The Island (The Madion War Trilogy #1)

Chapter Two, Part I - Theo

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

I looked up from my engine, my heart sinking into my stomach. Our radar had picked up an incoming Kylaen attack. No matter how many times I'd heard that siren, it never got any less frightening.

But I had no time for fear, not when my twenty (nineteen, I reminded myself) pilots needed me to lead the way.

I quickly finished the work on my engine, touching each of the screws to ensure I had fastened them. Lanis had taught me that trick—one loose screw could be the difference between life and death.

My pilots trickled into the hangar and crowded around me as they had been instructed. I forced myself to speak some words of support.

"They've been targeting the armory the last few attacks," I said, my voice strong and authoritative. "Don't let them get past you. We haven't yet rebuilt the facility after last year. Don't let them set us back again."

I could've gone on about the importance of Raven independence or any of the other topics I'd memorized, but it wouldn't have done much good. Most of my pilots wore their nervousness on their faces, their fear that these moments in this place were their last. And I knew that, for some, it was.

Instead of a speech, I smiled grimly. "Good luck. Dismissed."

The group of twenty (nineteen) dispersed to their ships and, after a moment, I turned and walked to my girl. Once more, I touched the bolts on the engine, making sure the torque marks I'd placed were still intact, as were the older marks. Confident my girl was ready for battle, I closed up the hatch and said a small prayer.

"'neechai," Lanis called. I followed his gaze to one of my ships still in the hangar, the pilot unmoving inside. I hurried to him, avoiding the other planes as they taxied out of the hangar. When I reached his plane, I climbed up to sit on top of the nose. The young pilot didn't even acknowledge my presence.

"Hey...Dobolek, right?" I said, reading the name on his uniform. He nodded slightly. "First mission?"

"Yes 'neechai."

"It's not so bad," I said, hoping I sounded convincing. Nothing really compared to the sickening fear that came with one's first flight. But I needed him to get out there and try to survive.

"My brothers are dead. My friends died in training. Why should I get in this plane and go to my own death?"

I hated this question. I hated it because I had no good answers for it. It was one thing to talk about honor and country and duty, but when faced with a fourteen-year-old who was asking why he had to die, I could never force out the words I'd been told to say.

Instead, I told him the same thing I said to myself every time I got in a plane:

"Look, you survived training. You survived a Raven childhood. You've come all the way to this point. And God wouldn't have let you survive this long if there wasn't a reason."

He nodded as two tears ran down his face.

"So maybe you die today, or maybe you make it back with the rest of us. But whatever happens—"

"Theo!" Lanis called. "Radar tower's wondering where you are!"

I waved to Lanis, and he understood.

"Take all that fear and trust that someone else is in control. There's nothing else that you can do," I said, taking his hand and squeezing it. "I'll be right up there with you."

I hopped off his plane and stood back, waiting and hoping that my speech had at least jarred him enough to get him to move. And yet, I didn't want him to go. I wanted him and the rest of my twenty (nineteen) pilots back in their bunks where they belonged.

But at the same time, if we didn't go out there, the Kylaens would drop their bombs on our base, killing us anyway.

With that thought firmly lodged in my own mind, I marched back to my plane, ready to defend my country.