McGriffin mouthed “Vikki …”
He grew somber. “They’ve got the girl under constant surveillance. She said something about Do’brai backing them before she passed out. Rumor is the administration isn’t going to let them get away with it if it’s true. Something about a ‘swift, decisive response.’
“Anyway, you missed the excitement at command post, but I’m sure the hell glad you weren’t there. We would have never stopped them if it wasn’t for you.”
As the nurse approached, Chief Zolley clammed up.
“Sergeant, Major McGriffin needs his rest.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He stood and directed his comments to McGriffin. “I’m only along as an official observer from command post. Colonel DeVries wants an up-to-the-minute report on everything that happens.” He grinned broadly. “He was ready to court-martial you when he discovered you left your post, but from all I’ve been hearing, you’ll get an audience with the commander-in-chief after you’re healed.”
“Sergeant!”
Chief Zolley placed a hand on McGriffin’s chest. “Good luck, sir.” Zolley winked, then turned and nodded to the nurse before stepping to the rear.
The young lieutenant stuck a needle into the IV sac. “This will help you get back to sleep, Major. Just relax.”
McGriffin blinked. Just relax, he thought dreamily. It wasn’t like his problems were over. Lieutenant Fellows, Manny … It felt great to be part of a team. It was the only thing in the world that could compare with flying, getting to work with guys like that. Like someone once said, “No matter how dark things get, that sun is always going to rise in the morning.”
And then he thought of Vikki.
He steeled himself.
Maybe that sun wasn’t going to rise after all, at least not for her. Funny how he thought he knew her. He wondered how much more he didn’t know about her.
After this raid, security at Alpha Base could only tighten, making it impossible for something like this to ever happen again. So in a way, maybe Vikki got what she wanted after all.
As he drifted off to sleep, he felt placid. It wasn’t like he’d ever get bored in the Air Force, even pulling a desk job.
Who’d have ever thought he’d see more excitement than flying?
About the Author
Colonel Doug Beason, USAF (ret), is the author of 14 books, eight with collaborator Kevin J. Anderson, including Ignition (bought by Universal studios), Nebula nominee Assemblers of Infinity, and Ill Wind (optioned by Fox Studios). His solo novels are Return to Honor, Assault on Alpha Base, and Strike Eagle. His latest nonfiction book is The E-Bomb: How America’s New Directed Energy Weapons Will Change the Way Wars Will Be Fought. Colonel Beason’s short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies as diverse as Analog and Amazing Stories, to Physical Review Letters and The Wall Street Journal. A Fellow of the American Physical Society and Ph.D. physicist, Doug has worked on the White House staff for the President’s Science Advisor, was the Associate Laboratory Director at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he was responsible for reducing the global threat of weapons of mass destruction, and was recently Chief Scientist for Air Force Space Command. On active duty for 24 years, Colonel Beason’s last assignment was as the Commander of the Phillips Research Site, where he was responsible for the facilities and personnel conducting research on directed-energy weapons and space vehicles in three theaters world-wide. He is currently Senior Vice President for Special Programs at Universities Space Research Association and is at work on several novels. DougBeason.com