Dragon Flight Academy 3, page 16
“Hey, what can I say?” She shrugged and smiled at the same time. “I had a busy couple of days.”
“Is that so?” I arched an eyebrow.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Her smile turned into a grin, and she flipped her hair over her shoulder.
“I would, actually,” I said and jogged to catch up with her.
“I already told you what I did.” Brie was one step away from me, but I didn’t need to see her face to know that she was smirking as she enjoyed her little power play.
“No,” I countered. “You said you were busy with your family. You didn’t exactly expand on that, now, did you?”
“I didn’t?” she asked innocently.
“You know perfectly well that you haven’t,” I nagged her.
“Must’ve slipped my mind,” she replied.
“Oh, come on,” I pressed. “Are you really going to make me wait and imagine the worst?”
“Potentially,” she replied. “Mmmm, in fact, I’d even say there was a good probability.”
We’d reached the building that housed the dormitories by then, so our conversation had to stop, but I wouldn’t forget about it. Deep down, I knew that Brie was mostly teasing me because that was who she was, but it didn’t mean that I had to like it because I didn’t.
“Jake?” I heard a familiar voice call my name. “Is that really you?”
Brie and I shared a surprised glance, and I turned around to see Jonas. Of course, he hadn’t changed at all since the last time we’d seen him, since that had only been three days ago, but there were dark circles under his eyes, almost as if he hadn’t slept at all in the last three days. He’d also traded in his cadet uniform for regular Dragon Corps gear, which made him look older somehow.
“Jonas!” I exclaimed and exchanged fist bumps with the graduate. “I knew you’d be around here somewhere.”
“What are you two doing here?” Jonas asked as he nodded at Brie. “Oh, wait a second. Does it have to do with Harlow’s secret assignment?”
“We only found out we were coming here just three days ago. Other than that, we don’t know anything”
“Damn.” Jonas whistled. “Well, I can’t begin to tell you how nice it is to see a familiar face.”
“How’s it going for you?” Brie asked.
“Oh, you know.” He shrugged casually, but his shoulders had tensed. “It’s difficult being a new recruit when everyone’s known each other for months or years.”
“I’m sure you’ll soon prove your worth,” I replied. “You’ll become invaluable to your squadron.”
“We’ll see.” Jonas sighed and then smiled. “I’ve got to run, but it was so nice to see you, Jake. Hopefully, we’ll see each other again soon.”
“We will,” I said confidently. “We’re only here for four weeks, so unless they send you away for a whole month, then we’re definitely going to see each other around here at some point.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Jonas grinned and backed away from the building. “Catch you guys later.”
“Bye,” Brie said.
“Well, at least we know he’s alright,” I muttered mostly to myself as we watched him trot away.
We entered the building and headed straight to our bunks. I was pleased to see that the bunk opposite ours was now occupied by Alistair and Layla. I hadn’t seen them here earlier when Dryden was showing us around, but since they were here now, it was safe to say that they were going to bunk with us and so would the other international cadets who still hadn’t arrived yet.
I left Brie with Layla so the women could chat together, and I went straight toward Alistair’s bunk to catch up on the latest news from his squadron. I was still pleasantly surprised by his presence here, though in reality, I should’ve guessed that if there was one British cadet who’d be picked to go to West Germany, it would’ve been him.
“Hello, mate,” Alistair said when I walked up to him. “I must admit, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
“Neither was I,” I replied honestly. “It’s good to see you, though.”
“You as well,” he said. “What’s new with you? How did your first year end?”
“With flying colors,” I grinned. “We haven’t had any more fatal incidents, and we made a lot of progress as a squadron. How about you?”
“We lost Richard,” Alistair admitted ruefully.
“Oh, really?” I arched an eyebrow. “What happened?”
“A routine maneuver that got out of control,” he replied. “Nothing anyone could’ve done.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “It’s never easy to lose one of your teammates, and when they’re a friend, it’s even harder.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, Richard was a pain in my bollocks, so I didn’t consider him a friend, but I hate being down one man. I was aiming to graduate with a full squadron.”
“Hey, at least it didn’t happen within your first month,” I said teasingly to try and lighten up the atmosphere.
Alistair smiled, though it was a tight-lipped one. I knew the man well enough to realize that there wasn’t a lot I could’ve said or done to make him feel better about losing one of his squad members.
“I’m quite shattered, now,” he said. “I’m going to turn in for the night.”
“Of course.” I nodded and got off his bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bright and early,” he replied with a light smile.
We shook hands out of habit, and then I crossed the aisle to get to my bunk. Brie and Layla were still deep in conversation, so I smiled at the pair of them before I climbed into my bed.
Despite the short nap I had on the aircraft, I was just as tired now as I was every other day after training with Sunderland for an entire afternoon. I’d barely closed my eyes when the hushed conversations around me disappeared, and I fell into one of the deepest sleeps of my life.
For the first time in months, it wasn’t Hale’s sadism and boisterous voice that woke me up but a simple, strident alarm over the PA that was different from the one I’d heard the previous evening.
This PA seemed to be a standard wake-up call for the soldiers, and when I pried my eyes open, I saw them get up and dressed before they left the dormitories. It took me just another few moments before I fully remembered where I was, but when I did, I jumped out of bed, knocked my head on the bed above me, and let out a string of curses.
“Good morning to you, too,” Brie giggled as her head poked out from the bed above mine.
“Hey, you.” I smiled and completely forgot why I’d been aggro just two seconds before. “How was your first night?”
“You know, it was surprisingly great,” she replied and jumped out of bed in one swift movement. “Layla and I spoke for about an hour after you went to bed, and then I slept like a satisfied baby.”
“Good,” I grinned.
I didn’t have time to add anything else because Major Eddie Marsh suddenly walked up to us with two folded flight suits in her hands that she chucked at us.
“Good mornin’, kiddos,” she greeted us happily and loudly. “Get dressed, and then go get some breakfast. Boone’s expecting ya to join this morning’s briefing and meet the rest of the crew.”
“Thank you, Major Marsh,” Brie said as she gratefully accepted the uniform.
“Oh, please, call me Eddie,” the major laughed. “Everyone does, and if ya play your cards right, Boone will let ya call him by his first name, too.”
“Why Eddie?” I asked her.
“Because when you’re the only woman in a squadron filled with men, it’s not easy to be heard and seen as a soldier and not a woman,” Eddie replied. “Eddie’s a man’s name, so it was only fitting that it’d be my nickname. But ya better get a move on. Boone hates latecomers.”
Eddie left after one last smile, and Brie and I quickly changed into our new uniforms. They were similar to the flying gear we wore at the academy, though a bit cheaper looking, so I hoped that Dryden would be giving us an extra layer before we were expected to ride out of the compound.
“I better not catch my death with this thing,” Brie mumbled under her breath.
“I’m sure they have extra layers to hand out,” I said. “Maybe we’re not riding our dragons today.”
“Then what’s the point of being here at all if we won’t ride our dragons?” she huffed. “Harlow, Shaw, and Dryden have all said we’re not here for a vacation, but so far we haven’t done anything.”
“We’ve only been here one day,” I laughed.
“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered and then picked at the sleeve or her new gear. “But not having modern gear is a bit excessive if he’s trying to test our loyalty. Mine is definitely with a real thermal suit”
I was about to say that Dryden wouldn’t do that a second time, but I stopped myself at the last second because I actually didn’t know if Dryden was the type of person to be evil and continually make us wonder if we were being tested or not. For all I knew, that’s exactly who he was.
Brie and I finished getting dressed in silence, and from the corner of my eye, I saw that Alistair and Layla had already gone. Maybe they had different orders from the colonel they were shadowing, which actually made sense since we couldn’t have two squadrons working on the same mission if it wasn’t needed.
As soon as we were dressed, we left the dormitories and crossed the courtyard to head into the crew mess building. Things had quieted since last night, which was a relief. The thick curtains of smoke were gone, and the soldiers who were in the room were either having quiet conversations together or they had their heads plunged in their bowls of cereal.
Brie and I grabbed a plate each and filled it with food before we sat at an empty table and ate our breakfasts as quickly as we could. I demolished a cup of coffee and grabbed another one in a styrofoam cup to bring to Dryden’s briefing, which was located in an outer building that required our passes. Luckily, after Dryden’s emphasis on how important they were, I knew that neither of us was ever going to forget them.
The room where the briefing took place was small and windowless, which seemed to be common in this building. Dryden and his two commanders were at the head of the room, while the rest of the squadron sat in rows of plastic chairs. Eddie was holding a stack of folders in her hands, and I assumed that the details of today’s mission were written inside.
“The rats are here, Boone,” Foley announced when we entered the room.
“Take a seat,” Dryden ordered. “Quickly.”
I sat down on the first available seat, and Brie sat next to me. Dryden’s team barely cast us more than a second’s glance, and I assumed that, for them, we were nobodies. We were only here for four weeks to shadow their colonel, and then we were fucking right back off to where we came from. As far as they were concerned, we weren’t even real riders yet, so I could understand why they were ignoring us. I’ll admit, it stung a little, but I ignored it and focused on the Colonel.
“Now that everyone’s here, let’s get straight down to business,” Dryden said. “Eddie, if you please.”
“Right away, Boone,” the female flyer replied.
She crossed the room and handed out folders to Dryden’s squadron, and I was pleasantly surprised when she handed one to me and one to Brie. I thanked her with a smile, and I skimmed through the material and saw that it was an intel-gathering mission.
“Today’s assignment is basic,” Dryden explained. “We’ve all been there before. Patrol run and intel-gathering. Guys, you know the drill, I don’t need to brief you in more detail. Cadets, stay behind.”
The briefing meeting was already over, and everyone but Dryden, his commanders, and Brie and I left the room. Dryden pushed off the wall where he’d been leaning as soon as the room was empty, and then he sauntered over to me and Brie and sat down in front of us.
“Here are some ground rules,” he resumed. “The mission isn’t about showing off. You’re here to shadow me, and that means you do exactly as I do, no questions asked. I don’t tolerate stupidity in my squadron, so if you can’t handle taking orders from me, then you might as well kiss your career in the Dragon Corps goodbye. Any questions?”
Brie and I quickly shook our heads. I’d met people like Dryden before when I served in the Army, and while a few had been just plain assholes, most knew what they were doing, and the best way to stay alive was to do what they did.
“No, sir,” I replied.
“Good.” Dryden pushed off his chair. “Then mount up, shut up, listen, and stay out of my way, in that order. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” Brie and I said at the same time.
“Doyle, get them a vest.” The colonel sighed. “I might not like this shadowing program, but they need to look the part, don’t they?”
“Right away, boss,” Foley replied and left the room.
“Eddie, get the radios,” he ordered and then turned to us while Eddie followed after Foley. “You’re to maintain radio silence unless it’s absolutely necessary. Understood?”
“We understand, sir.” I nodded.
“Then let’s go.” Dryden exited the room, and Brie and I followed after him.
His squad had already gathered in the paddock where they were getting their dragons ready. It shouldn’t have surprised me to see so many adult-sized dragons in one place since I’d seen some before, but it was still a shock to realize that Storm was nowhere near as tall as them. My dragon was the tallest of my squad back at the academy, and when we were in the Marshall Islands, he’d gotten some of the adult dragons to listen to him, but here, he was only one dragon among hundreds, so there wasn’t much he could’ve done or said to earn their respect.
Much like at the academy, squires were scurrying across the paddock with harnesses, reins, and saddles in their hands so that the riders who were actually about to leave on a mission didn’t have to do it all by themselves. I was surprised when one of the squires headed up to me with Storm’s saddle.
“Thanks,” I told him.
The squire merely nodded curtly in response before he ran away and helped another rider. Dryden’s squadron wasn’t the only one that was getting ready to leave the compound, so the paddock was a cacophony of dragon roars, soldiers who were yelling orders, and riders who were giving orders to their dragons.
I left Brie to head straight toward Storm, and my magnificent dragon roared the loudest when I approached him, as if he were trying to make a statement that even though he wasn’t the biggest or most powerful dragon in the compound, he still wouldn’t flinch or yield to any other dragon, no matter their size. I grinned when Storm landed right in front of me, and as the ground shook beneath my feet, I almost felt like it was only the two of us on the field.
“Hey, Storm,” I greeted my dragon. “How was your first night?”
My dark-colored dragon stared at me without blinking, and I couldn’t read his expression. He’d seen the saddle and noticed the agitation on the field, so he knew that something was going on.
“Are you ready to fly?” I asked him, and Storm growled and emitted thin tendrils of smoke. “Good, because they need us.”
I made quick work of Storm’s saddle, reins, and harness, and once he was ready, I waited for Dryden’s green light. Foley finally walked up to me with a bomber-style jacket that he chucked in my general direction.
“Put it on,” he ordered. “Welcome to the cool club, kid.”
“Thanks,” I said and pulled on the leather jacket.
The jacket wasn’t strictly necessary since our gear already did the job in theory, but I wouldn’t turn down an extra layer. It was a dark khaki color with the US flag on the back and on the left sleeve, but it was water-repellent, which was useful considering the dark clouds that marred the sky. Every soldier on Dryden’s squadron wore the same jacket, and I’d noticed before that other units had similar jackets with a couple of twists here and there.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Foley hand the second bomber jacket to Brie. Eddie appeared right in front of me, and she dangled a headset in front of my eyes.
“Here you are,” she grinned. “Do as Boone says, and you’ll be fine.”
“Thanks for the heads-up,” I replied.
“Anytime.” Eddie nodded and ambled toward Brie to give her the second headset.
For a few moments, I watched as Dryden gave instructions to his team, and then, he whistled loudly. All at once, every member of Dryden’s crew mounted their dragons. This was the green light that I was waiting for, so I placed my hand on Storm’s flank to get him to lower himself down, and then I hopped on his back, strapped myself in, and waited for Dryden’s next order.
“Stay in formation!” the colonel shouted just as he shoved the headset on his head and switched to the radio. “And you, cadets, I’m sure you’ve been taught how to fly in formation.”
He didn’t wait for an answer from either of us, and the next moment, his light blue dragon spread his wings and flew off. One by one, his crew followed after him, and then it was my turn. Brie and I were going to fly right at the end of the formation, well away from Dryden, just like he’d instructed us in the briefing.
The folder had mentioned that the operation was going to take place right at the border between East and West Germany. Apparently, there’d been suspicious Soviet movements sighted along the southeastern part of the border, and Dryden’s squadron had been assigned to investigate, hence the intel-gathering part of the mission. If there was anything suspicious to find, Dryden would find it, and then he’d report it to General Shaw, who’d in turn inform the higher-ups.
Dryden led his squadron out of the compound, and as he did so, I heard him speak on the radio with the soldiers in the watchtower. Every dragon here was equipped with extra carapace armor with the US flag emblazoned on it as well as the NATO flag. It was a safety measure so that when Dryden’s squadron headed back to the base, the soldiers wouldn’t mistake them for enemy dragons, just in case something happened to the radios.
Since the colonel had chosen to fly in a basic V formation, Brie and I found ourselves at the very end of the formation, which was a massive change from when I led our squadron or when we flew behind Sunderland. It was just another reminder that we were the low men on the totem pole, and I could understand Jonas’ less than excited response to my question.
