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see the valley opening up. Once they burst out into the open, she knew that the more maneuverable Kurgan fighter would be on them in seconds. She had to do something. 

“Wendy, how close is the fighter?” 

“About two kilometers back.”

“Wendy.”

“Yes?”

“Hang on,” announced Tarina as she instantly decreased their air speed and pulled back on her joystick, raising up the nose of their ship. For a second, the Avenger seemed to hang straight up in the air. The sudden declaration on the women’s chests was like being crushed in a vise.

The Kurgan fighter, not expecting such a radical maneuver, flew straight past them.

Tarina, still grimacing in pain, dropped the nose down, applied power to the engine and flew after the Kurgan ship. It was less than a kilometer away. Tarina didn’t hesitate. She lined up her sights on the back of the fighter and pulled back the trigger on her joystick. Thirty-millimeter shells tore through the sky and struck the enemy craft’s port side wing, tearing it off.

Tarina and Wendy both let out a triumphant cry as the Kurgan fighter rolled over and plummeted to the ground. A couple of seconds later, it hit nose first and exploded. Neither woman saw if the enemy pilot had time to eject or not.

Wendy said, “Where did you learn to do that?”

“It’s an old dogfighting trick called the cobra maneuver. I never could pull it off in the simulators. I always stalled the engine and crashed.”

“Thank God, for once you didn’t.”

They flew out of the valley. In the distance was one of the proposed landing sites.

The threat indicator sprang to life. “Warning, incoming enemy fighter.”

Tarina swore and dove as low to the ground as she could. It was the second fighter they had lost contact with.

“Tarina, how much ammo do we have left?” asked Wendy.

“Not enough,” Tarina replied grimly.

“Warning, enemy fighter has missile lock,” said the computer.

Tarina desperately searched the horizon for cover. It was a vast, frozen plain. There was nothing to see for kilometers.

Wendy turned her head and looked behind. The Kurgan fighter had closed within a few hundred meters. It was toying with them. It could easily blast them out of the sky. A second later, it shot up right beside their craft. Both women looked over and saw the Kurgan pilot wave to them before ducking in behind them. He was going for the kill.

Tarina was about to order Wendy to eject when unexpectedly the Kurgan fighter exploded in midair. Flaming debris fell from the sky.

In their helmets, the women heard a familiar voice. “Keep going. We’ll be over the first LZ in two minutes.” Today, their guardian angel was Colonel Wright.

They landed their Avengers near an old, abandoned farmhouse nestled next to a frozen lake and climbed down onto the snow-covered ground. 

Wright activated his emergency transponder beacon marking their position. Next, he armed the self-destruct devices on both Avengers. If anyone tried to open either cockpit without first disarming the explosives, the planes would detonate. He pointed over to the ramshackle-looking farmhouse and led them all inside.

“We’ll have to hold up in here until the Marines arrive,” said Wright. He looked down at his watch. “Shouldn’t be too long of a wait. The first wave is due in orbit in just under thirty minutes.”

“It’s freezing in here,” Wendy gripped. Her teeth chattered.

“My friend is out there somewhere,” Tarina remarked. “He’s been without heat for longer than I care to imagine. This isn’t so bad.”

Wendy regretted opening her mouth. “Sorry, I sometimes don’t think before I speak.”

“It’s okay, we all do that from time to time,” Tarina said, hugging her friend.

Wright drew his pistol. “Until the Marines get here, I want everyone to pick a window and keep a sharp lookout. Don’t forget, we’re in enemy territory. I, for one, don’t intend to end up in some Kurgan POW camp on a planet no one has ever heard of.”

Chapter 43

“Status report?” asked Admiral Sheridan.

Killam said, “Sir, both Kurgan carriers along with two of the enemy’s three destroyers have been destroyed. Unfortunately, the third destroyer jumped away before it could be finished off.”

Admiral Sheridan nodded. “How many of the enemy’s ships managed to escape?”

“It looks like less than ten percent of the Kurgan Fleet got away.”

Sheridan was impressed. “I can live with those odds. What are our losses?”

Killam skimmed his console. “Admiral, the Saratoga was rammed by a Kurgan light cruiser. The damage to the ship is quite extensive. She’ll need time in a spaceport before she’s ready to fight the enemy again.”

“Other losses?”

“Sir, we lost the light cruisers Aurora and Olympia. The cruisers Lion, Kongo, and Novara were severely damaged and will also need to be sent back for repairs. We lost sixty-three fighters in the battle. Only nine of the pilots managed to eject and have been rescued. The rest, unfortunately, were lost.”

“What are our total losses?”

“Sir, the reports from the fleet are still coming in. However, as of now we have suffered a total of two thousand and fifty-eight dead or missing, three hundred and twelve wounded.”

Admiral Sheridan closed his eyes for a moment. They had come off with comparatively light casualties; still, the thought of so many dead weighed heavy on him. He sat down and looked over at Commander Roy. “Please keep track of the casualty list for me.” 

“Aye, sir,” replied Roy.

“Sir, we’ve established contact with the forces on Derra-5,” announced a master chief.

Admiral Sheridan said, “Captain Killam, have the missile cruisers maneuver into position above the Kurgan forces on the planet and begin bombardment as soon as possible. Also, warn off the carriers to be prepared to launch their fighter-bomber squadrons.” 

With everything falling into place, Admiral Sheridan allowed himself to relax a little. They were vulnerable to an enemy counterattack, but he doubted that they had the forces in the region to try it. He walked over to a large window and looked down at the planet below. His thoughts turned to his son. He hoped that he was alright and that he would soon be able to see him. They had so much to talk about. He wanted to get to know the man his son had become before it was too late and he regretted it for the rest of his life.

Chapter 44

“How long do you think it will be until dawn?” asked Sheridan.

“Perhaps a half-hour. The sky’s already turning gray on the horizon,” replied Cole.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.” 

A sound like thunder ripping across the sky made both men stop and look up. Through the clouds, they could make out long red streaks coming down from above. A second later, a barrage of missiles shot up from the Kurgan positions trying to hit the incoming warheads. Explosions filled the air as the missiles exploded, taking dozens of the incoming projectiles with them. It wasn’t enough. Without their own ships above them to give them protection, the Kurgan air defense units were quickly overwhelmed and destroyed in a deadly hail of missiles. Less than a minute later the enemy’s command and control centers were hit. Sheridan and Cole watched in awe as another wave of at least one hundred missiles made it through the ever-shrinking Kurgan anti-missile screen and pulverized everything they struck.

“The fighter-bombers will be coming next to clear the way for the landing craft,” said Cole.

“Quite the spectacle, isn’t it!”

Cole grinned. “It sure is. I’m glad not to be on the receiving end of it for once.”

They turned their back on the barrage and carried on toward Roberts and Garcia’s position. In the dim light, Cole saw a trail of blood on the ground. He looked over at Sheridan and saw that his right hand was dripping blood.

“Sir, stop, you’re bleeding,” said Cole.

“Where?” asked Sheridan.

Cole walked over and took a quick look at Sheridan’s right arm. A dark, wet patch of blood had seeped through his jacket near his right shoulder. “Take off your coat.”

“I’m okay.”

“Bullshit! Now do as you are told.”

Sheridan slowly removed his coat.

Cole grimaced when he saw the deep cut in Sheridan’s skin. “Are you telling me that you don’t feel this? It looks nasty.”

Sheridan shook his head.

Cole leaned over to examine the wound. The instant his hand touched Sheridan’s arm; he clenched his teeth in pain.

“I knew you were lying. Hurts like a son of a bitch, doesn’t it?”

“Yep.”

Cole dug out a small first aid kit from his jacket. He saw that a bullet had passed right through Sheridan’s shoulder without hitting anything vital. He quickly cleaned the wound and applied an antiseptic bandage that also masked the pain for a few hours. “I take it you were hit during the fight at the jamming station.”

Sheridan nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t want to say anything. It seemed such a minor wound compared to the others.”

“Until it gets infected and they have to chop off your arm,” admonished Cole.

Sheridan put his jacket back on and thanked Cole.

It took them less than five minutes walking to rendezvous with their people. They had picked a location on a tall hill that overlooked the Kurgan lines. The two specialist officers were busy on their radios and small combat computers directing the incoming fire from the fleet onto the enemy.

Sheridan filled in his compatriots on what had happened after the assault on the jamming station. Roberts reported that they hadn’t seen a single Chosen warrior in nearly a day. Their luck at least had held.

“Is one of you Sheridan?” asked the aerospace controller.

“Yeah, I am,” he replied.

“I just got word that two of our fighters have gone down less than two klicks from here. Headquarters wants to know if you can find them and look after them until the Marines arrive.”

Sheridan looked over at Garcia. “Can you and your people look after these two until we get back?”

“Sure thing, sir.”

“Okay then, get an exact fix on their position and let headquarters know that we’re on the move,” Sheridan said. 

A minute later, with Roberts, Tammy, and two Marines, Sheridan and Cole headed off in the direction of the downed aircraft. 

Wright peered out into the ice fog hovering around the farmhouse. He cursed the weather. He couldn’t see more than a few meters and with the noise of the bombardment drowning everything else out, he doubted he would know if an entire Kurgan regiment were to walk past their hiding spot.

Lloyd stepped back from his window and turned to face Wright. He had just opened his mouth to speak when a shot rang out. Everyone in the old house except Lloyd ducked down. They all looked at one another. No one was sure where the shot came from. For a couple of seconds, Lloyd stood there on unsteady feet before falling facedown onto the wooden floor“No!” screamed Wendy. She dashed to Lloyd’s side and saw that the bullet had torn a chunk of flesh and bone from Lloyd’s back. She knew there