Gyrfalcon by Anna Butler

Author:Anna Butler [Butler, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gay Mainstream
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Published: 2015-04-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

The call to go to the command briefing room came midway through the morning of day eleven in Maess territory. Flynn was in the starboard bay ready room, feet up, reading the book he’d downloaded from the main computer systems the previous night. He’d have some catching up to do, of course, starting with volume one. The History of the Theban Peoples, it seemed to him, was a highly speculative account of Earth, if the place had ever existed, and there wasn’t a mention anywhere of the Third Wave of Migration. With eighty-six volumes to go, he had to assume that came in later. He only hoped that it brought a plot along with it because, sweet hell! History was dull.

He answered his comlink on automatic and when he closed it down, he found himself staring at a ring of sour expressions all sitting on the faces of people he usually described as friends and colleagues. Now he wasn’t so sure. At least, about the ‘friend’ bit.

“Good old Flynn,” Cruz said with such sarcastic emphasis that Flynn winced.

“It may not be what you think.” But he was grinning like the proverbial loon, and he kept on grinning all the way up to the bridge. He even grinned at the expression on Quist’s face as he was waved into the small command briefing room, though compared to that, Cruz didn’t even know where to start when it came to sour.

Bennet wasn’t there.

Half a dozen other pilots sat at the table with Commander Caeden at the head of it. But no Bennet in sight. Huh. That maybe meant this job wasn’t in the bag, after all. Flynn offered a salute and slid into a seat, glancing around.

He knew them all; some better than others. He’d been close to Powell, of course, and Kelly from Beta Squadron. He’d dated Kelly for a while, just like he’d dated Powell. Well, maybe not just like it—he and Kelly had parted friends. She greeted him with a smile. Powell pointedly turned away. Flynn didn’t know the others as well: Joakim was Beta Squadron, and Abir and Kieran from Gamma. Flynn was the only Alpha squadron pilot. The door behind him opened, and he looked around quickly, but it was Simonitz who came in. There was still no Bennet.

Commander Caeden nodded to Simonitz, and began, abruptly. “You six have been short listed by Shield Captain Bennet for the task of supporting him in the raid on T18. He’ll be here shortly for a briefing. I wanted a few words with you myself, first.” Caeden looked them up and down. “I’m going to be frank with you. The Shield captain has applied his own criteria to this exercise, and although he has discussed his choices with my senior officers, there are one or two of you whose presence here is something of a surprise to me.”

His cold blue eyes met Flynn’s for a second. It was like being hit in the face. Shit! He meant Flynn. Not the others, just Flynn.

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