Scavenger Falters (The SkyRyders Book 2)

by Liza O'Connor

“I’m also out of patience with punishing good soldiers. Sergeant Franklin, I award you five hundred merits for your assistance in helping us discover how to train Ryders without breaking all our ribs in the process.”

  Her words stunned him. She had solved the problem? “Exactly what was the sergeant’s contribution?” Logan asked. Truthfully, he just wanted to know the solution, but he wasn’t willing to let Alisha know she had so easily won this battle of wills.

  “We discovered it wasn’t you and it wasn’t the harness. The problem was placing me in the harness. It shifts the distribution of G-force. Even if you can physically carry the weight, the harness isn’t designed for two,” Alisha explained. “No amount of padding will change that.”

  This was hardly the good news he had wanted.

  “But then the sergeant suggested that I wear my own harness and hook it to your harness by the side clips. Jack and I tried it. We can go to G4 without any discomfort.

  Logan smiled. Such a damn simple solution. He looked up at the sergeant, who was clearly wishing he had never seen those harnesses. How could he reward the soldier for his positive contribution without softening the seriousness of his breach of regulations?

  “Sergeant Franklin, your demerits still stand. The regulation is there for safety reasons that we do not dare soften in a time of war. When I pick up my catcher each day, I must be certain that no one has tampered with it. Do you understand?”

  Franklin stated he did.

  “You should have either sent someone to find me or told the colonels they’d have to play with their own harnesses.” Logan paused, hoping that Alisha and Jack realized those alternatives had been available to them as well. “This will go in your permanent record, and if you ever break this reg again, I will personally see you out of this Corps.”

  Franklin looked quite ill.

  Alisha opened her mouth, but Logan didn’t give her a chance to reply. “Now as to the merits that Colonel Kane has given you for your contribution to the solution of this problem. I feel she was too conservative. The value of your contribution and assistance in solving this problem far exceeds five hundred merits. I’m doubling it, and putting in a recommendation that you be given an outstanding commendation.”

  “I’ll second that,” Alisha said.

  He turned to her. He did not want her seconding his commendation, and he did not want her anywhere near him, especially dressed in nothing but dark blue body-hugging polys. “And you are still out of uniform, Colonel Kane. And if you remain out of uniform thirty seconds longer, I will write you up as well.”

  Alisha stepped into her suit and zipped it up. “I wasn’t out of uniform for the fun of it, Colonel. One of our findings is that we’ll need modified flight suits for this maneuver, with the zippers in the back. And we didn’t use Jack’s harness and catcher because it hasn’t been modified yet, and we didn’t use mine because it would be too small to fit him!”

  Logan shook his head. He while her objections were reasonable, he needed to stay focused on the Sergeant.

  “Get my gear packed back exactly as I gave it to you, Franklin,” he warned and left the shed.

  Chapter 31

  “God!” Alisha whispered beneath her breath once Logan was gone. She then smiled up at the sergeant. “I’m sorry we got you into trouble, Franklin. I really didn’t think the colonel would mind.”

  Franklin assured her it was all right, but she could tell he wished she hadn’t gotten him into trouble either.

  Why was Logan being so hard-headed and mean these days?

  Jack’s hand caressed the back of her neck, and she felt the tension leave her body. He leaned in and whispered, “Let’s get you to the medic, before Logan returns and yells at you for that as well.”

  When she arrived at the medic ward, she was escorted right in. Sandy looked relieved.

  “Good thing you showed up. Colonel Logan had ordered me to have the MPs bring you here if you didn’t arrive before the hour was out.” She looked at her watch. “That’s five minutes from now.”

  “He’s in a horrible mood these days,” Alisha complained as she went behind a screen and undressed for the exam. “Is he okay?”

  “Well, I can’t account for his crappy mood this last week, but he did crack two ribs today. So whatever you’re doing, stop it immediately.”

  Alisha came from behind the screen wearing the thin paper gown. “I stopped the lesson after the first slam. Hell, it hurt me, and I was on his back. I knew it had to hurt the colonel. Two cracked ribs? How long will that keep him grounded?”

  “From normal flying? A couple of days, but he can’t do whatever he did today for several months.”

  “I don’t plan for anyone to do that again. We’ve determined a better way.”

  “How much better?” Sandy asked as she examined Alisha’s shoulder, which showed signs of bruising.

  “In line with normal flying,” Alisha said.

  Sandy sighed and looked Alisha straight in the eyes. “Do I have your word on this?”

  “Of course! Why would I lie?”

  “Sorry, I’m so used to working with macho men who will lie about anything if it keeps them in the air.” She walked to her table and started writing in Alisha’s file. “You look fine, minor bruising, nothing even worth seeing a doctor about.”

  “It was the deal I made with the colonel. He’d go, if I’d go.”

  “Then it was a worthwhile deal. And it will save Logan some agitation. I placed a fort-wide moratorium on Man 3. He did not take that well at all and assured me that MAC would overturn my decision, which it probably would, but I’ll save him the paperwork. If you say the problem that caused his injury is fixed, I’ll lift the grounding, and he can fly again in two days.”

  Alisha gave a small laugh. “You must be incredibly brave to ground the colonel, as grumpy as he’s been lately.”

  “It was a little scary,” she admitted. “You want to give him the good news?”

  “No, you can,” Alisha replied. She didn’t want to be anywhere near Logan.

  Chapter 32

  Logan entered the field tightly bandaged, well-padded but without pain killers in his system. He was fully aware of the latter point, because every step he took jarred his senses with pain. At least it wasn’t the mind-blanking pain of two days ago.

  For the last two days, he had spent his time soaking in a heated salt mixture that helped promote healing, reading reports of more disastrous battles and men dying. Those reports re-enforced the importance that he pass his test today and continue through the tests without further mishaps.

  Relief surged through him when he saw Alisha waiting on the field. He didn’t want to waste any time that morning. Still, she’d be watching his every step to see if he was still in pain.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked as he approached her.

  He refused to respond. He couldn’t trust her with the truth and he didn’t want to lie. If she knew the level of pain he was in, she’d refuse to fly, and while he could ignore Sandy, there was nothing he could do to force Alisha to teach him if she decided otherwise. However, if it were to come to that, he’d try to continue training on his own if necessary.

  “Grumpy, I see,” she muttered and played with the material of her new suit.

  “Stay focused, Alisha. Lives depend on it,” he snapped as he carefully unpacked his catcher and laid it out.

  “You know, in battle you aren’t going to have the luxury of that fluffing and arranging, and quite frankly, you aren’t going to pass Man 5 like that either,” she replied with her own testiness.

  “Then why don’t you show me Man 5,” he suggested. Instead of being a petulant child, he added mentally.

  For a moment, he thought she was going to ignore his suggestion. Then she went to his backpack and pulled out the new air-catcher MAC had shipped to him yesterday. He watched as she quickly attached it to his wind-catcher. He wanted to tell her to slow down and show him what she was doing, but decided he’d jus
t figure it out later.

  Once she gathered his catcher and placed it in a pile at his feet, she ordered him into his harness so he could ‘pop up’ a few times. Just the mention of the word ‘pop’ made his chest hurt. He was very sorry he had suggested this at all.

  Not seeing any way he could get out of it now without raising her suspicion, he climbed into the harness. Once he was in, she handed him the air-catcher and told him to throw it as high as possible. He did, and a second later, the pile of fabric took form in the air and lifted him off.

  “Simple as that,” Alisha declared. “Now pull your new AC line down flat,” she instructed, watching the air-catcher flatten against the front panel.

  Logan landed as gently as he could, but it still hurt like hell. He sure didn’t want to ‘pop up’ again, especially not since the maneuver was incredibly simple. There was no reason to suffer pain on something he’d be able to do in his sleep. “Why aren’t we teaching this with Man One and Two?”

  Alisha paused. “We could. It’s really simple. The only reason it’s included in Man Five is because it’s required to get out of a dead wind zone, but we can certainly teach it before.”

  Logan shook his head in disgust. What the hell had Jack been thinking when he set out this training plan? Surely, he must have seen the advantages of a fast takeoff in battle! Most the troops were bottlenecked on that damn wind tunnel when there were still valuable maneuvers they could learn!

  “Are there other maneuvers included in Man Three through Eight that could be taught earlier?” he asked, trying very hard to hide the anger he felt over this waste of resources and time.

  Alisha went through the maneuvers in her mind. “The one-eighty turns and crosswind tracking, that’s all.”

  “That’s a lot,” Logan said. “We need to change how we are training, Alisha.”

  “I’ll talk to Jack about changing the program,” she promised.

  Right, he thought. Run back to your lover and ask him to fix this problem. Why not, since it was his bad advice that had created the situation? He was glad as hell that Jack wasn’t there right now, because he might tear him apart limb by limb. What the hell had he been thinking? Vertical tracking and one-eighties could be incredibly valuable skills in battle!

  As the sun peeked over the horizon, Logan cleared his mind of Jack’s mistake. He needed to focus solely on flying.

  Chapter 33

  Alisha wasn’t sure why she had even bothered to come up with him. He performed the maneuver three times without a hint of any problems. He didn’t need her anymore. Not personally, and not professionally. “You just passed Man 3. You can take me back down now. I’m just unnecessary baggage at this point.”

  She desperately tried to fight off the tears that came with her words. She wanted to be the most important thing in his life, but the truth was, she wasn’t anything in his life. He had completely exorcised her, cut her out as if she were just some unwanted growth.

  By the time they landed, she had control of her emotions.

  General Powell demanded a progress report.

  “Three perfect runs, General. Colonel Logan has passed Man Three. We’ll start on Man Four today.”

  Powell was clearly pleased and pounded Logan on his back. Alisha took advantage of the distraction to leave before she started crying again. She couldn’t go too far however, because she was scheduled to go up with Benjamin in fifteen minutes. So she sat down on an empty cart behind the mess hall.

  She needed to cheer up before Benjamin’s lesson. He would mistakenly think she was upset with him. She needed him highly confident and happy for his run.

  His training would be slightly different than Colonel Logan’s. Benjamin would don the new suit she wore and attach his halter to her back so he could see how she did it, and then he would go alone. It was not reasonable to expect a new flyer to carry another Ryder on their back and perform such a flying maneuver. Only the colonel could do that.

  She was certain Benjamin would be fine on his solo. The truth was neither the Colonel nor Benjamin needed her hands-on training. And those that did need her help, she seemed unable to help. Even worse, by focusing on maneuvers instead of specific skills, she had failed to teach the troops all the simple skills first.

  Suddenly Jack’s gentle hand rested on her neck. She buried herself in his arms.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. “I thought Logan passed Man Three?”

  “He did,” she replied, her voice muffled because her face remained pressed against his chest. “He did it perfectly. Once he learns the rest of the maneuvers, he should take over the training, because I suck at my new job.”

  Jack let her talk herself out as he walked her back to the field so she wouldn’t be late for Benjamin’s training session. When they were with a hundred feet from Benjamin, he stopped her. “Alisha. We’ll talk about this more. But believe me. You have done a tremendous job! And Logan is right—we should start training the flyers on these other maneuvers. But what is right today wasn’t the best choice a week ago. We shot for the gold. What we wanted was fifty of you. But there are only two others who have the ability to follow you. That’s not a failing on your part. That’s simply because you are so extraordinary.”

  Alisha smiled at him. “You always say the right things, Jack.”

  “It’s easy when they’re true.” He nodded toward Ben. “Now go teach your protégé how to fly.”

  Alisha was about to hug him when she noticed they had an audience. Over a hundred cadets had come to see Benjamin off. She hoped it wasn’t going to make him nervous.

  As she pulled her flight suit from her pack, she realized she’d have to strip down in front of a hundred cadets. Well, hell! They’ve all seen naked women, surely one wearing polyprops won’t shock their senses too much. She asked Benjamin to unzip the new flight suit she wore. Once he did, she peeled it off, handed it to him, and donned her regular flight suit before frostbite kicked in.

  Benjamin stripped and dressed in the modified suit. She helped zip him up and noticed that his face was as red as the new suit. She was about to ask him if he was nervous when she heard the cat calls from the stadium. Evidently, the disrobing had set their audience into a frenzy.

  “Just ignore them,” she advised. “An hour from now, you’re going to be the star of this fort.”

  Benjamin gave her a smile. “They’re okay, Colonel. They just came out to cheer me on. Only, they didn’t expect to see a colonel in her skivvies as their reward for getting up early and braving the cold.”

  Alisha groaned and dropped her head in exasperation. “Well, no good deed goes without some reward,” she sighed. “How about you? Are you recovered from the thrill of seeing a half-frozen colonel in her skivvies?”

  “Yeah,” Benjamin assured her. “I’ve seen her wearing nothing but the top of the colonel’s PJs.”

  Alisha was horrified. “You don’t tell people that?”

  “No, sir,” he assured her. “Only myself, on occasion. And I don’t even believe it!”

  “You better not be telling tales about me,” she grumbled as she clicked him in. “My reputation is already shot to hell with everyone thinking Jack and I are partners.”

  She pulled them into the sky in a forward vertical climb, just to impress the crowd. She noticed Benjamin seemed mesmerized by her chute. “So I can do that now as well?” he asked excitedly.

  “I’ve no doubt about it, Benjamin,” she laughed.

  “Cool!”

  When they reached five thousand feet, she explained what she was going to do and then talked him through her actions as she performed the maneuver. She stiffened when she reengaged the catcher after they had dived for a thousand feet. Even though Jack had assured her it didn’t hurt, the memory of Logan’s ugly welt came to her mind. She felt Benjamin press against her back but the G-force was perfectly distributed. She ran through it again at four thousand, pulling out at three, and a final time at three, pulling out at two thousand feet.

&
nbsp; “Ready to try it on your own?”

  “Yes, sir!” Benjamin replied with happy enthusiasm.

  She landed and let him get into his own catcher. They both did a vertical climb to five thousand feet, then parallel dived. Alisha stayed a hundred feet to his right. This way she could give him on-the-spot advice in case he needed it.

  Not only did Benjamin not require advice, he actually out-flew her by the third dive. How the hell is that possible?

  When they landed, the whole crowd of cadets waited for her declaration. They wouldn’t know how well he did, because the test had been done at high altitudes to allow maximum time for recovery. Once both catchers were packed, she draped her arm around Benjamin and announced to the crowd that he had just passed Man Three.

  “Keep the fly suit,” she said. “You’ve earned it.” She suspected the suit gave him the longer horizontal drift. That extra lift would help him throughout the rest of the maneuvers.

  At lunch, Powell gave her some grief about being out of uniform, but she refused to apologize. “General, we would have lost twenty minutes running off that field and finding someplace to change. We don’t have time to spare. As Colonel Logan brought to my attention today. I need to be teaching more skills to those unable to pass the wind tunnel. So my time just got more precious than ever.”

  “That doesn’t mean you can strip down to you skivvies in front of my entire troop!” the general bellowed.

  “Sir, if you find one soldier who has never seen a woman in her skivvies, then I’ll apologize for shocking his senses, but I will not apologize for efficiently using my time, even if it did require me to undress in front of a hundred cadets. Believe me, sir, had there been a tree or bush in that field, I would have gone for it.”

  Alisha thought she had Powell quieted on the matter, but then Colonel Logan had to put his two cents in.

  “If you find yourself in such a predicament in the future, Alisha, may I suggest you use your catcher as a makeshift tent for cover?”

  “Exactly!” the general bellowed. “Why didn’t you do that?”