Damage Control (Valiant Knox) by Jess Anastasi Read Free Book Online Page A

way, Lawler and I will be on your tail.”
    “Still a stubborn hard-ass, Alpha?” Cam stepped through the hatchway and shot him an unimpressed look, though it didn’t have all that much heat to it. They’d known each other for too many years to really take offense at any small disagreements, especially since Cam knew full well that no one in the Brannon System had the balls to defy orders given by Commander Yang.
    As the hatchway snapped closed on Cam’s form retreating to the shuttle’s controls, Leigh shared a quick grin with Lawler.
    “Seems almost getting blown up should have given Cam a new perspective on life, not made him surlier.” Lawler stooped down to scoop up his flight helmet where it’d been on the deck next to his boots.
    Though the comment had been said flippantly, it sobered Leigh’s light mood like flipping a switch. “Yeah, well I suppose if nearly all the other officers you’d worked with for the past ten or twelve years were killed in that blast, your life perspective would be pretty grim, too.”
    The amusement faded from Lawler’s expression and he clenched his jaw. “Well, I guess we better make sure the damned CSS don’t try for any more intercepts. And if they do, then so help them God.”
    Lawler turned on his heel and stalked over to his jet, pulled his helmet on, and then scaled the side.
    Leigh went over to his own V-29, where his flight jacket and helmet had been left for him. In a matter of moments, he’d settled himself inside and taken up position on Cam’s six, while Lawler took point as they left the launch deck.
    They took a wide slingshot around the Valiant Knox and settled into a direct trajectory to the secondary Ilari base, which had become the focal point of ground operations since the primary base had been bombed a few weeks ago. The second battleship that had joined the front last week, Farr Zero, was only just visible on the horizon between Ilari’s atmosphere and one of its three moons.
    Since the attack the day before, all scheduled transport between the two battleships and the ground had been delayed while a permanent escort system could be arranged with the FP squadron. It was going to stretch their resources and put more strain on his already overworked pilots, but he knew not a single one of them would complain about it.
    “Coming up on the edge of the safe zone in ten.” Lawler’s announcement through the radio brought him out of his thoughts, and he switched his sensors over to long range. “In four, three, two, one. And we’re out.”
    “You picking anything up, Lawler?” His own scans weren’t showing much, but some of the CSS ships were so old, they were occasionally missed by UEF sensors.
    “Four coming up off the ground. Could be a coincidence, not sure if they’re headed our way or not.”
    Leigh waited for his jet’s computer to extrapolate a likely trajectory for the four ships appearing on his radar.
    The readings scrolled across his screen, and he swore and tabbed his weapons live. “They’ll be on us as soon as we break higher atmosphere.”
    “Yeah, I see it. Weapons are hot . ”
    “Cam, leave us to engage. Keep your shields up and make it into the range of the secondary base’s targeting system.”
    “Copy that. If I’d wanted to shoot stuff from inside a ship, I wouldn’t have taken a ground posting.”
    Leigh grinned as his ship hit the resistance of Ilari’s upper environment, his jet shuddering slightly as gravity and atmosphere changed. The engines made slight adjustments to keep him stable and at high speed.
    By the time he broke through the burn, Lawler had already engaged the enemy.
    One of the older CSS clunky, armed shuttles took a hit and spiraled out of control, leaving a corkscrew of black smoke as it plummeted toward the landmass below.
    Leigh swung his jet out from behind Cam and swooped in close above the personnel carrier, destroying a blast of weapon’s fire that would have put a serious dent in Cam’s