Page 156 (1/2)

Chapter 1

Captain Tanner "Bronco" Bennett gripped the cargo plane's stick and flew through hell, the underworld having risen to fire the night sky

"Anything Anywhere Anytih locked teeth

His C-17 squadron one into overtime today

Neon-green tracer rounds arced over the jet's nose Sweat sealed Tanner's helmet to his head Adrenaline burned over him with more heat than any missile He plowed ahead, chanted Prayed

Antiaircraft fire exploded into puffs of black smoke thatlethal flak glinting in the inky air Shrapnel sprinkled the plane, tink tink, tinking like hail on a tin roof

Still, he flew,no move for evasion or defense

"Steady Steady" He held his unwavering course, had to until the last paratrooper egressed out of the C-17 into the Eastern European forest below

Off-loading those troopers into the drop zone was critical Once they secured the nearby Sentavo airfield, supplies could be flown into the war-torn country by ade rebels needed relief Now The scattered uprisings of the prior summer had heated into an all-out civil war as the year's end approached

Anything Anywhere Anytime Tanner eht be just a mass of faceless huee had the same face—the face of his sister

A fla ball whipped past his windscreen

Reality intruded explosively a few feet away Near miss Closer than the last Time to haul out

"Tag—" Tanner called over the headset to the load-otta maneuver out of this crap In case you haven't noticed, oldat us"

"Got it, Bronco," the load coffin as fast as they can"

"Start pushing Just get 'eency pulsed through Tanner, buzzed through the cockpit