Page 16 of Ace

“Hey! Flyboy! How’s your mission?” He was off in Antarctica somewhere, and right now, with sweat falling off himself, Dex could use a little ice.

“Ace, are you crazy!”

“Uh. No.”

“But you’re down on Panau. Right now?”

“Yup. I won’t reveal my precise location on an open connection, but we’re hoping for an extraction. Hey, just wanted to touch base though. I’m well. No imminent danger.” The pause felt thick. “Gianna’s here.”

“Okay, dude. There’s so much to unpack with that statement. But first. You are in danger. They’re literally searching for you.”

“Who? I told my team…”

“No, the Mantukese. The wires are going crazy with messages about your location. Most of the world is now aware of the missing American.”

“That’s…not helpful.”

“Whatever. But Amanda, Ridley, and I were talking. Amanda’s not happy with you, by the way. We’re thinking about coming ourselves.”

“Wait. Let the team in place work on that first. If they fail epically, then I’ll call you three. No need to leave your missions.”

“If they fail epically, you might be a prisoner of war or something.”

“Are things really that bad?”

“Yeah, they are. This is a hot political issue right now, and it’s triggered all the wrong sorts of countries to be involved.” Unspoken was Colton’s frustration that Dex had gone and jumped down in the middle of it.

“I heard she was here.”

Colton’s sigh came through on the satellite phone. “Check in by tonight. If nothing has been figured out, we will send in a team. I’ll come myself.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Dex hung up and pocketed his phone. But he couldn’t work for a few more minutes.

Then Rosamie hurried over to him. “We’ve just had some people come back from town. They say the city is crawling with Mantukese looking for you and our Gianna. They have pictures.”

“Would the villagers give us away?” The look she gave him closed his mouth. “Oh, sorry. Of course not.”

“We love our Gianna. She stayed when no one else has.”

Her words tore at his heart a little bit, but he nodded. “Fair enough. And thank you.”

“You have to leave.”

He started to work faster.

“What are you doing?”

“I’ve got some work to do first.”

Some giggles interrupted him.

He strained his neck so he could see out the platform. A group of children stood below, watching him.

“I’m building some walls for you. If we hurry, you’ll have a whole shelter that is up high and safe.”

They giggled some more and then ran away.

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