Without Law 18 by Eric Vall (most difficult books to read .txt) 📗

that would help a lot,” Bailey said.

“No doubt.” I nodded.

“You don’t think they already have some?” Paige asked.

“Maybe a couple,” Anna said. “But nothing like what we have.”

“Yeah, the Navy guys didn’t even have plasma weapons before we got here,” Tara said, then she realized Minji was in the room still, and she smiled at the Korean woman. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Minji said seriously. “You’re right. You all have accomplished in days what we failed to accomplish in months. I have no doubt once we get down to Atlanta, you’ll do the same.”

“I appreciate that,” I told her. “But first we have to take out the Boston troops.”

“Right.” Anna nodded.

“How’s things going up there on deck?” I asked the girls.

“It’s getting pretty clean,” Bailey told me. “But it’s already mid-afternoon.”

“Shit,” I breathed and ran a hand through my hair. I hadn’t realized how late it was already. Between going through the training to steer the ship and sorting and tallying the cargo, time had flown by. And we hadn’t even gotten all the supplies tallied yet.

I didn’t want to stay out past dark, though, so I figured it was about time to head home. I’d post a few guys to keep watch on the ship, but the rest of us needed to get back to camp. After what happened the night before, I didn’t want to risk having our jeeps over there and a bunch of people on board, just in case there were more foot soldiers watching us.

I doubted there were, but I prefered to be extra careful in times like this. This wasn’t just one short mission we were going on that would be over in a day, this was an extended trip, and we were in new territory. Caution was our best bet.

I gave the order for everyone to head back in for the day, and based on Hammer’s recommendation, I posted Rivers, McDonald, Pike, and Smith aboard the ship for the evening.

The next day we’d finish cleaning up the bodies and tallying all the supplies, but the sun was beginning to sink below the horizon, and I wanted to be back at camp before dark.

As we drove to our temporary home, I thought how the day had flown by. The morning had been spent going over how to control the ship, and the afternoon was spent down in the hold sorting things and beginning the tally.

It got dark so early with the impending winter that it was probably only four-thirty or five o’clock, but darkness was dangerous, especially when there could still be NK soldiers around who knew the area.

Once we got back home, I got a fire going, and we all sat around and warmed our hands and feet. It was chilly out, and the heat from the flames felt great.

“I was thinking,” Anna said after a few minutes, and I was glad to see she seemed like she was feeling better after her bout of seasickness earlier.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“You think the Boston troops will try to radio in?” the redhead asked. “I mean, there’s a radio on the ship, right?”

“There is.” I nodded. “And I think they probably will.”

“They’d have to be in range, though,” Paige pointed out. “The radio on the ship will have a lot longer range than the walkies we have, but it’s not infinite. The Boston troops will still have to be within a certain distance.”

“Probably five-hundred miles or so,” I agreed. “And that’s if they are using satellites, otherwise much shorter.”

“If they do try and reach us, then we’ll know a general distance at least,” Paige said.

“What if we try to reach them?” Bailey asked. “Just in case they aren’t trying to contact us, but they’re in range?”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I said.

“We’d have to rely on Minji, though,” Paige said.

“Am I not reliable?” Minji asked with a serious face.

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean--” Paige backtracked.

“I’m teasing you, Paige,” Minji chuckled.

“Oh.” The brunette smiled with relief.

“I’m more than happy to help however I can,” Minji said seriously.

“That would mean you’d probably have to stay on the ship all the time,” Anna pointed out.

“I understand.” Minji nodded. “Those documents will make a great resource for communication as well. They give away some of the phrases they use, so I doubt I’ll have any trouble fooling them.”

“Weeeeelllll,” Tara said, and she pulled her lips back to expose her teeth in a sort of grimace. “There is one other thing.”

“What?” Minji asked, and her eyebrows furrowed together with confusion.

“Your voice,” Tara said.

“My voice?” Minji asked.

“You’re a woman,” the platinum-blonde pointed out.

“Oh,” Minji said as realization dawned on her face.

“Yeah,” Tara said. “I mean, did anybody see a single female soldier?”

“I’ve definitely seen female soldiers before,” Paige said. “But not on the boat.”

“You’ve seen girls?” Tara asked. “Really?”

“Yeah, me, too,” Anna agreed.

“What?” the platinum-blonde asked.

“To be honest, I don’t really look whether they’re male or female,” Bailey said. “So I have no idea if I’ve seen any or not.”

“You know, in NK all women are required to serve at least seven years in the military after they turn eighteen,” Paige said.

“Yes.” Minji nodded. “And men are required to serve ten.”

“It’s the longest required military service anywhere in the world,” I added.

“That’s insane,” Tara said. “How are they forcing people to be in the military for so long? Isn’t it only, like, two years in America?”

“It’s depends, and it’s voluntary,” I stated. “And you can choose to continue after that.”

“You just reenlist,” Minji agreed.

“Ten years,” Tara said with a shake of her head.

“Things are much different there than they are here,” the Korean woman said in a low voice, and she started into the fire and took a deep