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Chapter
37 Night
Rescue Kile
Kiren paced Cabalain’s main entrance trying hard not to panic.
She should have been back
three hours ago! He was
still getting used to letting his wife out of his sight.
After helping her brother work through Sleeper’s Bane, she’d
spent months teaching young recruits how to handle guns.
But being Natalie, she wanted to do more.
Kile had stalled for several weeks but was running short of
plausible excuses. “Master
Kile! Master Kile, they found
Lady Natalie!” shouted a boy. It
took him a moment, but Kile recognized Nerec, a young man who’d been
blackmailed into playing Opportunist spy.
His dark green Freedomist uniform, part of a brand new shipment
from Port Sera, was covered in dirt. That must have been one heck of a fight!
His apprehension tripled along with his heart rate.
“Where
is she?” Between
gasps, Nerec said, “We were ambushed by “Report
to the Chalet station,” Kile ordered before taking off for the hangar
where the few Freedomist Dolan fighters were kept.
Along the way, he activated his Keep In Touch unit.
“Sieri, Natalie’s by As
Kile climbed into his Dolan fighter, he heard pounding footsteps.
“I’m coming,” said Adreanna Chalet.
Kile spared one glance at her that’s-final expression and nodded.
He had not the time or emotional energy to argue.
Adreanna tossed a bag containing medical accoutrements into the
fighter and gracefully leapt into the passenger seat.
“Safety
belt tight, Lady Adreanna,” Kile warned.
She obediently strapped in and not a moment too soon either, for
Kile jammed the Dolan controls in reverse and gunned the engine.
She barely managed a yelp before sudden impact with the safety
strap knocked the air from her lungs.
The
tension-filled flight to Kile
circled looking for signs of a battle.
Finally, he spotted the wreckage of a supply transport.
“Ready?” he asked. He
sounded worried. Adreanna
didn’t know if he was worried about her or his wife.
Probably both. “I’ll
be fine,” she assured. “I’ve
practiced this with the Fearsome Four plenty of times!”
She didn’t tell him plenty of times meant twice under optimal
conditions in the middle bright days.
“We’ll find her!” She
said it for his benefit, knowing he knew her motive but would still be
comforted. “Be
careful!” Without
another word, he flicked a switch and Adreanna Chalet was airborne.
For a terrifying moment, she flew upside down, gazing at the stars.
It’s beautiful, she
thought, seeing Zopha’s two moons flash by a few times as she did tight
circles. The wind whipped past
her as she plummeted. She
shifted her weight to get back on track, freefell to two hundred meters,
and fired the repulsion units strapped to her legs and back.
The jerking due to changing directions left her breathless.
What little air was left soon fled upon hard impact with the
ground. “Oooaammph!”
She bent her knees and rolled to absorb some shock, tossing her
medical bag away to avoid damaging the delicate instruments.
Ohh, that hurt.
The repulsion units struck the rocks that surrounded her.
Yikes!
She stabbed the release button and ran as hard as she could.
The repulsion units flew away and exploded; fortunately, she was
far enough to avoid most of the shrapnel.
A small shard sliced her right leg.
Her cherished glitsa body armor did its job just by having extra
padding. It
took Adreanna twelve minutes to find the original wreckage site.
She didn’t expect to find survivors but she was duty bound to
look anyway. The
Opportunists certainly did a fine job.
Shooting flames held her at bay.
Where are you, Natalie?
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