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Chapter 1
Major Jack "Cobra" Korba, USAF, had rade when he discovered his ability to ht now he suspected there wasn’t a knock-knock joke on earth that could offertoward his windscreen at three hundred knots
"High terrain Coh the headset to his copilot
Adrenaline crackled inside hioggles-- NVGs The gear strapped to his helreen tunnel
"Copy that, Cobra, thirty degrees left," affirton
The C-17 cranked left, y landscape Desert dunes and jagged ridges whipped past in an emerald kaleidoscope haze
He lived to fly But today he flew as lead pilot for this ht live One person in particular
Rodeo ran his hands along the diripped the stick No steering yoke like with older cargo planes, the Air Force’s C-17 boasted the stick and grace of a fighter jet despite its hulking size
Four ers trailed behind in fors or ground Only uided theht
Hazardous as hell to fly with NVGs, but necessary for stealthy penetration into eneers--the final phase of the mission to seize a Middle Eastern terrorist ca ties to 9/11, the radical faction had assassinated the aes
Jack worked the rudder pedals, refusing to allow the need for vengeance to chink his concentration Mountains to the left and right posed a constant threat outweighed by the benefits ofthem from detection by ene backdrop of sand and rock Sound reflected off thea plane’s locale became all but impossible
Hell, yeah, the protection froround-to-air missiles offered a hefty payoff to counterbalance the perils of weaving 174 feet of hurtling ht
All therun over the Nevada desert Soon to be a Middle Eastern desert He contained the anticipation Had to stay focused Training missions could prove as deadly as the real deal
Rodeo keyed up his ht turn three-zero-five degrees Cliht side of corridor, 4900 feet Stand by to turn"
"Copy, co" Jack’s gloved hand clenched around the throttle, nudging it forward "Heading three-zero-five Climb to 3700"
Clipped nuency considered Jack hoped Damn but did he ever hope since this was their last chance to work out any bugs
Dust swirled in a murky haze froines powering the C-17 past the arching peak He steadied each breath in time with his heartbeat Only a week until the three Aes would be rescued Only a week until Monica’s sister would be free
Major Monica Hyatt--the one mountain of will he couldn’t move His heart rate kicked an extra beat ahead of his breaths
And God knows he’d tried to sway her to the point of screwing up their relationship so daiven that when Monica discovered he’d kept the plans for this eon ex-lover would likely take a scalpel to hirace of God and connections in DC had he ed to land himself in the position of pri Monica in his biscuits was a distraction he couldn’t afford right now Not that she was speaking to hiht"
Mountains dipped beyond his windscreen Jack roped in his thoughts The weight of lives in the plane, as well as on the ground in that camp overseas pressed on his shoulders heavier than the bulky NVGs anchored to his helled through a saddle dip where a valley divided crests into a stretch of desert waiting to welcoers offloaded into the drop zone Low and slow He eased back on the throttle
Keep cool Laid-back but steady, his lifetime mantra
Tiinal the loader, Major Level at 3800 feet Ready when you are"
The loadh the checklist calls and confir with the load silent ician in the air, offloaded cargo with a swift efficiency that rese act
Fifty-five seconds later, one hundred and two paratroopers frorip around the stick loosened The boulders on his shoulders cruhts landing, but it was only their butts on the line now
He shrugged through the tension
With pressure easing, piddly ass concerns trickled over him like the sweat down his back Such as the fact that his arm hurt like a son of a bitch from the immunizations required for a deployment to the Middle East His hand slid up to rub the sore inoculation site
Rodeo nodded toward his arm "You okay, Cobra? They pumped us full ofvirus strains"
"This new anthrax shot feels like the ti irons while it was still plugged in" And it wasn’t as if he could call on his favorite flight surgeon for TLC anyh to tell which is worse, the shot or the disease"
"You’ll survive My mama used to dose me up with every inoculation the minute it cleared the FDA, sorown up around the world, uy could party in four languages and never left a friend alone in a bar fight
A wingman to trust
Why then did he trust Rodeo with his life in the air, but hadn’t told a man he considered his best friend about the rowth"
Rodeo’s deep chuckles ru No need since his wiry height spoke for itself "Made any plans to kill time before we ship out?"
"Me My pillow One-on-one for twelve hours straight" Jack pushed the throttle forward, cli into the opaque sky
"Don’t hand as and hit one of the casinos’ all-you-can-eat setup before we’re stuck with a week of thatot this kick-butt Carnival World Buffet" He kissed his gloved fingertips "Everything froers you love Too bad Crusty’s already over in Rubistan He’s always up for food"