Wings of Steele - Flight of Freedom (Book2) (40 page)

“
You're wondering if I know how to use it...”

He
thought
he could feel her there. “Well, yeah,” he admitted, not looking back.

She stood on her tiptoes looking over his shoulder, her breath in his ear, speaking softly. “It was given to me on my sixteenth birthday, to replace the smaller one given to me on my tenth birthday. I practiced two hours a day from the time I was ten, until shortly before I was taken by the pirates.”

“Wow. Sooo... either you practiced a lot because you were really good, or because you really sucked...” he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning.

“
I'll have you know,” she said tugging the hair on the back of his head, “that I was considered a
gifted student
...”

“
Oh you're gifted, alright... but it doesn't have anything to do with swords...” he chided.

She pulled his hair again, “You're sooo bad...” She leaned up against him, her 2ndSkyn seductively sliding across his.

He could feel her breasts and nipples through the sheer, skintight fabric, rubbing across his back. “It's been a while since you've practiced then...”

She rested her chin on his shoulder. “Yeah. No real room to do my paces. I'm probably a little rusty... but I'm sure it would come right back to me. I still keep it thoroughly clean and oiled though...”

“
Come
right back to you..? Thoroughly
cleaned and oiled?”
His mind slid right down into the gutter. Truthfully, it was a short trip. “You're killing me woman...”

■ ■ ■

Sharing the Freedom's bridge and command duties with Commander Edgars, Commander Paul Smiley was holding a quiet meeting with a few of his pilots in the Captain's ready room attached to the bridge. The Freedom had picked up two Vulcans, four Lancias and four Cyclones bound for Veloria's military from the UFW Carrier Conquest. They had been stored down in the ship's cargo hold along with a supply of parts and ordinance. With the consideration that no sense of military or stability seemed to exist on the surface, those birds, for the moment, were staying right where they were. But, in support of the Marines on the ground, it was unanimously agreed that for the quickest response possible, a flight of armed fighters, pilots and support staff should be based at the Air and Space Port.

Paul sat on the Captain's desk facing the room, an e-Pad resting on his thigh. “Santine, Taylor, I want you to each pick a wingman...”

“I pick you,” quipped Duncan Taylor.

“
Don't brown-nose me, son.” Paul fought back a smirk and there was no ire in his voice. He glanced briefly down at the e-Pad and back up. “Pick one of the new guys. The four of you will be stationed on the ground until further notice. A ground crew will go with you.”

“
What can we expect?” asked Santine.

“
No idea. You'll be on-call for the Skipper's boys, I suggest you fly in pairs rather than a four bird flight so you can provide continuous cover if need be.”

“
High cover?”

“
We're not going anywhere and we'll still have birds in high atmosphere. I suspect the Zulu will still be doing survey runs. Fully loaded if you need the additional help for ground missions.” He flipped a couple pages on the e-Pad. “As of yet, they haven't encountered one single person.”

“
Birds?”

“
Cyclones. I've ordered two air-to-air and four air-to-ground missiles per bird. The crew will bring some supplies and additional ordnance with them.” He stood, laying the e-Pad on the desk. “Get your gear and get going. Dismissed.”

Aye, sir.” They saluted and left.

“Mike, I need you to fill the Air Boss slot while I'm up here... think you can handle that?”

Mike nodded, “Sure, will do.”

“Good... Derrik, patrol scheduling is on you. Lean on Brian here, if you need some help. I'll fly if I'm free, but don't count on me.”

“
Right-o...”

“
We might want to rotate our flights in pairs instead of wings of four, or we're gonna burn these guys out fast.”

“
No problem, Pappy,” said Brian.

“
OK, let's get to work...”

■ ■ ■

The Marines of Alpha, Bravo and Charlie squads were fed, geared up and ready to roll, taking their positions in the hover tanks and transport trucks they'd be using for the twenty-odd mile trek to the capital city. The long,
crack-of-dawn
shadows had shortened some, as the planet's sun broke free of the horizon, the sky a crisp blue. A few wispy, semi-transparent clouds drifted lazily across the sky.

“
Captain..?”

Steele paused and turned on his heel. “Lieutenant..?” Alité stood next to her husband, absentmindedly adjusting her armor.

“Zorvano, sir. Delta squad.” He almost saluted but caught himself.

“
Thank you, Lieutenant Zorvano...”

“
Sorry, sir. Hard habit to break. I had Delta up on the hill past the power station last night; we were able to see lights in the distance toward the direction of the city. I can't swear to it, but it looked like there was movement out there...”

“
Vehicles or people..?”

“
At that distance it was impossible to tell. It could have been air currents, it was very vague...” Steele nodded his understanding. “Two other things... Echo found a couple more hover tanks, so we have armor for the base. And the tower heard from your ship, they're sending down a flight of fighters so you have instant air, if you need it.”

“
Good deal, anything else?”

“
No, sir. We will of course, continue to explore the subterranean levels and the rest of the hangars and buildings...”

“
Sounds good,” replied Steele. “One more thing, keep at least two people staffing the tower. Have them scan the planetary frequencies if they've got nothing else to do... no telling what might turn up.”

Jack took the opportunity of the long walk from the terminal to the waiting convoy to discuss with
Alité the thing that had been playing in his mind for a long time... the death of her sister, Docaline and brother, Mozelle. But even as long as he'd been thinking about it, he still hadn't figured out how to broach the subject delicately. Probably because he had stored it away in the back of his mind, hoping all these months, it was a topic that needn't be discussed... To tell her their death wasn't an accident, an unforeseen circumstance, an equipment failure... That it was deliberate. It was murder. Although he couldn't be positive, he strongly suspected the culprit was LaNareef - but with
his
timely death, the subject seemed to be a dead end. The Freedom was a safe haven, she had no safety concerns there, so why open the wound? But now they were in the
Land of Nod,
an unknown, unpredictable place, with a familiar but lying face.

All things considered, she took it remarkably well. Jack watched her face as she stared back at him, her jaw set, her eyes flicking back and forth searching for anything in his eyes that could tell her something more. She exhaled, not realizing she'd been holding her breath. She'd had her own suspicions about Dakkah and Mozzy's death, so it appeared the truth was not as painful as Jack anticipated. He was thankful for that... for both of them. His earpiece chirped. “Burning daylight, sir...”

■ ■ ■

Packed solid with a river of abandoned vehicles, the ribbon of highway stretching from the Air and Space Port, to Veloria's capital city, was impassable in both directions as far as the eye could see. The parking lots, drives and fields surrounding the approach side of the port were littered with private and commercial cars and trucks of all types and descriptions. Thankfully, overnight, the Marines of Foxtrot were able to clear a small path through the mess across the highway and through the fields west of the port. It wasn't as crucial for the hover tanks as it was for the wheeled trucks they were using for the transports. Cross country travel would be in order until they came across surface roads that were passable.

The blue glow under the hover tanks left no trail, no mark on the green grass of the meadows or the flowers populating the fields. They bent and swayed before standing up again... only to be trampled and crushed beneath the tires of the trucks that followed. The tanks fanned out in a delta formation while the trucks followed behind, single file.

The formation followed along the four-lane highway for awhile, keeping it in sight to their left before breaking away when it came to a river with steep banks that neither the trucks nor tanks could navigate. They followed the river to the North, looking for a place to cross to bring them back on a heading that would get them where they wanted to go.

“Town ahead, Captain.”

Steele keyed the mic on his earpiece. “Copy. Spread out, we'll jump off here and move in together.” He turned to the driver of the truck, “We'll get out here, hang back until we clear the area.” The driver nodded, bringing the truck to a stop, the troops piling out the back. With both trucks empty, the Marines spread out as they approached the town, wading through the tall grass.

“I don't see a damn thing, Skipper. It looks vacant, just like everything else we've seen...”

It looked like a medium-sized rural town of a couple thousand people, something Jack was used to seeing in the Midwest of the United States. It was familiar yet different. The architecture of the houses was more organic, rounded. He turned to
Alité who was two paces off his right. She was focused on the houses ahead, looking through the sight on her carbine. He keyed his mic as they neared the back of the first house, “Anybody see anything?”

“
Negative...”

“
OK, let's take a look around, see if we can find anything.”

■ ■ ■

Though the town looked a little overgrown, it was in pristine condition. Not a mark, not even a broken window to be found. An occasional vehicle parked at a curb, most of the houses, stores and buildings were open but unoccupied... like every single person had simply left for the day. Standing with Alité and several Marines in the town's center at its crossroads, Jack stared at the curios shop across the street, its display windows full of trinkets and collectables. On the other corner, the food store stood empty, it's shelves barren, picked clean to the last item.

Dayle Alaroot adjusted his carbine sling. “Whadya thinking, Skipper?”

Alité looked at Dayle. “What..?”

“
I've seen that look before,” replied the Warrant Officer, “his wheels are turning...”

Jack keyed his mic, “Anybody see a tool shop or hardware store...?”

“Just left one... about a mile north of the center of town on the main drive, up the hill,” replied a voice in his earpiece. “Why?”

“
How did it look inside?”

“
Nobody there, sir.”

“
How were the shelves, the stock?”

There was silence for a moment before the answer came back. “I guess there were a lot of tools missing... not as empty as the food store we saw up here, though...”

“Copy that...” Steele turned back to Dayle, “I don't think we're really alone...” He hiked up his carbine and began surveying windows around them. “Pull everybody back.
Now.”

Dayle keyed his mic, “All units regroup on me,
double-time.”
He flipped open the small panel and thumbed the locator beacon mounted to the armor on his arm and dropped to one knee, surveying the buildings and windows around them, his carbine at the ready. “What did you see, Skipper...?”

Steele's little voice was whispering in his ear and it was making his hair stand up. “No food...” He checked over his shoulder as one of the hover tanks came gliding up the street. “People need food. If there was no one here there'd be plenty of food in the stores. Survivors need food, tools and supplies. That stuff is all missing.”

“Maybe people passing through?”

Jack thought for a second, “No. They'd be messy, this town would be a wreck. Whoever it is, cares about this place...”

His earpiece pinged, “Captain, Hover Four... We've found a bridge... you're going to want to see this...”

“
Copy that. Mark your location and hold position.” He flipped open the small panel on the left arm of his armor and saw the ID marker appear on the four inch color screen showing the terrain, town and topography. He flipped it closed again, giving another glance around. “Let's go, we'll leave them their town...”

■ ■ ■

Through the town, up the hill, and winding through the wooded area that it backed up against, on the far side, north of town, the road cut left heading west and crossed the river. The terrain was higher here and the arched bridge was the highest point for miles, the two-lane road sloping down and away between rolling hills, fields and broad stands of trees. Houses and farms dotted the landscape as it stretched off to the horizon. Far to the left, the dark line of the highway was still visible, like a dirty slash across the landscape, pointing toward the city. The city... a lifeless gray blemish on the horizon, spread out in all directions, vertical streaks reaching into the sky, looking broken and ragged. A gray curtain of dust seemed to be perpetually suspended above the city like the dark cloud of death.