer to another squad.

  Sparkes stroked her cheek. “Because he cares about you.”

  Alisha had already told Sparkes there was nothing between her and the colonel, yet somehow he sensed her lie.

  “I’m not saying anything’s going on between the two of you. I’m just saying he cares. Hell! I care about you, and I’ve only known you for a few hours.”

  “It’s fine to be cared about,” she replied. It was more than fine, she admitted to herself. After growing up with parents who’d detested her, it was wonderful. “But I have to be allowed to do my job, or I shouldn’t be captain.”

  “You’ve done your job. And you’d see that if you would just step back and assess the situation with the cool logic you used this morning. As far as being captain, I doubt you’ll have that rank for long. I’m predicting MAC will move you up pretty fast. Fair warning, from my own experience, you’ll never feel you deserve your rank, and neither will anyone else. Don’t bother killing yourself to prove them wrong, because you can’t. The truth is you didn’t pay your dues, and no MAC assessment is ever going to change that.”

  The sadness in Sparkes’ eyes surprised her. “Wow, you’re giving me a bright future to look forward to.”

  Sparkes forced a smile. “It’s not as bleak as all that. You get paid well and invited to better dinners.”

  “Get all the women you want,” Alisha teased.

  Sparkes sighed. “My reputation is giving me so much trouble today. Are there, by chance, children in Broadtown claiming to be mine?”

  “Do you think there might be?”

  “No, but as bad as my reputation is everywhere else, it seems to be worse in Broadtown—a place I’ve never set foot in, by the way.”

  “I thought you were proud of your Romeo reputation.”

  “It has its uses,” admitted Sparkes. “Keeps the husband-hunters at bay.”

  “Just be glad you aren’t a socialite. With your looks, the mothers wouldn’t care about your reputation. They’d still want to acquire you.”

  “You make me sound like a trophy.”

  “I think a trophy has a better life,” Alisha replied. “It gets to sit on the mantel. No one expects it to converse with some of the dullest people on Earth each night.”

  Sparkes stared at her for a moment. “You sound like you’ve experienced this dreadful life.”

  Alisha hadn’t meant to talk about her old life, but talking with Jack came easily. “Okay, I’m going to share a secret with you. Only you can’t tell anyone. Even the colonel doesn’t know this.”

  Sparkes sat down on a crate and made room for her to join him. “You have my confidence, forever.”

  “My parents are socialites in Flatland. They expected me to marry this charming, middle-aged gentleman named David Bowan.”

  “The President’s son?”

  “No, that’s Eric. I was to marry the President.”

  “Isn’t he married?”

  “He’s setting his present wife aside for a newer model.”

  “And you were the newer model?” Sparkes asked dubiously.

  “Hard to believe,” she admitted, and laughed as she scuffed the ground. “Truth is, they never allowed him to talk to me, so he had no idea how unsuitable I’d be.”

  “They can’t legally force you to marry anyone, can they?”

  Alisha laughed. “No. The rich are required to go by the same laws as the rest of the country, but there’s a fine line between forcing and coercing. Young ladies aren’t raised with any marketable skills. Our education focuses on style, conversation, and etiquette. Unless we’re willing to live on the street, we’ve really no choice but to follow our parents’ wishes.”

  “But you do have skills,” Sparkes said as he brushed a speck of dirt from her cheek.

  “I didn’t when I ran off. I just knew there had to be something better than being the wife of David Bowan.”

  “So you…”

  “Crawled out a window and hitched my way to Capital, where I found my grandfather. I had hoped he could help me until I learned a skill.”

  “He wouldn’t?”

  “He couldn’t. He was near death when I finally located him in horrible squalor. Gramps was so weak he couldn’t even get out of bed to relieve himself.”

  “I’m sorry. What happened then?”

  “Well, I had a new goal. I needed to take care of Gramps. And I was willing to do anything for that goal. He’s the only person who has ever loved me.”

  Alisha was surprised when Jack took her hand and pressed it to his lips. Oddly, she wasn’t alarmed by his familiarity. It didn’t seem to be passion he offered, only affection.

  “What happened?”

  “Well, I was lucky, and some very nice street people took me under their wings and educated me in the ways of the world.”

  His brow furrowed at her statement. “What’d you do for money?”

  “I didn’t have any marketable skills, so I was open to anything as long as it paid well. One of my friends offered to pimp for me if I wanted to sell my body, but I decided against it when a guy beat my friend Betty to death in an alley.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, that was a rough time. She was the first friend I ever had…and she lived for only three days after I met her.”

  “Surely you had friends growing up.”

  “Not really. I was so different from the other debutantes that I always felt apart from them. I’d go to their parties, and they’d come to mine, but no friendships, only social obligations.”

  Alisha smiled as she remembered her vivacious friend. “Betty was so tough on the outside but softhearted and kind as a kitten on the inside. When she saw me on the street, she came over to kick my ass off her corner, but the second she realized I was clueless and lost, she took me in and fed me. She introduced me to other really nice people and helped me find my grandfather. And then that bastard killed her…”

  “Who?”

  Alisha wiped her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing can bring her back.”

  She stood and faced the wind so the tears would be carried away. She felt Sparkes slip his hand into hers and squeeze gently. When she finally opened her eyes, he was staring straight at her.

  “Thank you for sharing.”

  “It was probably more than you ever wanted to know about me.” Alisha blushed, feeling foolish for having disclosed so much to a colonel she’d known for only a few hours.

  “No. It’s just the surface of what I want to know about you.”

  “Well, it felt good to talk about it,” she admitted.

  “I’m glad.” He stood up and looked at his watch. “The first squad will be at the landing strip. We should go down and see them off.”

  Alisha’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure you weren’t just listening to my stories to keep me from tracking down the colonel and demanding he withdraw his order?”

  “No,” Sparkes said, then smiled. “It would have been very clever of me had I thought of it. You should know MAC has put Logan in charge of the battle.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Because it doesn’t believe the battle can be fought using long-range communication.”

  “MAC’s right.”

  Damn it! Everyone is going to battle except me!

  Chapter 41

  Logan and the general made their way down to the landing site. The First Squad was suited and ready for takeoff. Logan could see Alisha running toward them with Sparkes jogging behind, trying to maintain some level of professional decorum.

  He didn’t laugh too hard at Sparkes, because he’d be running as well if Alisha stopped at the officers’ tent for her gear. When she passed the tent, Sparkes relaxed but kept up a brisk pace.

  Alisha ran to First Squad, speaking to each one. He
could see the confidence in their faces. She had prepared them for their task as well as possible, and they knew it. They truly believed they’d be coming back.

  As the general took his turn giving them a speech, Alisha ran up to Logan and pulled him farther away. When they were out of hearing range, she spoke.

  “I’m sorry I said I wanted a transfer. I don’t. I never did. I was just angry with you for not understanding why I didn’t cut them.”

  “I do understand,” Logan assured her. “And you did the right thing.”

  “Really?”

  Her happy smile assured him that all was well. Logan caught himself before he reached out and stroked her cheek. “As a leader you have to protect your squad, but not overprotect them. It’s a fine line, and you walked it well today.”

  She paused before she spoke. “Philly’s been assigned as videographer for the first line.”

  “I’m aware of that,” Logan replied.

  “I could go instead if you don’t think he’s ready.”

  “Did Sparkes fail to tell you that you’re grounded?”

  “No, he told me, I just thought that maybe you didn’t think Philly was ready for this.”

  “I watched him in action. His marksmanship threw him out of the finals, not his flying. But I know for a fact he normally shoots better than he did today. So he’s the right person for the job.”

  She nodded. “That’s what Colonel Sparkes said as well.”

  Logan felt his now-familiar dislike of Jack Sparkes return. “Then it must be true,” he snapped, and turned to rejoin the squad.

  “Colonel!” Alisha called out.

  Logan considered ignoring her, but in the end, he found it impossible to do. He turned and faced her.

  “Fly well and come home safe.”

  Logan gave her a nod and joined the squad.

  ***

  Alisha’s heart was in her throat as she watched First Squad and her colonel take off. Keep them safe, she prayed.

  After they went airborne, the second wave quickly took their marks and followed. The third wave held on the ground waiting for orders.

  The familiar hand on her neck told her Jack was beside her as she watched the flyers climb and disappear into the sky. It was as if the heavens had devoured them.

  She shivered at the horrible thought.

  “You all right?” Jack asked.

  “I’m frightened for them,” she admitted. “I’d feel better if I were with them. Then I’d be too busy to be afraid.”

  “Then let’s put you to work.”

  Jack led her to the general’s tent, where several monitors lined a table. One showed a close-up of a grim-faced Colonel Logan.

  Alisha smiled as the colonel gave Philly a clear hand signal to shoot forward and stop playing around.

  “Good thing the general didn’t see that,” Jack said.

  “See what?” Powell demanded from behind them.

  Alisha feared for Philly. She sensed the general would be severe on soldiers who released tension through antics.

  “Jack, I asked you a question. What wasn’t I supposed to see?” The general pushed between them and glared at the monitors.

  Several screens were active now, and Philly was shooting the squad, so it wasn’t apparent what had been inappropriate for the general’s eyes.

  “If I told you, sir, it would be the same as you having seen it, and I clearly stated that it was good you had not seen it.”

  Alisha almost choked at Jack’s reply. Was he deliberately trying to provoke the general into a rage? She expected an explosion of temper any moment now, but instead the room fell into eerie silence.

  “So that’s the way it’s going to be? Captain, would you care to tell me what Jack didn’t want me to see?”

  “It wasn’t of importance, sir. The plan looks to be on schedule and good to go.”

  The general studied the monitors. “My guess is it was the videographer for Wave One. Probably taking a shot of his crotch.”

  “No, sir,” Alisha said.

  “Well, he did something inappropriate. I could tell he was going to be that type the second I laid eyes on him at the landing site. There’s this little twinkle of joy in his eyes, like he’s going to a whorehouse with a free pass to—” The general stopped abruptly. “My apologies, Captain. Jack, give me a more acceptable allusion.”

  “Country fair with his prize pig?” Jack offered.

  The look of disgust on the general’s face was enough to make Alisha burst into laughter.

  “With a prize pig? Why the hell would that put a sparkle in a young man’s eyes?” the general demanded, trying to keep his stern frown, even though Alisha could tell the edges of his mouth were trying their hardest to tug into a smile.

  Jack also succumbed to laughter, and finally so did the general.

  As Alisha wiped her eyes and calmed down, a heavy hand clamped down on the back of her neck. Clearly not Jack’s.

  “Don’t you ever tell a soul that you saw me laughing,” the general warned.

  “No, sir.”

  “They wouldn’t believe her anyway,” Jack muttered.

  “You know, Jack, I can replace you now. Logan tells me Alisha scored pretty high on the field exams.”

  Jack just smiled and studied the video. “I thought you liked bragging that you have the best, sir.”

  “I’m tired of bragging, Jack. It gets old. I think I’d like the second-best field expert—she’ll try harder.”

  “I’m relieved you think so,” Jack said, then grew serious. “They’re setting their mark, sir.”

  With a giant paw on each of Jack’s and Alisha’s shoulders, the general took his place directly behind them and watched the Wave One monitor.

  ***

  Alisha now understood why Philly was the right choice for the job. The visuals were perfect in both focus and stability. It was like being there. He also seemed to have a sixth sense about what they wanted to see and when they wanted to see it.

  Philly hung a hundred feet above the line to video the squad as they performed their vertical drop, then max-zoomed down to the ridge, showing they were directly over their mark. He searched out the targets so they could see none had been moved, then he swept to the west bank and isolated their key areas of defense and the electric carts being used to move the drugs out from their location in the wind farm. He even followed a truck back to where it stopped inside the wind farm. As he zoomed in, she could see the hump of the sand-covered tarp that hid the supplies.

  “Back to the troops,” the general growled.

  Like magic, the camera swept back to the troops and showed their progress. This was followed by a close-up of Philly’s own altitude.

  “Whatever this soldier did, I don’t want to know. I like his work.”

  Jack glanced at Alisha, raising his eyebrows in a “you see, I was right” expression. She gave him a reluctant smile in return. There was no question he’d been right. Philly knew how to video.

  Suddenly, the space between the camera and the line began to increase.

  “He must be holding at five hundred,” Alisha said. “I told him to hold there.”

  The general glared at her. “Since when did you take command of my battle?”

  “He’s part of my crew, sir. I want him back,” she said. She expected the general to start bellowing, but she didn’t care. It was the truth, and she wasn’t going to be ashamed of it.

  To her amazement, the general didn’t yell at all. “Don’t blame you…damn good videographer. Jack, why isn’t he assigned here?”

  “He has a sense of humor, sir. You particularly requested MAC to weed out cadets with a sense of humor.”

  Alisha glanced up at Jack to see if he was joking.

  The general caught her look of confusion. “After MAC sent me Jack, I had just about as much humor as I could humanly bear. So I did make that request. I may have to rethink it if I’m letting this caliber of talent slip out of my net.” He focused on the moni
tor. “Is wave two in place?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Any time now,” Powell whispered.

  The general’s grip on Alisha’s shoulder turned from firm to painful, but she forgot it as Philly’s view moved to the targets. Squad one had silencers on their rifles, so the only proof of death by their crew was Philly’s video. One minute the watchers were staring at the skyline with binoculars and the next they appeared to be sleeping.

  “One out, two out, three out, four out, five out, six…still looks alive…”

  Philly focused on the sixth guard a bit longer, then moved on.

  “Seven out, eight out, nine out, ten out, eleven out.”

  Immediately the video moved back to six. You could clearly see the man trying to turn the concussion launcher to aim up at the team.

  “Why the hell don’t they shoot him?” the general snapped.

  ***

  Logan had Philly’s live feed in the upper left corner of his visor, allowing him to quickly assess his next move. The first wave was no longer in position to fire at the target. He could either forfeit the surprise attack and send the second wave at the launcher, or use Philly, who, at a higher altitude, still might have a chance to take the guard out before he could change its position.

  “First, go on home,” he ordered. “Philly will take it from here.” Logan hoped to hell that was clear to his men while being innocuous to anyone listening on the radio. The first wave headed west off the ridge. Logan clicked his mic twice to signal the second squad to drop down from high altitude for a surprise attack. He was taking a huge risk. If Philly missed his shot, then Logan had just killed himself and both squads.

  He could hear fire being returned from the ground, so squad one no longer had the advantage of surprise, but hopefully they had managed to do some serious danger on the west side as well before they got the hell away.

  His attention returned to Philly. Come on, son, don’t let me down, he prayed as he watched Philly grab his rifle from his shoulder and take aim. Logan wasn’t certain he’d get a round off. The launcher was primed, and the guard reached for the trigger.

  ***

  The video became erratic.

  “What the hell is going on?” the general demanded.