Obligations (Murphy's Lawless Book 2) by Kevin Ikenberry

Author:Kevin Ikenberry [Ikenberry, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beyond Terra Press
Published: 2020-04-16T22:00:00+00:00

* * *

As Moorefield and Davis disappeared around the first bend of the trail with six soldiers pacing them on foot, Aliza caught Sergeant Whittaker’s eye. The old soldier sat astride his mount, Casper, staring at the dust cloud.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He nodded once and looked back beyond her to the horizon. “The better of the four vehicles are headed up the pass. That means we’re fifty percent complete with this part of the mission.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

He laughed. “In ordinary circumstances, yes. This isn’t ordinary. Looks like we’ve got the whole damned J’Stull army headed this direction. And we’re forward, located away from the rest of our own ground forces. Gonna be a long day.”

She followed his eyes to the dust cloud. There was no doubt the J’Stull were coming now. Word was that Tapper and his team had hit the enemy hard. The enemy would not merely want to eliminate their attackers, but make examples of them and, so, would accelerate across the valley floor. She looked over the defensive line of vehicles—all random shapes and weapons—and wondered how they could hold off an assaulting force of any size.

“Is he thinking about using those vehicles down here instead of moving them up the pass? I don’t think they have a prayer of delaying the J’Stull, no matter how well we fight them.”

“When the time comes, we’ll do what we have to do, Aliza.” Whittaker sighed. He spun his mount and called to Sergeant Stewart. “Set one hundred percent security. Push out a section to recon the north side of the pass, but no farther than Phase Line Sheridan.”

Aliza squinted at him. “What is a phase line?”

He laughed. “A control measure. We call it a phase line, which, in this case, is an intermittent creek bed about two klicks north. Giving it a code helps us relay information faster.”

“And Sheridan?”

“American Civil War general, Union side.” Whittaker grinned. “He was the quintessential cavalryman. Very colorful guy.”

“Why use his name?”

Whittaker’s grin faded. “He’s one of Captain Moorefield’s favorite generals. Gave the Confederates fits in West Virginia. Unpredictable and elusive. Exactly the guy we could use right now.”

“And is Moorefield ‘that guy’?” she asked.

Whittaker shrugged. “Could be. But he’s gotta have the heart for it.”

Aliza wondered what the sergeant meant but did not have time to ask as Whittaker rode out to set the patrol into their duties.

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