“Either of your moms?”
“The first was a war refugee murdered in the Hindu Kush,” Dilya waved a hand at her own face. Her darker complexion and bright eyes now made sense. She made the gesture as if that was a completely normal background for a girl, a young woman, to have. “The second rescued me. She’s the Army’s top sniper.”
This time it was Derek who flinched in surprise. “Kee Stevenson? I’ve shot against her.”
“Did your D-boy ego survive when she kicked your ass?” Dilya leaned close, eager for the answer.
“She didn’t kick my ass.”
Misty rolled her eyes at him.
“…but she did beat on it some.” He shot a grin at Abby for using some all wrong.
“She did beat-some on it,” she whispered the correction.
“Whupped his behind ba-ad. Did a number on mine too. Damn but your mom is seriously chill.” Which was more words than Abby had heard Misty string together in the last two days.
Dilya looked as if she was going to burst with pride. None of which explained why she was here. Or why it fell to her to do the talking with the Three Colonels in attendance.
“So anyway, these kind of missions are so secret, they don’t even get code-word classified. No need as there will never be a file about them. Uh, what comes next?” She blinked her eyes at Emily twice before she nodded to herself and continued, “Oh, yeah. This is your chance to bug out. No bad marks on your report card if you have the common sense to run away. So, who’s out?” She didn’t even wait for an answer. “Has anyone ever bailed on one of these things?”
Beale shook her head, “No one has been that smart on any I’ve been involved with.” Then she turned colonel-serious. “Just because she’s young and funny?—”
“I’m funny? Cool!”
Beale ignored her. “—don’t doubt Dilya’s words. A black-in-black operation will push you to the limits. I’ve never lost anyone in ten of these, but others have been far less fortunate.”
“Ten?” The other two colonels twisted around to look at her in shock. “Nobody survives ten. Two, maybe three.” Her husband’s darker complexion turned almost as pale as Beale’s fair skin.
She just raised her eyebrow as if to say, You aren’t the only one with a past.
“Damn it.” Henderson shoved his mirrored shades atop his head and stared at his wife before turning to Colonel Gibson. “Can you believe that I was naive enough to think she was merely the best pilot I’ve ever flown with?”
Gibson was very slow to respond. When he did, rather than answering Henderson’s question, he held out a hand and shook Beale’s once before again disappearing into his Delta-silent bubble.
Abby wondered what it would take to have someone talk about her like that. That’s when she noticed that Derek wasn’t staring at Beale or Henderson. She remained very careful to not turn and acknowledge that he was looking at her.
37
Derek waited until the others had dispersed to hit the galley or stretch out to sleep across a couple of seats. No one intentionally sat next to the interior stairs on a C-5, it was the coldest place in the passenger compartment as the cargo bay below was only marginally heated and the steel stairs didn’t create a tight thermal seal. Staying there offered him and Abby a degree of privacy.
She heated a breakfast burrito, hash browns, and poured a cup of hot chocolate. He did the same except with black coffee.
“The Three Colonels?” She made it both a title and a question as soon as they settled.
Derek started a review of what little they knew. “Means it’s as real as hell. Colonel Gibson? There’s never been a better soldier. He, all three of them I guess, have a real penchant for surviving. Must say I like that.”
She nodded her agreement. “Dilya?”
“You’re the one who recognized her.”
“Don’t know much, but did you see her badge?”
He shook his head. After tugging off the hot-pink parka, she’d tucked it away before he could see it clearly. No… “She purposely held it so that you could see it. Didn’t look like an accident now that I think of it. She must have some reason she wanted you to know.”
Abby shrugged. “She’s Yankee White. Cleared to be armed around the President. Which means…” she thought about it a bit “…she wanted one of us to know not to underestimate her.”
Neither of them had that level of clearance, not that they had any need for it. But between that and Dilya being with the Three Colonels, it brushed aside any doubts that something heavy was going on. So, he moved on from the players to the objective they’d just been briefed on.
