Damage Control (Valiant Knox) (3 page)

Bren murmured an agreement, then turned on her heel to go track down Sub-Lieutenant Sebastian Rayne. Seb ranked third in the FP squadron and also had the reputation of being the team’s cowboy. He probably would have been dead years ago, except the sub-lieutenant was the best damn pilot Leigh had seen in all the years he’d been with the UEF. While he might technically follow orders, the guy knew how to balance the line like a trapeze artist, and if something was both dangerous and insane, then the guy was there with bells on.

Sub-Officer Nolan Lawler on the other hand, was the exact opposite to Seb, yet somehow the two had become best buddies. He hardly ever saw one without the other. Lawler was the guy who followed the rules right down the line, but in the four years he’d been on the team, he’d become the go-to guy whenever he needed someone dependable, someone with their head screwed on straight and a willingness to do what was needed, no matter the task.

Leigh walked through the quarantine doors that separated the med facilities from the rest of the ship, passing a steady stream of recruits leaving. Looked like the medico staff were quickly clearing out those who didn’t need to stay in the medbay. The rescheduled meet-and-greet should be able to go ahead.

Which was the
only
reason he’d come down here—to make sure they could get back on schedule. Not to check up on that dark-eyed girl he’d pulled out of the damaged transport… Recruit Wolfe.
Mia
.

He crossed his arms as he came to the large, wide-open ER designed to treat people en masse after a battle. Right now, it was less than a quarter full. As he passed each hover trolley, he glanced at the patients in the beds. Luckily, none of them seemed to have serious injuries. Most were using the breathers designed to repair damage from smoke inhalation.

He spotted Ace standing next to a bed in the opposite row, so he cut across to catch his buddy. “Hey, how are things looking?” he asked as he came to a stop.

The recruit who’d been sitting on the bed thanked Ace, paused to salute him uncertainly, and then went on his way. Ace kept his head bent over his datapad, filling in some information.

“Most of the passengers have been cleared, and we should get through this lot in the next twenty minutes. Some will need to stay in, though. One broken arm, a couple with burns, and a few who suffered more serious internal damage from the toxic smoke.”

Leigh nodded, pressing a finger against his mouth as he glanced around the ER. He wasn’t going to ask about anyone in particular.

“Oh, and I was supposed to tell you something if I saw you.” Ace moved from the side of the empty cot, heading for the next occupied one. “Go to TC-seven-niner. Someone wants to see you.”

He glanced along the row of trolleys, looking for triage cubicle seventy-nine, but unable to get a clear view from here. He slapped Ace on the shoulder.

“Thanks. Catch you tonight after messdeck. Give you a chance to win back some of last week’s pay.”

Ace made an annoyed face at him, but didn’t reply as he turned to talk with the next patient.

Leigh made his way through the ER. A few of the beds were screened off with curtains, while others stood open. Some of the recruits regarded him with wide eyes and others averted their gazes. They might not have met him, but of course, they knew who he was by reputation alone.
Damn the UEF wanting their poster boys
.

Not too long out of pre military training after he’d earned his wings, he’d gone and gained himself a reputation. Getting promoted quickly through the ranks had only fueled the fire. When he’d been contacted a few years back and told he’d be used as an example of the UEF’s finest, it hadn’t been a request. It had been a courtesy call before they started plastering his face all over the known worlds.

So yeah, the recruits knew who he was before they got here. And he’d come across more than a few with serious cases of hero worship over the years. The idolizing made him feel like a fraud. He was just a guy doing a job—far from hero material.

He came up on TC-seven-niner, slowing his steps. The curtains were pulled closed and he hesitated as he reached up to grab the seam. There was no medico staff close enough to ask about the occupant, so he ducked around the curtain, flicking it closed behind him.

He’d taken two steps toward the gurney when dark chocolate eyes met his and he froze.
Mia
. For a moment she just stared at him, and his heart did that weird thumping thing again. But then she moved, pushing herself more upright against the pillows.

“Hi.” One corner of her lips lifted into a friendly, but shy smile. “I was hoping I’d get to see you before…well, training hasn’t officially started yet and—”

“Is there something you wanted?” His reaction to her caused a trickle of agitation to run through him, the reason his question was clipped.
Why?
She was just another recruit. Yeah, he’d pulled her out of that damaged shuttle, but so what? He didn’t get what it was about her that sent his normally controlled senses into hyperdrive.

She tucked a loose strand of golden hair behind her ear. “I wanted to thank you for saving my friend Penny. She wouldn’t have lasted much longer in there and obviously I couldn’t do anything more for her.”

His feet took him three slow steps closer, until he came to the very edge of the gurney to look down on her. “And what about yourself?”

She ducked her head, and the strand of hair she’d brushed away fell forward again. “Yes, I wanted to say thanks for that, too. I only wish I could have done more to help. There were so many injured people. And I’m sorry I passed out—”

He clamped his teeth against a grin, and just like that, the unease he’d been feeling drained away. She looked up at him, an expression of antagonism tightening her lovely features.

“You’re sorry for passing out, like that’s something you could have controlled? Well, that’s a new one.” He moved to lean a hip against the edge of her bed. “Look, I’m not one for giving out a lot of praise, but you did good back there at expense to your own well-being. That’s more than anyone can ask of you, and isn’t a skill they teach when you attend pre mil training. You earned my respect, and that’s not something easily done.”

Hell, he hadn’t meant to say so much. Maybe the news of a possible traitor in his squad had done a number on his mind. Yet even as he said the words, he realized they were more than true. He
did
respect her.

He probably shouldn’t have been so forward with her. Except what did it matter? By laws of statistics, she’d more than likely been assigned a ground posting. After today, he wouldn’t see her again. So he let his guard down for one second, let someone know they’d done good for a change, instead of being the unfeeling, hard-ass CAFF.

She pressed her lips together, not seeming the least mollified by his speech. He studied her stubborn expression. Though he hated admitting it, even to himself, the girl was damned gorgeous.
And probably a good fifteen years younger than you, pervert
.

He cleared his throat and forced the thoughts away as he straightened. “I’ll give you some advice.”

One of her eyebrows lifted and he nearly wanted to grin, but worked to keep his expression stoic. He could all but hear her thinking,
Oh yeah?

“Some days you’ll love your job, think you’ve landed exactly where you were meant to be. Other days, a lot of days, you’re going to hate it. But if you hold on to whatever it was that made you put the life of your friend before your own, you’ll go a long way. And sometimes you’ll be able to look back and be satisfied that you did what you could.”

Her head tilted, and her lips parted slightly on a soft breath. “Is that how you feel?”

He stared at her for a long moment, and something unfurled within him. He’d been responsible for saving a lot of people, and some of them had thanked him. But he’d never met anyone he’d felt instantly comfortable with. Yet with her sitting there, looking like she actually cared, things seemed a whole lot simpler.

Just for a split second, he wished he could get to know her better. And with no age gap between them that left him feeling like he’d be taking advantage of her.

He nodded. “That’s how I feel. Of course, some days I feel like the damned reaper, sending good men to their deaths. Never can tell when a simple mission is going to go to hell.”

“The responsibility must really weigh on you.”

He laughed, though the sound was grim. “You have no idea.”

The alarm reminder in his watch went off, vibrating against his wrist. He tapped it silent and then looked back up at Mia. If she took a ground posting, would she become a casualty one day soon? The thought made his insides clench. Or maybe he’d be the one heading into the black sooner rather than later.

The depressing notion was, of course, the only reason he let his guard down long enough to wrap his fingers around hers. He gave her hand a small squeeze, knowing he’d crossed a big fat line and not giving a damn about it. Since they’d never see each other again, he just wanted to steal one slice of the forbidden for himself, touch her even though he shouldn’t.

“Captain Alphin—”

“Leigh. Only don’t ever tell anyone I said so.”

A small smile tugged at her lips. “Leigh, there’s something you need to know—”

His watch vibrated again and he swore at the damned precise contraption. He didn’t have any time left to linger here.

“Tell me next time we see each other.” Which would likely be never.

She took a breath, no doubt to tell him whatever she had on her mind, but he rubbed his thumb lightly across her palm then stepped away.

“Good-bye, Mia. Look after yourself.”

He turned and left the cubicle without looking back at her. If he did, if he saw anything in her dark gaze, he’d end up doing something totally idiotic. Like following up on her posting and then not-so-accidentally arranging to see her. The last thing he needed in his life was a complication like Mia Wolfe.

Chapter Three

L
eigh cut a look over his shoulder at Bren, Seb, and Lawler standing at attention behind him, ready and alert, as they should be.

He returned his concentration to the unorderly jumble of new soldiers spilling onto the launch deck and scrambling to find their belongings. The maintenance crew had tidied up from the battle chaos of the day before and retrieved luggage from the damaged transporter, leaving a huge pile of bags and other items in the middle of the hangar.

Usually the arrival of new troops didn’t go down like this. If not for the attack, the transport would have arrived at delta level where all civilian or nonbattle craft docked and departed. Delta level acted more like a terminal, complete with luggage processing and baggage carousels.

He swallowed an impatient sigh at the pandemonium. The few seasoned officers among them were easily recognizable in the orderly way they found their crap and then went on with their business. Leigh pressed his lips together as a couple of recruits got into an argument over an unmarked rucksack.
Morons.
First rule of military travel? Always tag your goddamn bag.

Fresh out of the academy, the recruits would all be twenty-one, maybe a few twenty-two, no real battle experience to speak of. Most of the kids would be heading down to Ilari to make up much needed troop numbers on the ground. The onworld, or ground forces, fought the hard battles in trenches and on front lines, holding the territories the UEF had managed to occupy since the war started.

However, a small number of soldiers that had been selected by a computerized psyche-eval would be assigned to him. The ones whose profile said they had the grit, determination, smarts, and awareness of their own mortality to become class-A fighter pilots.

Half of them would wash out. Ninety-five percent of them would hate his guts.

He glanced back at Bren and returned the flashing grin she sent him. A small rush of anticipation had him clenching his hands tighter together where he had them settled in the small of his back. Okay, so maybe they got some fun out of breaking down the recruits and finding out what they were made of. But the ones who were left, the ones they built back up again, joined one of the most elite fighter-pilot units out of all the battleships in the UEF.

An announcement echoed in a repeating loop over speakers throughout the hangar, directing people to their destination. Gradually, recruits moved off toward the shuttles being prepped to go onworld, while a handful that had astronomical IQs were led off to be trained up for Command Intelligence postings. CI was a whole other ball game.

One by one, the latest batch of potential fighter pilots lined up in front of where he stood with the other instructors.

He sensed Bren leaning closer to him. “Is it just me, or do these recruits get sloppier every year? I mean, where the hell is UEF Command pulling these kids from?”

With a skeptical eye, Leigh ran his gaze down the line of fifty or so recruits. Uniforms worn incorrectly. Hair not to UEF standard. Personal items and fashion accessories worn in a blatant disregard of uniform regulations. His head started aching behind his temples. Hell yeah, they were a sorry bunch this year.

“I think you’re right. These slags would have to be the worst we’ve seen yet. Even more inferior than the class of thirty-three.”

Bren swore. “And we only got four damned pilots out of that lot. Less than ten percent success rate.”

“Want to lay down some money on how many we’ll get out of this class?” Seb interjected. Typical. The guy would gamble on a fruit fly if it was doing something interesting.

“No thanks. It’ll just make me depressed.” He pushed his shoulders back and stepped forward. “At attention, recruits.”

Only half of the lined-up soldiers paid him any notice. And the ones who did listen? Their salutes and parade-stance could have been performed better by four-year-olds. What the heck did they teach them at pre military training these days?

“I said at attention recruits! Do not make me repeat myself a third time or you will see the brig before you see any other part of this ship.”

The kids shut up and made a half-assed effort at a formation.
Right.
Time to get down to business.

Leigh strode to the end of the line to get a closer look at each potential pilot. The first guy had a hat slouched over one ear. Leigh ripped it off and threw it toward the trash bag Seb was holding. The recruit burst out with an angry, “Hey!” but one hard glare shut the guy up quick smart.

He shot a scowl down the line of wide-eyed soldiers. “Almost all of you are in violation of uniform regs. I am going to start rectifying this immediately. If any of you have an issue with this, feel free to take it up with Commander Yang.”

Silence met his announcement. None of these green recruits would want to face up to Yang, not with his reputation of being a fearless hard-ass.

Leigh moved on along the line, removing items in breach of uniform and directing some to tuck their shirts in or fix their shoelaces.

“Didn’t your mammas teach you how to dress before you left home?” he yelled in front of one recruit in particular who had his shirt half unfastened, his undershirt inside out, belt loose, laces untied, and wrinkled pants that obviously hadn’t ever been pressed. “What is your name, recruit?”

“Steve Robinson.”

“Recruit Robinson, when you address me, you will start and end with ‘sir’ and nothing else. Do you understand me?”

The kid frowned, the mutinous spark in his eye suggesting he didn’t appreciate getting singled out. “Yes, sir.”

Leigh leaned in closer. “Wrong, recruit. Do you understand me?”

“Sir, yes, sir.” The sulking answer didn’t come out at much more than a mutter.

Leigh glanced back at Bren, who had a terrier-like glint in her gaze. Looked like they’d found washout number one. Bren would ride this insubordinate jerk until he broke or turned into a better soldier. The latter not being all that likely.

Leigh moved onto the next recruit, amazed to find one in order. The next couple weren’t too bad, but when he came to the fourth person after that, his breath ripped out of his body.

Oh, shit
.

He swallowed, groping for his equilibrium and forcing himself not to react with anything but impersonal detachment.

“Recruit Wolfe, who authorized you to leave the medbay?”

She’d been staring straight ahead, not acknowledging he’d stopped in front of her. But at his mention of her name, she glanced up. And when their gazes met, a whole lot of complicated mess came crashing down on him.

Now that she was upright, he got a decent look at her. She was a good head shorter than he and most of the other recruits in line. She looked like a sixteen-year-old. Though she’d retied her hair into a smooth knot and cleaned her face, a smudge of soot marred her neck, just below her ear, streaking down to the collar of her uniform. His fingers twitched, the impulse to reach up and wipe the stain away from her otherwise-perfect skin shocking the hell out of him.

She’s your subordinate, you moron.
Goddamn, he needed to go out and get laid. Because lusting after a recruit, even for a split second, was wrong in more ways than he could count. He shouldn’t have let himself touch her, let any sort of familiarity develop between them… If only he’d known. Was that what she’d been trying to tell him, that she’d been assigned to his damn training program?

He had to go into extreme damage control,
right now
. Destroy whatever small connection they’d forged in the medbay. Make her hate him like all the other recruits. His chest contracted around his organs. That was all he needed, to have a coronary from the stress of the crap he’d walked himself into.

He took a step back from her. “I asked you a question, Recruit Wolfe.”

She swallowed, and he wondered if her throat was still raw. His own felt stripped dry and he’d only been breathing that smoke for a few moments.

“Sir, Sub-Doctor Moore released me. I feel fine, sir.” Her gaze flicked away to focus somewhere over his shoulder.

“And what orders did the sub-doctor release you with, Wolfe?”

Her lips pressed into a thin line, and for a moment, he thought she wasn’t going to answer.

“Sir, to rest for at least twenty-four hours and use the breather every two of that, sir.”

He’d suspected as much. “Do you call this resting, Wolfe? And how long ago did you last use the breather?”

“Sir, I used the breather one hour and twenty-five minutes ago, sir.”

And she so conveniently didn’t answer his question about resting. He checked over her uniform, finding her neat except for the glint of a gold chain under her tags.

“We don’t need any heroes in our ranks, Wolfe. We need dependable pilots. Take that gold chain off. You’re dismissed until tomorrow. Follow the doctor’s instructions, or you’ll find yourself demoted to the front lines on Ilari before evening messdeck.”

After what he’d done, he’d take any excuse he could get to see her wash out before the mistake he’d made turned into a full-blown catastrophe. However, he couldn’t conscionably sabotage her on purpose and still call himself a decent CO. Still, he could sure as hell hope she didn’t get through the first day or two.

Her expression tensed, but she saluted him and turned, picking up her rucksack and disappearing across the deck. Leigh shook his head. That one had complication written all over her, the likes of which he didn’t want to know about.

He turned his attention to the next recruit in line to finish tidying up his sorry bunch of wannabe fighter pilots. Once he had the recruits looking closer to respectable, he stepped back into formation next to the other instructors and gave a run down of how things would play out. His crew took turns introducing themselves and then each recruit got handed a map of the
Valiant Knox
.

The
Knox
was one of the UEF’s bigger battleships, with a few thousand military and civilian staff living and working on board at any given time. The ship even had a commerce level that acted as a trade center when the ship wasn’t stationed in a war zone. For now, the level simply provided entertainment and places to socialize—like bars and restaurants—for the crew. There were several levels of crew housing apartments, a couple of dedicated levels such as the command center and the fighter-pilot-squadron level, and any number of other amenities and storage. The
Knox
was like a huge space-bound city or military base, with everything necessary to cope with long deployments.

But there would be no guided tour for these young soldiers. They learned the layout fast on their own or it was just one more way they could wash out. After all, if they couldn’t navigate a battleship, how the heck did they think they’d be able to fly a fighter jet through space?

The recruits were dismissed and he caught more than a few looks of relief. He shook his head. They thought introduction-parade day one was hard? Wait until training commenced.

Leigh turned to Bren, Seb, and Lawler, who’d started discussing their initial impressions, none of which were glowing.

Across the hangar deck, where the recruits milled waiting for the Ilari shuttle, he caught a flash of shining gold hair.
Couldn’t be
. Not after his specific instructions for her to get lost. Yet the glimpse of hair turned into a full profile as the crowd shifted. Yep. Recruit Wolfe, chatting away to another recruit like they were in a damned mother’s club meeting. How had the psyche-eval come up with the brilliant notion that this five-foot-nothing chick would make a damned fighter pilot? Must have been a glitch in the system.

“What is it?” Bren asked.

He glanced at his XO; obviously some of his pissed-off had shown on his face.

“Nothing. I’ll catch up with you later.”

If Recruit Wolfe didn’t want to rest, then he’d give her something to do. Keeping an eye on her, he crossed the deck, ready to teach her a lesson in how to follow orders.

M
ia waved good-bye to Penny, who had pulled ground duty. Mia had promised earlier in the day to see her off. Who knew how long it would be before they got to see each other again? She was going to miss her friend, who embodied everything she’d always wanted to be. Penny was easygoing, confident in her body, and had the kind of personality that attracted people like bees to a pretty, shiny flower, reminding her not to be so uptight, and relax every now and then.

As her friend headed toward the Ilari-bound shuttle, she gave one last jaunty wave, then disappeared into the crowd. Mia sighed, her shoulders drooping and body aching in a way she just knew would make training tomorrow that much harder. Stupid of her to drag herself to the meet-and-greet parade, and Captain Leigh Alphin had called her on it in front of everyone.

Great way to start basic training, loser.

And just how had she ended up in training to be a freaking fighter pilot anyway? Sure, jets and ships fascinated her, but she’d wanted a Command Intelligence posting, or if her dreams were coming true, an aeronautical engineering position. Of course, such things were rare, most recruits ended up as grunt. She supposed she should thank herself lucky she hadn’t been posted on the front lines.

Fighter pilot hadn’t been at the top of her list when considering positions in the UEF. It hadn’t even been
on
her list. In fact, she wouldn’t have even put it on a backup list if she’d been so inclined to make one. But no one turned down the opportunity to join the UEF’s elite air squadron, especially when their name got assigned to the
Valiant Knox
under Captain Alphin.

So many times she’d almost asked to be retested, but the computers were never wrong. And if she’d flat-out refused the opening, for the rest of her career, everywhere she went she’d be
that recruit
who’d turned down the chance to serve and learn with a living legend of the UEF. So here she was. And she’d do better than her best, because that was what she always did.

At oh six hundred tomorrow morning it would begin and she’d see just how far her body, mind, and attitude could get her.
Please God, don’t let me wash out on the first day
. She pressed a hand against her forehead, a fine sheen of sweat dampening her hairline.