Page 41 of Princess (Marinah and the Apocalypse #5)

Marinah

King had been gone for an hour when the low rumble of engines sounded in the distance. I raised my arm and saw the bomber, followed by our other two planes. I was able to breathe again.

The old bomber limped toward the short runway. Bullet holes peppered its wings, some just pinpricks, others ragged tears in the metal skin. Along the edge of one wing, a larger, jagged rent marked where a direct hit had torn through.

One engine hung like a broken limb. A faint, acrid smell of burnt oil filled the air. The remaining engine on the other wing screamed in protest, its vibrations rattling the entire airframe. I couldn’t believe it was still flying.

The plane swept in. The one engine roared, then whined as Nokita cut the power. The landing gear didn’t deploy.

Thump ! The undercarriage hit the dirt, hard. The plane bounced violently, threatening to veer off course. The dead engine on the port side dragged and tried to pull them off the runway. Sparks flew in all directions.

The groan of stressed metal filled my ears.

The bomber shuddered, followed by the dip of its nose.

With a final, protesting shudder, the plane came to a halt, its nose just inches from the edge of the swamp, its good wing drooping slightly.

Shadow Warriors ran to the plane and began pushing it off the runway so the other two could land.

Nokita jumped from the back hatch.

He’d scared the shit out of me.

“Two ships are out of commission. I took down one, and the sub took down the other.”

Something in his eyes gave me a clue. I waited.

He turned and looked at the next plane landing. When he looked back at me, I saw anger and devastation.

“Our submarine didn’t make it. An enemy ship took it out.”

Alfred. A kind man who worked with Rodrigo and Nokita. All those men gone.

I hugged Nokita to me. He patted my back uncomfortably. He’d worked on that sub for so long, and I knew its loss went deep, though not as deep as the loss of human life.

The rest of his crew walked up behind him. Nokita turned and shook their hands, thanking them.

“King is checking out the Federation camp. He should be back in another hour or two. We have tents set up for tonight, and we’ll make our final plans after King returns.”

Nokita began giving orders to his men. He placed all five pilots on standby. They would bomb the Federation camp when it was time.

Axel walked up to me. “I’m setting up one of the planes as a makeshift hospital for our wounded, if that’s okay?”

“It works,” I said. “We’ll only use it as backup if we need the firepower.”

He stared at me for a moment. “You need to bind your breasts,” he finally said. “Cut back on your fluid intake, and only drink enough to stay hydrated. If we’re back within a week, your milk will return.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, I felt the ache in my breasts. Fuck. My heart ached with the need to hold and feed Nikayla.

I saw the look on Axel’s face. “Do not hug me, or I will break down, which is very un-command-like. I’ve got this. Thank you for the advice.”

I walked away because being near his sympathetic eyes was about to send me over the edge.

I should have gone with King. Pitching tents hadn’t kept me busy enough.

I wiped sweat from my brow and waved away another swarm of mosquitos.

The suckers were draining my blood dry, or at least that’s what it felt like.

An hour later, King and his men returned, covered in mud. His white teeth showed when he grinned at me. “Mud’s the answer,” he said before he gave me a quick kiss. “It keeps the mosquitos away.”

I turned and walked toward the swamp, which I’d been avoiding.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“To take a mud bath, I hear they’re in style.”

“I’ll help.”

Between the two of us, we managed to smear the mud over me.

“Do I look as ridiculous as you?” I asked.

“Doubtful.”

“You say the sweetest things.” I inhaled deeply and gave him the news about our sub.

King looked off into the distance and didn’t say anything. This hurt us. Yes, from a strategy standpoint, but more from the loss of life. I gave him a moment.

“Tell me about the camp,” I finally said.

“We’re taking off,” Stevens called from about twenty feet away.

“Good luck and tell Landan to send news as soon as he can.”

“Got it.”

I turned back to King. “The camp?”

He hugged me first, and I accepted his embrace. We both needed the contact.

He explained what we were facing and laid out his plan.

“I like it,” I said. “How many men do you think need to be on the strike teams?”

“Three teams, ten per team.”

“Agreed,” I said. “How was Desmond?”

“He got closer than I could have and located the heart of the camp. I was impressed. If we’re lucky, Barnes was in one of the structures.”

“I say we strike at 11 tonight and keep striking until morning. They’ll send troops out as soon as the sun comes up, and that’s when we send in the planes.”

“Have you heard anything about the enemy sub?” King asked.

“No. I’m worried about it. It could be traveling with the Federation ships.”

King understood. We’d left our baby on the island.

“What’s the plan for right now?” King asked after a solemn moment.

“Besides the guards on the perimeter, the men need to rest and sleep if possible.”

“Same goes for us.” King looked at the sky. “I’ll talk to the team leaders.”

The team leaders were Nokita, Alden, and Eagle.

“They can point you to our tent. I’ll see you there.”

I lay on a cot inside our tent. It kept me out of the water, but was uncomfortable as hell.

Melancholy set in. I stood up and slipped off my shirt.

I tore a clean shirt into strips and used it to bind my aching breasts.

Once I shifted to my Warrior form, my breasts wouldn’t be a problem, but right now the heavy feeling added to my overall gloom.

I lay back on the cot and stared at the canvas ceiling about six feet above my head at the highest point.

King walked in before I decided to attack the Federation right now in order to stay busy.

Hunched over because his head hit the ceiling, he moved his cot next to mine and lay down.

I was tall, and he was taller. His feet stuck out over a foot off the bottom while mine only hung about six inches over.

“You’re not sleeping,” he said.

“I was waiting for you.”

“I miss her too.” He took my hand and rubbed the backs of my fingers with his other one. “Close your eyes and think of mosquito swatters.”

I chuckled softly. “You always know what to say to a girl.”

“Good. I’ll save the line and use it again.”

I closed my eyes with no expectation that I would fall asleep. I was wrong.

∞∞∞

The smell of food woke me. King wasn’t in the tent.

I would be pissed if he hadn’t slept. I sat up and pressed on my bound breasts due to the ache.

Missy and several other women on the island who had just had babies would keep Nikayla fed.

I wanted to cry because it wasn’t me holding and feeding her, but knew if I started, I might not stop.

I was stronger than this and would battle through. The first step was food. I left the tent and followed the smell.

Nokita approached. “No sign of Federation scouts or hellhounds in our area.”

King walked up behind me. I felt him before he placed an arm around me. “Stevens said they haven’t seen hellhounds in the area since arriving. If we’re lucky, it will stay that way at least until the Federation releases theirs.”

I nodded.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Starving.”

“I’ll get you a plate. Find a seat.”

The humans who came with us were assigned cooking and camp cleanup detail. They knew this before they made their decision to join our team. I was incredibly grateful and I hoped they didn’t see battle. The loss of Alfred’s men hung over me like a dark cloud.

The Warriors were mostly sitting on tree branches with their food in their laps while they ate. I had no problem doing the same, and neither did Nokita. King joined us a few minutes later.

“You’re not eating?” I asked after he handed me a large serving on a paper plate.

“Had food an hour ago.”

“Did you sleep?”

“For about two hours. I feel rested.”

“Are you leading the strike teams?”

“Are you?”

I gave him my “don’t fuck with me” expression.

“I want to, but I also realize it will weaken me for the bigger fight,” he said.

“Same here.”

“Then we wait together.”

“Waiting sucks,” I replied. Nokita started to say something, and I stopped him. “You’re waiting too. Grab Eagle and bring him here. I haven’t seen him since we landed.”

“He’s been doing sniper shit,” Nokita said.

That made me smile. “I hope my plans for him won’t ruin his sniper shit.”

“My ears are burning,” Eagle said and squatted beside us.

“You’re leading a guerrilla style attack on the Federation camp. It will take two hours to get there, and the first strike will be at eleven tonight.”

King outlined what he’d seen at the camp. “Take Desmond with you,” he told Eagle.

“You don’t need to twist my arm,” Eagle replied. “I’ve seen him fight. He’s also a fast runner, and I can use him for communication if something goes wrong.” He thought about the task in front of him for a moment. “It’s eight. I want to leave as soon as possible and scout the area first.”

We went over the plan again, and then Eagle left to choose the strike teams. They left thirty minutes later. We would leave after midnight and find a halfway point to settle down in and wait. Between now and then, we would rest. Axel found us before we reached our tent.

“I have the med bay set up on Alpha 1.”

“You’ll be two hours from the action,” I told him.

“No, I’ll be with you. I have several men trained in emergency triage, and they will stay behind.”

“Are you asking my permission, or making a statement?” I asked.

“Which one makes you feel better?” he replied.

“King, put him in his place, please.”

King growled and stared. Axel smiled, then walked away.

“That was it, a growl?”

“He left us some alone time. That means it worked.”

He was trying to keep my mind off Nikayla. “Let’s lay on those damned uncomfortable military cots and pretend we’re not going to be ripping out throats in a few hours.”

“I thought you enjoyed ripping out throats,” he teased.

“If I get a little more rest, I will.” It was a lie. I wanted this battle over. I wanted King and I to survive.

I opened my eyes several hours later. King lay beside me, his eyes closed. “It’s time to leave,” I whispered. My internal clock knew we needed to hurry.

King’s eyes popped open, and he sat up. I scrambled to my feet and tore off my shirt.

“What’s this?” King asked and fingered the cloth wrapped tightly around my breasts.

“It keeps them from aching as much.” I quickly removed them. “Help me with these straps.” I picked up the leather chest contraption I usually wore.

King helped put it on, then loosened the individual straps. He placed his on quickly while I shifted into my Warrior form.

“Set?” I asked after he shifted.

“Let’s do this,” he said with his elongated jaws.

I grabbed the portable radio, adjusting for my claws, and carefully slid it into one of the pouches.

So far, the Federation hadn’t intercepted our communications.

The radios we used had a high frequency range that allowed us to talk over long distances.

The military radios the Federation used were on a lower frequency.

Unless they had figured out our setup, especially if we kept communication to a minimum, we should be safe.

Neither King nor I had seen a single hellhound since we landed.

Chances were good the Federation had been collecting them for a while.

The strike team would head in our direction as soon as the Federation camp gained a semblance of order and went out to fight them.

Eagle would run past us, and we, rested and ready for battle, would meet the enemy head on.

The planes would drop their bombs over the Federation camp at the first hint of light and take out their supplies and hopefully some hellhounds.

Eagle and his men would back us up if we ran into trouble.

They would also transport the wounded to medical.

And all our plans could go to shit in an instant.

I focused on President Barnes. I wanted to see the instant he knew he would die.