Red Sky Dawning by Ian J Malone

Author:Ian J Malone [Malone, Ian J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theogony Books
Published: 2020-06-22T22:00:00+00:00

* * *

Once the admiral had finished, Lee leaned forward in his seat, put his elbows on his knees, and ran his fingers across his forehead.

“Holy shit,” Link murmured, eyes wide. “Talk about throwing your scrote on the table in shock and frickin’ awe!”

“Now you see why the Larrin’s disappearance couldn’t have come at a worse time.” Katahl deactivated the screen and leaned against the podium. “Lee, you have my word that for the next twenty-four hours, we’ll devote everything we can to finding Danny and Madisyn. By this time tomorrow, though, we’ll have no choice but to pack up our tents and redeploy. We’ll leave a skeleton crew, but there’s just too much at stake with Kyma to not give it the lion’s share of our resources. At least for now.”

Lee cupped his face in his palms. “I take your meaning, sir, about the bigger picture here. Even so, where we’re from, the first forty-eight hours of any missing persons situation are always the most critical. As such, I’d like to request temporary reassignment to the skeleton crew for me and Mac so we can help out with the search.”

“Ditto for me and Layla,” Link said next to Hamish, who also raised a hand to volunteer. “No way in hell we’re not there when Danny and Madisyn come home.”

Katahl’s lips formed a line. “Lee, I learned a long time ago to never underestimate the lengths to which you and your friends will go for each other. It’s one of the things that I’ve always admired most about you. But, having said that, this is not five years ago, and you’re not civilians anymore. You’re enlisted ASC personnel with all the duties, expectations, and responsibilities thereof. And while I completely empathize with your concern for Sergeant Tucker’s whereabouts, the fact still remains, Lieutenant Commander Summerston, that you are now the lead pilot of the AS Kennox, one of several ships set for deployment on the biggest offensive this fleet has ever launched.”

“But sir,” Lee said, “I wasn’t even scheduled to be here for this. I was supposed to be on my honeymoon right now, which means Captain Mann is already set to lead the Kennox’s flight crew on this mission. Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t that free me up to go lookin’ for Danny?”

Katahl shook his head. “Lee, you booked that leave over a year ago, and I didn’t have the heart to cancel it when all of this came down. But you’re here, and I need you. These are your men now, remember? Mann passed to the torch to you when he made captain, but in the interest of not interfering with your wedding plans, he agreed to stay on while you two were offworld. Now that you’re back, I need his experience on the Gordon. I’m sorry, son, but welcome to being a leader.” Katahl turned to the others. “The same goes for all of you. I know this situation is far from ideal, and you don’t have to like it.

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