The transport started moving, making her stomach kink, but she forced out a slow breath. “I’m okay…now.”
He gave a single nod, his gaze sliding over to consider her briefly, nothing but warm affection in his eyes. “Just think of something else, and we’ll be on the ground in no time.”
She took another breath, the air catching when a gentle pressure registered on the outer side of her thigh. Leigh had shifted his leg outward so that it rested lightly against hers. His hand was just above his knee in what looked like a relaxed pose, but two of his fingers almost imperceptibly stroked in short movement up and down her lower thigh.
Okay, thinking of something other than being aboard a transport was not going to be a problem, not when his illicit, secretive touch rippled through every cell in her body with a thrill.
God, this was torture. If he’d been any other boyfriend, they could have held hands, she could have leaned in to him, let him wrap his arm around her and hold her tight until they landed, found comfort in being able to relax into his hold. Instead the way he almost not touched her soothed, but wound her tighter, both with longing and the trepidation that if anyone looked really closely, they’d give away the truth.
She’d never imagined that one day she might fall so hard and fast for someone, only to need to pretend like she didn’t feel anything at all for him. It was ridiculous when she thought about it. The one man she shouldn’t want, and she couldn’t stem the emotions blooming higher and brighter within her every hour.
Neither of them said anything else for the rest of the trip, but it was a case of not needing to. Despite the impossibility of their situation, Leigh had made sure she’d known he was here for her. Simply sitting next to her had been enough, his light touch an extra thrill that had distracted her from the tight anxiety in her stomach.
As the transport touched down, Leigh stood at the front of the shuttle. “Recruits, attention front and center. Listen closely, because I will not be repeating myself. Despite the fact that we’ve landed in UEF-held territory, we are close to the front lines and it will be dangerous. The occasional team of enemies does get through and will take any UEF soldier they find on their own or in small numbers for their Enlightening Camps. This is not some academy field trip where you can goof off or push the boundaries. Down here, if you make a mistake, it will cost your life.”
The other instructors joined him, and the hatchway opened and they stepped out into the weak, cloud-filtered sunshine. There wasn’t much chatter as people left their seats and filed out of the transport, the mood subdued by Leigh’s words.
“Well, this will be interesting,” Kayla muttered as they shuffled into the aisle.
“They’re right though. We need to see the realities of war. Some of us more than others.”
Kayla glanced back over her shoulder with a flat look. “I get the feeling there are some people who will still be imbecilic assholes no matter what they see.”
Yeah, some people being Steve and his buddies. They’d probably never see the death and destruction, only the glory of beating back the enemy.
When she stepped outside, it took a second for her eyes to adjust to the glare, despite it being overcast. One of the side effects of always being on a ship or station, a person’s eyes became a little more sensitive to actual sunlight.
They’d landed in a wide intersection of what looked to be an abandoned city. Some of the buildings looked mostly intact, but crumbled with age, while others were bombed out or damaged from bullet holes or energy blasts.
Leigh and the other instructors had walked over to stand in front of a structure with a half-destroyed sign: the Brannon system Earth consulate and GAHTO headquarters.
Their footsteps echoed as Mia followed Kayla and the other recruits over to the cracked sidewalk. She’d watched media-vids of abandoned cities, but had never seen one firsthand. It was eerie imagining that once people had gone about their everyday lives here until war came. How many people had died on the street in front of this very building?
“Does anyone know the significance of where we are right now?” Leigh asked the group over the quiet murmurs.
“This is where the war started, where the self-appointed Ponitfex, Ronald Martin, ordered the first attack on the UEC,” Kayla spoke up.
She shot her friend a surprised look.
“What? So I’ve got brains as well as beauty,” Kayla muttered.
Mia bit her lip over a laugh as she returned her attention to the instructors.
“Recruit Dawson is correct,” Leigh answered, clasping his hands behind his back. “This is where the first act of war was perpetrated. Martin felt that the UEC and Earth were exerting too much influence on his people, who strove to live a more simplistic life, rejecting the most advanced technologies and getting back to nature. When the Brannon system was founded by immigrants from Earth two hundred and fifty years ago, these ideals worked and the people thrived and existed quite well. But as time went by, the leaders began to resent any interference from the UEC.”
Leigh paused, glancing over his shoulder at the half-destroyed building behind him. There wasn’t a sound from the group, as though everyone was holding their breath while the wind whistled through broken windows and the far-off hum of a ship rumbled.
They’d all studied this back at the academy, but reading the facts and standing in the spot where it had actually happened were two very different things. A shiver rippled down her spine, sending goose pimples over her skin. She’d never been superstitious, but in that moment, she could almost swear the atrocities that haunted this place were touching her.
“Twenty years ago, the UEC and GAHTO sent in a team of aid workers with food and medicine after a storm flooded this city. Instead of accepting help, Ronald Martin dropped a bomb on his own city, killing the aid workers and many Ilari citizens. He declared the Brannon system to be a sovereign state and that any UEC, UEF, or GAHTO presence would be dealt with swiftly and by deadly force.”
Mia’s stomach went into a slow churn, unable to imagine what those people must have gone through.
“So, now that you’ve seen for yourselves the ruins of this war, you’ll be moving on to face your final test of survival training.” Leigh indicated toward the transport they’d flown down, and Mia glanced over her shoulder to see Rayne and Lawler had been unloading packs while the CAFF had been talking.
Oh, that couldn’t be a good sign. She shared a worried look with Kayla.
“You’ll each be assigned a pack, all of which are stocked with identical supplies. The UEF Ilari base is northeast of our position. You’ve got two nights and two days to make it back there. Those who don’t walk through the gates within that time frame will be cut from the program. Your packs also have emergency beacons. Only activate it if you are in an extreme medical emergency or want to quit the program.”
A ripple of low, anxious murmurs passed through the group of recruits. Okay, this might be a problem. If she spent who knew how long hiking to the Ilari base, it was going to delay her finishing the final profiles. Plus, if she was traipsing around down here, it gave the traitor more of an opportunity to work out who’d been tracking him and take out Leigh and her separately. How could Leigh think this was a good idea? But then her logic reined in her apprehension long enough to remind her that he probably hadn’t a choice. He couldn’t just pull her out of what probably amounted to an important aspect of FP training with no concrete reason—one he could share with anyone else anyway.
Leigh motioned to the other three instructors and then the four of them walked back toward the transport.
“Wait!” One of Steve’s buddies spoke up. “You’re leaving?”
Leigh paused and looked back at them as the two pilots and two other instructors boarded the transport. He shot a cutting grin at the recruit who’d questioned him.
“It wouldn’t be much of a test in survival if we showed you the way and lit your campfires for you now, would it? Just make sure you don’t accid
entally walk west, or you’ll find yourself on the CSS side of Ilari. And if that happens, no matter how many times you press your emergency beacon, no one will be coming to get you.”
With that, Leigh gave a short salute and disappeared inside the transport. The hatchway slid closed and the shuttle lifted off with a low swirl of dust a moment later.
The group of recruits broke into a surge of noisy disbelief and questions.
“They can’t just leave us out here!” someone yelled. “What about GPS and holomaps? How the hell are we supposed to know which way is northeast?”
For a long second Mia couldn’t breathe, her lungs too tight and ribs contracting. She was down on the ground, only a few miles from CSS held territory, with no type of security and no immediate help if anything went wrong. Without Leigh’s datapad, without actually being able to do anything to find the traitor, she felt like she’d been stripped of weapons and marched onto the battlefield.
What better opportunity to get rid of her than an exercise like this? Accidents happened. Or she could just disappear without a trace, assumed captured and killed by the enemy.
With dread growing inside her like a thick, black cloud, she watched the transport disappear over the buildings. She wasn’t exactly an expert at direction, but it seemed the shuttle had gone in a northeast direction, and logically it made sense that the instructors were going to kick back at the Ilari base for the next two days while they waited to see how many recruits turned up.
“We are so screwed,” Kayla muttered.
“Some more so than others.”
She passed a gaze over the remaining recruits standing around. Maybe the stress of the last few days was really starting to get to her, because the thought occurred to her that maybe she should have been running profiles on the people in this class. But that was ridiculous, wasn’t it? How could any of them be a mole, when the troop transport had been attacked, it? It made no sense that the CSS would fire on a vessel carrying one of its own people.
On the other hand, everyone had their price. What if the traitor paid someone to take care of her—
She shook her head at herself and stepped forward, walked over to the pile of packs, and grabbed one off the top. She tossed it to Kayla, who had trailed her, and then grabbed a second. She was getting ridiculous with the conspiracy theories. Yes, she possibly was more exposed down here, but there was safety in numbers, so she’d just make sure she stuck with a large group at all times. No point in standing around worrying about things. The sooner she got moving, the sooner she could walk into the Ilari base and put this latest test behind her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Mia glared at her aching feet, hating the combat boots that obviously weren’t designed for walking long distances. If she’d given in to the discomfort, she could have quite happily stopped to set up camp two or three hours ago, but she’d pushed on. The more ground she could cover today, the better off she’d be in the long run, because tomorrow would only get harder, not easier.
Though the physical side of things presented a muscle-straining challenge, this situation was more a mental game than anything—seeing if she could push herself, keep motivated, and succeed. Instead of thinking about how far she had to go or how long it would take or how cold or hot it might get or where she’d find water to refill the bladder in her pack, she’d simply started living in the moment, putting one foot in front of the other, picking a landmark in front of her, and concentrating on getting to it before finding another goal.
Being so hyperaware of everyone around her had been an extra drain. She’d shamelessly listened in on more than a few conversations today and a couple of times even found herself searching the landscape for an ambush or sniper, becoming more and more convinced that if the traitor knew who she was and planned on trying anything, it would be while she was out here. Not that she’d probably be able to see it coming anyway; she didn’t exactly have any experience being a ground soldier, so she had no idea what kind of signs would indicate the enemy were nearby.
When Kayla and she had set off, most of the recruits had scrambled to follow them, no doubt the pack mentality kicking in for everyone that they’d be better off sticking together. At first, most people had seemed somewhat relaxed and chatty, though not totally jovial. This wasn’t some academy camping trip after all, just like Leigh had said.
Kayla and she had chattered for a while, but as the day wore on, they’d become quieter as their group grew smaller and some people fell back. Others had stopped altogether. She’d taken note of every single person as they’d broken off from the group, and then started looking even more closely at those keeping up, trying to pick out anyone who seemed extra nervous or overly interested in her.
Now, the sun was dipping toward the horizon behind the clouds and a glance around revealed eight others beside Kayla and her, none of whom were Steve or his friends. Thank God for small favors. At least she wouldn’t have him and the other Ackerly assholes to worry about tonight. It was going to be bad enough fighting her exhaustion from walking all day to stay awake. Because no way was she going to fall asleep out in the middle of nowhere, giving anyone the opportunity to walk up and kill her in her sleep.
“That looks like as good a place as any to camp.” Kayla pointed ahead to an old barn or shed next to a small stream in the overgrown field they were crossing.
Mia nodded, too tired to reply, and switched directions slightly, headed for the structure. The clouds had been steadily thickening over the afternoon, and the scent of rain had been in the air for the last half hour, a slight humidity making the hike more uncomfortable. It would definitely rain tonight, maybe even storm. Finding an actual building to shelter in pretty much seemed like luxury at this point.
The small group they’d formed all trekked over to the barn. It wasn’t huge, but could have fit their entire class of recruits inside if everyone had kept up. Instead, the ten of them would have plenty of room to spread out or lie down.
In the fading light, it was hard to see much, but obviously they weren’t the first people to use the barn for shelter. Down the far end, where a hole in the roof let in the last of the day’s light, there was a blackened spot surrounded by stones where fires had previously been set. A couple of old crates and other things had been arranged in a loose circle to form a ring of mismatching seats. Maybe previous recruit classes had done the same hike and found the barn like they had. It gave her hope that they were on the right track and hadn’t spent the day walking in the wrong direction.
A couple of recruits were already making their way over to the pit, grabbing bits of wood to make a fire. Everyone in the group who’d made it this far probably could have been considered the top performers in the class. They were all hardworking, seemingly honorable people who took their duty to the UEF seriously. She hated to think that any of them could be a traitor, but her paranoia and mistrust had taken her off the rails hours ago. She was just going to believe her OTT suspicions of everyone and everything would keep her alive until she got back onto the Knox.
She set down her pack and crouched to unfasten it so she could assess the food situation. A cursory check earlier in the day had revealed some MRBs—meal replacement bars. They were chewy and definitely on the unappetizing side, but had the required nutrients for soldiers in combat or troop movement situations when a five-star meal wasn’t the first priority. But she hoped that somewhere in the bottom of the pack, there might be something a little more substantial. She wasn’t a fan of preserved foods, but right now she’d even take a plexi-can of baked beans over another MRB.
Her search efforts were futile—she found the emergency beacon, a basic first-aid kit with the usual antiseptic wound-healing gel and other items to treat minor injuries, a paper-thin thermo sheet for sleeping under, enough MRBs to last about a week, and not much else.
She pushed the pack aside and stood, walking the perimeter of the barn, assessing the structure in the rapidly fading light. If there was going to be a s
torm tonight, she didn’t want to end up crushed under a beam if the dilapidated barn couldn’t hold up. However, she didn’t exactly have a degree in architecture. The best she could do was check none of the support posts looked rotted while she tried not to think about her growling stomach.
By the time she’d done a lap, most of the recruits had moved to sit by the rapidly catching fire in the pit. Some grimaced their way through MRBs, while others like her had decided that staying a little on the hungry side was preferable.
One of them, Granger—who had turned out to have a lot of hiking and camping experience and had sworn all day they were definitely heading northeast—seemed to be trying to untangle something, while Nicka sat next to him, holding part of it up.
Curiosity got the better of her and she rounded the fire to get a closer look. It seemed to be some kind of netting, but it was definitely in a mess.
“What did you find?” she asked, sitting down next to Nicka.
The other girl gave a quick shrug. “Looks like junk to me, but Granger says he might be able to catch something in it.”
“Catch something?” She glanced over at Granger, who had his head bent over a knot, trying to work it free.
“Something to eat, like a fish or one of those bunny-raccoon things that we kept seeing in the fields today,” Granger clarified.
She leaned forward and grabbed the net from him. Since her fingers were more slender, she had the tangle undone in a matter of moments.
“I’ll take an order of fish, but you’re on your own with the rabboon.”
He sent her a grin as he separated what had actually been two nets tangled together. He tossed one in her direction as he stood.
“Then you’re on fishing duty, Wolfe.”
Without waiting for her to answer, he turned and headed out into the slanted golden light slicing in under the cloud cover.
She studied the net, then glanced over at Kayla, who had kicked back on the ground, leaning her back against one of the crates and using her pack as a pillow.
Damage Control (Valiant Knox) Page 22