Scavenger's Mission (The SkyRyders Book 1)

by Liza O'Connor

  “Terrified?” Logan asked.

  “See? That’s what I’m concerned about. To a normal Ryder, collapsing your catcher is the equivalent of death. Yet most of these maneuvers require the flyer to collapse their catcher. And I can tell them how to do it, and we can practice on the ground, but if they freeze in terror during the unfamiliar sensation of air rushing up from the ground, I can’t open their catcher for them.” She met his gaze. “I can’t save them from dying.”

  Logan sighed. He refused to accept that, of all the incredible skills she possessed, only three were going to be transferable to other Ryders. “Any idea how much a wind tunnel costs?” He walked over to his computer and started typing a query to MAC.

  “Actually, I do know. I was a frequent patron of the one in Flatland. The guy who ran it said I could have bought my own tunnel for the amount I spent at the mall. I knew my parents wouldn’t actually let me have one, but I asked him for the price so I could dream. He said a new tunnel goes for about a million, but you can buy the old ones, without the new security features, for two hundred and fifty thousand. Actually, I prefer the older ones. They have higher speeds.”

  Logan almost stopped typing when she told him the cost. He knew the Corps’ budget was painfully tight this year. He’d never get approval, not even for the used version. But given its importance, he typed in the maneuvers Alisha had listed as teachable if she could remove the fear of falling from the equation. He sent it off to MAC. It was all he could do.

  “I’m pretty sure I could teach you.”

  Logan turned around. “Why would I be different?”

  “Well, for one, I don’t think you’re scared of anything.”

  Oh, but I am, and she’s sitting across this table looking as desirable as ever.

  Getting control of his thoughts, he focused on her words as she continued her explanation.

  “And secondly, I could ride with you as I did when you rescued me from the wind farm. Most flyers couldn’t deal with my extra weight, but as you pointed out, you carry backpacks heavier than me.”

  “Then it should work for any of the Ryders accustomed to carrying weight—Ollie for example.”

  “No. I trust you not to panic, so I could talk you through the maneuver. If Ollie froze, I wouldn’t be able to take control and pull him out. I’d just die with him.”

  Logan processed her words. She trusts me with her life. “Well, let’s keep it on the back burner for a while.”

  “The reason I brought it up is because if you learned it, then you could take other lightweight flyers up and let them experience falling safely from your back. Once you were certain they remain lucid the entire time, we could send them up on their own.”

  Logan stared at her in amazement. “All right then, we’ll give it a try.”

  The idea of having her harnessed against his back raised his temperature several degrees. His concern wouldn’t be fear of falling, rather sexual distraction.

  With the plans complete, they joined the crew in the commons for lunch. Ollie had outdone himself on locating food. He had pulled almost every item from the food bins for the crew’s selection.

  Alisha struggled not to laugh. That was certainly not the message Logan wished to be sent. He reached out and touched her arm, letting her know he wanted to handle this.

  “Ollie, what the hell is this?” Logan demanded.

  “Lunch?” Ollie said, suddenly uncertain of himself.

  “For whom? The entire community of Broadtown? We have a food budget, and if I’m not mistaken, you’ve just gone through about two weeks of it. Now, since none of us wish to starve for two weeks, I suggest you put back anything you haven’t opened and rewrap the meats. If the squad would like to help in this recovery mission…” He gave them a steely glare until they all jumped in to assist Ollie.

  Ten minutes later, the table held a reasonable amount of food, and his crew, now visibly subdued, sat down for lunch. Even Alisha looked gloomy. She clearly took responsibility for Ollie’s mistake.

  “It was a grand lunch you laid out, Ollie. One of the finest I’ve seen,” Logan tried to explain, but found himself wanting to laugh as he played back in his mind the mounds of food. “You must have been hungry as hell,” he added, and unsuccessfully fought back the laughter.

  “I hadn’t seen that much food since the May Day picnic,” Jersey added.

  “No, their tables were larger, but their spread wasn’t half as nice,” Washington said.

  “Or large,” Ginnie smiled. “It’s a shame Philly wasn’t here to videotape it. It was amazing. It just kept growing. I’d never seen anything like it.”

  By this point everyone, including the sullen Ollie, had given in to laughter.

  Logan laughed so hard there were tears in his eyes.

  Once everyone quieted, Logan turned the topic back to the need to watch the budget. Alisha reached out and touched his arm. “I’ll see we stay within budget, sir,” she assured him. “We haven’t exactly worked out the household responsibilities yet. We’ll get it straightened out.”

  Logan had no doubt of it. He moved on to explain their new schedule. While the crew seemed pleased, he sensed something bothered them, but when he asked, no one would say, although a glance toward Alisha made him think her presence was preventing their candor.

  “Captain, you might wish to review the crew’s equipment as the first step toward their training. See what it looks like under normal circumstances, since I’m quite certain no one anticipated an inspection today.” Logan hoped Alisha would understand an order, even when stated politely.

  Chapter 54

  Alisha hated being sent from the room like some errant child. She considered ignoring his not-so-subtle command, but she had promised to obey his orders, even ones she didn’t like. Well, the sooner she finished this gear inspection, the sooner she could rejoin the group.

  As she entered the gear room, she set the door ajar. The colonel had ordered her to leave, but he never said she couldn’t listen from the gear room. She began her inspection with Ginnie’s gear, knowing it would be perfect.

  As she listened, she understood why the colonel had ordered her to leave. Something had the crew worried, but they didn’t want to share it. After DC, she couldn’t expect the colonel to ignore such behavior.

  Still, she was pissed at the crew. What had she done that would make them think they couldn’t talk in front of her? If they hoped to find a sympathetic ear against the changes she’d made in the shower and bedroom, they’d find no solace with the colonel. He hated the “dog” shit as much as she did.

  When she opened Ollie’s catcher, her anger dissipated as she experienced a moment of déjà vu. Three days ago, her pack had looked just like this. For one moment she thought DC had managed to escape the brig and make his way back to their compound. Certain she was in imminent danger, she turned around, holding the bag up as protection, but there was no one else in the room.

  She calmed down so she could think straight. They had returned only two hours ago. If DC had been in Ollie’s gear, it would have been in the last two hours. She quietly eased into the hall and checked out the surveillance monitors near the front door. She recognized the system. Her parents’ house had the same brand. Her mother had never realized how much useful information their security system provided Alisha. Her nightly review of the day’s events in the house had caused her to lose respect for both her parents, but in the end it had also saved her from getting married while unconscious. They’d planned to ensure she’d marry David Bowan by doctoring her evening drink, and when she awoke, she’d be Mrs. Bowan.

  She didn’t have to run the video for long before she had her answer. Ollie had first tried to get Ginnie to pack his catcher, but she blew him off. Then he asked Jersey. She just laughed. Washington hurried out as well. Which left Ollie to pack his own, and it was painfully clear he didn’t know how. He’d folded the tri-ridges inside out, exactly how her own catcher and the seven spares had been folded the nigh
t they’d been sabotaged.

  With a sinking feeling, she returned to the gear room and searched his gear. She found a high-quality, stainless steel slicer in the sleeve of his pack. If it pressed against skin, you wouldn’t even feel it as it sliced into the flesh like a hot knife through butter.

  Alisha slide the blade down into its metal container and placed the device in her pocket. Anger, betrayal, and fear bombarded her mind as she made her way down the hall. She stopped in the shadows and listened as Ollie spoke for the group. He might be a private, but in the eyes of her crew, he was still their lieutenant.

  “We’ll be training in the meadow. DC used to talk about how easy it would be to take out a Ryder in those meadows. A sniper could lie in wait, and you’d never see him. It would be like shooting ducks.”

  Alisha stepped forward. “He won’t need to shoot you, Ollie. If you don’t take better care of your catcher, you’ll be dead long before DC gets out of the brig.”

  Logan frowned at her early return, but right now she didn’t give a damn.

  “I want you to take your windcatcher outside, pull it out and repack it. Before anyone gets taught a single flying lesson, you’re going to learn how to fold and pack a damn catcher. If the rest of you want to advise him, please do so. It’s quite clear he doesn’t have a clue.”

  Evidently her crew didn’t understand subtle orders, for no one moved. She sighed and made her desire a little clearer. “He’s your teammate, guys. If he fails, we all fail!”

  Finally, they caught on and followed Ollie out.

  “Can I speak to you in your quarters, sir?” Alisha asked.

  “You just sent them out…”

  “They might come back,” she said as her eyes flickered up to the monitor.

  Logan opened the door to his quarters then stepped back so she could enter.

  She trembled from the emotions inside her. She wished she could run into his arms and feel safe for a second, but that door was closed. She sat down on the bed, which had become a symbol of safety to her. Even a symbol was better than nothing.

  “I don’t think DC sabotaged my catcher, sir.”

  The colonel didn’t reply, but he pulled up a chair facing her and sat down, waiting for her evidence.

  Be calm and take it in order, she warned herself. “Do you remember the sloppy job of packing that alerted me to the fact someone had messed with my ’chute? That’s how Ollie packs. He doesn’t know how to fold a catcher.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the silver slicer. “I also found this in the sleeve of his backpack. It’s incredibly sharp—the perfect tool for making invisible slices in a catcher’s fabric.”

  “Couldn’t DC have done the slicing, then left Ollie to pack the bags?”

  He clearly didn’t want to believe her, but then she didn’t want to believe it herself. “If DC had been with Ollie, he would have seen the sloppy packing and fixed it. I don’t see any alternative but that Ollie did this. It’s probably why DC’s so certain he’ll walk. Without proving intent to harm through the sabotage of the catchers, the stall-outs could be blamed on flying mishaps. He’ll even get out of his attempt to shoot me. The crew won’t tell the truth if they think he’ll be back in charge. At worst, DC might get bumped down to lieutenant for bad judgment.”

  Colonel Logan’s eyes showed the same anger and betrayal she had experienced just minutes before. Talking about DC made her realize something. While Ollie might have carried out the sabotage, DC had more than likely given the order. The change in Ollie’s behavior didn’t have to be a lie. In fact, given his concerns tonight, she didn’t think it was.

  “Colonel, I don’t want to lose Ollie over this. He’s turning himself around so well.”

  He stared at her. “I think Ollie has sealed his own fate in this matter,” the colonel said, his voice hard and unforgiving.

  “Not if he was following orders.”

  The colonel quoted her Reg 13.356—Soldiers are exempt from following an unreasonable order if doing so will result in the death of another Ryder.

  Wasn’t that exactly what she had done yesterday? Yet neither the colonel nor Jack had mentioned that reg when they drilled into her head a Ryder must always follow orders—no exceptions. Suddenly there were exceptions. Her disobedience wasn’t against the regs at all. In fact, obeying the general’s order would have been in violation of Reg 13.356, for had she remained grounded, Philly would have died. Even as she was about to declare this, she recognized a flaw in the law. Generals sent Ryders to their deaths every day. Clearly Reg 13.356 did not exempt soldiers from fighting in a battle, so the key words were “unreasonable orders”. How the hell was a soldier to decide what was reasonable or unreasonable? She had thought the general’s grounding was unreasonable, but clearly Jack and the colonel did not.

  “I imagine this reg must cause great difficulty in practice, for how do you define an unreasonable order?”

  “It does,” Logan admitted. “However, a captain ordering the murder of one of his crew clearly falls into the ‘unreasonable’ category.”

  She didn’t accept his high moral ground. This wasn’t a regulation for a soldier to use as a guide. It was a tool of punishment after the soldier followed orders. This was hypocrisy at its worst. What concerned her most was that the colonel approved of it. She needed him to see the wrongness of this reg. If he couldn’t, then he was no better than the men who’d written it.

  Her disappointment grew as he tried to wash his hands of the problem, claiming it wasn’t his decision.

  “But you’ll have a say,” she insisted. “You’ll have a side to come down on, and if that side is punishing Ollie for following orders…” Then what? she asked herself. What do I do when the man I love and respect turns out to be no better than my parents?

  “You want me to defend the person who tried to kill you?”

  Was he blinded by his need to protect her? Holding onto that possibility, Alisha continued the argument. A part of her just wanted to quit the Corps, run away, and go back working with the scavengers. Right now, they looked quite honorable in comparison to the Ryders. Upon taking a deep breath, she decided to try once more, this time pulling no punches. If he still refused to see reason, she would leave.

  “I want you to defend your crewman for following his captain’s orders. This is not his fault. It’s yours. You allowed an unreasonable captain to command him.”

  She could tell her words hurt him. His head dropped, and he stared at his feet for several minutes before he finally spoke. “I’ll do all I can to save Ollie.”

  He’d proven himself to be the man she thought he was. “Thank you. I’d like a moment to talk with Ollie alone, here, where MAC can’t listen. And assuming it goes well, then as soon as I’ve verified he can pack a catcher, we’ll work on modifying the crew’s catchers, so the crew won’t need to go into the marshlands.”

  Once they had made some modifications to the catchers, she could teach them to take off from the roof of the compound. That would be considerably safer than the landing field. In truth, the danger in the meadows went beyond DC. Those grasses could hide a sniper from both aerial and ground searches. Presently her Ryders were open to attack during takeoff, landing, and during the half-mile trek to the site. If any seriously dangerous group had a beef with them, they could be wiped out in three minutes without a clue beforehand.

  Suddenly her heart turned cold. While the Ryders of Broadtown never had any serious enemies in the past, only going after scavengers, with yesterday’s battle, that changed. The drug cartel would unquestionably retaliate.

  “Colonel, I don’t think we should use the marsh landing anymore,” she announced, feeling rather shell-shocked by her own conclusions.

  “DC remains in the brig.”

  “It’s not DC who concerns me. It’s the drug cartel, sir. I’ve been thinking about what their reaction to our successful bust might be. To be honest, our compound may be at risk.”

  Logan sat up. “What type of risk?
”

  She didn’t have to make up some story to explain her knowledge. With the colonel, she could tell the truth.

  “Denny, my friend you met yesterday, he’s very street smart. I remember him warning me never ever cross one of the drug cartels, because they’d come after you no matter what the cost. It’s an issue of honor and respect as much as it is maintaining order. Yesterday, we clearly dishonored them, and I don’t see how they can let that slide.”

  Logan shook off the concern. “The cartels wouldn’t dare respond to the Ryders the same way they do a dealer.”

  “We’re a more difficult target, certainly better armed and better skilled. We proved that. So I doubt the general’s troops are in danger. I’m sure their compound is well guarded. Ours, however, is poorly manned, and with Philly still in the hospital there are only five of us and you. Worse yet, our landing field is in the middle of four-foot meadow grass. And once they see how easy it is to kill us, they’ll probably go after Doakstown as well.”

  “Doakstown wasn’t even involved,” Logan objected.

  “They wouldn’t care. They see us as one big family. Killing one Ryder is just as good as another.”

  “Why didn’t you mention this before?”

  Because I spent last night sick with guilt and depression over the problems I’d caused; because I spent the morning learning I’d ruined Jack’s career; because I spent two exhausting hours listening to General Powell micromanage an entire battle…

  “Until Ollie mentioned the meadows, it didn’t click,” she finally replied. “I could be wrong, Colonel, but the fact is, security here is terrible. We need to make some changes, and the sooner we make them, the better.”

  Chapter 55

  Colonel Logan hurried to the computer and sent off a message to MAC. MAC responded at once.

  “MAC is sending a high-altitude surveillance squad to check things out,” Logan said.

  Alisha bit her lower lip, worried she would be in trouble if her fears proved wrong and in greater trouble if they proved right.