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Chapter Seven
Hawkes checked his watch and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. About an hour ago they had decided to get some sleep and had camped in one of the caves high up in the mountain, directly across MS-7990. He didn't know what this mountain was called but he didn't really care.
Scanning the area through his NVGs he watched the Chigs still patrolling the gun-nests.
Only by pure chance and the proverbial luck they had escaped the patrol's attack unharmed. After they had retreated to the higher regions of the mountain across their intended target, the Chigs had soon given up their search for them. It was as if they knew that without back-up and airborne support the Marines were going to die there.
But Hawkes didn't want to die. There had been a time in his short life where he had wished that some human or Chig would have snuffed out his life but not now. He wanted to return to the 'Toga in one piece, wanted to take a good night's sleep and maybe meet Chambers on a deserted flightdeck.
He had been lucky that she had reacted so ... what, understanding? Yeah, where Shane had used her strength, Megan had used her English politeness to tell him no-no. But then why had she kissed him? Oh, what the hell, he thought. Take 'em and leave 'em! He grinned at that. Yeah, and if I did she would probably kick my butt.
Hawkes turned his back and saw that Nathan was stirring uncomfortably in his sleeping bag. When the Marine had sat up he rubbed his unshaven jaws and looked around.
"What's up?" he inquired, creeping up to Hawkes. Nathan wished he could take a long hot shower and change into a clean uniform but that was out of the question. Being in Op meant that the Marines had to do without the amenities of civilisation.
Hawkes passed him the binocs and Nathan groaned when he saw that nothing had changed since the last time he had looked. They were still trapped, no way to reach the evasive EVAC co-ordinates to the west of MS-7990. Nathan opened his rucksack and searched through the MREs.
"You wanna trade Chile relleƱo for Macaroni Cheese?" he asked and held up the USMC version of the Mexican chilli. Cooper shrugged his backpack off his shoulders and threw it down at Nathan.
"Help yourself," he said.
After Nathan had opened the MRE, grimacing at the smell of it, he came over to Hawkes.
"Ah, the feast of the Corps," Hawkes said, sniffing. "Smells like Chiggy shit and lasts forever!"
"You know, when McQueen gave Chambers this toffee bar I really got envious. Boy, what would I give for chocolate right now!" West said and munched his Macaroni Cheese.
"Coop?" Nathan asked after a while and Hawkes snorted as an answer. He was scanning the area for Chigs.
"I ... uh, know it's none of my business but is it something serious with you and Chambers, or what?" The other Marine almost dropped the binocs in surprise before he turned towards West.
"How da ya know?"
"Uh, well, I just happened to pass the flightdeck the other night ... and from the way you're acting kind of protective around her, it had kept me wonderin'," Nathan replied and saw Cooper blush.
"Chambers is a hell of a pilot ..." Coop answered curtly and Nathan rolled his eyes towards the night-sky.
"God, Coop. You talk as if she's one of our mates. I'm talking about serious petting on a flightdeck here," West retorted.
"Whadda ya think I should say, West? That she's making me feel a helluva lot of things I dunno even the words of?"
"That would be nice as a start," Nathan replied, grinning from one ear to the other.
"You become just like Wang, ya know, always sneaking around to get the newest rumours ... I like her," Cooper said and when Nathan rolled his eyes heavenwards again he added: "Ok., I like her a lot. So what? She's only on the 'Toga for a couple of days. And if McQueen finds out he'll grill me!"
"Never mind the ol' man now," Nathan dismissed Cooper's words with a wave of his hand. "What about you?"
Hawkes groaned and rubbed his unshaven cheeks impatiently.
"You know, West, they could need ya with the guys from the Loyalty Test Department ..." he said and after another incredulous look from Nathan, he added: "Ok., she is kinda beautiful and talks in this strange way but ..." he helplessly shrugged his shoulders. "She's different. I get these kinda feelings around her like she doesn't give a damn that I'm a tank. She knows, so what? I wanna be with her when the war is over," he looked sheepishly at Nathan. "Is that stupid of me?"
Nathan shook his head and squeezed Cooper's shoulder.
"Nope, it's definitely not stupid, Coop."
Meg carefully tossed the blanket aside and sat up. Checking her watch, she could see that two hours had passed since she and the others had turned in. As she listened to the steady breaths of the others sleeping, she made her way down to the floor. Avoiding any sounds, she went to her locker and put her boots on. Then she took her rebreather flighthelmet and left the Cards' quarters.
"Is she gone?" Vanessa whispered and swung her head over the edge of her mattress to see Shane on the lower bunk. In the dim light she could just make out Shane's body shape.
"Yup," Shane said and in unison they left their bunks. Paul stirred beside them and shaking his head he grabbed his flight-gear which he had hidden beneath his bunk. In silence they left the quarters together with the British pilots and headed towards the mid-deck. Equipped with their M-590s and standard issue Marine combat gear they opened the hatch to the hangars and boarded the parked ISSCV while the RAF pilots mounted the Spitties. All was silent, the MP guards long gone. When Shane checked the com-channels and the HUD the com crackled into life and a voice announced:
"What took you so long?" For a moment she just sat there, staring at the light flashing to indicate that she was on-line to the bridge.
"Wild Cards, Queensix here. Do you copy?" McQueen inquired again and Shane cleared her throat.
"Copy, Queensix," she said and Vanessa shot her a surprised glance.
"Storm Leader has just left the Saratoga, repeat: Storm Leader on AWOL," McQueen stated. "Storm-Wing and Cards are to intercept her ..."
"Copy, Queensix. Intercepting AWOL!"
"Queensix out!"
"I'll be damned," Wang said and let out a sigh of relief. "How did the ol' man know we were going?"
"Intuition for one," Vanessa answered. "I guess he knew that Chambers would do something stupid like stealing one of the jets ..." she shrugged her shoulders and hit the propulsion buttons.
"Well, guys, I think we're in business," Shane said and grabbed the stick. "As long as Fleet-Com thinks we were sent out to retrieve an AWOL, they can't reprimand us!" Only minutes after the BC-48 jet had left the Saratoga, the ISSCV and several Spitties followed it to Nox.
"Storm Leader, here Ace of Hearts," Vanessa said over the com. "Return to the 'Toga immediately," she switched to a secured channel and continued: "Chambers, do you copy? Here Wild Cards, do you think you could go AWOL without us?"
"Copy, Wild Cards," Chambers announced, sounding a little bit surprised. "What are you doing here? You could be court-martialled for this!"
"You don't say!" Paul cut in. "Do ya think we'd leave you all the fun?"
After the skipchatter had died down, Meg had switched off the com and concentrated on her databars. The Cards' had transmitted her the last co-ordinates of Hawkes and West and they had decided that she should scan the area with her Spittie before they'd land to retrieve the MIAs. She was glad that the Cards and her own squad had followed her. It had been a spur of the moment idea to grab a Spittie and look for the MIAs herself but she had to do it. Five months back she had not been able to help her crewmates but now she was determined to rescue the two Marines. Entering the ionosphere of Nox was an easy task, avoiding the satellite probes patrolling the atmosphere of the planet another one.
As soon as she had entered the atmosphere of the planet, Meg had to be on guard. Only a few klicks away from the MIAs' co-ordinates an aviator base of the Chigs was stationed.
Switching to CS she scanned the area with the GTS, the global thermal scan. In this eternal darkness it was hard to make out something down in the rocky terrain beneath her. She got as low as she would dare, almost scraping the rocks and hills by doing so. Squinting her eyes to search the ground beneath she almost overlooked the warning of her HUD. Three bandits were advancing rapidly on her and Meg hit the propulsions hard, grabbing the stick to her chest and sending her Spittie into a steep rise. When the Chigs engaged on her their first volleys of laserfire, she had already hit the thrusters and jinxed the jets.
West's head jerked up and directed his gaze towards the sky when the first gunfire exploded and lit up the dark sky above him. Hawkes woke up with a start when he heard the unmistakable roar of jet thrusters. Unlike West he hadn't bothered with taking a nap in the sleeping bag after they had changed watch, he had just sat back against a boulder, cradling his M-590.
"They're bombing us out?" he asked and joined West at the lookout. West dropped the binocs to his chest and shook his head.
"They're in a dogfight with another jet ..." he said and rubbed his eyes. From what he had been able to detect, the jet had looked like a BC-48 jet. Slowly, he let the knowledge sink into him that he had only seen one friendly and he was wondering where the hell the others were.
"Shit!" Hawkes exclaimed at his side. He had raised his own binocs to his eyes and watched the airfight. "They got him!"
Both Marines watched as the jet dropped head-on like a stone. Shortly, before the impact the pilot forced the jet into a level position. Behind the bend of the hill, the jet vanished and West and Hawkes heard the loud crash of the impact. For some minutes they heard nothing, when suddenly they witnessed a loud explosion, a high column of fire rising into the night-sky. Hawkes exchanged a look with West.
"I'm going to have a look!" Coop said and straightened himself. He checked his M-590 and tucking the K-bar into its sheath at his calf, he exchanged a glance with West.
"Be careful and look alive!" West said, extending his hand towards him. Cooper took it and for a short moment they just stood there.
"O.k., let's hack!" Hawkes said and adjusting his NVGs, he vanished into the darkness.
Slowly, he made his way to the crash-site, ducking for cover behind some rocks and boulders. When he had rounded the hill, he could see the site where the jet had exploded. Several Chigs were examining the debris which was still burning and smouldering. Carefully, he put the binocs to his eyes and watched the Aliens as they picked up a flighthelmet lying around on the ground. Through the binocs Cooper could see that a blue and red cross of a Union Jack was flashing in the dim light of the torches. Hawkes closed his eyes for a moment then put the binocs away again. Checking and loading his M-590, he took aim carefully, gazing through the TS. Slowly, he edged the trigger of the rifle, pushing slightly.
The gun-fire downed two Chigs at the same time and for a moment Cooper was confused. He had only aimed at the Chig holding the helmet. When another Chig fell to the ground, gas escaping from the wound with a furious hiss, he shook off the surprise and downed two more. Suddenly he heard the unmistakable sound of a smart grenade advancing rapidly onto the Chigs and he ducked his head behind the boulder. The ground shuddered and pieces of metal and ooze rained down on Cooper. He raised his head and squinting over the rim of the boulder, he could see that the patrol was history. He was still staring at the remains of the dead Chigs when he heard the soft thud of footsteps coming up from behind him. He rolled down on his back, his M-590 aiming at anything which was coming his way.
"Bulldog!" he shouted, ready to fire the second he would get the wrong password.
"Chesty!" A voice shouted back and Cooper let out a sigh of relief. He had recognized the voice.
"Shit, Chambers, I almost killed ya!" he exclaimed and cocked the rifle to the ground. Meg stepped out of the shadows and squatting down in front of him she gave him a crooked smile.
"Well, hello to you as well, Coop. I thought you and West would like to have a ride home," she said and tucked the gun into the holster beneath her arm. Cooper watched her as she rubbed some muck from her cheek, smearing her face even more.
"No: thank you, Meg, for saving my ass?" she asked saucily. Hawkes made a grab for her and took her into a tight embrace.
"Meg, you scared the hell outta me," he whispered against her lips before he crushed them with a kiss. Meg groaned as she felt his tongue conquering her mouth and she yielded to his raging, desperate kiss. She held on to him for dear life, cupping his face with her hands, reassuring herself that he was alive.
Man, it was good to see her again. He had really believed he would die on this damn' planet. He took her into a tight embrace again and squeezed her shortly.
"Well, that's more of a welcome," she whispered hoarsely and traced the lines of his cheeks with a shivering hand. Lord, she was so relieved that he was still alive and at that moment she wanted nothing more than cuddle up to him and listen to his steady heartbeat beneath her hand. Cooper pushed her slightly away from him and his gaze travelled over her face, taking in every curve of it.
"Hey, Coop, do you copy?" Nathan inquired over the com and Cooper let out a deep growl, he gave Meg a last, hard kiss and readjusted the mike.
"Yup, Nathan, I hear you loud and clear!" he announced.
"Nice to let me know, Hawkes. I thought the Chiggies got ya!" West said sarcastically. "You been taking a nap?"
"Nope! I've been waltzing with a couple of Chigs. By the way," he flashed Meg a devilish smile. "Guess who's waltzed along with 'em!"
He heard Nathan's groan over the com.
"Don't tell me that was Chambers' jet we saw ..."
"Positive, West," Meg said into Cooper's mouthpiece. "We'll join you in ten mikes!" Nathan had to wait less than ten minutes when he caught sight of Chambers and Hawkes running towards his hide-out. When they had reached him, panting and flushed, he shook his head.
"You wanna break the planet's record of cross-country racing or what?" he asked.
"We got another patrol directly on our heels," Meg said and took in several deep breaths. "I think they didn't take it lightly that their mates are dead."
The Marines took up their rifles and scanned the area while Meg sat down and rummaged through her rucksack. She set up the radio and switched to a secured channel.
"Ace of Hearts, Storm Leader speaking," Meg announced and checked the Global Positioning System. "Found the two lost lambs. Repeat: found the lost lambs. GPS giving position on three-five-six!"
"Copy, Storm Leader, extraction in 0345 hours," Damphousse replied and Shane thumbed in the numbers into her database before heading the ISSCV towards the rendezvous co-ordinates.
"What about your ride?" Paul asked over the com.
"Negative, Joker. I think I'm owing the British government about three-hundred thousand quid for smashing it!"
"Hell, you making a habit out of it?" Wang asked and the Marines laughed at that.
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