by JC Cassels
He scanned the second battle line for any sight of Sundance. He’d been so focused on the Warhammer that he’d lost track of the ship.
“Damn.”
***
“Barron, Agent Kendall is on the com.”
Bo swallowed hard. Her heart pounded in her chest. She cleared her throat. “Barron here.”
“Bo…We’re patching you through to Blade.”
“Ian, what…”
“Don’t be angry with him, love,” Blade said. “It was entirely my fault.”
His tone sent a chill rippling through her. It settled in her chest. Leaning on the railing around the imaging platform, she remotely called up her ship’s sensor array.
“What’s your sit-rep?”
“Both Warhammers have been redirected,” Blade said. “I told you they wouldn’t get through.”
At what cost?
Bo’s hands stilled as she stared at the display. Shaking her head, she swallowed to dislodge the lump in her throat.
Once more, the voices around her quieted as the seriousness of Blade’s situation became apparent to all. He’d entered a no-man’s land, and was beyond rescue. Already the planet exerted enough gravitational pull on him that any attempt at catching him in a tractor beam would result in a tug-of-war that could only end in his dismemberment. Not even Sundance could safely manage an extraction.
Royce squeezed her shoulders and stepped away. He gestured for Chase to follow him. Bo’s lips tightened into a grim line. She nodded as her eyes welled with tears. It was better that Chase not hear his brother’s re-entry. Hell, she didn’t want to hear it.
“I don’t know how long before I lose com,” Blade went on. “I’ve already picked up too much speed to escape the gravity well. Shutting down thrusters.”
Torn between fear and helplessness, Bo looked to the young woman hovering by her elbow. “Scramble a recovery team – NOW!”
The woman moved away to make the call. Faces filled with worry and compassion turned to Bo. Others looked away, unable to meet her stare. “Come on, people! There has to be something we can do! I refuse to accept the situation!”
“Let it go, love. I’m a recovery specialist. I know what I’m facing here. I’ve activated my emergency transponder.”
“Dev, stop it!” Her voice broke. “I’m not losing you!”
“Are you looking at my situation now?”
She swallowed hard. “I am,” she said. “In a lifetime of boneheaded stunts, this beats them all.”
“Looks like I’m going to set a new free-fall record.”
“I’ll order a nice medal for you,” she said. “We’ll have a quiet dinner to celebrate, just the two of us.” She pressed her hand against her lips to hold back her tears.
Sundance’s sensors showed him closing in on the planet’s atmosphere.
Holy Maker, please don’t let him die!
“Bo?”
She cleared her throat. “I’m here.”
“Do you remember the time I took you paragliding on Dagus 4?”
Bo’s lips twitched at the memory as she fought back tears. “I remember.”
“I’ve never seen you so scared.”
“Do you blame me? Pilots usually don’t do that sort of thing outside of bailing from their ship.”
Not much longer before he hit atmo.
Bo kept talking. “There was nothing between us and the ground but a tiny harness. Nothing keeping us in the air but several meters of fabric.”
He had only meters to go. Only a few seconds left.
“What I wouldn’t give to be there now.”
“Me too,” she whispered.
Tears broke free and rolled down her cheeks.
“What do you say that when this is over we…” Static broke the line.
Desperately, she scanned the display for some sign of him.
“Blade?”
Silence greeted her.
“Dev?”
“He’s hit communications blackout, Barron.”
Bo noted the time on the strategy board. Re-entry could take only a few minutes or several. Closing her eyes, she forced her fears aside. She would believe he lived until she had evidence to the contrary. If anyone could find a way to survive this, surely Blade Freakin’ Devon could.
“Barron, they’re opening fire again.”
Opening her eyes, she met her aide’s stare. “Then find a way to shut them down.”
***
Bracing against the turbulence, flak, and evasive maneuvers Royce was putting the small shuttle through, Chase fastened the pressure suit and shrugged into the jet-pack harness.
“Don’t you have people who are actually trained for this type of thing?”
“Yeah, but he’s coming into a hot zone and Mondhuic SAR won’t scramble a recovery team under those conditions.”
“And you’re sending me out into this mess?”
“It’s gonna take a Barron pilot to get close enough. I can’t fly and intercept your brother,” Royce said from the cramped cockpit. “You wanna try flying back through that?”
The shuttle rocked from the concussion of a nearby explosion. Chase bent his knees and grabbed hold of the bulkhead, swaying with the movement.
“If you were less experienced at atmospheric jumps, I wouldn’t even consider it,” Royce said. “You’ve got his transponder information in your guidance system. It’ll take you right to him. You can do this.”
Chase studied the simulation looping on the screens of the duty station beside him. “He’ll be coming in hot,” he said. “There’s no way I’ll be able to catch up to him before the atmosphere slows him to terminal velocity.”
“You’ll have about four minutes to safely intercept him once he hits terminal velocity,” Royce said. “And there’s no guarantee he’ll still be alive.”
Chase’s lips tightened into a firm line. “He’s alive,” he said. “He has to be.”
“Keep in mind, this is an active battle zone,” Royce said. “A couple of guys hanging from a ’chute aren’t going to show up on sensors like ships will. If you get buzzed and your ’chute loses drag, cut it loose and go to the backup.”
“How many backups do I have?”
“Just the one.”
“That’s reassuring.”
“Wait as long as you can to deploy your ‘chute. Watch your altimeter. Most of the action is in the upper atmo. You stand a better chance once you’re under it.”
Chase nodded. Under his breath, he repeated Royce’s instructions.
“I’m picking up his transponder,” Royce said. “We’ll come in a little above him. Whatever you do, kid, don’t get yourself killed. I’m breaking so many laws right now it’s not funny. If I get both of Marin’s sons killed in one day…”
“I get it,” Chase said.
“I’ll stick around as long as I can. I’ll be monitoring things from here. Yell if you get into trouble. I’ve also got your com keyed to his. Get your helmet on and get in the airlock.”
Chase switched off the simulation and donned his helmet. Checking the seals of his suit one last time, he brought his propulsion online as the inner hatch closed behind him.
“All systems go.”
“Good luck.”
The indicator panel flashed green. Chase braced himself in the opening as the hatch separated. Buffeted by the thin atmosphere, he scanned the area for his brother’s transponder signal. The targeting display on his faceshield lit up. Chase pushed off into the thin upper atmosphere. He tumbled briefly, shifting his body until he found resistance. His heart pounded as adrenaline flooded his body.
Below him, flashes from exploding ordinance mingled with flak and debris.
Somehow, he had to navigate through that to catch up with Dev. Using bursts from the jet-pack on his back, and guided by his targeting display, he threaded through the ordinance after his brother.
“Royce, I have a visual.”
“Copy that.”
Dev tumbled like a
ragdoll.
Chase frowned. “I don’t think he’s conscious,” he said. He glanced over the targeting display, measuring his brother’s speed.
“Dev, can you hear me?”
Silence.
On the planet’s surface, land features grew more detailed.
Chase held off, waiting above his brother until he shed some speed.
Dev still tumbled violently.
“Screw it!”
Chase keyed the propulsion. He didn’t dare wait any longer. His brother would sustain further injury if he didn’t stabilize his fall. Chase closed the distance, timing his intercept to avoid flailing limbs. He caught Dev’s arm, holding tightly as he clipped first one tether to the waist of his armor, then the other.
“Royce, I’ve got him.”
“Copy that,” Royce said. “Meet you groundside.”
Awkwardly, Chase shucked the jet-pack. It spun away from them.
Hands free, he touched his brother’s opaque helmet. “Dev, are you still with me?”
Still no answer.
Setting his jaw, Chase shifted his body to control the tandem free fall.
“I’ve got you, little brother,” he said. “I’ve got you.”
He repeated his reassurances as they fell.
Checking the altimeter, Chase waited as long as he could before he deployed the parachute. The force of slowing both their bodies elicited a groan from his brother. Chase’s heart leaped at the sound.
“Dev?”
Another groan answered him.
“Dev, answer me!”
“What?”
“Stay with me, little brother,” he said. “Don’t you die on me now!” He glanced up at the canopy of fabric spread above them. “Hey Bo? Can you hear me? I got him!”
“Chase? Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me! I got him! I got Dev! He’s alive! You hear me? Dev is alive!”
Cheering and celebration overloaded the speakers in his helmet.
“We’ve got your position and we’ve scrambled medical teams to your LZ,” a voice Chase didn’t recognize said.
“You do that,” Chase replied. “In the meantime, me and Dev are just going to sit back and enjoy the view. Right little brother?”
Dev groaned in reply.
***
He’d never been space-sick a day in his life, but the first thing Blade did when his feet touched the ground was vomit inside his helmet. The tether connecting his assault suit to his brother’s compression suit held him upright and bobbing against the wind-filled parachute that threatened to pull them both over.
Chase braced himself and released the chute.
The forces against them stabilized a little.
Blade’s knees buckled.
Chase’s arms went around his chest. “No, you don’t,” he said. “I got you.”
Keying the release, the stiff gauntlets fell to the grass, freeing his hands. Blade fumbled for the helmet catch. His bile swirled around the faceplate, bubbling as the helmet pressurized and hissed. With a twist, he leaned forward and pulled it off, tossing it aside. He gulped the fresh air.
Chase uncoupled their suits and gently eased him to the ground. “That’s got to be a first,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you puke when you weren’t drunk or down with a stomach virus.”
On his hands and knees, Blade lowered his forehead to the cool, damp grass. “My equilibrium is off,” he said hoarsely. “Everything is spinning.”
Chase stripped off his own gloves and tugged on Blade’s suit. “Let’s get you out of this thing. It weighs a ton.”
“Leave it.” Blade’s trembling arms gave way and he fell to the ground. “I think I got cooked on re-entry. The suit’ll protect me ’til I can get to a med bay. It’s taking bio readings. They’ll need that info.”
His fingers curled in the grass. He held on, willing the world to stop spinning as he swallowed back his bile. Buzzing filled his ears as he panted against the vertigo.
Hands lifted him and placed him on a gyrostretcher. Uniformed medics swam in and out of view. The blue, Mondhuic sky slid away. He blinked, staring up into artificial light panels.
The loud whine of engines stabbed his eardrums.
His head throbbed.
As if from far away, he could hear Chase’s voice, but he couldn’t make out the words.
He drifted in and out of consciousness, aware of being jostled as his armor was removed.
Strange voices washed over him.
“It’s a mercy he’s out of it…”
“Blade, can you move your foot for me?”
“There is some swelling of the brain…”
“The next few hours are critical…”
“He’s a tough bastard…”
“…saved New Gallis…”
Someone peeled his eyelids open and shined a bright light into his eyes. Then darkness overtook him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Blade opened his eyes, blinking against the sunlight slanting in through the blinds that covered the window. He swallowed, but his saliva had all but dried up. He smacked his lips and looked around for something to slake his thirst. His head pounded with the movement. He groaned and closed his eyes once more.
“Dev?”
Bo’s soft voice pierced through the pain and he forced his eyes open.
Her beautiful face was lined with worry. Purple circles of fatigue shadowed her eyes.
He tried to clear his throat, but instead nearly choked on his tongue.
“Water,” he croaked.
She reached for a cup on a nearby table and, using a spoon, scooped a small chip of ice from it and slipped it into his mouth. She watched him expectantly.
He savored the cold and the water, opening his mouth for more when that one melted. She patiently fed him one after another until he was finally satisfied. With a sigh of relief, he relaxed into the soft pillows.
Medical bed. His head was elevated. Sensors beeped in steady rhythm. Medical center. Groundside. Beyond the closed door, voices murmured in muted tones. One bed. Blankets balled up and tossed over a boxy sofa under the window.
He met her gaze. “Battle?”
She smiled and set the cup aside. “It’s over. We won, thanks to you.”
His brow furrowed. “How?”
“Edge was able to get control of the Warhammers. Once he had access to their guidance systems, he was in everything. He turned their own weapons on them. You bought him the time he needed – and you saved New Gallis. The payload in just one of those missiles would have taken out the entire city. Millions would have been lost.”
“How long?”
Her expression softened. “You’ve been here two weeks.”
“Andre?”
“I’ve had word that the Pride of Trisdos will be here tonight,” she said. “Andre is coming with Dash and Tese.”
He closed his eyes. His chest rose and fell with a deep breath. “Damn.”
“What’s wrong?”
He slowly peeled an eye open. “Missed all the fun.” A smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. He closed his eye again and sighed.
He drifted in and out of consciousness, only dimly aware of being medicated and examined at intervals. Bo’s voice reached through the haze, tugging at him, keeping him anchored to reality. Chase spoke to him, but he couldn’t make sense of the words.
The next time he opened his eyes, the world outside the window was dark, lit only by the mellow ambient glow from the artificial light of the city. His head still ached, but it no longer felt as though it had been cleaved in two.
Bo’s voice drifted through the cracked door.
“He was lucid earlier,” she said. “The doctors think it’s a good sign, but we won’t know for sure whether there’s any cognitive impairment or damage to the motor centers of his brain until he’s more alert.”
“When was the last time you slept, my dear?” Andre asked, his voice filled with gentle concern.
�
�I nap here and there,” she said.
“Your people are counting on you, Barron. You need to take care of yourself or you won’t be any good to anyone.”
“My people are too busy celebrating. I’m not going anywhere until I’m sure he’s going to be here when I get back. I’m not leaving him.”
“Can I see him?”
Blade cleared his throat. “Hell no,” he called out, forcing as much strength as possible into his voice. “I’m in a coma and my ass is hanging out a damn dress.”
Bo’s head appeared around the edge of the door, relief clearly on her face. “You were eavesdropping?”
He smiled. “Can you think of a better way to find out whether I’m dying?”
The door swung open and Andre followed her in. “You’re not dying, son.”
“So I gathered. How did we do?”
Andre leaned a hip against the edge of the bed. “Rameus was arrested. He committed suicide. His supporters have been flushed out and dealt with.”
“Good.”
“I’m quite glad you’re not dead,” Andre said. “Your days of risking your neck are at an end, Dev.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I mean it! I… What did you say?”
“I said, yes, sir. You’re right.”
Andre looked to Bo. “Get the doctors. There appears to be some cognitive impairment.”
Worry furrowed Bo’s brows, she moved toward the door.
Blade grinned. “I’m fine…”
“No you’re not.” He said. “You’re far too agreeable. There’s got to be something wrong with your brain.”
“Bo…”
She peered at him, uncertainty on her face.
“I’m a husband and a father…”
“And a Sovran, not that you’ve ever let that stop you.” Andre muttered under his breath.
“…and I have a job to do.” Blade went on as though his father hadn’t spoken. “It’s time I let somebody else run around being the hero. I just want to play with my son and make love to my wife. What do you say, love? Are you ready to settle down and get soft and flabby with me?”
A small smile lifted the corners of her lips. “I thought you were going to take me paragliding.”
“I don’t want to jump out of any more air or spacecraft for a while. Do you?”