Enemy One (Epic Book 5) (85 page)

At the forefront of that planning effort was Natalie. The addition of her as part of the outlaw core had gone, for lack of a better way to put it, quietly. While she didn’t exactly fit
right
in, she at least played the part of willful participant, which was a far cry from the angry role she’d been in as hostage. Scott was pleased with the way things had worked out, even if her transition into their ranks was messier than Falcon Platoon’s. He knew how important this mission was for her. Her desire to know whether or not the organization she’d dedicated her life to was betraying her trumped her resentment toward him and the
Cairo
team. Scott only hoped that the end result of the bullet train heist would vindicate them. If it didn’t, the wrath of Natalie Rockwell would rain down on them all—and he wouldn’t be able to fault her.

The other critical piece of the puzzle was Tiffany, whose addition to the ranks almost felt destined. The Valley Girl fighter ace had earned the Fourteenth’s trust in both attitude and action. If somehow the Fourteenth became exonerated through all of this, Scott could easily imagine Tiffany joining the crew at
Novosibirsk
. The reality was, the days of sleeping and living in Room 14 were long gone, regardless of the outcome of the bullet train. But the feeling still remained in regards to Tiffany. She was one of them in full. With the importance of their approach into Japan, Tiffany would be a crucial part of the planning phase. Whatever she advised, he would trust.

In addition to Tiffany, Scott had invited Javon Quinton to be a part of the preplanning. Though Scott’s experience with Javon was solely what he’d experienced at
Hami Station
, the soldier’s teammates respected him highly. Scott wanted to involve a Falcon
other
than Tiffany in this. It would send a loud and clear message to the rest of the Falcons that they were as big a part of this as the Fourteenth. Scott needed their loyalty.

The final piece of the puzzle was Rashid. Though Scott had no intention of including the veteran fulcrum on the actual operation—particularly with his injured arm—he valued the Turk’s wisdom greatly. Rashid was salty. He spoke his mind without reservation, often with a tone that bordered disdain. Others might have seen a curmudgeon, but Scott saw someone who’d been there, done that, and didn’t care what anyone else thought. If there was a glaring weakness in their plan, Rashid would point it out without reservation. As far as Scott was concerned, the Turk was a must.

One by one, the four planners made their way into the auditorium, notepads in hand as they took seats side-by-side in the front row. Scott had actually taken efforts to clean up prior to the meeting, shaving away what had transitioned from five o’clock shadow to minor beard in an effort to feel the part of proper mission lead as opposed to renegade. There was no one else other than him in the meeting who was actually from the Fourteenth. He wanted there to be an air of formality.

Drawing in a deep breath, and with all eyes expectantly on him, Scott began. “We are about to discuss the most important operation any of us have ever undertaken.”

That was as far as he got. The door to the auditorium opened, halting Scott in mid-opening as all heads turned to the unexpected arrival. For a split second, Scott was aggravated—until he saw who was coming in. Walking straight for the front row, his right shoulder tightly wrapped with his arm in a sling, was Colonel Lilan. Caught off guard, Scott could only stare as Lilan meandered toward the next empty seat. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Uhh.” Looking curiously at the others in the front row as if to see if any of them had arranged this, Scott saw that they were just as surprised as he was. He looked at Lilan again. “I’m sorry, colonel. I didn’t know you wanted to be a part of the planning.”

“To hell with the planning,” Lilan said, giving Scott a stern stare. “I’m going on this damn thing.”

Going on it? What in the world was he talking about? “Colonel, with all due respect, you’re not in any kind of shape to—”

“Let me explain something to you, son.” As the colonel spoke on, the abruptly-cut-off Scott had no choice but to listen. “No one in this room has given more to EDEN than I have. Not one person. Hell, to me, you’re all kids.” Briefly, he looked at Rashid. “Mostly.” The fulcrum offered no reaction. “Come hell or high water, I am
going
on this mission.”

Scott rubbed the back of his head. “Colonel…”

“It’s non-negotiable. I outrank you, and I
will
pull rank; I don’t care what frozen Nightman fortress we’re in.” He waved to the place at large. “A man can live his whole life fightin’ for something, but at the end of the day, he just wants to know that what he fought for mattered. So let this matter for me. I don’t have many more rodeos left.”

Come on, Colonel…don’t make this hard.

Looking at Scott earnestly, Lilan said, “I gave you Chicago, Remington. I gave you Cougar Platoon and that Bakma Carrier when every odd was against you. Give me this.”

Despite whatever justifiable grounds Scott had to keep the colonel out, it was hard to counter those words. Everything that had happened to Scott over the course of the past year, be it good or bad, was due to Colonel Lilan giving him a chance in the
Battle of Chicago
. As Scott stared at the colonel from the stage, he found himself slowly shaking his head. “This is an operation based on speed, colonel. We have to get in and get out.”

“I don’t need to be on that train. I just want to hold that device when you bring it back on board the transport. That’s all I’m asking.”

If that was all Lilan was asking for…then it was something Scott could do. Sighing in resignation, he offered his former commanding officer the slightest of smiles. “Then welcome to the team, colonel.”

No “thank you” came from the older man—he simply offered Scott a nod in kind. Quiet appreciation. It meant more than words.

“All right, then,” Scott said. Time to get back on track. “As I said, this is the most important operation any of us has ever attempted. From approach to ground implementation, we need to do this perfectly to have a chance at getting out alive. EDEN already knows we can strike fast.”
Hami Station
proved that. “Once they know we’re there, they’re going to bring everything they’ve got. With
Nagoya
as close as it is, we’re going to have a fraction of the time we had in China to get the job done.” Turning around with his clicker, Scott pressed it, transitioning the blank open screen of the presentation to a map of Japan. “Before we do anything
on
the train, we have to get
to
the train.” He looked at Tiffany. “Miss Feathers, you’re in charge of our flight path. Tell us what you’ve got.”

Smiling in a way that was only slightly subdued from her bubbly norm, Tiffany rose from her chair and walked up to Scott, claiming the clicker and laser pointer from his hand. Scott stepped aside to observe as the blonde began. “So I’ve been thinking a lot about this, and even with the satellite hole
Hami Station
left in Krasnoyarsk Krai, it’s just not realistic to expect to outrun Superwolves all the way across Russia and back to the base. Once we’re busted, we’re busted. In our case, busted means
dead
.”

Folding his arms across his chest, Scott chewed on his knuckle.

“The approach isn’t what’s gonna get us. We can make it to the train from literally any direction without being picked up, so long as we stay low with the lights off. I mean, we
just
did that all over China. The question is, how are we gonna
escape
?” She paused. “I think I might have an answer.”

By all means, Tiffany, please share it with us.

“I’m gonna fly somewhere else.”

At that, Scott angled his head curiously.

Tiffany lowered her chin and pointed with the laser. The dot appeared at the bottom edge of the map. “So you can sorta see the outline of Australia down here. While you guys are flying to the train, I’ll make my way down there. Basically, I’ll make myself visible just as you guys are about to land.”

“Whoa, whoa.” Scott saw where this was headed, and he didn’t like it.

“
Nagoya
will scramble, they’ll think I’m doing something between them and
Sydney
, and they’ll send everyone after me while you guys get the device. I’ll make ’em chase me while the operation unfolds, then I’ll lose ’em and get back to base. A V2 can’t outrun them over Russia, but I totally can in my ’wolf.”

Javon spoke up immediately. “Ain’t no way we goin’ for that. Change the plan, come up with something else, ’cause leaving you on your own isn’t an option.”

“I’m going to vehemently agree with Javon,” said Scott, though
vehemently
was putting it nicely. “You trying to survive on your own isn’t going to work with us.”

Cocking her hands on her hips, Tiffany said, “You guys don’t understand. A transport is an anchor.”

An anchor? Scott listened on.

“If I’m with you guys, that means I can’t just fly. I have to always stay close to you, I have to be careful not to stray too far off, which will take away from my dogfighting ability. You guys will basically, like, hold me back.” She pointed back to the screen. “But if I’m down here, I can do whatever I need to do without worrying about whether you guys are protected. Everyone’s gonna be flocking over to me, so you guys will totally be on your own. You won’t have anyone in immediate pursuit, which will give you a
big time
head-start through Russia when it’s time for you to bug out.”

“Okay, I get that,” Scott said, “but—”

The blonde shook her head. “No ‘buts.’ This is a must-do. I can outfly these guys, guys.”

This time, it was Natalie who chimed in. “I don’t think it’s your flying ability that anyone doubts. We just…”

When Natalie failed to follow through, Tiffany asked, “You just what?”

The Caracal captain sighed and settled back. “It’s just a very risky plan. For you, for us, for everyone involved.”

“I totally mean this in the most shiny-happy way, but this is like, already a very risky plan.”

To that end, she had a point.

“I’m telling you guys, I’ve gone over all our options. If we stick together, we get stuck together. I’ll be stuck trying to waste the guys coming after me while you guys are stuck trying to outrun supersonic fighters—not happening!” Running her hands through her hair, she sighed. “Look, I know you guys are used to sticking together, and I’m totally all about that, but this is one instance where I’m best on my own. I can keep them preoccupied enough for you guys to finish the mission—and this is all about finishing the mission, right? Trust me, I got this.” She put the laser pointer back on the screen. “So you guys come in from the west, low and slow, all the way through these mountain ranges to the train. The only people at risk to spot you are people who are out at night, and with these mountains and all, that’s not gonna be a lot of people. I checked the weather, and it’s also gonna be cloudy and raining, so that works in your favor.”

It was hard to think of rain as a good thing, but the point was valid. Just the same, this cold and wet business was getting old. “Tiffany…” How did Scott want to word this? “If you tell us this is the only way, then—”

She didn’t even let him finish. “It’s the only way. I’m being serious.” From his seat, Javon muttered in disgust, earning a sharp eye from the pilot. “C’mon, J, don’t make this hard for me!”

“You’re making it hard for yourself!” he said.

Scott didn’t like the sound of this any more than anyone else, but there came a point where he simply had to trust the girl who’d twice saved them from the clutches of death in the air. Scott sighed. “If you tell me this is a must…”

“Must,” she said. “Must, must, must.” She held up four fingers. “That’s four musts. And I think I even had a must from earlier.”

“All right.” What more could Scott say? That he knew better than she did? Not in the sky, he didn’t. “We don’t like it, but if you say we have to do it, then we’ll trust you and do it. But Tiffany…”

Javon said it before Scott could. “Be careful. You’re our little flygirl.”

“Totally got this,” she said to him, winking and giving him a thumbs-up.
“Totally.”

From his seat of relative silence, Lilan cleared his throat. “Feathers. If I can say something?”

“Fer sure, sir!”

“You’re the ballsiest young woman I’ve ever met.”

The Valley Girl blinked, her expression morphing into an uncertain combination of bewilderment and gratitude. “Umm.” She tried to smile. “Thank you, sir?”

Clearing his throat, Scott said, “Now something to keep in mind is the fact that we’re going radio dark for this thing—that means no communication between parties, not on the train, not from wherever you’re flying that Superwolf to us in Japan. If things go south, and by that I mean go
bad
, we have no way of letting you know.”

For the first time, a look of hesitation formed on Tiffany’s face, though it lasted merely a moment. “We could time everything. Make sure you guys and I are in sync throughout the whole thing.”

“Understand what that means, Tiffany. That means you make yourself visible at a certain minute, that means you abandon the effort and fly back home at a certain minute, regardless of whether we’re finished or not. Most importantly, it means if you find yourself in trouble, you can’t bug out early. You’re going to be in there for the long haul.” Then, the hardest part. “It means you find out whether we failed or succeeded when those hangar doors open for you.”

“I understand, sir.”

Scott nodded. “Then it’s settled. We’ll have our V2 pilot take us low and slow to the train, while you divert EDEN to the Pacific. But
do not
get shot down, Feathers. That is the highest of orders.”

She made a clicking sound and shot him the A-OK sign.

“Who is our V2 pilot?” Natalie asked, casting Scott an uncertain look.

“Jakob Reinhardt,” Scott answered. “He’ll be taking us to and from the site. From the little I got to chat with him, he seems like an all right guy.” Scott had spoken with the German pilot earlier in the weekend, prepared to give a passionate argument as to why this mission was critical. Much to Scott’s pleasure, no argument was needed. Jakob accepted the assignment without hesitation. A professional through-and-through. Scott was somewhat excited to get to fly with him.