Page 78 of Princess

“You’re Marinah,” Stevens said and placed his hand out.“I was expecting someone ten feet tall with hands the size of sledgehammers.”He smiled at my mate, and Beast didn’t so much as stir.

“Nice to meet you,” she said.“You’ve given us a chance, and I can’t thank you enough.I’ll send five men with you and your team to check out the camp, if that works.”

“Absolutely,” he replied in his deep, rusty voice.“This is for you.It’s a map of the area, along with other information that might be helpful.”He handed over a brown leather satchel.

“I’ll go with them to see the camp,” I said.

“Choose the other four men,” Marinah replied.“We’ll wait for Nokita.Hopefully he’s not too far behind.”

What she didn’t say was hopefully he made it, but we both knew the danger his mission posed.

Fifteen minutes later, I was tracking through swampland.The mosquitos that buzzed around us must have weighed a pound each.A slight exaggeration, but justifiable.We moved quietly, but couldn’t stop the slaps on skin.

“We were being eaten alive like you are now,” Stevens said.“One of our men covered himself in mud, and it worked.”

I halted the team.“Mud up,” I said and began to slather the brown gunk on my arms, neck, and face.

We set out again, and this time managed to move silently.I’d brought Desmond with me to see if he was as good as he said he was.I shouldn’t have been surprised that the kid moved like a Shadow Warrior.Marinah called him a ninja and I had to agree.

It took two hours to reach the camp and find Stevens’ man who waited for us.Lying on our bellies, in the same brown muck we smeared over ourselves, we got our first look.

The camp sprawled across a large area with the bay on one side and the swamp on another.Where we lay, the dense forest of cypress and tupelo trees rose from the murky water creating an eerie curtain that hid us.

There were a few small watercrafts in the bay but no ships.A sea of olive fatigues, most without the red shoulder stripes, walked on gravel that had been hastily laid over the damp ground.The air, thick with perpetual humidity, was choked with the acrid scent of diesel exhaust, soldier sweat, and something similar to dead fish.

Around the land perimeter were semi-trucks, parked bumper-to-bumper, their massive, dark forms creating a makeshift barricade.They also housed hellhounds, which didn’t need air to breathe and could withstand the hotter-than-hell temps inside the trailers.The sheer scale of the camp was surprising.

We had half their number of Warriors if Nokita made it back with the other two planes.

Two-man armed patrols moved along the truck perimeter.The camp was a fortress carved out of the bay, but the swamp gave us an advantage.

“Desmond,” I whispered.“See if you can locate the command center.Don’t be seen.”

He nodded and moved away.Sixty seconds later, he melted into the swamp.Twenty minutes he appeared again.

“Dead center,” he whispered.“They have red stripe troops in tents surrounding two buildings with guards stationed at the doors.”He grinned.“It was like a giant ‘X’ marking the spot.”

I couldn’t help grinning back.

We should attack at night and use the swamp to our advantage.The Federation had cleared the land and brought their fighting tactics with them.We had to strike quick, cause havoc, then move out and strike again at another entry point.I would discuss it with Marinah.

We watched for another thirty minutes, then headed back.We needed Nokita and the other two planes waiting at the landing strip.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

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.

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