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

a small swig of the dark liquid. “Tastes like Rolly’s.”

“I miss him,” Bailey said with a small smile.

“Me, too,” Paige agreed. “Him and Betty.”

“I wonder how they’re doing on campus,” Anna said.

“They have hot water and fresh strawberries,” Tara said dryly. “I’m sure they’re doing fine.”

“You sound a little bitter that we left our cushy life to come fight,” Paige laughed.

“Ehhh, maybe sometimes,” Tara said with a smile. “But only for a minute when I really want a nice, hot shower. I’m proud of what we’re doing here, though, and I’m happy to be part of it.”

“The ship should have hot water,” I said. “We’ll grab some showers soon.”

“I hadn’t thought about that.” The platinum-blonde smiled.

“I could definitely use a shower.” Anna nodded.

The girls all agreed and sipped their drinks. It was a quiet morning, and once they finished their coffee, we all got ready to go for the day.

Hammer, Minji, and the rest of the civilians and Navy men met us by the jeeps, and we hopped in and headed over to the ship.

While we drove, I focused on the bright sky ahead of us. The sun had just risen above the horizon, and the world was still cast in a slightly blue color.

I rolled down my window just a bit and breathed in the cool air. The road to the beach was surrounded by trees and driveways that led to nice homes in the area, and I smiled and put on my aviators as the sun got even brighter in the sky.

After a few minutes of unusually quiet driving, I felt like something was wrong. I couldn’t put my finger on it for a second, but then I realized it wasn’t just a feeling, it was a sound.

“Shit,” I breathed, and I yanked the jeep off the road so it was hidden by trees.

Hammer slammed on his breaks behind me and did the same thing, and I shut my engine off so I could listen.

“What’s going on?” Anna whispered.

“Hear that?” I asked.

“Is that…” Paige’s voice trailed off as a MiG flew overhead.

I knew I’d recognized that sound.

Chapter 6

The plane flew directly overhead so we could see its silver underbelly. The jet was loud as hell as it flew past us, but I didn’t think we’d been spotted.

I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, then I took a deep breath to steady myself.

“That was one of the NK planes, wasn’t it?” Paige asked, and her wide brown eyes stared into the distance after the plane.

“That was a MiG.” I nodded.

“The same kind we saw at Rolly and Betty’s wedding,” Bailey said, and she bit her lip.

“That’s right,” I agreed.

“That means the Boston troops have to be close, right?” Tara asked.

“I thought they wouldn’t be in the area for at least a couple more days,” Paige whispered almost to herself.

“Do you think they saw us?” Anna asked.

“No.” I shook my head. “They probably would have shot at us right then if they had.”

“We’re going to have to figure out a way to take them out,” the redhead said.

“The destroyer should be equipped with anti aircraft missiles,” I said. “We can use those, but that’s why our ambush point needs to be close to the water.”

“Right.” Anna nodded. “Geez, seeing it fly right overhead was a reality check.”

“You can say that again,” Tara muttered and shook her head.

“If that thing is out here, then how close are the Boston troops?” Bailey asked.

“I don’t know for sure,” I said. “But within seven-hundred-and-fifty miles at least.”

“That doesn’t seem very far.” Paige bit her lip.

“It’s not,” I agreed.

“They could have sent the MiG out to scout,” Anna pointed out. “That doesn’t mean the troops are that close.”

“That’s true, too.” I nodded.

“Can’t Ben take them out with the plane we have?” Tara asked.

“No way.” I shook my head. “The MiGs would destroy that antique.”

“I’m sure they have plasma weapons hooked up to them, too,” Anna said, and she pursed her lips.

“For sure,” Paige agreed. “They have them on everything else.”

“What are we going to do?” Anna asked. “What’s our plan for dealing with those things?”

“Like I said, the ship should have anti aircraft missiles,” I repeated. “That’s our best bet.”

“I still don’t like it,” the redhead said.

“Me, neither,” I agreed.

Having air superiority could be the difference between winning and losing this battle, and I most certainly didn’t want to lose. Those MiGs were powerful as hell, though, and I knew we needed a backup plan for them.

We had the howitzer, but it wasn’t intended to be used against aircraft. What we needed was a specialized anti-aircraft gun so our eggs aren’t all in one basket with the missiles on the destroyer.

“I need to think about this some more,” I said. “Let me go talk to Hammer for a second, though, then we’ll get to the ship.”

“I bet he’s freaking out, too,” Paige said.

“That was pretty intense for the drive over here,” Anna agreed.

I hopped out of my jeep and walked back to where Hammer and his crew sat in theirs.

“Hey,” I said as I approached his already rolled down window.

“What the hell are they doing in this area?” he asked, and he looked up in the direction the MiG had gone off.

“Their troops were over here,” I reminded him. “If they wanted to check on their buddies in the area, that’d be the way to do it.”

“You’re right,” he sighed. “But I don’t like it.”

“I don’t, either,” I said. “But there’s nothing we can do about it right this minute. It’s long gone by now. Let’s head to the ship, and we’ll go from there.”

“Right,” he agreed. “We’ll follow