Breaking Sky(62)

“I hear you’re fighting with your RIO.”

“What? How…” She grabbed the top of her legs and squeezed. “Who told you?”

Kale rubbed his eyes. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Damn it, Sylph!” Chase’s hands turned to fists and pounded. “I’m going to ki—”

“You’re going to do as you’re told and be thankful you have someone like Grenadine watching your back.”

“Yeah. Thankful,” Chase grumbled.

“I’ll ask you two questions, Harcourt. The first—do we need to have a joint meeting with Doctor Ritz?”

“No,” Chase said. “I can deal with Pippin.” Her words came out a little harsh. A little mobsterish, and they seemed to hang in the air and brag her overconfidence. How could she make up with Pippin? Every time she tried, she only made things worse…

“Your second question, General?”

“What’s wrong?”

Chase stared at Kale. He was lying back, revealing neck whiskers that were even grayer than his wavy hair. She’d been angry at Kale on her way to his office, but all that evaporated when she saw how tired and beaten he looked. “Can I say ‘everything’?” she asked.

“You can, but you’ll have to follow up with specifics.”


“How do I do that?” Chase felt slightly explosive. “Why does everyone assume I’ll just spill my guts so easily?” It might work when she was under the spell of Tristan’s challenges and too-blue eyes, but with everyone else—Pippin and Kale—she was still closed-down Chase. Nyx. Tagline: Off-limits.

Through Chase’s lip-biting silence, Kale sipped his mug. Finally, he deposited it on the edge of the desk. “It’s been a day, hasn’t it?”

Chase peered into the mug, ready to find the hard stuff. “Is that…are you drinking milk?”

“Whole milk. That’s how you know I’m on the edge.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “Your father digs right into me.”

“We have that in common.” She sniffed the mug, but it really was milk. “General?” She dug for the words and felt red and raw. “He won’t take your command away. I mean, he can’t just up and fire you. Can he?”

“He could. It was a bit of a joke that I got this post in the first place. I wasn’t star material before I got the Star, so to speak. But your father insisted. He wanted me here, and everyone takes his postings very seriously.”

“Mind if we call him Tourn? When you say ‘your father,’ it makes me feel like turning around to see if you’re talking to someone else.”

Kale nodded slowly. He understood. He always seemed to understand, and she held on to that feeling. Chase shuffled some pages on his desk. “I’ve heard stories about what the Star was like before you came here. Hundreds of rules. Inspections and dress codes. No fun.”

“When I came here, I found an academy of promising cadets who were too young for military restrictions. They were warring with each other. Flyboys versus the ground crew. Seniors preying on freshmen. Nasty attitudes and backstabbing. I made some unpopular changes. Instituted more relaxed policies. Heck, I even let you kids swear.”

“I love it here.” Chase found tears rather close. “They won’t get rid of you, General. Not after the Streakers are approved. You’re…cool.”

He smiled briefly. “The government’s representatives will be scrutinizing more than your flying when they’re here. The Star used to produce valuable cadets for the U.S. Air Force Academy by being hard on them. Curbing their youth. Tourn wasn’t wrong about my cadets. ‘They enjoy too much freedom,’ I’ve been told. Academy life in Colorado comes as a shock.”

“But we don’t need to beat kids into military service. We need those who are willing and ready and able.” Chase sounded like her father, but she didn’t care. “Tourn understands that. He’d rather have five good men than fifteen conscripted ones. That’s one of his mottos.”

Kale sat forward and put his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know what’s made you talk about your—about Tourn so civil-like, but it’s good. It’ll help when he shows up on Sunday.”

“He’s not going to make me fall apart,” she said, more for herself than Kale. “I’ll be ready.” She held back from adding, Although I have no idea how.

“We both will.”

Snowflakes swirled outside Kale’s small window. The black backdrop made each white crystal stand out. “General Kale?” she started. When Chase and Tristan talked about Tourn, the words just seemed to fall out, but it wasn’t like that with Kale. These words weren’t connected. She had to line them up, slow and painful.

“I’ve actually been thinking. About Tourn. A lot.”

“A dangerous pastime.”

“Seriously. He…he seems so hated. I mean, even the Canadian officers bristle when he shows up on screen. So why does he have so many stars? He’s been plastered with promotions ever since the world found out what he did to the Philippines.”

“First of all, the only thing he did was follow orders.” Kale leaned back. “Secondly, Tourn has a knack for organizing bases and planning operations. The men and women under his command do their best because they’re never left wanting. I’ve seen it time and again. You know I don’t praise him for the fun of it, but he knows what people need, and he gets it for them.”