Satan's Tail by Dale Brown

Author:Dale Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780061804809
Publisher: HarperCollins

Khamis Mushait Air Base

0228

ZEN PUSHED THE DOOR TO THE ROOM OPEN AS QUIETLY AS possible, but it had a spring on the hinge and there was no way to keep it open and get inside without a sound. The light snapped on just as he stopped to let it close behind him.

“Hey,” said his wife from the bed.

“Hey back.”

The room was set up like an oversized hotel room, with the bathroom and a closet off a very narrow hall near the door to the outside. This made it hard to get into the bathroom with his wheelchair, and Zen’s maneuvering was complicated by an inch-high piece of marble at the doorway. The marble looked real pretty, unless you had to roll over it.

“How’d it go?” asked Breanna, coming over in her robe.

“We ran into some trouble.” He slid the chair near the toilet seat and levered himself over. Tired, he nearly flopped into the space between his chair and the commode, but managed to lean forward just enough to plop onto the porcelain seat.

“Communications system didn’t work?” asked Bree.

She stayed just outside the door, giving him privacy after a quick glance to make sure he was all right. It was one of the many dances they’d perfected since the accident.

“The communications worked. Dog spotted some fast patrol boats trying to sneak up on them from the east. While Xray Pop was dealing with that, an Oman ship launched missiles.”

“Oman?”

“Yeah. Supposed to be friendly to the West. Haven’t figured that one out yet. One of the Shark Boats got hit by a missile that the Abner Read was shooting down. They crossed too close because of the attack or something. Anyway, ship’s still afloat but it’s pretty badly beat up. They lost three guys. Then, just for good measure, Abner Read shot down Starship’s Flighthawk.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish. Their automated ship protection system thought it was a cruise missile. Starship thought he could get close to the ship because Werewolf was. Their system’s more sophisticated than that, though. Lucky for him.”

“What happened to the pirates?”

“Dog got the missile ship. We got some hits in—Navy battered one of the little boats pretty well, and I know I hit two—but as far as I could tell, they all got away. They were moving pretty fast. You can’t get much on the Werewolf radar beyond five or six miles, and the hook-in from the Megafortress isn’t operational.”

Breanna put her hands on Zen’s shoulders as he came out of the bathroom, kneading his muscles.

“Keep going,” he urged when she stopped. “My neck is all whacked out. I had to stoop over the display.”

“Hop into bed and I’ll give you a full body massage.”

It was more a dive than a hop. Zen pulled himself over the mattress, sinking in. His wife’s hands felt fantastic.

“Admiral Storm still a jerk?” asked Breanna.

“Captain Storm. No worse than your dad.”

“My father isn’t a jerk.”

“Demanding.”

“Oh, he is not. He has standards.”

“He can be a prick.”

Breanna smacked him, semiplayfully.

“I meant that in a good way,” said Zen.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.