Scavenger's Mission (The SkyRyders Book 1)

by Liza O'Connor

  Logan paled. Now he knew how Sparkes had risked his career for Alisha. The penalty for signing someone out was dismissal from the Corps. Why the hell would Sparkes take such a risk? Clearly it wasn’t just for a lay. He barely needed to speak to get a woman into bed.

  “I became aware of that when reviewing her scores. Her only misses were in the regs above twelve. It turned out she’d studied from an old book. Had her first day not been the battle, I would have corrected the oversight.” Logan knew he had to say more. Sparkes’ intervention had saved her from a mandatory prison term, but it had also cost Sparkes any chance of further promotion. “I appreciate the warning and will make it a top priority in her instruction.”

  “She wouldn’t tell me what punishment you’d given her, so I told her to double it and add a month of no leave. During breakfast, she told me about her grandfather. He’s evidently ill and has no one else to care for him. So I added the provision she could visit her grandfather every other week.”

  Logan nodded. “He’s exactly why I hadn’t taken away her leave. He does depend on her for his reason to live. He’s now set up comfortably in Broadtown, but he won’t rest well until he sees her. I’m glad you made the exception. I’ll stop in on more frequent occasions to ensure he’s all right on the weeks she can’t visit.”

  “I didn’t mean to make more work for you. I only wanted to give Alisha a hard wake-up call about the importance of obeying orders,” Sparkes explained.

  “It’s not a hardship to visit Daniel Kane. And you’re right. She does need a wake-up call. I initially thought she’d disobeyed my order because I had confused the lines of authority by being too much a…friend, instead of a commander. But clearly the general had not crossed that line, and she disobeyed his order as well.”

  Sparkes nodded and smiled slightly. “You should have seen his face when he realized she’d left against his orders. He couldn’t have looked any more surprised if she’d come up and goosed him.”

  Chapter 51

  Alisha had no problem gathering her squad. The moment she stepped into the mess hall, the whole place grew quiet.

  “Over here, Captain!” Jersey’s voice rang out through the silence, shattering it into a thousand pieces. The cacophony of a hundred voices speaking at once refilled the crowded mess hall.

  Alisha made her way over to her squad, stopping frequently to accept the high fives and compliments of the soldiers in her path. When she finally arrived at the table, she looked around to make certain her crew was all there. Except for DC in the brig and Philly in the medical ward at Capital, her squad was together plus two additions: Mason and Tucker. Whatever animosity had existed between them last night was now gone.

  In fact, Mason seemed almost a different person, so happy and carefree. She hadn’t thought the surly fellow last night a good match for Ginnie, but the new Mason seemed much better, and he was clearly besotted with her lovely sergeant.

  “Colonel Logan has requested to meet with us before the performance review,” Alisha said, and looked around. “It’s too crowded and noisy here. Let’s wait outside.”

  Once they were outside, Jersey noticed Alisha’s red eyes. “Did that bastard dump you? What the hell is wrong with him?”

  Alisha placed her hand on Jersey’s arm to quiet her. “Nothing happened between Colonel Sparkes and me.”

  Jersey shook her head. “Sorry, that ain’t gonna fly. Everyone here knows the two of you did the dirty. Hell, you could hear Colonel Logan yelling all the way to the mess hall…” Jersey stopped. “Did Colonel Logan come down on you? You know, I think he has a thing for you himself.”

  “Jersey,” Alisha snapped. “Just keep your thoughts to yourself.”

  “Yes, sir, Captain,” Jersey replied stiffly and moved back to hang with Ollie.

  The colonel was right. Confusing the line between friendship and commanding caused problems. She couldn’t be both captain and friend to her squad.

  When she saw Colonel Logan leave Jack’s tent, she jogged over to meet him. “The mess hall is crowded, sir. I thought maybe you’d like to talk to the crew out here.”

  “Good idea, Captain,” he said, and waved them to come to him.

  Alisha sighed with relief. She feared he’d slam her for disobeying orders again.

  When they were all together, he explained what would happen during the next few hours. “If you are called up to receive a commendation, I want you to go up and receive your certificate, but understand there remains an open inquiry, and none of you are eligible for promotion until it’s settled.”

  “Sir, can we take our name off the list?” Ollie asked.

  Alisha knew he didn’t want to be called Private Simpson. None of his friends here knew about the demotion.

  “To be honest, I asked for all of your names to be removed, but General Powell hands out commendations on the merit of the battle.”

  Alisha noticed the colonel pointedly looked at her as he said those words.

  “He wants his men to understand they were outperformed by the Broadtown Squad. He wishes to incentivize them to improve. So for the betterment of the Corps, you will receive your commendations with respectful gratitude. I don’t want to see any high fives, jack dancing, or any other form of celebration.”

  “Are you mad at us, sir?” Jersey asked in confusion.

  Alisha cringed. No, he’s mad at me and is taking it out on my crew.

  “No, Jersey. I just don’t want any of you to lose focus on the big picture. You performed well yesterday, and I’m very glad of that. It will certainly help when you each go in for reassessment. But performance by itself won’t be enough. I need each of you to keep your head in the game. What you learn in the next three weeks will make or break your careers.”

  “Learn, sir?” Ollie asked.

  “We’re all going back to school,” the colonel assured them as he placed his hand on Alisha’s shoulder. “And this time we’re gonna learn how to fly right.”

  Immediately the crew brightened.

  “Awesome!” Ginnie said.

  Alisha tried to return their beaming smiles, but fear gripped her. What if she couldn’t teach them? What if someone got injured trying to learn? All their hopes and dreams landed on her shoulders, and the weight seemed crushing.

  Chapter 52

  The performance review was not an experience Logan wished to endure on a regular basis. Both he and Sparkes stood to the right of the general during the entire two-hour event. Standing for so long made his back ache.

  Since Powell always began with the reviews of his colonels, Sparkes was first. As he’d pre-warned, the general was not gentle in his criticism of Jack’s failure to gather accurate intel on the enemy’s resources. He admitted that, had they gone in with the original battle plan, fewer than half of the soldiers standing before him would be here now. He praised Sparkes for encouraging Logan’s new captain to speak up and supporting Logan’s request that she perform another surveillance run.

  “Supporting the captain’s request could not have been easy, since her plan required her to come in from the north and fly into a headwind, something that was clearly impossible—at least until yesterday,” he added with a smile.

  “When the intel came back and showed we faced a well-armed enemy, Colonel Sparkes revised his plan. And through his solicitation, Captain Kane shot his second plan down as well. Fortunately, she had a better plan, only it required twelve of my flyers to perform another maneuver that couldn’t be done.”

  “Colonel Sparkes sided with Colonel Logan that we should at least let her attempt to teach my best fliers. I’ll tell you in all honesty, I didn’t believe she could do it, and if Jack had not sided with Logan, then the battle we fought would have been costly. So despite a G5 rating for his own disastrous plan, due to his willingness to accept intel from others and take the risk of supporting improbable but better alternatives, his overall rating was brought back to a G3.”

  Logan still disagreed with the rating. A G3 rati
ng indicated Jack had performed at a level within expectations. A G5 was grounds for court-martial. Logan saw no justification to warrant such a harsh punishment. Sparkes had prepared the best plan possible with the intel and resources he had.

  In an odd balance, the general lavished too much praise on Logan. He credited him for a perfect execution of the battle and the brilliance and balls to recruit Alisha despite her lack of experience. For these reasons, he was awarded the highest commendation: G1.

  When the troops stood and enthusiastically applauded his commendation, he suspected it was more for bringing Alisha into the Corps than his field command. That was fair. If he could keep Alisha from any further missteps, his greatest achievement in the Corps would be recruiting her.

  Powell went into great detail discussing Alisha’s achievements. Logan could have gone for a shorter speech, but the general wanted his men to understand exactly what she had done to create her success. Eventually he finished dissecting her accomplishments and called her to receive her commendations. Instantly, the troops were on their feet roaring their approval.

  Powell had been right to insist that Alisha receive her award. The troops needed the validation that extraordinary work was recognized and that extraordinary flying was possible. Every one of those soldiers knew she had changed their destiny. Most would be dead now if not for her. He could feel the excitement in the packed tent. She was one step from becoming a deity in their eyes. The next time she asked for flyers to learn a new maneuver, they’d fight to stand first in line. She had opened up a whole new world of possibilities. She had shown them courage, determination, and a way of flying they had never seen.

  And my squad has her for the time being, he reminded himself.

  He doubted that would last too long. MAC couldn’t afford to keep her talent hidden in the backwaters. He had no doubt Powell had already requested her transfer to his unit. Given her feelings for Sparkes, she would undoubtedly want to accept.

  The realization hurt. He’d known she would leave him someday. It was why getting involved had been so damn stupid on his part. But never in his wildest dreams could he have foreseen the speed in which she would impact the Corps. She’d changed every single soldier in this room with her courage and skill. And every one of them was better for it.

  The next commendation was for Philly. Alisha returned to the podium to accept his certificate. And while she had refused to speak on her own behalf, she chose to speak for her crew member.

  “I know if Philly was here, he’d have this look of utter amazement on his face as if wondering if this was just a really cool dream. For many of you, Philly’s shot became a moment of destiny: if he’d missed, the battle would have gone differently, and unquestionably some of you would not be here now. Philly would be the first to point out that the same is true for all of you yesterday. You aren’t here today because he made his mark. You’re here because we all made our marks. A battle is not won by a single perfect shot. It’s won by us all.”

  When she finished, the room stood in roaring approval again. She turned to Logan, clearly looking for his approval. He gave her a slight nod of encouragement. He doubted the general had liked the speech, because the man preferred to attribute the success or failure to a single performer instead of treating them as a squad or unit, but Logan was proud of her.

  Chapter 53

  When Alisha and her squad returned to the Broadtown fort at noon, she felt as though she’d already put in a full day’s work. All she wanted now was a bath and sleep. She was about to ask the colonel if she could use his tub when she remembered the colonel didn’t want her anywhere near him now.

  She went to the crew shower room and read the note on the wall. NO DOGS IN THE SHOWER WITHOUT OWNER PRESENT. She pulled the paper down and tossed it in the trash. Noticing DC’s name on the first shower door and Ollie’s on the second, she pulled those off as well. She lost her temper when she realized someone had removed the door from the final stall—just another way to humiliate and weaken new cadets.

  This shit is ending now!

  She returned to the commons. Ginnie was rushing about preparing lunch.

  “Ginnie, stop!” she commanded. “Ollie can fix us something to eat.”

  He looked up from the couch. “Me?”

  “Yes, you,” she said. “Look, guys, what went on here before is wrong. I’m not just talking about regulations. I’m talking about what is truly right and wrong. And it’s all stopping now.” When she noticed Ollie’s look of annoyance, she yelled, “This is good news for you, Ollie, because as a private you would be the new dog.” From his look, she knew he was wishing for the good old days with DC in charge.

  “Now, do we know where the stall door is for the last shower?” she asked, forcing herself to calm down.

  “It may be in the closet,” Washington said.

  “Well, put it back on. If you don’t know how to do that, then locate a ground soldier to help. Either way, I want the shower door back up within the next hour. From now on, it’s an open queue for the showers. Anyone caught breaking the line will get a month’s leave canceled for the first offense.”

  “For a line break?” Jersey protested.

  “No, Jersey, for what’s behind the line break. We are a unit who does not abuse or denigrate one another. We watch each other’s backs and help each other—before we help ourselves. And until I see that behavior in everything you do, I will come down hard on any hint of the old ways.”

  Ollie stood in the kitchen, looking utterly helpless. “Captain, I’m not trying to be difficult, but in the desire to feed my team something edible, I need to admit that I can’t cook.”

  Alisha relaxed and smiled. “Lucky for you, it’s lunch time. You don’t have to cook. You only have to assemble. We can eat sandwiches. Just find the ingredients and get it out on the table with plates and glasses.”

  “The rest of us have some reorganizing of the sleeping quarters to do. Every one of us will have the exact same amount of space, blankets, and pillows.”

  “Except for you, of course,” Ginnie corrected.

  “No, Ginnie, I don’t require extra space. If it’s good enough for my team, it’s good enough for me.”

  It was then that she noticed the colonel observing from the shadows in the hallway. She wondered if she had overstepped her boundaries.

  He seemed to read her mind. “Carry on, Captain, you’re doing fine,” he assured her. “And when you finish, I would like a word with you,” he added, and returned to his room.

  ***

  She’s a natural leader, Logan realized. Her speech today, the way she’d handled herself with the squad, and her instincts were all excellent. And yet when she noticed him watching from the hall, for a brief second her confidence faltered. He had seen the same reaction two other times today. It disturbed him. He was certain it had to do with her new commitment to follow orders. Following orders shouldn’t diminish her ability to make good judgment calls. He needed her to understand the difference before he inadvertently created within her a reluctance to lead.

  When she knocked on his door, he invited her in and motioned for her to sit at the table. “I’ve made a preliminary training plan for us, and I want to review it with you.”

  “Us?” she said in confusion.

  “Yes. When it comes to learning the new flying maneuvers, I want to learn them as well.”

  “I could give you private lessons, sir.”

  Just the words “private lessons” stirred his loins. “You won’t have time. Besides training the squad, we still have runs to do, and you have some intensive studying on Regs 13 through 14. I expect you to know them by heart by the end of this week.”

  Logan was pleased when she didn’t argue with him, not even about the difficult deadline he’d set for her learning the new regs.

  Moving his chair a little closer, he slid the paper in front of her. “From the maneuvers I’ve seen you fly, these would have the greatest impact on my squad’s fighting capabi
lities. You may have others I haven’t seen yet that should be on the list…” He met her gaze and waited for confirmation.

  “A couple,” she said, then bit her lip.

  This morning she would have voiced whatever worried her. Now she remained quiet, which he didn’t want. “What is it?”

  “What I taught the troops yesterday was really easy. Some of these aren’t. I’m afraid if we start with them…”

  “They’ll fail and get discouraged?”

  “No, sir…they’ll die trying,” she admitted.

  “Then rewrite the list,” Logan said, handing her a pen. If she said it was too dangerous, he’d trust her judgment.

  Logan noticed she left the vertical lift as the first item. She added the use of slats as her second item. “You do realize that all of these require modification to the catcher?” she asked.

  “I do. MAC has given blanket approval for modifications to the squad’s catchers under two conditions. First, that you personally supervise the changes, and second, all changes must be video recorded so MAC can observe.”

  “That’s a bit creepy.”

  “Just wait until it sends you a question in the middle of your cutting.” Too chummy! Logan warned himself, and changed the topic. “What else will you need for these maneuvers?”

  Alisha pouted and frowned over the list, finally drawing a line after the third item. “Is there a wind tunnel in Fort Capital?”

  “A what?”

  “A wind tunnel. You know, it’s an arcade ride. You put on this huge suit and pay a hundred dollars to fly about a vertical wind tunnel for a half-hour.”

  “I doubt it. Not many kids have a hundred dollars to spend on something you can find by walking outside the mall.”

  “It’s different from a horizontal wind. This simulates what you feel when you collapse your catcher mid-air.”