Chapter 7
The last wingman came in from the right.
Too close.
Riley waited.
Waited.
Waited until every warning in her cockpit became one long scream.
Then she dropped behind a ridge and rose at the last instant.
The wingman missed her.
Talon One did not have time to warn him.
The wingman flew straight into the narrow cut Riley had baited him toward.
His aircraft struck the canyon wall and broke apart in fire.
The parachute opened late, drifting into the dust.
One red dot remained.
Talon One.
The command room erupted, then silenced itself just as fast.
No one wanted to breathe too soon.
Talon One circled above the canyon mouth.
His voice returned, raw and furious.
“You think this makes you your father?”
Riley’s shoulder throbbed.
Her vision blurred at the edges.
She looked once more at the photograph.
“No,” she whispered.
Then she keyed the mic.
“It makes me the woman who finishes what he started.”
Talon One dove.
Straight at her.
No formation.
No patience.
Just ego, rage, and speed.
Riley turned the Apache away from the soldiers and pulled him deeper into the canyon.
The walls tightened.
Dust curled in the rotor wash.
Talon One locked on.
Overlord yelled, “Reaper, break right!”
But Riley did not break right.
She flew straight toward a dead end of stone.
Every person watching thought she had misjudged it.
At the last second, Riley lifted the Apache into a vertical pocket between two walls.
Talon One followed too low and too fast.
“Pull up!” he screamed.
His fighter slammed into the far ridge.
The explosion shook the canyon.
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Riley’s Apache came out of the dust damaged, smoking, but still flying.
Read Part 8 to see what happened when Riley landed and Voss finally faced the truth.
