Read Blackcollar: The Judas Solution for Free Online Page B

warned.
    "He's right," Flynn said. "How about just letting me go down the way I am? I think I've got enough lift to land safely, just not enough to make it all the way to Reger's. The rest of you can go make contact, I'll hike to the nearest road, and you can send someone back to pick me up."
    "No," Jensen said firmly. "One man alone in unfamiliar wilderness is a recipe for trouble. I'll link up, get you landed, and we'll hike it together."
    "But—"
    "Make that an order, Flynn," Skyler cut him off. "Jensen?"
    "Give me a second."
    The two shadows came together, and Skyler held his breath. "Okay, that's it," Jensen reported. "Gliders are linked. You three go on ahead and contact Phoenix. We'll find our own way to Reger's." Skyler grimaced. Splitting up three-two wasn't a whole lot better than Flynn's suggested four-one. But Lathe had them on a tight schedule, and he couldn't afford for all five of them to go for a long hike in the woods. "You have maps with you?"
    "We've got maps, rations, and fighting gear," Jensen said, starting to sound a little impatient. "We'll be fine. Get out of here, will you?"
    "We'll have Reger send someone out to find you," Skyler promised, turning his glider back toward the east. Their second drop over Earth, and the second time something had gone wrong. What was it about this place? "Hawking, O'Hara—let's go."
    * * *
    The three silhouettes receded rapidly into the eastern sky until they had become part of the blackness of the night. Flynn watched them go, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. Even with Jensen along, this wasn't going to be fun.
    It certainly wasn't the way things were supposed to have gone. Did all military missions have setbacks right out of the box this way?
    "Flynn, are you turning south?"
    Flynn snapped his attention back. They did seem to be making a lazy turn to the right. "No," he said, experimentally fiddling with his control bar. It seemed all right. "At least, not on purpose."
    "Must be your broken wing," Jensen grunted, and Flynn winced as a series of jolts rippled through his glider. "Or else we've picked up a northerly crosscurrent."
    Flynn peered off to the east, but the other three gliders were already lost to view. "Shouldn't we let Skyler know?"
    "We're already out of range," Jensen said. "Besides, it's not like there's anything he can do about it." Flynn grimaced. Terrific. "Ah, well," he said, trying to be philosophic about it. "They say long walks in the woods are very therapeutic."
    "Yes, they do, don't they?" Jensen said, suddenly sounding thoughtful. Flynn twisted his neck to look up, a complete waste of effort with the glider wing between him and Jensen. "Something?"
    "It just occurred to me that, given we're heading south anyway, maybe we should see if we can get close enough to Aegis Mountain for a quick look."
    "I thought there was a Ryqril base just outside the main entrance."
    "There is," Jensen confirmed. "That's what I want to look at." A sudden lump formed in Flynn's throat. "Oh. Uh ... you think that's a good idea?"
    "What, you worried about a simple little Ryqril base?" Jensen scoffed. "And it is only a little one."
    "Has it got autotarget antiaircraft lasers on its walls?"
    "A couple."
    "In that case, yes, I'm worried," Flynn said.
    "It'll be a quick look, just to see if they've abandoned the idea of breaking into the mountain," Jensen soothed. "We'll pop our heads over the ridge, pop them back down again, then go straight back to the nearest road and head for Reger's. Okay?"
    "Sure, why not?" Flynn said with a sigh. He looked up at the wing arching over his head. "It's not like I'm driving or anything."
    "That's the spirit," Jensen said approvingly, turning them toward the southwest. "Settle in, and enjoy the ride."
    * * *
    The three blackcollars had lost a lot of altitude while they'd been circling around trying to fix Flynn's glider. Now, as Skyler watched the tops of the mountains passing them on both sides, he realized they