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

saw it, too?” Paige asked Hammer. “Damn, I missed out. I was probably focused on something else.”

“It’s alright,” I chuckled. “We still have a war to win. I’m sure you’ll get to see her in action, then.”

“Okay, yeah, but what about this jet thing here?” Tara asked, and she walked over and patted the nose of the machine. “Are we going to try it, or what?”

“It’s called a MiG,” Paige laughed.

“Whatever, Tom Cruise.” Tara rolled her eyes. “Are we going to see if it starts up or not?”

“We are,” I told her, and I grabbed my walkie and pushed the button to speak. “Ben, Jeff, come in.”

“We’re here,” Ben said after a few seconds. “We weren’t sure what you wanted us to do as far as the howitzer.”

“Pull it back over here,” I said. “We’ll take it home with us tonight. But I need you for something else, too.”

“Me?” Ben asked, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “Don’t tell me one of those MiGs is operational.”

“That’s what we need you to figure out,” I laughed. “Now, get your ass over here.”

“Aye, aye, Captain Ranger,” Ben chuckled, and I shook my head and hung up the walkie.

“I like this whole Captain Ranger thing,” Tara teased. “It has a nice ring to it.”

“Oh, yeah?” I laughed.

“Yeah.” She smiled. “It fits you. Way more official than everyone just calling you Tav.”

“Who says I want to be official?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nobody, I guess.” Tara shrugged. “But I like it when you’re official. It’s pretty sexy.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I chuckled and turned to Hammer. “Do you have a trained fighter pilot?”

“I wish,” he scoffed.

“Yeah, I figured as much,” I chuckled.

“You think Ben will be able to fly this thing?” Hammer asked as he walked over to the plane and looked it over.

“He says he can fly anything,” I said with a shrug.

“He flew that super old WWⅡ plane,” Paige said. “I’m inclined to believe he really can fly anything.”

“Yeah, but isn’t that, like, the opposite way?” Tara asked. “Like, the old plane must have been super easy to fly, right? Since it didn’t have all the modern day equipment and stuff? But this plane is gonna be super advanced, so I bet it’ll be harder.”

“I doubt it.” Paige shook her head. “Those old planes are probably just as difficult to fly, if not more so. I mean, he’s probably used to having some sort of technology, and the WWⅡ planes are really rudimentary.”

“I guess we’ll see soon enough,” I said, and I pointed to the headlights coming down the road toward us.

It had to be Ben and Jeff with the howitzer. Part of me wouldn’t allow myself to be too hopeful about the MiG starting since I knew it had taken at least some damage in the howitzer blast, but the other part of me was damn hopeful it would work. If we showed up in Atlanta with plasma guns, tanks, vehicles, and a MiG, we’d be set. I didn’t care if there were thirty-thousand troops like the soldier had said, we’d be ready for them.

His talk about their new weapons worried me some since they’d already proven they could create something extremely deadly, but I also figured whatever weapon they were building would need to be powered off of the plasma liquid, too. The liquid itself probably took years to perfect and produce, so I doubted they’d focused their energy on making a new substance when it made more sense to use what was already available.

Whatever they had to use against us, we’d figure out a way to counter it, just like we always did. I was concerned, but not deterred in any way. We’d already won several battles, now we just needed to win the war and this shitshow would be over.

Ben and Jeff pulled up, parked the truck, and turned off the ignition.

“Hey,” Ben said as he hopped out of the passenger’s side and gestured to the jet. “I’m guessing this is what you need my help with.”

“You’d be guessing right,” I told him with a smile.

“Whew, ain’t she a beaut,” Ben commented as he walked around the plane and looked it over. “It doesn’t look like she took any mechanical damage. Maybe some cosmetic bumps and bruises, but that’s nothing to worry about.”

“What do you think?” I asked.

“Yeah, will it start?” Paige pushed.

“We’ll have to see.” Ben grinned.

“If it does start, can you fly it?” Tara asked. “It’s probably all in Korean, right?”

“I can fly anything,” Ben told her seriously. “Give me five minutes and a clear runway, and I’ll have her up in the air.”

“I can help with any instructions or buttons that need to be translated,” Minji offered.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” The pilot nodded.

“Don’t you need the keys?” Anna asked as Ben opened the pilot door to hop in.

“Nah,” he laughed. “I doubt it, at least. Most newer planes don’t require keys.”

“Can’t anybody just steal it, then?” Tara asked, and her platinum-blonde eyebrows pinched together.

“Can you pilot a plane?” Anna asked, and she cocked her head to the side and put her hand on her hip.

“No,” Tara said quietly.

“I guess that’s your answer,” the redhead chuckled.

“Fair point.” The platinum-blonde nodded.

Ben was inside the MiG then, and I watched as he looked over the controls in the dying light. I wasn’t sure he’d be able to see anything since it had gotten so dark, but he seemed to be doing okay.

Suddenly, he flipped a switch, and the entire cockpit lit up from the backlights of the control buttons. I could just make out his shadowy smile through the windshield.

“Wait, does that mean it works?” Anna asked.

“At least partly.” Paige nodded, but then