Page 7 of Ace

Ivy, Omar, and Jed walked at his side, their rucksacks slung over their shoulders. He counted under his breath. “One. Two. Three.”

“Yo, dude, this heat. I can’t live like this, man. I’m gonna punch something.” Omar wiped his forehead.

Jed grunted.

“Right on schedule.” Dex shook his head. “It took you all of three seconds to want to punch something.”

Ivy smiled.

“You just need to chill. Like this.” Jed held his hands out in front of him. “Chiiiil.”

“Oh, is that how it is? Well, there ain’t nothing chill on this whole island, in case you haven’t noticed. It’s 100 degrees with at least that much humidity.”

“You worried your hair’s gonna frizz?”

“Okay, that isn’t cool. I’m worried my brain is gonna fry.”

“Alright. Come on. Let’s get inside our air-conditioned car. And move to our air-conditioned training facility.”

Omar nodded.

Their driver took them through the main city—which looked a little bit like Hawaii meets the Philippines—to the other side, right on the beach where a huge hangar and a mini airstrip fenced in with locks and barbed wire greeted them.

All four of them went straight for the hangar. They stood in the open doorway. Jed whistled. “So we’re gonna be flying those?”

“Correction.They’regonna be flying those. We’re here to teach them how to fly.”

“But we’re gonna be flying them too, right?”

“Yes, Jed. You’re getting back up in the air again.”

He pumped the air with his fist. “That’s what I’m talking about right there.”

“I’m claiming this pretty lady.” Ivy ran her hand along the nose of a fighter plane. “Painted Sunshine” was written along the side.

They moved along. Their guide, Julio Sanchez, pointed out each of the jets and then took them up a flight of stairs. “We have all our classrooms up here as well as a fantastic view.”

One wall was lined with windows. They gave a clear view of the airstrip and the ocean on three sides.

“This is some assignment.” Jed smiled, standing facing the ocean.

Once Sanchez had finished giving them the tour, Dex met back in the classroom with his team. “We start tomorrow at 0800 hours. We are gonna handle this just like any other mission. Omar, Jed, I want you to go over expectations with Ivy. And, Ivy?”

She turned to Dex with a smile.

“Welcome to the team.”

“Thank you, sir.” She lifted her hand to salute but stopped halfway. “Oh, sorry. It feels so familiar, all of this.

“It does. I agree. But no saluting needed. We sleep here on the base. You’re on your own until tomorrow.” He turned to face the view out the window and heard them leave, but he didn’t turn around. He kept his eyes on the airstrip. His mind rushed with memories, and he knew if he didn’t face them now, he’d be haunted the whole mission. The ocean looked the same. The very air felt similar to his time in Malaysia, his time on Panau. They’d been sent to drop supplies. It was a routine mission on their way to Tandora. But one of their pilots saw something. And pretty soon they were having an all-out situation in Malaysia.

An alarm interrupted his thoughts as it sounded across the base. It was so similar to the alarm in his mind, remembering when he’d dropped into Panau, he had to blink twice to orient himself. Then he ran to the hangar.

Men and women showed up and stood at attention. Ivy, Jed and Omar joined him at the side of the hangar.

Ivy breathed. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.”

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