So much.
…
I decided I would rather be Princess Leia instead of Darth Maul. But you can still split me in half hot-dog style when you get back.
CHAPTER 46
If Martin Baker has no fans, I’m dead
CARTER
Months deployed, and I missed her so badly my chest felt like it was going to split in half. I was out of cell service again, and I couldn’t wait for the flood of texts and pictures that would come in the moment I was back in range. Those daily texts she sent me were a lifeline, but it wasn’t enough.
I was head over heels for this girl, and I couldn’t help the sinking feeling that maybe all my priorities were suddenly changing. What I wanted for my life was changing. She filled me with so much hope for the future, and I was slowly realizing that I’d do anything in the world to make her happy, and keep her safe.Anything.Maybe even consider coming back to Briar Rose, because as much as I loved flying—I loved her more.
Being away from Sara was going to be difficult—I knew that, and before I’d gone out of service, I’d spoken with Theo. Sara was doing amazing—Vaughn reported that she was painting, and eating, and that she wassafe and happy.All good news, and yet, I couldn’t stop the sinking feeling from settling into my chest that something was off.
That evening, just as the sun dipped below the horizon, I couldn’t help but feel like something terrible was about tohappen. Tonight my mission was simple enough. We’d done the simulation dozens of times, and we were more than ready. We’d fly into the mountains, into the compound that was only accessible by horseback trail, or aerially, extract the hostages if there were any still alive, and kill the targets.
With hostages to bring back, it was a little odd that most of us were in our individual jets, but we did sometimes split up to hedge for casualties, and if things went sour tonight, there was always plan B.
The flight in, however, had gone beautifully. Actually, we’d slipped into the airspacecompletely unnoticed, and it was almost too smooth for my liking—eerily quiet, almost like a jinx.
I tried to talk myself out of the quiet panic that had settled into the pit of my stomach as we landed and then proceeded to hike the last mile towards the compound in the pitch black. But honestly, this was exactly why I’d made myself unattached all these years. I wouldn’t trade Sara for the world, but this feeling, this fear—it made me slow, made my mind fuzzy, made me a danger to myself and to my team.
So I forced myself to push the fear away and box it up while I silently rappelled down the side of our target building and then swung into the open window.
Inside, I silently unclipped, and next to me, several members of my team were doing the same.
With a silent motion, the team slipped down a dark hallway, fanning out, as we looked for our targets.
With another silent motion, I kicked a door down, and with calm adrenaline pumping through my veins, keeping me sharp, I realized that my night vision revealed absolutely nothing.
The room was empty.
As we moved down the hallway, we cleared room after room, finding more of the same, and my skin prickled with unease—because something wasn’t right here.
“This was bad intel.” Someone muttered through the comms. “We need to get out of here.”
On high alert, the team quickly slipped back out into the night, and we started the steep hike back to our aircrafts.
Sweating and anxious, I breathlessly slid into the seat of my jet and mentally locked in, forcing all my worries to fall away as we headed for the midnight skies.
The drag of the jet as I sliced through the air was a comforting feeling as I finally crested over the top of the mountains, feeling my heart rate start to settle.
The familiarity and control of the aircraft was a soothing balm to my nerves. A midnight lullaby of familiarity, and I shook my head—being in love made me a heartsick fool. I was going to have to get a grip on this, and soon.
Only a moment later, I realized that my gut feeling had been right.
I started losing altitude for no reason at all, and the next dial I touched didn’t respond. Everything in my chest went tight as I went through the sequence with no response.
I frantically switched dials and levers, but I was rapidly losing altitude, and there was nothing I could do about it. My equipment was malfunctioning, and it took me about two seconds flat to realize that my jet had been tampered with. My stomach churned quickly piecing it together—the bad intel.
“Mayday! Mayday!” I called through the comms as black edged at my vision.
I plummeted down the side of the craggy mountains with nothing but dark earth in my field of vision, suddenly realizing something horrific.
“Eject! Eject! Eject!” someone screamed through the comms, not realizing what I’d figured out a mere second earlier—the release was jammed.
