Until Relieved by Rick Shelley Read Free Book Online

and he was always nervous in combat. Joe's thumb reached for the carbine's fire-selector switch, to make certain that the safety was off.
    He suddenly realized that he was hearing no firing at all, not rifles, not artillery or Wasp munitions, not even in the distance. Somebody call the battle off and forget to tell us? He didn't bother to laugh at his own joke.
    In any case, the silence was short-lived. Joe had taken no more than three steps when he heard rifle fire, well off to the right. Still, he paused for a moment, and held the squad back until he could assure himself that the fire was getting no closer. Just as he started the squad forward again, a shadow passed overhead. Joe looked up and saw the familiar silhouette of a Wasp fighter going toward the source of the gunfire. The Wasp opened up with its cannons, two very short bursts. The rifle fire stopped.
    Joe looked up again to see the Wasp bank left, climbing through a tight circle.
    Then he saw a rocket trail climbing toward the Wasp.
    "Down!" he barked over the squad channel. Joe dove forward, landing on forearms and legs in a fluid motion that brought his rifle to his shoulder even though he had nothing to shoot at. A wire carbine could never bring down a missile, even if a rifleman could hit something moving that fast.
    The Wasp pilot hit his throttles and started maneuvering violently in an attempt to avoid the rocket. Joe leaned sideways to watch. His view was partially obstructed by the grass, but he did see light reflecting off of the silvery particles of chaff that the Wasp pilot dropped in an attempt to confuse the missile's guidance system.
    For an instant, Joe thought that the Wasp was going to escape. The missile seemed to lose its lock. The Wasp pulled almost straight up, then spiraled back on itself, two-hundred meters above the missile and going in the opposite direction. Silently, Joe urged the pilot on with all the fervor he could muster.
    Then the missile righted itself and streaked toward the Wasp again. The pilot continued trying to evade until the last second, but the rocket caught it dead center from below. On the ground, Joe could not tell if the pilot had ejected at the last instant before the missile hit, or if the explosion had blown the cockpit module clear of the rest of the fighter. The parasail opened, but that was automatic.
    "Baerclau?"
    "Yes, Lieutenant," Joe replied over the command channel. "I see it."
    "How far are you from where that pod will land?"
    "Hard to say yet, sir. The way the wind's blowing, it could be a couple of klicks, over toward Delta Company, maybe past them."
    The rest of the Wasp fell, scattering over an area more than a kilometer in diameter. There was little in the way of flames after the primary explosion. The warheads on the Wasp's rockets had exploded when the missile hit. Some of the shells for its cannons had also cooked off, but most of the fire was out before the wreckage hit the ground. A few chunks of superheated metal started grass smoldering for a moment, but there was little danger of a wildfire. The grass was too damp.
    "Go for it," Keye said. "We don't want to leave him for the Heggies. Forget the bugs until you can tell if that pilot's alive. I'll clear with Delta so you don't get shot by our people."
    "Roger." I sure as hell hope you clear us, Joe thought. The idea of being hit by friendly fire could send a chill down any man's spine.
    There was no time to waste for long reflection. If there were Schlinal forces around, they would undoubtedly be hurrying toward the escape pod as well. It might be a close race.
    "Ezra, we're going after the flyguy. Move your team out first. I want you on point for this. Anyone else, it might take too long."
    "On my way," Ezra replied. He sounded calm.
    The Wasp's escape pod did not stay in the sky for long, but every second that it was in the air, it traveled farther away from Joe and his men. It came down in the open grass, far from any of the isolated trees.