Damage Control (Valiant Knox)

by Jess Anastasi

  When he’d told her everything she needed to know, he descended the side of the craft and waited at the bottom, leaning back against the side. Like all the other recruits, she had five minutes to go over what she’d just been shown. Efficiently, when her time was up, she came out without him needing to remind her.

  As she reached the last drop off the side of the jet, Leigh automatically stepped up and held a hand out for her, clasping her forearm to help her down. He’d done it a million times before—often with Bren, sometimes with Seb, Lawler, or other pilots. And occasionally he’d been the recipient of a hand-down himself after a particularly long or stressful battle. His fighter pilots were a close-knit bunch, and they looked out for one another.

  But somehow, as Mia dropped down next to him and he hung on for longer than he needed to, the supportive gesture became weighted with a whole lot of other stuff going on under the surface.

  “Thank you, sir.” Mia’s hand tightened where she held his arm, rebooting his brain that had apparently stalled at some point.

  He dropped her arm and backed up a few steps. “Dismissed, Recruit.”

  Mia nodded and stepped around him, walking over to join the same woman he’d seen her with earlier.

  Leigh gave himself a mental shake. Are you ten kinds of moron, or what, Alphin?

  Did he want someone to realize he had an inappropriate interest in one of his recruits? Standing there, all but drooling on her was not exactly being subtle. He was at least fifteen years her senior, and her damned CO to boot. If that wasn’t enough to ice-over his desires, he didn’t know what was.

  Leigh walked over to where Seb was lining up the last two recruits.

  “I’ll take the group down to the physical training room for the next session.”

  Seb nodded. “See you down there in a few.”

  Leigh made an announcement over the general chatter and within a few moments, Lawler and he had the recruits headed down several levels so they could start the day’s physical tests. He and the other instructors needed to see what they were dealing with in terms of fitness levels before the recruits could move on to any kind of endurance challenges.

  The rings he made these recruits jump through to earn their wings might seem extreme, but if a pilot became separated from their squadron, he wanted to be sure that person could last in the vast, mind-altering emptiness of space, or pulse-pounding fear of being behind enemy lines until help arrived.

  Bren was waiting for them down in the PT room, and once there, they got the recruits split up into separate groups; some would do a cardio test, some a strength test, while others would be tested in basic hand-to-hand combat, with each group rotating so the recruits had a turn at all activities.

  Leigh tried not to notice that Mia had been assigned to Bren for hand-to-hand combat, along with Steve-Frigging-Robinson. Seb had been right; they needed to wash that guy out of the program. Even now he was big-mouthing about his fight prowess back at Ackerly. The moron was really starting to get on his nerves. The basic moves learned at pre mil were only the tip of the iceberg when it came to serious combat. If Steve was too full of his own self-importance to realize that, he’d simply wash himself out faster.

  He set the two other groups going on their tests, and then paced back and forth across the open space between the workout machines and the mats, where Bren had matched the recruits against one another. He didn’t want to be interested in Mia’s progress, but it seemed the rational parts of his mind had abandoned him. Eventually, as each contest wound down and the numbers of recruits left standing dwindled, he gave up on pretending he wasn’t watching. A crowd of other recruits who’d already bombed out of their own tests had gathered around the mats to cheer on their favorites, so Leigh took himself over to stand next to Seb and Lawler.

  There were three recruits left: Mia, Robinson, and the woman Mia had befriended—apparently, her name was Kayla. Bren started up another round, and Leigh watched with rising interest as Mia and Kayla shared a look, seeming to arrive at some silent agreement. Mia and Kayla both moved at the same time, rounding out on either side of Robinson.

  “Come on, ladies, who wants some of this first?” The guy held out his arms, lapping up the cheers from his buddies on the other side of the ring. While the idiot was distracted, both Mia and Kayla moved at the same time, quickly and efficiently taking Robinson down to the mat. At first, the guy laughed, but when Kayla managed to flip him and then Mia stuck her knee in his back, the snicker turned into a litany of curses.

  Beside Leigh, Seb cracked up laughing, while Bren declared Robinson out of the match. The guy bitched about the girls cheating all the way across the mat, where he took his place next to his buddies and then eyed Bren with a baleful expression.

  “Stevie-boy isn’t so chummy now,” Seb commented. “Those girls better watch out. If he’s like every other humiliated jerk-wad I know, he’ll be looking for payback.”

  Seb was right. Robinson would definitely want to return his mortification in kind. “We’ll keep an eye on him, but hopefully he’ll be gone before he gets the opportunity.”

  On the mat, Bren oversaw the final match between Mia and Kayla. Though Mia was a good head shorter than her opponent, she had speed on her side and appeared to have an innate ability to predict her adversary’s movements. An instinct like that would serve her well as a fighter pilot, if she made it through the program. And from everything he’d seen so far today—no, everything he’d seen of Mia starting with her selfless bravery on board the shuttle—she had the makings of a star fighter pilot if she was willing to push herself harder than she ever had in her life.

  And what does that mean for you, exactly? Hadn’t he been telling himself that he needed to hope she dropped out or failed the program sooner rather than later, so he could avoid the exact mess he found himself in today? What would happen if she made it into the elite force, under his command twenty-four hours a day?

  Disaster.

  When it came to her, cracks had formed in his outer defenses. The only way to deal with this anomaly would be to have her transferred out from his command. But, how fair was it to change the course of her career simply to avoid having to deal with her and keep his desire in check?

  Yeah, it made him an all-round jerk.

  The match between Mia and Kayla lasted for a few long minutes, until Mia found an opening and took control of the situation, baiting Kayla into leaving her right side open. Mia slipped in and had the other woman down in another second.

  Bren walked onto the mat as Kayla moved back and the crowd around them cheered.

  “Okay, okay. Recruit Wolfe, as a final challenge, you get to take on me. And if you win, you get a much-coveted free pass on any upcoming unit within the training program. If you don’t think you can pass a subject, or fail a test, then the free pass will be your second chance to successfully complete the training program.”

  A surprised murmur rippled around the crowd. Yeah, a free pass was a great thing for a recruit to have up their sleeve, but Bren offered the same to every new bunch of potential recruits. And in all the years he and Bren had been training together, he could count on one hand the number of recruits who’d beaten her to win the prize.

  Mia simply retreated to the edge of the mat, waiting for Bren to call the match into action. The two women circled each other, then Bren went in low, no doubt to test Mia’s range and reflexes. Despite Bren’s steadily increasing challenges and attacks Mia managed to hold up her own.

  Just when it looked like Bren would get the upper hand, Mia changed her tactics and got Bren off-balance. Right away, Mia took advantage of the opportunity and knocked Bren to the mat, claiming victory.

  The crowd cheered, and Mia grinned as she offered Bren a hand up.

  As his XO stood, Bren caught his eye. Of course, now she expected him to take on Mia in one final challenge. Of the few recruits that had bested Bren over the years, none had been able to take him when he’d gone up against them.

 
Just one problem: he didn’t want to face Mia across the mat. It didn’t really run with his plan of distancing himself from her.

  However, he couldn’t refuse, because Bren and Seb would wonder what was up with him. Instead of coming up with an excuse and fleeing, he shrugged out of his uniform jacket and handed it off to Seb, then unfastened the top few catches of his shirt.

  “Congratulations, Wolfe, you’ve got yourself a free pass.” Bren motioned to him, and Leigh found his feet taking him out onto the mat. “Now, if you can take down Captain Alphin, you get a fast track into the final days of the program, whether you pass the initial days or not.”

  An awed murmur rippled through the crowd. Yeah, it was an honor worth killing over, but not a single person had managed to win it yet.

  He came to a stop in front of Mia, who appeared to be sizing him up.

  “So, Wolfe, are you willing to take on the CAFF?” Bren shouted the last few words as the other recruits started cheering.

  Mia nodded, her expression determined. But Leigh caught something else in the flash of her velvet-brown eyes, something entirely uncertain. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who thought this was a bad idea.

  Bren called to begin and a hush fell over the crowd, but he and Mia just stood there and stared at each other. A long moment went by, and then another, while he tried to decide exactly how he was going to do this and hold on to his sanity.

  Mia shifted into a defensive stance, obviously not willing to go on the attack with him as she had with the others. Well, he could accommodate her there. The sooner they got this over with, the better for their agreement to keep their distance.

  Leigh lunged at her, but before he could get her in a grip, she’d slipped out of his way. Damn, she was quick and light. Yeah, he’d seen it while observing her engage the other opponents, but experiencing it firsthand was another matter. He got her back in his sights and tried a few other moves, once almost getting the better of her. But each time, she managed to elude him. It didn’t help that the feel of her silken, damp skin under his hands or coming up against her body was damned distracting.

  Mia got underneath his arm and almost unbalanced him.

  Concentrate, moron, or she’ll end up being the first recruit to beat your stupid ass down.

  Leigh regained his footing and turned the tables on her. Just as he’d wanted, Mia started dropping. Except, instead of tripping because he’d bested her, she seemed to be tucking into the fall…and taking him with her.

  He couldn’t get his footing because he’d overcommitted to the attack and propelled himself off-balance. They both hit the mat, Mia half on top of him.

  Goddamn.

  She’d actually done it—managed to put him down. A head-clearing dose of shock burst through him, and before Mia could pin him and win the match, he rolled, putting her underneath him.

  Her wrists were trapped against the mat beneath his hands, her breasts pressing into his chest with each uneven breath she took and her hips cradling his.

  The feel of her beneath him started tearing up the steady rhythm of his pounding heart.

  “I guess you won.” Mia shifted beneath him only the slightest bit, but it was enough to make his blood rush. Sucking in an uneven breath, he fortified his self-control and pushed to his feet, making sure he kept his movements efficient and calm as if it were no big deal. Every muscle in his body burning and tight, he sent Bren a nod, indicating she should move the recruits on to the next task, and then walked away from where Mia stood getting congratulated by her fellow trainees.

  At the edge of the mat, Seb held out his jacket and shot him a questioning look. Leigh shook his head and brushed by his friend, not in the mood for chitchat. Unfortunately, Seb didn’t take the hint, moving from where he’d been standing with Lawler to follow him. His buddy stopped him with a tight grip on his shoulder.

  “Hey, man. What gives? I know she almost beat you, but that’s nothing to get all huffy over. If you ask me, it looks like Recruit Wolfe has some real potential, despite her size.”

  Leigh couldn’t help himself. He stole a glance across to where Mia listened to Bren explaining the next activity.

  “Yeah. I’d say she’s got a good chance of making it to the end.”

  Seb shook his shoulder before letting him go. “Then what gives, buddy? You’ve been a bigger hard-ass than usual the past few days.”

  “It’s classified.”

  “Pft.” Seb sent him an exasperated look but then seemed to realize he wasn’t joking. “Shut up. Really?”

  A small trickle of guilt crept through him for lying to his friend, even if it was only a small lie, and one that was necessary. Yes, the situation with the traitor weighed on him, but a lot of his bad mood definitely came back to Mia and his inability to ignore his attraction to her.

  “Things are complicated, and I wish I could tell you about it, but I can’t. So I’m going to need you to step up and have my back, even if you don’t know what that’s going to entail.”

  Seb’s expression lost the amused edge he usually had. “Of course. You know you can count on me.”

  “Good. Now, I’ve got to go deal with some of that classified stuff I can’t tell you about.”

  Seb stepped back and inclined his head to him. “We’ll hold down the fort.”

  He clasped his hands behind his back as he strode toward the hatchway. He ordered himself not to look back at Mia, repeating the command in his mind like a mantra. However as he reached the doorway, his gaze crept around, finding where she stood to the back of the crowd, listening to the lieutenant give instructions. She glanced over her shoulder and when he caught her gaze, his stupid heart bumped against the inside of his chest like he was a damned teenager.

  Cursing at himself, he left the PT room, focusing his mind on the bigger issue of a possible mole in his squadron. Solving that mystery seemed easier than facing the fact that for the first time since enlisting with the UEF, his emotions might be totally compromised.

  Chapter Eight

  The dinner crowd had started trickling out of the messdeck, some headed across the way to the common room, while others headed for the transit and likely, entertainments on commerce level.

  Mia scraped the last bits of food off her plate and glanced up at Kayla sitting across from her, who’d managed to finish her meal in record time.

  “You didn’t have to wait for me.” She set her utensils on the now-empty plate and added her cup to the pile.

  Kayla shrugged as she stood. “I’m not in any hurry. Besides, there’s safety in numbers. Steve looked pretty pissed about us taking him down earlier today. Not that I’m scared of the jerk-wad rich boy, but it might be better if we stick together for the time being to make sure he doesn’t try to corner either of us.”

  Nope, Steve certainly hadn’t been happy about Kayla and her beating him in hand-to-hand combat. Luckily, between classes for the remainder of the day and evening messdeck, they’d been able to avoid him. But it was hard not to notice the death glares he aimed in their direction whenever he got the chance.

  Some of the other recruits had been talking about a get-together Steve and his buddies were having in charlie-two dorm. As much as the idea of winding down and getting to know the other recruits tempted her, she wouldn’t be going anywhere near Steve voluntarily. Plus, when she’d told him earlier in the day that she planned on studying tonight, she hadn’t been bluffing. They might have two weeks before that exam, but the sooner she could get those schematics memorized, the better.

  She grabbed a bottle of juice and an energy bar on the way out of messdeck; she’d need it later when her overworked brain started sucking the life right out of her.

  “I heard earlier today that the best place to study is in the media room,” Kayla commented as they made it out into the passageway.

  “Good. It’ll probably be better than the dorms.” While she and Kayla were down the hall from charlie-two dorm in bravo-one, there would probably still be noise from the par
ty, plus other recruits hanging out in bravo-one who wouldn’t be interested in studying.

  They made a stop by the dorms to get their datapads and then headed for the media room. Inside the large space it was mostly quiet, like an old-fashioned library. There were a few people scattered around, either watching newsfeeds on low volume or with headphones, while others read or were having subdued conversations. An immediate sense of relaxation washed over her, taking away the tension she’d been walking around with since leaving Ophelei Academy a month ago to make the journey to the Valiant Knox.

  “Now this is more like it,” she murmured as they headed for a couple of short couches arranged on either side of a low table.

  Kayla shot her a grin as they each took a couch. “You are such a nerd.”

  Yeah, she would totally own that. “Tell me about it. So explain how some computer psyche-eval assigned me to this fighter-pilot program?”

  “Must have been a system failure.” Kayla’s grin widened. “Seriously though, you took down Lieutenant Brenner, so obviously you’re not lacking in the appropriate skills.”

  “Only out of necessity.” She looked down, tapping her datapad to life. “I’ve always been so much smaller than everyone else, and I know I look like a sixteen-year-old. I took extra combat classes back at the academy because I wanted to make sure I could look after myself.”

  “Then we have that in common, at least. Although I took extra combat classes just to make sure if people pissed me off, I could kick their asses. People like Steve.”

  Mia gave a short, distracted laugh as she searched for the file she needed, but then frowned when it opened. The schematics were all jumbled, and information seemed to be missing. She spent a few moments trying to sort it out then swore under her breath.

  “I think my file is corrupted. I’m going to head back up to the ready room and see if I can download it again off the master datapad.”

  “No problem. I’ll be waiting here.” Kayla didn’t look up from her own datapad.

  She pushed to her feet with a low sigh, tiredness catching up to her. A cynical smile tugged at her lips for a brief moment. If she was tired now, just how exhausted would she be once they started the real training? She forced the thoughts from her mind as she made her way to squadron level. There was no use worrying what kind of physical toll the program would take on her; either she’d get through it or she wouldn’t. It was as simple as that.