The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(59)

Torran swiveled toward her and set his hand gently on her waist. Bare chested and only wearing pajama bottoms, he was insanely sexy in her eyes. “When this started between us, we didn’t know about this mission. And even if I had, I wouldn’t have stopped. The moment I saw those beautiful eyes of yours, I was already halfway gone. The truth is that we’re both highly qualified for this mission, and we can make it a grand success. The only question we must ask ourselves is if we can put our feelings aside and allow ourselves to do our job.”

“In other words, not fret over each other’s safety.” Lindsey traced her fingers over his lightly.

“Can you?”

It was a difficult question to answer, but even more so because Lindsey knew that at some point they might have orders that contradicted each other. Yet, she couldn’t allow the SWD to find her friends. And the reality was that it would be easier on her nerves to be near Torran.

“You could stay,” Lindsey dared to suggest.

“But I can’t,” Torran answered simply.

“Because this is what we do.”

“Exactly.”

Sliding her arms around his waist, she stared up at him. “Then we’ll have to do our jobs and do them well so we both come back.”

A faint smile touched his lips. “Nothing about this life is easy.”

“Nope.”

“So we go do our job. Come back. Have celebratory sex...”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

“Then why do you look so worried?” Torran asked.

Making a mental note to hide her feelings better, Lindsey realized she had to lie. Though she was willing to admit she was falling for Torran, she couldn’t discuss what she knew about the SWD mission with him. Or maybe she was afraid to discover he agreed with the secret mission to bring back Dwayne and Maria.

“The food riots today upset me.” It was a half-truth to cover her real misgivings.

“Yeah. But we’ll fix it.” Torran kissed the tip of her nose.

“And be heroes,” she said, smiling.

When he kissed her, she clung to him with a need that frightened her.

The tacos were very, very cold by the time they finally ate them an hour later.





Part 3

The MISSION





Chapter 17


“There is no option to fail,” Lindsey said gravely. “Our success is imperative to the survival of The Bastion.”

The combined squad of SWD and Constabulary soldiers stared at her somberly. Torran was positioned to the side, hands clasped before him, surveying the people gathered in the room. It was shaped like a small amphitheater with a dais in the center where Lindsey and Torran stood. Constabulary gray sat together on one side, SWD black on the other, and a smattering of white Sci-Tech in the middle. Dr. Curran was not in attendance, which didn’t surprise Lindsey. Most likely, the doctor would be busy with her own agenda when out on the field and had little interest in the actual mission.

Torran stepped forward to continue: “The Scrags track humans by movement and sound. They’re also drawn to vehicles that they acquaint with humanity. This is information gleaned from the daily logs of Chief Defender Omandi and Vanguard Martinez during the Inferi Boon Special Ops Mission. Sound stirs the Scrags out of their stupor, and they become immediately restless and hostile. They attacked the Inferi Boon until the Boon removed their helmets and the Scrags were finally able to visually identify them as one of their own. Unfortunately, this did not always stop Scrag attacks. The Inferi Boon soldiers witnessed the Scrags even attacking each other when overstimulated by the perceived presence of humans. The more riled up the Scrags become, the more dangerous they are.”

There was some restless movement among the squad members. A few faces on the Constabulary side worried Lindsey. Some of the original selections on the roster had not made the cut, and replacements had been called. Franklin and Hobbes sat among the Constabulary. Whereas before she’d been glad to be among familiar people, it bothered her now that she was so emotionally invested. She cared about the safety of all the squad members, but her heart was a bit more on the line when it came to friends.

“Therefore,” Lindsey said, stepping to one side to allow the soldiers a better view of the screen behind her, “we will be only be deployed at food depots that have the highest security and are on the outskirts of major cities or towns. The approach of aircraft will stir the Scrags out of their torpor. They will then follow in the wake of the tiltrotors. This phenomenon was witnessed during the recent clearing of the valley on numerous occasions. One tiltrotor was lost when it set down and was instantly swarmed.”

“We’ll have limited time, people. The operations under this mission will be under the gun and we’ll have to be in and out in a short amount of time.” Torran’s grim tone and expression matched perfectly.

Again, the squad shifted uncomfortably.

“The SWD created stealth armor in anticipation of a mission of this type,” Lindsey explained. “The suits were originally created to clear the valley, but were not viable for close encounters with the Inferi Scourge due to a time limit of their effectiveness. Because aging tech had to be used in their construction, the suits only offer invisibility for ten minute intervals.”

Torran activated the vid screen. “The stealth function of your suits will render you invisible to Scrags from a distance. Up close, they may be able to see through it if you move. The technology is not perfect.”