Damage Control (Valiant Knox) (26 page)

He went to walk past her, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. “You’re serious about her, right? I mean, this isn’t just some sordid affair?”

He cared deeply for Mia, but everything was happening so fast, he hadn’t stopped to exactly define what it was he felt for her. All he knew was that he needed her in a way he’d never needed anyone else.

“They can take my post, and they can throw whatever kind of punishment they want at me, but I’m not giving up Mia. Not without one hell of a fight.”

Bren’s expression softened. “Then you’re doing the right thing. Good luck, Leigh.”

He sent her one last nod and left the flight deck.

The walk up to the command center was the longest and loneliest trek he’d ever taken in his life. A quiet sense of doom clawed into the back of his neck, along with a definite sense of paranoia, because he could have sworn people were looking at him differently and whispering between themselves as he passed. Surely the story couldn’t have gotten this far already? If it had, he was royally screwed.

In the command center, Leigh got waylaid by Olivia.

“What can I do for you, Captain?”

“I need to speak with Commander Yang right away.” Before Yang heard God-knew-what version of events from somebody else.

Olivia glanced down to look at the datapad on the pristine desk in front of her. “You’ll need to make an appointment. The Commander is still catching up after his absence. How about the day after tomorrow at—”

Leigh braced a hand against the edge of the desk. “No, I need to speak with him
now
. It’s important and it definitely can’t wait.”

Olivia glanced up at him and then sat back in her chair. “Well, you’ll at least have to come back later. The commander is currently in a subspace conference with Admiral Watson.”

Frustration simmered through him and he rubbed his nape, where that sense of impending doom dug deeper. “How long will it be before he’s finished?”

An annoyed expression flitted over Olivia’s face. “I don’t know. Five minutes or five hours. Take your pick.”

Leigh blew out a long breath. “Do you mind if I wait?” Because he sure as hell wasn’t going to head back out into the ship and pretend like he wasn’t the subject of everyone’s conversations.

Olivia shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

Leigh walked over to the far bulkhead, where a cushy couch had been arranged next to a slim table, both a lot fancier than the furniture he usually sat on down on squadron level. He took his personal comm out of his pocket and started going through the messages and emails he’d neglected since FP training had started.

Nearly an hour went by, before Olivia took a comm call.

“Captain Alphin, Commander Yang wants to see you now.”

Leigh stood, cold apprehension slicing through him. Not
Commander Yang
will
see you now
, but
Commander Yang
wants to
see you now
. He swallowed down his trepidation and nodded to Olivia, then made his way past the desk and through the doors into the commander’s wardroom.

Commander Yang stood behind his desk, personal comm up against his ear. His expression was blank—scary blank—as Leigh walked in and saluted him, then fell into parade stance in front of the desk.

Yang ended the call and slowly lowered the comm to his desk.

“Captain Alphin, I’ve just taken a very interesting call from Captain Phillips. I assume there’s something you want to tell me?” Yang crossed his arms, expression formidable.

Leigh swallowed and nodded. “Yes, sir. I’d appreciate it if you could possibly disregard whatever it is you’ve heard until after I’ve spoken my piece.”

Yang gave a single nod, but his impassive expression didn’t alter.

Leigh explained his relationship with Mia, right from day one, including the fact that she’d been the one to find the traitor. He left almost nothing out, apart from his most private moments with her. When he was done, Yang stared at him for a long moment then sighed.

“You’ve made a real mess of this, Alpha.”

He nodded. “I am aware of that, sir, and I won’t make excuses for myself. I don’t regret the methods Wolfe and I employed to find the traitor, but when it came to my personal feelings, my judgment in this matter obviously failed me.”

Yang’s posture relaxed a little and he moved around the desk to lean against the front of it. “And this morning in the squadron officer’s wardroom, was that a matter of you not thinking straight?”

A wave of chagrin rose within him, and incredibly, heat blazed along his cheeks. God, was he actually blushing like a damn schoolgirl?

“I can’t explain what happens when I’m with her. I tried to hold out, but then I saw her this morning and… I don’t know. It’s like any ideas about staying in control are just obliterated.”

The commander sighed. “You know, at the very least I’m going to have to demote you. You can’t remain the CAFF after this.”

He clenched his clasped hands tighter at his lower back. “I understand, sir. And I agree with your decision.”

Yang raised a brow at him. “Just like that, you’re going to give up your position, piss fourteen years of exemplary service out the hatch, and accept a black mark against your name, all without a fight?”

Leigh shrugged. “What am I really fighting for? I’m not losing out, because at the end of the day I’ll still have Mia, and that’s the important thing.”

“Uh-huh.” Yang sent him an exasperated look. “You want to tell me again how you can’t explain what it is about her that obliterates your judgment?”

Before he could answer, the door to the wardroom opened and Captain Phillips strode in. Had Yang called him in here so the two of them could decide his final fate? Despite his insistence that none of it mattered, a quiver of anxiety shook him.

“Sir, sorry to interrupt you.” Phillips stopped a few steps away and saluted. “But I’ve just received a report that you need to hear right away, both of you.”

Yang nodded. “Go ahead, Captain.”

Phillips glanced at him, and in that one expression, Leigh felt the solid floor drop out from beneath his feet.

“It’s the recruits’ training flight, sir.”

Leigh latched a hand onto the captain’s arm. “What happened?”

“The CSS infiltrated the safe zone and cut the group in half. Lieutenant Brenner ordered the orphaned recruits to head for the secondary base on Ilari, but they didn’t make it. Four planes down behind enemy lines.”

“
Who
?” The word came out at not much more than a hoarse croak, because he already knew.

“Snyder, Dawson, Robinson, and Wolfe.”

His grip slipped free from where he’d been holding Phillips as he turned to brace both hands against the edge of the desk, sucking air like there was no oxygen in the atmosphere any longer.
Mia
. Down behind enemy lines. God help him. He should have taken the flight this morning like he did every other year. But he’d been so fixated on doing the right thing. And now…now… His ribs felt like they were banding around his vital organs, choking him, one besieged heartbeat at a time.

Someone grabbed his shoulder. “Alpha—”

“I’m fine.” He shut down his emotions and shrugged out of the hold, turning to find Yang staring at him with concern. “I’ll be fine. But I need to get on the ground,
now
.”

“Sub-Lieutenant Rayne is already on deck organizing a response party,” Phillips reported.

“I thought Seb was off duty.”

Phillips shrugged. “He was until he heard about what happened.”

Seb probably wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be involved in a situation like this, but selfishly, he wasn’t going to pull the guy out, not when he needed every resource available to get Mia back in one piece.

“Clear the air space and shut down the other ports for immediate emergency launch,” Leigh told Phillips. But as he went to step by the captain to run like hell for the launch deck, Yang stopped him.

“Alpha, technically, I can’t let you leave the ship.”

He swung around and speared the commander with a disbelieving stare. “Sir?”

“You’re no longer the CAFF. As of this minute, you don’t even officially have a posting until I work out what we’re going to do with you. You know as well as I do that no one except members of the FP squadron can take out a V-29.”

Leigh swore. “Then I’ll take a goddamn shuttle. I don’t care, as long as it’ll fly between here and Ilari.”

“Leigh, you’re not hearing what I’m telling you. Without any kind of clearance, you cannot leave this ship. My hands are tied. You know the protocols as well as I do.”

“Sir, it’s
Mia
. I can’t just stay up here while she’s out there—”

Yang’s expression hardened. “You think I want this for you? There’s nothing I can—”

Leigh pointed an unsteady finger at him. “Don’t tell me there’s nothing you can do, Yang. What exactly would
you
be doing right now if it was Sacha down there?”

Yang’s posture tensed. “Sacha is the mother of my baby. I love her more than life itself.”

“Then I’ll ask you again,” Leigh replied quietly. “What would you do if it was Sacha down there?”

Yang glanced away from him, a muscle pulsing in his jaw.

“You better have found me a new posting and given me clearance by the time I make it to alpha level; otherwise you’ll have to add defying a direct order and ship theft to that charge sheet you’ll be writing later.”

Leigh didn’t wait for Yang or Phillips to say anything else before leaving the room and sprinting for port level alpha like his very existence depended on it. It was apt, because if anything happened to Mia, his life would never be the same.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

M
ia scrunched down behind the half-collapsed wall of the church. Her first flight was a catastrophe—enemy ships had invaded the safe zone, forcing her and three other recruits to make a run on the Ilari base. They’d been within sight, when some kind of ground-to-air weapons system had taken them out. She, Kayla, and Steve had all ejected, but Snyder had gone down with his plane.

Mia took another quick peek over the crumbling stones out to the ruined graveyard. Four CS Soldiers stood around Steve, who sat on a toppled gravestone. For some reason, she found it hilariously ironic that she was hiding from a bunch of religious fanatics in a destroyed church. Or maybe that was the near-hysterical panic talking. She braced her shaking hands against the dusty flagstones beneath her, trying to subdue the tremors.

She didn’t know how she’d ever get her fingers to remain steady again. Since the torture test had brought the reality of this war crashing down on her, she knew exactly the level of terror she’d experience if the CSS captured her. This wasn’t another test with a safety net she couldn’t see.

The front lines were only a few clicks east of their position but Steve hadn’t wanted to hunker down, make sure their encoded GPS trackers were on, and wait for a rescue party like they’d been trained. Instead he’d dashed out from the meager cover they’d found, right into a CSS patrol. From what she’d overheard, they were waiting for a transport to take Steve to the nearest Enlightening Camp.

At first they’d started to make a run for it. But guilt at leaving Steve behind had pulled her up short. Kayla wanted to keep going and find somewhere farther from the patrol, stating Steve was the idiot who’d dismissed their training and gone off on his own, so he could live with the consequences. But for whatever stupid,
stupid
reason, despite how much she loathed the man, she couldn’t leave him. He’d be consigned to a cell at one of those facilities where the CSS broke a person down until they either joined their cause or died.

So she’d convinced Kayla to go back with her. However, it had turned out they’d been lucky to leave the church when they had. The patrol had been searching the old ruins, because no doubt Steve had broken in two seconds flat and told the CSS where they’d been hiding. She had no idea how he’d survived the torture test earlier in the week.

Once the patrol finished, they found a new hiding spot in the building and tried to figure out a plan.

“We’re not actually considering this, are we?” Kayla whispered from beside her. “I mean, for a start, this is
Steve
we’re talking about, the guy who outed you and Captain Alphin this morning. Plus, we don’t have any weapons, and we’re not battle-trained.”

She focused on Kayla, who was drinking some of their emergency water supply. “He’s one of us. If it was you out there and Steve wanted me to leave you, I know what you’d be saying about that.”

Kayla shot her a dry look. “It wouldn’t be me out there, because I’m not dumb enough to disregard basic training.”

Mia huffed a short sigh and held a hand out for the bladder of water. “Fine, you and I both wouldn’t be dumb enough. That still doesn’t change the facts. We can’t just walk off and leave him.”

Kayla sighed and pushed a hand through her tangled hair. “Okay, okay. You’re right. I’d never forgive myself if we just gave up on him. But that still doesn’t help the little detail of us having no weapons and no clue how to rescue a moron.”

“I think our only option is distraction. One of us makes a lot of noise, while the other goes in for Steve.”

Kayla shook her head. “They’ll just split their party. Two will stay behind to watch him.”

“You’re probably right. But there’s got to be some way to distract all of them.”

They spent a few minutes discussing the pros and cons and then settled on a plan.

They moved to the opposite end of the church, hiding on either side of the splintered doors. A bit of noise brought two of the soldiers over, just as they’d hoped.

Mia stared at Kayla as the crunching of boot steps over gravel came closer. Her heart pummeled the inside of her chest, making it hard to draw a full breath.

The barrel of a gun appeared through the door. The owner of the weapon followed and turned as he got inside, coming face to face with her. But, before he’d even met her gaze, she’d gone in under his gun arm, forcing it up as she propelled him back toward Kayla. Her friend swung a thick chunk of wood they’d found into the back of the man’s head, knocking him face-first to the floor.

Mia didn’t wait to see if he was conscious or not. She fell to her knees and grabbed the gun, pivoting in a crouch to line up the other soldier stepping through the doorway.

Her shot found its mark in the dead center of his chest—all that target practice at pre-mil training had paid off. As he fell, his finger on the trigger of his own gun let off a round, but it went into the exposed rafters above them.

Kayla scrambled for the gun. Then they both sprinted back to their original hiding spot to regroup.

“Okay. Now we have weapons,” Kayla panted in a whisper.

Mia glanced over the wall. One soldier had remained behind to watch Steve, while the other had set off toward the source of the shots. Overhead, the rumbling whine of a ship closing in sent a spurt of cold fear shooting through her. Well, more fear than she’d already been feeling. Ever since she’d realized she was going to crash behind enemy lines, she’d held a surreal kind of hyperawareness that any second now her life could be over. Which begged the question, why the hell was she risking it for a complete jerk like Steve Robinson?

Once that ship landed there’d be reinforcements. And when that solider found his possibly dead buddies… Well, if she didn’t want someone she hated to end up in a POW prison, then it would be an understatement to say
she
didn’t want to end up there herself.

“Our window is closing, if we’re going to do this…”

Kayla tightened her grip on the gun and gave a resolute nod, her expression grim.

They crept out from the protective shadow of their hiding spot, moving toward the CS Soldier who was staring off in the direction his companion had gone. A shout came from the far end of the church—the bodies had been discovered.

Hell, she’d wanted to be closer than this. A swift glance at Kayla, and she brought the gun up. They both shot at the same time, taking out the single guard. Sprinting the remaining distance, Mia kept her gaze focused along the church as Kayla motioned for Steve to run. For a moment the guy simply stared at her in confusion, then glanced at the soldier they’d just shot. Finally, he got to his feet and came toward them. Obviously shock was making Steve’s moronic tendencies worse than usual. Which didn’t bode well for this rescue attempt. The other guard appeared from the far side of the church and almost without thought, Mia squeezed off another few rounds. He crumpled in a heap.

While she waited a few long breathless moments, she caught sight of the reinforcements coming in from behind Kayla and Steve.

“Come on, we’ve got to go now!”

The CSS didn’t hesitate. They opened fire and Mia ducked, returning a few halfhearted shots. But, she didn’t plan on holding this ground, and the number of soldiers shooting in their direction left them at four-to-one odds. The only reason the three of them weren’t full of holes was because the soldiers weren’t in range yet. But that would change in about two seconds.

Steve hesitated yet again. But he was close enough for her to grab his arm and propel him into motion. Kayla fell into step, and they headed out past the church and deeper into the ruins of the city. Here was where their plan got a little hazy. They needed somewhere to hide, but unfortunately, the soldiers pursuing them probably knew the crumbling buildings far better. Their head start wouldn’t last long. They needed to find shelter. Quick. It had to be somewhere clever, somewhere the soldiers would never bother to look—

She skidded at the next bombed-out street corner. “Guys, this way.”

Kayla immediately switched directions, while Steve stopped.

Idiot. Jackass. Total jerk bastard
. But, whatever. Kayla and she had saved his useless hide once. If he didn’t follow them now, she wouldn’t attempt rescue number two.

After a long moment, Steve followed them. Mia picked a path leading off at an angle from the pursuing soldiers, then altered her direction again. At the next change in direction, even Kayla hesitated.

“Mia, where are you taking us? This is going to lead right back to—”

“Where we started?” She puffed, breath starting to get short. “I figured the soldiers wouldn’t search where they’ve already been.”

Kayla shot her a grin. “Brilliant.”

Steve muttered something behind them, but kept up as they rounded on the church, slipping right back into the first place they’d hid. Except as they knelt, another transport ship touched down in the decimated graveyard.

“More reinforcements?” Kayla shot her a worried look. “Maybe we should have gotten as far away from here as we could when we had the chance.”

“I’d say that was a given.” Steve shot her an angry glare, taking a swig from the water bladder.

“Gee, I’m so glad I risked my ass to save you.” Mia swiped the water back before he could go and drink it all on them. Who knew how long it would have to last?

Steve continued glowering at her, but didn’t reply as he slumped against the wall.

Mia risked another look, to see the door of the transport lifting open. She couldn’t read any identifying marks—the landing had kicked up too much dust.

Hunkering down, she offered Kayla the water and tried not to second-guess her decision to come back here.

“I think there’s someone coming,” Kayla whispered, bringing up the gun she still held.

Yes, there seemed to be something, some disturbance, that told her someone was getting close to their position. She crept to the end of the wall, keeping the gun out. As she reached the end, a shadow spilled across the dusty floor and her heart pounded to a stop.

She grabbed in a short breath and surged up and straight into a counterattack, as though the person had known she was hiding there. As she swung the butt of the gun around, the man caught her wrist and pinned her up against him.

“
Mia
.” The husky whisper made her freeze, and she looked up to meet a familiar, hard, gunmetal-blue gaze.

“Leigh!” She released her death grip on the gun and snagged her arms around him, relief pouring through her in blood-tingling waves.

For a short second, he returned the embrace, then hustled her back to where Kayla and Steve waited.

Leigh and Steve exchanged hateful glares, and then he nodded at Kayla.

“Snyder?” he whispered.

Mia shook her head, and Leigh swore under his breath. He crouched and half unzipped his leather jacket, not the flight jacket she was used to seeing him in. Instead, he was wearing the protective battle gear of a ground soldier, holstered and strapped with enough weapons to turn him into a one-man army. In short, he looked deadly and so gorgeous it battered her heart.

He pulled out what looked to be three small protein bars and handed them around.

She made a face as she took it, her stomach roiling too uneasily to eat anything. “No offense, but I don’t exactly have an appetite right now.”

He reached over and ripped the foil open, his fingers brushing hers. “This is a combat bar. It’ll regulate your blood sugar, plus it has a chemical compound to mitigate the affects of an adrenaline high or extreme anxiety. You’ll feel better if you eat it. I promise.”

She took a small bite, her mouth too dry as she chewed, but forced herself to swallow and take another bite.

“So, what, the mighty Captain Alphin doesn’t need one?” Steve scowled and dropped the bar to the ground at his feet.

“This isn’t my first firefight, kid. Plus, the three of you have already been on the ground for over an hour. I’ve used them plenty of times before during prolonged battle situations. This isn’t about pride, this is about smarts.”

“Yeah? And you think you’ve got it all worked out?”

Leigh’s expression hardened into one she’d never seen before—this was the legendary Alpha people spoke in awed tones about.

“I’m not going to waste air arguing with you, Robinson. Eat it or not, I don’t care. But if you want to get off the ground alive, you will shut the hell up and do exactly what I say. And if you put the rest of us in danger, I’ll shoot you myself.”

Steve’s glare got even darker at that. And then suddenly he moved, sidestepping to grab Kayla and her gun. He wrapped one arm around her neck, but pointed the gun outward. Mia froze as the barrel aimed at her chest. At this distance, she wouldn’t survive a single bullet from that caliber weapon.

Leigh started to step in front of her, but Steve moved faster until the nozzle was against her breastbone. “Stop right there, Alphin, or your piece of ass stops breathing.”

Leigh held his hands up in a supplicating gesture. “Fine. I’m holding my ground. Now tell me what the hell this is.”

Steve sent him a cutting grin. “Since you’ve got it all worked out,
sir
, you tell me.”

“Whatever your problem with me is, you don’t need to put Mia or Kayla between us.” An edge of frustration entered Leigh’s hard tone.

“This isn’t about you or either of these stupid bitches. This is about me getting a promotion, about proving I’ve got what it takes to move up in the ranks.”

Leigh gave a short, humorless laugh. “You’re going the total wrong way about getting a promotion, buddy.”

Steve didn’t seem fazed by Leigh’s taunting. Instead his expression seemed too satisfied. “I’m not talking about the UEF.”

For a second, confusion flashed through Leigh’s expression, but it didn’t last long as comprehension dawned in his gaze, bringing a furious light with it.

“
You
.” Leigh’s tone came out icy and infuriated. “You were Lawler’s accomplice.”

Steve smirked. “You really don’t have a clue. Lawler was covering for
me
. I was the one who stole the intel from the master datapad on squadron level. I was the one who tampered with your jets. Lawler was just making sure any evidence of my activities couldn’t be traced. I heard he nearly sent the two of you on a spacewalk without a suit.”