Thirty-one (last)

Bile rose in Adam’s throat, her words echoing in his ears.

He was on that hill.  Oh hell.

“Marshal?  I’ve got eyes for you.”

He sucked in a breath and turned.  “Where?”

“Patching through from Theta Leader.  They’re climbing up out of the atmosphere for a look at what’s up top.”

His stomach twisted.  At this point, I’m not sure I want that bad news.  “Can you get me audio?”

“Patching through to your headset, sir.”

Adam nodded a moment before the sound of comm chatter filled his ears.  He cleared his throat, then toggled the voice pickup to active.  “Theta Lead, this is Windsor.  What’s our situation in the air?”

“Outnumbered, but not outgunned against the bombers and the fighters, sir,” Theta Leader told him.  The young woman’s voice was a little shaky—this was her first combat experience that wasn’t inside of a simulator.

We’ve got a bunch of untried and untested men and women defending us.  He suppressed a shiver.  “Landers?”

“Haven’t seen any yet.  We’re keeping our eyes open.”

Adam stared at the holographic map of the city, still hovering in the dim of the emergency lights.  His stomach somersaulted as he waited for Theta Leader to say more.  All he could hear was the chatter of her squadron, calling out targets and giving warnings in the background.

“Marshal, we’re getting a call in from one of the shelters.”

He toggled the voice pickup off.  “Tell me you’ve got good news, Maricopa.”

“It’s the Oracle, sir.”

His stomach dropped.

Damn.  That’s not what I wanted to hear.  That’s not what I wanted to hear at all.

“Someone take over with Theta Leader and break in when we’ve got more information.  Get me visuals up on the monitors over there.”  He took a deep breath and steeled himself.  Delaying the unpleasantness wasn’t going to do any of them any good.  “And put Lindsay through.”

2 thoughts on “Thirty-one (last)

  1. Don’t sound good for the home team but, young or not, he has a good bunch he taught.

    Is this your last post on this story? or does “last” mean something else?

    I hope it isn’t but, if it is.. all the best to you and thank you for sharing your talents with us.

    S.L.Diekmann

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