Until Fairer Skies Beckon

by totallynotabrony

Rating: teen
Tags: Lightning Dust, Dark, Soarin, Rainbow Dash, Thriller, Original Character, Equestria Girls
Length: 52436

Rainbow is kidnapped and forced into a mercenary air force in an African civil war.

Rainbow Dash, student pilot, gets drunk one night and finds herself shanghai'd into working for a mercenary company in Africa. She can leave...just as soon as she flies one hundred combat missions.

Civil war is well underway, and warlord factions fight to control the gold-rich country of Talongo. Both sides are well supplied, accelerating into an arms race. Rainbow wanted to be a fighter pilot, but not like this, not flying for her life against killers for hire on both sides of the war.

Going home is her goal, but first she has to survive.

Published 2017-06-27 11:10:07 UTC
Last updated 2017-08-26 14:47:07 UTC

Chapter 2

Rainbow sat at the table in the so-called Flyers Club. She carefully touched her face. It felt like a black eye coming on, and as hard as she’d been hit, it wouldn’t surprise her in the slightest.

There was nothing - an icepack, or even a wet cloth - to put on her injury. It just hurt.

A metal cup in front of her had a few sips of water left in it. After the long flight into wherever she was and throwing up all over the plane, she was drier than a desert.

But after one big swig of water, she was satisfied enough to start looking for answers.

“Where are we?” she demanded, directing the question mostly at Lightning Dust, who sat across from her, but also generally to the room.

“I told you, the Republic of Talongo,” said Lightning. “Or what’s left of it, anyway. This is Manatada air base. I think it used to be a government base back before the country fell. Now it’s run by the company.”

“What company?”

Lightning shrugged. “It’s just what we call it. Lion Heart runs this area with his United Talongo Army group.”

“Who is he?”

“He’s a warlord, basically.”

Rainbow shook her head. “But why am I here? I’ve never even heard of this guy before.”

“So, the UTA is probably one of the most successful non-state actors in Africa,” explained Lightning. “Lion Heart is...well, a lot of things, but mostly brutally effective. He’s got a lot of hired guns, but he decided that if he was going to have his own air force, he’d rather spend money on equipment and just kidnap pilots.”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped. “Are you…?”

Lightning nodded. “Yeah. I’d just finished up my degree in Poli-Sci and was on the way to Air Force flight school when they grabbed me. They did me the same as you, some drugs to keep you asleep until you were on the plane and there was no going back.”

“But...they can’t do this!”

“Who’s going to stop them?” Lightning spread her hands. “UTA controls the southern half of what used to be Talongo - an area the size of Arkansas. It might as well be the government here. We’re isolated at this base and watched by UTA loyalists. Nobody knows we’re here. There’s no long range communication.”

“And they expect us to just fly their planes?”

“They expect us to fly combat missions.”

Rainbow stared at her. “What!?” Like, war?”

“The UTA is fighting the Freedom Army of the Republic of Talongo, which is basically just another well-armed warlord group. They control the north part of what’s left of the country. Whoever eventually wins this civil war gets to rule the whole thing. And yeah, they have their own air force too.”

Rainbow blinked hard, absorbing the warzone into which she had just been dropped. “What if I refuse? I’ve got my single-engine license and was working on upgrading it, but what if I tell them they grabbed me too early, that I haven’t finished anything yet?”

“One, they don’t care. If you aren’t useful, they’ll get rid of you. Two, if you fly, you can go home. Complete one hundred missions, and they’ll let you go. They don’t want anyone to get too experienced or comfortable.”

“One hundred missions? In combat? This is insane!”

Lightning nodded. “Given the choice, though, I thought it was better than a bullet in the back of the head.”

Rainbow blinked and swallowed. “How many have you done?”

“Thirty four.”

Rainbow stared at her, suddenly seeing a different look in Lightning’s eyes. It startled her that she hadn’t noticed before.

“We try to get through it,” said Lightning. She touched the patch on her flight suit. It was black, circular, and had the constellation Crux on it. Rainbow, being from the northern hemisphere, only recognized it because she had a really nerdy friend. “Us pilots are all in this shit situation together. ‘Until fairer skies beckon.’ I don’t know who came up with that.”

Lightning looked at the cheap watch on her wrist and got up. “I have to go. Time for number thirty five.”

She paused and gestured at Rainbow’s cup. “Oh, you’re probably going to have diarrhea for a couple of days until you adjust to the local water.”

She left. Rainbow stared after her. It only occurred to Rainbow after a moment that she should have wished Lightning good luck.

An older man with a beard sitting in a broken recliner nearby looked up at Rainbow. In accented English, he said, “She’s going to stab you in the back.”

“What?”

“As incentives to keep pilots from trying to get away, anyone who shoots down a defector gets five missions off,” he said. “They’re conditioning us to turn on each other at the slightest opportunity.”

He leaned back. “Not that it matters. Most of us won’t make it to one hundred.”

“Are you a good pilot?” asked Rainbow.

“I used to fly commuter planes for Lufthansa. I know how to fly. Fighting is new.”

“What’s your name?”

“Kiel Kielbasa.”

“My name is Rainbow Dash.”

He nodded, but made no move to get up for a more formal greeting. “I hope that I remember it.”

Being forced to work was by definition slavery. What made the situation even more surreal, though, was the illusion of freedom. As long as she didn’t try to slip through the fence to leave the base or go into the guarded headquarters building, Rainbow found that she effectively had free rein of base.

At Kiel’s direction, she had managed to secure something to eat from a building that seemed to serve as a cafeteria. The meal ended up being tasteless boiled noodles that were apparently made of cassava, whatever that was. She also managed to get a flight suit. It was worse than any she had ever seen before. Surprisingly, the fit wasn’t bad, but it was greasy and reeked of someone else’s sweat.

The amenities, terrible as they were, did exist. Rainbow found herself assigned to a bed in a community bunkhouse. She had nothing, neither in her pockets or in the way of luggage. Still, she took a moment to sit down on the bed. It was a quiet place to think and try to get a grip.

It felt like she was being blown along against the wind and unable to dig her feet in. Sure, Rainbow had dreamed of being a fighter pilot, but even she was willing to wait for proper instruction and first-world equipment. Being kidnapped to fight in someone else’s civil war half a world away from home was...well, there really weren’t even words to describe how messed up that was.

She got up and walked to the door, looking out into the distance. There were obvious armed patrols around the base. Rainbow could see them carrying AK-47’s. Some even had dogs. There was nothing but open savanna around the base, nowhere to hide while making an escape.

It still hadn’t really sunk in. At the moment, Rainbow was still operating as if on autopilot. She knew the facts but some part of her still desperately clung to the notion that this all might just be a nightmare from which she had yet to wake.

Deciding that going for another walk was better than sitting still, she left the building. While looking for a place to wash her flight suit, she was stopped by the big man who had hit her earlier. He appraised her bruised face and smirked. “Your plane’s down in hangar four. You fly tomorrow.”

Rainbow wanted to ask questions, but he was the last person she wanted to ask. Instead, she turned around without a word and headed for hangar four.

Most of the buildings around the runway were dilapidated and made of rusty sheet metal. There was just enough paint left to tell which one was hangar four. The wide doors were open, and inside were a mixed group of aircraft.

A Mikoyan-Gurevich 21 sat front and center, with its distinctive triangular wings and pointed nose intake. It was the best fighter jet produced from 1950's Soviet technology, and being able to reach Mach 2, it was still a capable aircraft. The paint was various shades of fade and patch, mostly grey or tan. Rainbow could vaguely make out Tolongo Air Force painted on the side of the fuselage.

Beside the MiG-21 sat a Hawker Hunter, a British fighter larger and better armed than the MiG, but even older. It was painted with an ill-kept green and brown camouflage scheme. It had a strange roundel on the side, green with a lion. It had apparently originally served with the Rhodesian Air Force, but Rainbow had never heard of that country.

Towards the back of the hangar was a Cessna 172, the same type Rainbow had been learning to fly. This one had its engine cover off.

The final plane in the hangar she couldn't immediately identify. It was a small turboprop with low wings. It was painted flat grey with no other markings and had a twin cockpit, one after the other. After looking at it for a moment, Rainbow decided it was probably an Embraer Tucano.

She started to walk towards the MiG, but a voice called out. “Who are you?”

Rainbow turned. “I’m new. Uh, the big sadist guy sent me over here.”

A man wearing dirty coveralls appeared from behind the Tucano. His hands were dirty and it looked like she'd caught him in the middle of some maintenance.

He came over, glancing at the rank flight suit she wore and seemingly ignoring her black eye. “Big sadist? Sounds like Connor Clash. He’s the UTA boss here.” He looked at her. “You’re the new pilot?”

“I guess so. I’m Rainbow Dash. Who are…” Rainbow trailed off, looking at his face, slowly imagining him without the unkempt beard. “You’re Colonel Soarin’, the Wonderbolts pilot! How did you…what are you doing here? I thought you were dead! That crash was-”

Rainbow stuttered to a halt. She’d actually met Soarin’ at an air show years ago, when she was just a little girl. She doubted he remembered her out of the many thousands of fans he had met. Watching the Wonderbolts was why she wanted to be a pilot in the first place.

Soarin’ looked surprised, but his face immediately went back to an impassive mask. “I’m guessing I got here the same way you did.”

“But I saw on the news that you’d crashed. That was, what, two years ago? How can you be alive?”

“I’ve been here for two years,” he said. “I don’t know how exactly they grabbed me, but it’s the same for everyone.”

“You’ve been here all this time?” said Rainbow. “Have you done a hundred missions yet?”

Soarin’ held up his right hand, which was mangled to the point of resembling a claw more than a hand. “No trigger finger.”

“W-what happened!?”

“Shot.”

Rainbow closing her gaping mouth and looked away, instead directing her attention to his coveralls. “But you’re still here? So you’re a mechanic now?”

“I can’t fly, so this is what I do now.”

“How can you leave if you can’t fly one hundred missions?”

He stared at her. “I can’t.”

Rainbow swallowed. She glanced around and then lowered her voice. “I promise I’ll find a way to get you out of here.”

“You wouldn’t be the first to try,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of runners since I’ve been here. All of them died.”

He turned back to the Tucano. “Give me some help here. You’re going to be flying this tomorrow.”

Rainbow walked back to the Flyers Club later that day. Soarin’ had taught her a little about her plane as they got it ready. She was still trying to wrap her head around the idea of being forced to fly. She was still trying to wrap her head around just being here.

Entering the building, Rainbow encountered two people she didn’t know. One was an older woman, tall and thin. The other was a solid young guy who looked like he swaggered when he walked.

“You must be Rainbow Dash,” said the woman. She had an accent that Rainbow tried to place. Australian, maybe. “Lightning was telling me about you.” She put out her hand. “I’m Angels High.”

Rainbow shook with her. The guy’s hands remained crossed across his chest. “So they gave you the Tucano? Where are you coming from?”

“College,” said Rainbow. “Flight school.”

He burst out laughing. “Well, nice knowing you.” He walked away.

“W...what?” said Rainbow.

“He has two kills. He thinks he’s hot stuff,” said Angels. “His name’s Pugachev Cobra, or at least that’s what he calls himself. People call him Pug, which he hates. I would just avoid him. Bit of an arse.”

The door opened and a slight Asian man came in. His eyes were flat, and his expression didn’t change even a little as he looked at Rainbow.

“This is Rainbow Dash,” said Angels, hooking her thumb at Rainbow. Turning it around, she introduced him. “This is Stratus Jade.”

He ignored Rainbow and said to Angels, “Striker tells me the new Atolls are here.”

She nodded. “Hopefully these actually work. Thanks.”

Stratus left. Angels asked Rainbow, “So how do you feel about flying tomorrow?”

Rainbow hesitated. “Sick.”

“I wish I could help you,” said Angels knowingly. “But it’s something we all went through. Believe it or not, you do start to get used to it.”

Rainbow didn’t believe her. But also, she was sick. She just barely made it back out the door before throwing up.

“Yes, the water will do that to you,” Angels commented, leaning out the door. Her voice was sympathetic, if not actually concerned.

The worst part was, that was the most affection Rainbow had been shown all day.

Chapter 3

Rainbow sat in the cockpit. The engine wasn’t even running, but she’d never had such a deep feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.

The Tucano was equipped with a pair of .50 caliber gun pods and a pair of bombs hanging under the wings on its four hardpoints. Soarin’ had showed her what controls activated them. He’d given her a brief overview on the cockpit and radio, but that was it. He’d told her that if she was already certified to fly single engined planes then she was most of the way there. She didn’t believe him.

Lightning and Kiel came into the hangar. They carried their helmets. Lightning’s flight suit pockets bulged with things and she wasn’t wearing the black patch.

Kiel went over to the MiG-21. He looked focused today and didn’t speak. He picked up a Russian g-suit and began to put it on over his lower legs. One of the air bladders was patched with duct tape.

Lightning came over to the Tucano. She glanced over the plane, ignoring Soarin’. She glanced at Rainbow’s flight suit and paused. “Take your patches off. If you get shot down and they know you’re from the company, they'll just kill you.”

“It doesn’t matter, they’ll probably do that anyway,” called Kiel. He wore his patches, in some perverse tribute to UTA.

“Why do we even have patches?” asked Rainbow.

“We make these ourselves,” said Lightning, reaching out to touch the one still affixed to Rainbow’s flight suit. “These aren’t official UTA patches. And anyway, it’s better than being with the Freedom Army.”

“Is that what we’re calling them?” said Rainbow. “Because Freedom Army of the Republic of Talongo spells-”

“Yeah,” Lightning smirked. “It translates differently in the local language. But it’s their name. That’s the same reason why we have patches - having your own identity is important.”

Kiel finished zipping up and came over. “I’m not here by choice, but UTA is my master now. The Freedom Army is just as bad. I picked a side. I didn’t want to, but it’s better than being caught in the middle.”

“You need to stop believing so much in fate,” said Lightning.

Seeing Rainbow’s curious look, Kiel explained. “I wear my patches. I don’t carry survival equipment. I’m too old to run if I get shot down and don’t have a hope of passing for local. If I get shot down, it’s over. That’s why I focus on flying the best I can.”

“And I give myself every advantage I can,” said Lightning. “I try to plan for everything.” She showed off her stuffed pockets.

The two wildly contrasting approaches nearly made Rainbow’s head spin. The two of them were in the exact same situation but approached it from completely different mindsets.

It made Rainbow wonder how she would learn to cope.

The other two got into their planes. Their respective mechanics finished final checks. Rainbow also noticed conspicuous UTA soldiers standing around. Were they to prevent the pilots from doing anything subversive?

“Are you good?” asked Soarin’.

Rainbow tried to reply, but her throat was too dry. She pulled her patch off and handed it to him.

A tug pulled each plane out of the hangar. Outside, Soarin’ gave Rainbow the signal to startup. With some trepidation, she pressed the starter button, secretly hoping it wouldn’t work. However, Soarin’ was too good a mechanic and the engine came to life immediately.

Soarin’ gave her a thumbs up and then closed her canopy. She almost wished he was coming along, to ride in the back seat. If nothing else, he could give her advice and act as an extra pair of eyes. However, the Tucano’s back seat had been stripped. Soarin’ had also told her that he didn’t want to go. She could see why, but slightly resented him for it anyway.

“Radio check. Patriot One.” The voice on Rainbow’s helmet headset sounded like Angels High. Rainbow saw another few planes being prepared at the next hangar.

“Patriot Two.” It sounded like Pugachev.

“Patriot Three,” said an unfamiliar voice.

“Patriot Four,” said Kiel.

“Patriot Five,” said Lightning.

Rainbow looked down at a handwritten radio shorthand code. “Patriot Six.”

A ragtag warlord-run air force needed all the credibility it could muster, but the callsign was still painfully ironic.

“Let’s go,” said Angels.

Rainbow saw a grey MiG-21 begin to roll. An L-39 was behind it, followed by another MiG. Lightning’s Hunter was closest to the others and went next, followed by Kiel’s MiG, and then Rainbow.

The line of them taxied towards the runway access. Rainbow’s small propeller plane felt like a toy next to the jet fighters. Even on the ground, she could feel the buffeting of their exhaust.

Upon reaching the runway, Angels turned her MiG and then pushed the throttle forward, rolling for takeoff.

“Wait!” Rainbow blurted. “What about takeoff clearance?”

“Nobody cares,” said Lightning.

And indeed they didn’t. One by one, each of them took off. When it was Rainbow’s turn, she applied power and got moving.

The Tucano was responsive, much more than a Cessna, but the experience was tempered by Rainbow’s knowledge of where she was going. Once airborne, she raised the landing gear and checked her instruments.

The fuel gauge showed less than half a tank. Soarin’ had told her she wouldn’t need any more. Everything else seemed normal. As normal as they could, anyway.

Rainbow raised her head and looked around for the others, who had circled up around the base to wait for her.

“Wasn’t there something else they could give her?” Pugachev complained. “We’ll have to go slow.”

No one responded, but that didn’t stop Rainbow from hearing the bite in his words. It wasn’t like she could choose what kind of plane they gave her!

Distracting herself, Rainbow formed up with the others, her engine running near maximum power while the others were probably at loitering speed. She glanced down at the notes she’d brought. The impromptu brief the pilots shared before flying had contained next to no details about the mission. They were apparently doing on-call close air support. Rainbow thought there was supposed to be training for something like that.

She also thought there was supposed to be some sort of map, rather than time-distance directions. She might have been an amature pilot, but she knew how to navigate.

They headed north, passing over what Rainbow saw were missile launchers. Were they for base defense? Was the base attacked that often?

One thing at a time. Rainbow turned back to the inside of her plane and tried to get comfortable in the Tucano. The military-style seat didn’t give her much room to move, but that was probably a good thing if she was going to be turning hard. Her fingers moved over the controls, still getting accustomed to them. For just a few minutes, Rainbow lost herself in the flying, getting used to a new plane, a more powerful one than she’d ever flown before.

She looked outside at the others. Each jet carried two bombs. The MiGs and the Hunter also carried a pair of missiles.

Rainbow wondered how some warlord was funding all this. Then again, the jets weren’t new and not having to pay pilots helped.

Perhaps twenty minutes of silence passed as the light clouds drifted by. A small village presented itself down below. Rainbow craned her neck to look down. She checked the altimeter, which read fifteen thousand feet. This high up, she was definitely using the oxygen mask, something else private planes didn’t have.

“Patriot flight, checking in,” said Angels.

After a moment, an unfamiliar voice replied, “Loud and clear, Patriot. This is Panther. We will begin now. Drop on these coordinates-”

“No GPS,” Angels said.

“That’s right. Then drop in the center of the village.”

They were going to bomb the village? “Who lives there?” Rainbow asked.

“If they shoot back, they were bad guys,” said Lightning dryly.

“Five, get on it,” said Angels.

Rainbow saw Lightning’s jet roll over and pull into a dive, hurtling towards the ground. The two bombs under its wings came off and continued down. Lightning climbed again as the twin explosions went off below, obscuring the center of the settlement in smoke and dust.

“Good hit,” said the ground controller, the sound of automatic gunfire now in the background. “We’ve begun the assault. Drop the next strike at the north end of town.”

“Three,” said Angels.

“On it.” The L-39 was next to dive. It hit its target, throwing up another explosion.

Rainbow looked down at what remained of the center of town. It was hard to make out from altitude, but the fragile buildings were blown apart like someone had stomped a sandcastle. Tracer bullets whizzed back and forth across the crater.

“Looks like reinforcements from the north,” Kiel observed. Rainbow looked to the dirt road north of the village. Sure enough, there were dust clouds coming closer.

“Six, you need the practice,” said Angels.

Rainbow could have protested that a moving target was no place to start. But that might give her a better excuse for missing. Also, she realized they probably wanted her to take the isolated target because her inexperience might land bombs on UTA troops.

Trepidation in her heart and fingertips, Rainbow closed the distance. She saw a line of camouflage-painted trucks, driving fast. Gritting her teeth, she nosed over into a dive.

Rainbow’s finger rested on the trigger. She should be focusing on the big picture, not the feel of the smooth plastic. It seemed like she was picking out a lot of small details. She was vaguely aware that the memory was going to stay with her forever.

She thought about pulling off to the side and saying she missed. But Soarin’ had specifically told her about the gun camera installed in her plane. They would know she did it on purpose.

She looked through the gunsight mounted atop the instrument panel, the convoy swinging into view behind it. Her jaw was clenched so hard that it began to hurt. She pulled the trigger.

The rattle of the machine guns was easy to hear, even over the engine. The tracers zoomed forwards, still seeming slow over the distance. The gun pods weren’t aligned perfectly and Rainbow had to make an adjustment to her course. Even still, she saw the bullets walk over the lead truck and head for the rest, some of them ricocheting back into the air like fireworks.

Realizing she was about to run into the ground, Rainbow hauled back on the stick, the g-forces dragging her down into the seat. Even still, she gasped for air as the nose pointed up into the blue sky. She hadn’t realized until then that she’d been holding her breath.

But then- “Six, ground fire! Get out of there!”

Rainbow’s lungs hitched as she looked around wildly. A thin white trail had come up from the near the edge of the village. A missile? Rainbow rolled, trying for the dust cloud behind the trucks. A crazy idea that it might hide her plane from the – heat seeking? – missile flew through her mind, before she remembered that the dust would stop her from seeing the ground and knowing when to pull up.

She pirouetted again, craning her neck behind her to look for the missile. It didn’t seem to be following her anymore, if it ever had. Propeller engines produced less heat, but clearly she shouldn’t get complacent.

“Panther, are we clear to engage the northwest part of the town? That’s where the MANPAD was fired from,” said Angels.

“Clear.”

“I’ve got it. Four, you get the convoy,” Angels ordered. She and Kiel dove after their respective targets. Rainbow was grateful for the opportunity to gain altitude and go back to breathing.

“Chopper inbound from the northeast,” Three observed.

“I’ve got it!” shouted Pugachev.

“Five is closer,” Angels said.

Both Lightning and Pugachev turned towards a small cargo helicopter approaching. It flew just barely over the savannah, and fast. It looked like a race between the MiG and the Hunter, both diving towards it. Lightning got there first, and her plane’s four thirty-millimeter guns tore the helicopter to pieces. It slammed into the ground, cartwheeling and throwing off flaming wreckage.

“That was mine!” Pugachev roared.

“I was closer,” Lightning quipped.

“I called it!”

“Keep the radio clear for something important,” said Angels. “Speaking of, we’re almost out of fuel.”

Rainbow glanced down at her instruments. She was right.

“We’re leaving, Panther,” said Angels.

The ground controller acknowledged. The planes turned for the base.

Despite the calm flying on the way back, Rainbow’s heart rate was still up. She swallowed and tried to steady her hands on the stick.

The Hunter slid close, hanging off Rainbow’s left wing. She could see Lightning in the cockpit, looking at her.

“So,” called Lightning. “That’s your first.”

If she wouldn’t drown inside her oxygen mask, Rainbow wanted to throw up.

Chapter 4

Rainbow lay in misery on the rickety bed. The metal frame was rusty and the springs squeaked at every movement. There was no mattress, just a folded blanket.

Other beds in various states of disrepair filled the small bunkhouse. Not all of them were in use. All of them were disgusting. But compared to what Rainbow was feeling, it mattered little to her. She wasn’t sure if she was hungry, hungover, or suffering from dysentery. Maybe some of each.

The members of the Flyers Club had hosted celebration of Rainbow’s first mission. It wasn’t good booze, and it wasn’t even really a party. The alcohol was locally made, and poorly. The company was…well, part of the company. Even if the group of pilots kidnapped by the UTA did feel some kinship from the shared circumstances, they were all still in it for their own selves. Pug made that clear, still fuming about Lightning taking credit for shooting down the helicopter.

Rainbow, remembering the circumstances that led to her abduction, had taken exactly one sip of the offered beverage. Not that the taste would have inclined her to keep going. And yet, here she was in bed.

She slowly sat up, head swimming, and guts doing something quite a bit more energetic. It was almost enough to distract her from the new bug bites that had appeared all over her body overnight.

This was her third day in Talongo, and she wasn’t sure how much more she could take. Not that Rainbow would have wished this on anyone, even her worst enemies, but she really wished her friends were with her. They could make anything more bearable.

They must be worried sick about her. There was no way for her to even tell them she was alive.

Rainbow’s cell phone had been taken, if it even got service here. The jets had only low-powered radios. There were no phones or computers available to any of the pilots.

Presumably, there was some kind of long range communications ability in the heavily guarded headquarters building on base. That was likely also where they kept the maps which Rainbow could use to find out where she was. It seemed obvious now why they’d gone on a combat mission with only vague directions and little fuel. Everything the UTA did was designed to trap her. She had no idea where she was, and if she deviated from the planned course even a little, one of her supposed wingmen would shoot her down in the hopes of getting their own terms of servitude reduced.

Rainbow heard jets landing outside and walked to the door. Two MiGs, an Alpha Jet, and the L-39 were taxiing off the runway after a mission. Rainbow decided to go see who they were.

Look at her, trying to make new friends. Rainbow still had trouble putting complete faith in any of them. Not even Kiel, who’d told her the others would stab her in the back given the opportunity.

She desperately wished to be with her friends again.

The planes turned off the taxiway one by one and dispersed to go back to their respective hangars. One of the Fishbeds turned into hangar four. It was Kiel’s plane, then.

Rainbow wasn’t sure why the MiG-21 was called “Fishbed.” Well, she knew why, because the US Air Force needed something to nickname it, but that didn’t explain why someone had picked that.

She kept walking. The next MiG down the line had its canopy open. As she got closer, she saw it was Stratus Jade.

Further down the flight line was the L-39. She’d flown with this pilot the previous day, but whoever they were, they hadn’t shown up later. Rainbow stopped and waited as the pilot climbed down.

He took off his helmet, showing tan skin. His hair looked good sweaty. He was somehow cleanshaven, and it did wonders for his jawline.

“Hi,” she said. “We haven’t met.”

“You were Six yesterday, right?” he said. There was something in his voice, perhaps a touch of Spanish.

She nodded. “I’m Rainbow Dash.”

He offered his hand. “Striker Cyclone.”

He even smiled. Rainbow consciously avoided dwelling on it. She said, “Striker, huh?” making conversation.

He nodded. “Fits me pretty well, I’d say. I was playing football before I came here.”

“Soccer?” He had Rainbow’s attention now and it had nothing to do with his looks. “Do you have a ball?”

“Well, it’s almost a ball. We play sometimes. The guards sometimes try to play us.”

“Count me in,” said Rainbow. “I’m always down for soccer.”

“Football,” he corrected gently, though the way he smiled he might have found it amusing. He turned back to his plane. “I have to finish post-flight here, but stop by sometime, yes?”

“Totally,” she said. “Good to meet you.”

Rainbow turned away, walking further down the flight line, though for the first time since arriving she found herself wishing for more conversation.

The pilot of the Alpha Jet was just getting out as Rainbow approached. From the shape of the flight suit and the dreadlocks revealed when the helmet came off, Rainbow could tell it was a woman. She was still surprised as the pilot turned to face her. Part of it was the face tattoos. Part of it was how she grinned like a predator when she saw Rainbow.

“Rainbow Dash,” she said, drawing out the words. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“I didn’t think there was that much to hear,” said Rainbow. She’d only been on base for three days. “Who are you?”

“My name is Pantera Prowl, though you can call me ma’am, or mistress.”

Was she serious? Rainbow honestly couldn’t tell. She laughed and tried to hide it as a cough.

Pantera turned as a man came hurrying over. “Afua, there you are. Two more.” She pointed up to where six small white skulls were painted below the cockpit.

Rainbow stared, and then glanced at the rest of the jet. The weapons Pantera had gone out with were all gone. There was a bloom of soot around the muzzle of the gun port.

Turning back, Pantera grabbed Rainbow’s hand. “Walk with me.”

Still creeped out, but with no reason to say no, Rainbow went. Pantera’s hands were covered with several rings and bracelets.

“Let’s talk about you,” she said.

“Why do you care?” Rainbow asked.

“Would you ask your friends that question?”

“Are you my friend?”

Pantera looked at her. “Friendship is magic, you know.”

Rainbow stopped dead, staring.

Pantera smirked. “What, don’t you believe in magic?”

Chapter 5

When Twilight Sparkle, magical pony from another dimension, stumbled into Rainbow’s life, it changed everything. It helped her reconnect with several friends she thought were lost. Also, it introduced her to magic. Real magic.

She had yet to see any evidence that Pantera Prowl knew anything about that. Sure, she dressed freaky and talked a big game, but if Rainbow hadn’t seen and touched magic herself, she might actually believe Pantera.

As it was, Rainbow decided the smart move was to keep her mouth shut. That was not her usual tactic, but there was no telling what the UTA might do if they discovered Rainbow’s magic abilities when she was with her friends. The worst would be if the UTA also kidnapped them.

Rainbow resolved to bury that part of her deep. That should be easy, as long as she didn’t talk about it. She’d never managed to “pony up” alone, or while feeling such constant despair.

Even if she was going to keep the magic under wraps, though, her knowledge of it made Pantera an obvious poser in Rainbow’s eyes. After that, her makeup and tribal tattoos seemed ridiculous rather than intimidating.

Pantera, magic or no, noticed Rainbow’s dismissal. However she interpreted it, her attitude turned sour. Fortunately, she didn’t often associate with the other pilots. The rest of them seemed fine with that.

On a much different note, Rainbow happily accepted Striker Cyclone’s offer to play soccer. He was good, and both of them got a challenge. Lightning, though not as enthusiastic, was also talented. Stratus could occasionally be persuaded to play. Pug hung around as if wanting to join, but Rainbow had taken a measure of him and knew that he wouldn’t. He was the kind of guy who wouldn’t try anything for fear of being seen losing.

Not that there was much to lose or win. There was no playing field, and the ball was patched with duct tape. But it was one of the few sources of entertainment available. They occasionally were able to make a pickup game with the UTA gunmen.

Rainbow would have called them soldiers, but after listening to Soarin’ rant, had changed her tone. She’d casually used the word as the two of them worked on the Tucano, preparing it for another flight.

“Soldiers are professionals,” Soarin’ said. “Soldiers fight for their country and their principles. They have discipline. They have pride.”

Rainbow looked at him. She hadn’t seen him so worked up about anything. “Okay, so they’re not soldiers.”

Soarin’ shook his head, fire leaving him. “Not that it matters. They’re still the ones in control.”

Rainbow wasn’t sure how to react. She could clearly see how far he’d fallen, from a top pilot to a broken mechanic. Comforting people was not part of her skill set.

She tried a distraction. “So, when I was on the mission, somebody shot a missile at me.”

Soarin’ nodded. “The Soviets built thousands of man-portable air defense systems, and they popped up all over the world. They’re so easy to use that children could do it - and some do. A lot of the launchers aren’t so good anymore, but as a general rule of thumb, most of them can at least track on you within three miles. That’s vertically, too.”

“How are we supposed to go down low to bomb accurately, and stay safe?”

He looked at her. “You don’t. Flares help.”

Rainbow looked at the Tucano. “Does this thing even have flares?”

“No. Fortunately, MANPADS aren’t really common. But it’s always something to be thinking about. Honestly, gunfire - AK’s or something heavier - is probably a bigger concern.”

Rainbow shook her head. “Is there anything not trying to kill me?”

“No.”

Rainbow tried to keep his pessimism from spreading to herself. At the same time, she remembered Kiel’s prediction: Most of us won’t make it to one hundred.

Reality was starting to set in, and hard. Rainbow’s adrenaline was spiking, and she wasn’t even flying. She was going to have to fly perfectly. A single mistake could too easily be her last. Even for someone like Rainbow, who always drove to be the best, it felt like a challenge that only got harder the longer she considered it.

“Well, if you hang around for awhile, you might get something nicer to fly,” Soarin’ allowed.

That instantly caught her attention. “How?”

He shrugged. “Deaths or departures. Either a new plane will be brought in as replacement or someone leaving will vacate one. Either way, you’ll have to fight for it.”

“Is there a lot of competition?”

“When getting a better plane might mean the difference between life and death, what do you think?”

Rainbow glanced at the other planes in the hangar. “Where do all these come from? Do warlords really have that much cash?”

“Some were captured when the country broke apart.” Soarin’ gestured at Kiel’s former Talongo Air Force fighter. “Some were found or bought elsewhere. Some were smuggled. We aren’t talking top-tier equipment here, but there’s a decent budget for weapons and gear. The UTA has control of a lot of natural resources in Talongo. Some gold mines. They basically run them with slave labor.”

Rainbow’s stomach turned. And she was fighting for people like this? Not that the Freedom Army she’d heard about was any better.

Of course, how did she know? Was the UTA spreading rumours about the Freedom Army’s cruelty in an attempt to prevent defection?

“How do you know about the slaves?” Rainbow asked.

“I saw it on the news back home before they brought me here,” said Soarin’.

Fair enough. “But if it’s on the news, then why hasn’t someone intervened in this war?”

Soarin’ shrugged. “Who would care? You hadn’t even heard of it.”

What little hope Rainbow had of getting outside help drained away. But it only stiffened her resolve to get out of here. What lay ahead was probably the hardest thing she would ever have to do in her life. But she had to do it. “I’m going to get out of here. Even if I have to play by the rules and do all hundred missions. I’m going to tell the world what’s going on. Maybe the US will finally care when I say how many Americans have been kidnapped.”

“You don’t actually think they’ll let you go after you finish flying the missions, right?”

Her head snapped in his direction. “What do you mean?”

“Think about it. It doesn’t make any sense for them to actually let you go. Of course they know once you’re free you’ll try to get some help and bring them down. They’ll play nice and give you a little send off, but when you get on the C-130 to leave, who’s to say they don’t just take you for a ride, shoot you in the back of the head, and push you out somewhere? Nobody who’s left here has ever come back with help.”

Rainbow didn’t want to believe it. But who did she trust more, him or her kidnappers? She wanted to reply. Something smart. Something biting. But just like her situation, Rainbow didn’t see a single thing she could do.

Even still, she needed something to believe in. But if she was just going to be killed at the end, then there was a deadline. She had to figure out how to escape.

Just then, Lightning jogged in. “There you are. Kick the tires and light the fires! We got a mission.” She handed Rainbow a scrap of paper. It was titled Patriot 4 and contained hastily-written directions.

Lightning’s ground crew went to work. Soarin’ gestured Rainbow over and showed her how to help load the Tucano’s guns. The bombs from the last mission were still hanging under the wings. Rainbow thought that maybe they should have been stored in a safe place or something, but the UTA air force had already repeatedly astonished her with its total disregard for safety or protocol.

After a quick prep, Rainbow climbed in and started the engine. She and Lightning taxied for the runway, joined by Angels and Pantera.

“All girls, huh?” Angels observed.

“What’s that one joke?” said Lighting. “‘That means it’s not a cockpit, it’s a box office.’”

In spite of herself, Rainbow laughed. “What’s with you today? ‘Kick the tires and light the fires.’ First you quote Top Gun and then you’re telling dirty jokes?”

“It’s an air-to-air today,” said Lightning.

Rainbow paused. She looked at the other three jets, which were carrying missiles. “Wait, then what am I doing here?”

“I’m going to love finding out,” said Pantera, sounding like she was grinning like a cat.

Her gut tightening, Rainbow followed the others to takeoff. Once airborne, they seemed eager to press forward, leaving her Tucano struggling to keep up.

They flew north in a straight line for fifteen minutes, following notes. Up ahead, Rainbow saw Angels rock her wings. Was it a signal? Why not say something on the radio?

She got her answer as two grey darts split their formation, moving so fast they were hard to even see. The combined speed of closing was probably more than five hundred miles per hour, and Rainbow barely got a look at the two jets that streaked past.

She immediately pulled the stick to her belly, bracing her legs and trying to remember how to keep blood from pooling in her lower body as the g’s piled on. As an afterthought, she thumbed the bomb release. They fell off, and the Tucano turned harder.

Though it shouldn’t have surprised Rainbow that the slow, nimble Tucano had completed its about-face first, she still wasn’t expecting to have no other aircraft between her and the two other planes that were still circling back. The arrow-like profiles she caught in the afternoon sun told her they were MiG-21’s.

Being that Rainbow was closest, both of them immediately turned for her. She pulled the trigger for a short burst, the guns rattling in the general direction of the two enemy fighters, but the distance was too great to even hope for a lucky shot.

“Four, dive!” commanded Angels.

But that would expose her to the oncoming jets. If they got on her tail, the Tucano couldn’t hope to outrun them. But had Angel misled Rainbow so far? Her voice had guided the previous mission and they’d all come back alive.

Rainbow made a snap decision and rolled the plane one hundred eighty degrees, pulling for the ground.

Tracers flashed past her cockpit and she actually heard one of the Fishbeds thunder past her. Rainbow’s neck was twisted over her shoulder, looking for it.

“Fox two! Splash one!” Lightning shouted.

Rainbow was vaguely aware that meant one of the enemy fighters had been shot down. She didn’t consciously relax, but allowed herself to focus more fully on the jet that had nearly gunned her down.

She found it, still hurtling away after the attempted attack. Her slower speed had caused it to overshoot. That, and the timely call by Angels.

Rainbow’s nose came up, the gunsight flashing past the retreating MiG, and she pulled the trigger. This time, she was close enough that a lucky shot - if she’d made a lucky shot - that might have actually connected. But it was a diving attack and a missile from Angels that took out the other Freedom Army fighter.

Rainbow, once again, was left breathing hard and shaking. This time, it was because the engagement had lasted less than thirty seconds, so fast that she never had time to to consciously think about it while the bullets were still flying.

That fast - she could die.

Angels’ jet was the only one with radar, even rudimentary as it was. She did a sweep of the sky and declared it clear. The four of them headed back to base. Rainbow peered down at the two piles of burning wreckage miles below and wished she hadn’t.

Back at base and safely on the ground, Rainbow climbed down from the Tucano, drenched in sweat. Soarin’ looked at her. “Do you want to see the gun camera footage?”

Rainbow considered it, but shook her head. “Nothing to see.”

She walked over to Lightning’s plane, where the other pilot was just climbing down. Lightning was smiling and held up her hand for a high five. One of her mechanics gave it to her.

“Not bad,” said Lighting, though Rainbow thought she might be talking to herself. She glanced at the side of her jet, where two miniature flags were already painted. She tapped her finger next to them, as if envisioning where the next one would go. Rainbow thought they must be Freedom Army flags.

“That was some move you pulled,” said Lightning, turning to Rainbow. “If you hadn’t turned in, those guys would have cut you in half. They almost did.”

“Angels told me to,” Rainbow said.

“She told you to be bait while she got into position,” said Lightning.

“But...she manages everything so well.” Even as Rainbow said it, she knew it was a weak argument.

Lightning smirked. “She’s a tactical expert. I’m actually looking forward to her finishing ninety five and leaving so the rest of us can have some fun.”

“Ninety five?”

“Right. She shot down a runner a while back.”

Lightning looked at where her mechanics were already painting her third kill on the side of the Hunter. She picked up her helmet and walked out of the hangar.

Over her shoulder, she called, “Do all the killing you can. It’ll get you out of here faster.”

Chapter 6

Rainbow’s third mission passed without incident. The pilots arrived too late to support a battle and circled futility among the smoke.

She realized she’d now been in Africa for a week. It was difficult counting the days. The pilots had no calendar. There was really no need to know the date to do what they did. That only made Rainbow want it more. So many small normalities had been taken from her.

Her fourth mission went much the same way as her very first, though more smoothly. She was comfortable in the plane now, and strafing was much easier than air-to-air gunnery. She also dropped her first bombs in combat. They weren’t very accurate, but Angels advised her that if she flew any lower to drop them, the fragments would probably knock her out of the sky just as well as they tore apart her targets on the ground.

That was just another in a long line of wake up calls. It seemed like every time Rainbow turned around, she was finding out another way she could have just died.

The others didn’t help. Oh, they gave her tips and advice to stay alive, but most of that just consisted of “stay out of so-and-so’s way.” With the standing arrangement of shooting down deserters to earn five missions off, it paid to be constantly vigilant and not get too attached to anyone.

Though, who was to say who was actually a deserter? That was part of why the pilots always flew as a group of at least four, so one couldn’t kill another without other eyes to verify.

Angels, at least, seemed like a minimal risk. She’d recently crested ninety missions, and had only five to go. She had the skills to survive, and Rainbow tried to glean whatever she could from Angels’ experience.

Rainbow was more of a reader than most people would have thought. The Daring Do series was her favorite, but since starting towards her pilot’s license, she’d read the classic Stick and Rudder, pilot biographies, and even the odd technical manual.

But she was completely lacking in experience to put the theory to practice. That was where a more experienced pilot like Angels came in.

Rainbow also tried to solicit as much advice as possible from Soarin’. That was more difficult. His own inability to put his skills to practice made him surly and withdrawn. It was a lot harder to coax anything out of him, but given his experience as a high-ranking military and stunt pilot, she coveted anything he told her.

But flying to stay alive was not a means to an end. Rainbow needed to find a way to escape - not just the base, but the whole situation.

Strangely, the others seemed unwilling to discuss escape. Angels finally took her aside and told her to keep her mouth shut.

At her direction, the two of them walked outside the Flyers Club in the darkness. The moon was out. Rainbow glanced up at it before following Angels’ invitation to go around the back of the building where it was more private.

“We get one mission off for snitching on an escape attempt,” she told Rainbow. “So I wouldn’t go spreading your plans around.”

Rainbow blinked. “What the hell? Is there anything else I should know? Do we get missions off for killing extra people? For drinking the Kool-Aid and believing in what we’re doing here?”

“I get that you’re frustrated,” said Angels. “Breaking out of here is going to require a lot of planning, courage, and luck. You can’t depend on anyone else, because the UTA knows we’d work together if they didn’t provide incentives for us to backstab. Lion Heart is an evil son of a bitch, but he isn’t stupid.”

“How come you never tried?” Rainbow asked.

Angels hesitated, but then unzipped her flight suit. She turned around and raised her t-shirt. Even in the moonlight, Rainbow could see scars on her back that were longer than her own forearm.

“Public whipping, to set an example,” Angels said softly.

Rainbow was still dumbstruck by the time Angels had redressed. “But...why did you shoot someone down who was trying to escape?”

“What do you think they would have done to me if I hadn’t? If I had just let the deserter go? I would basically have been an accessory.”

Rainbow swallowed. “This is all so messed up. So why are you going to finish the missions then?”

Angels sighed and looked away. “I never put together an escape plan that I thought could work. Now, I’m out of time. At this point, I have more faith in being let go than I do surviving an attempt to leave any other way.”

They both looked up at the moon. It was easier than continuing the conversation.

After a moment, Rainbow said, “I hope it works out for you.”

Rainbow’s fifth mission was an utter disaster that she was lucky to survive.

She took off with Pantera flying as One, Stratus and Striker flying Two and Three. They flew with the usual time/distance directions. Not having GPS was nearly unheard of in modern aviation. Rainbow hadn’t even seen a map or navigation device since arriving. The UTA seemed to have thought of everything.

That didn’t stop her from considering how she would escape in the free minutes while they flew. She still had no definite ideas, but resolved to keep her eyes open.

Arriving overhead, they checked in with a ground controller named Elephant. The UTA forces would be assaulting a camp on hillock above their position. The pilots would time their bombs to impact at intervals, hopefully keeping the Freedom Army heads down while the UTA advanced.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much in the way of surprise. Either their radios had been intercepted, someone with good eyes had seen the jets incoming, or the Freedom Army simply knew the UTA soldiers were out there.

“Four, take it away,” said Pantera over the radio.

Rainbow would have listened to Angels. Instead, she said, “Why me?”

“Because I said so,” Pantera growled.

“Who put you in charge?” Rainbow argued. “Does ‘One’ actually mean anything? You were kidnapped, just like me.”

“Either someone drops bombs, or I’ll make sure that all of you receive consequences,” broke in Elephant.

“Fine!” said Rainbow. “Let’s get this over with.” She pointed her nose down.

Rainbow had set up her target in coordination with the others. She was supposed to bomb the hill on its south side and the others would walk their ordnance over the rest. As she swept downwards, a white trail popped up out of the corner of her eye.

Rainbow jerked her head at it, if only to confirm what she already suspected: a missile launch. Attack ruined, she rolled and pulled hard, racing the missile towards the ground. The Tucano’s dive steepened until the nose swung past the ground and started to climb again.

The missile couldn’t turn fast enough to reverse its climb and went past her. The shooter had apparently not anticipated Rainbow heading towards the ground even quicker than she already had been. Unfortunately for her, that meant she leveled out at less than a hundred feet, her biceps straining to pull the stick back even another millimeter.

She could clearly see people running for cover, seemingly close enough to touch. There was no way she could attack now; dropping bombs would probably kill her too, and the guns could only be aimed if she was still pointing at the ground. There simply wasn’t room to go any lower.

Rainbow banked, aiming to get clear and gain altitude. A wall of tracers erupted in front of her, from a machine gun mounted on the back of a pickup truck. She was close enough to see the gunner, a completely out of place thought going through her head about how odd it was to actually make eye contact with an adversary when one was in a fighter plane.

Her hand twitched, sending the Tucano into a tighter roll, the savannah now above her cockpit and still only a hundred feet away.

She looked over her shoulder, as if that would somehow help her. All it did was make her completely unprepared to correct when the plane was hit.

The thump didn’t sound bad, but Rainbow’s ears picked it up just as if it had been a scream. Desperately, she rolled the plane again, dropping down off the hill and actually flying below the Freedom Army troops. Pulling hard again, she reversed her roll and climbed, hoping desperately the turbine engine hadn’t been hit. The Tucano was either going to give her its all or die trying. And so was she.

Tracers danced around the plane, but gradually fell away. Rainbow looked back. Striker dropped his bombs, eliminating a sizeable portion of the Freedom Army lines.

Rainbow took a second to breathe, and then began looking around. No warning lights. She glanced outside. There was an irregular hole in the left wing, probably from a heavy caliber machine gun bullet tearing the delicate aluminum. It looked like it had traveled at a diagonal angle, going in the top of the wing near the rear and exiting the bottom near the front.

It had missed her body by just feet.

“Four, are you okay?” Striker asked.

“I’m alive,” Rainbow replied.

Striker had come off his bombing run and flew up to join her. He did an orbit around her plane, focusing on the left wing.

“You have some sort of fluid coming out the bottom, probably fuel,” he said.

Rainbow checked her gauges. “Only the center tank was filled.”

“Could have cut the transfer line, then,” Striker speculated.

Rainbow tried rolling slightly to the right and using the rudder to fly straight. “How about now?”

“It might have slowed down,” said Striker.

Rainbow kept an eye on her fuel while the other two made their drops.

“What about the last one?” asked Elephant.

“I’ve already got a damaged plane,” Rainbow said. It seemed like they cared more about that than her. “And anyway, I kicked up the hornets’ nest so the rest didn’t have to.”

Elephant let her comment go. The pilots turned back for the base. Rainbow adjusted her throttle in an attempt to save fuel. It definitely looked like she was losing some and desperately tried to calculate in her head if she had enough left.

Flying crooked added drag, but flying straight lost more fuel. She could try to draft another plane, but none of them could slow down as much as the Tucano, where her engine got its best economy. Plus, flying slower meant fuel would spill for a longer period of time.

In the end, she decided to go for halfway in between and set the throttle for a little lower than regular cruise speed. Also, she jettisoned her bombs. Still, it was a longer ride than it seemed, her foot constantly on the rudder and already-tired arms holding the stick in place. Rainbow’s eyes barely left the fuel gauge, which kept dropping.

The engine coughed as the base came into view. Rainbow rocked the plane, trying to splash any fuel she could into the intake. It barely helped. The smooth-running turbine wheezed and fell silent. Rainbow feathered the prop and pushed the nose down.

A plane would glide the furthest with better airspeed. Conversely, it would glide for the longest time by retaining as much altitude as possible. In this case, Rainbow knew she had to make the runway.

Well, putting the plane down within sight of the base would probably just earn her a truck ride back or something. But with an injured plane, there was no telling what might happen if she landed it on unprepared dirt and tall grass. If she could make the runway, she should try.

The Tucano faithfully brought her to the runway threshold, and not a moment too soon. The landing was rough, but that was better than it could have been. With no engine, the power brakes didn’t work, but Rainbow slowly brought the plane to a halt. The ground crew was on the ball and quickly towed her away to make room for the others to land.

It was only after Rainbow was parked and had climbed out did the full extent of the mission hit her. She stared at the hole torn straight through the wing, light visible through it.

She had nearly died how many times already? And this was only mission number five.

Angels had said that she considered her own odds were better if she kept flying missions rather than trying to run. Rainbow, after nearly having her aircraft shot from under her, decided then and there to take her chances with escape.

But how?

Chapter 7

Planning an escape was easier than Rainbow anticipated. The actual execution, however, was even more difficult.

Covertly gathering supplies and surveying the base exits constantly kept Rainbow on the edge of terror. At any moment, she could be discovered. She was no stranger to playing it cooler than she felt, but when the price of failure could very well be death, that was a lot of anxiety to control.

She’d started running for exercise, with what spare energy she could muster. Rainbow was already athletic, but she needed to keep in shape. Also, it gave her an excuse to cover a lot of base and do recon.

She tried to be friendlier with guards, attempting conversation when they could be persuaded to play soccer. This didn’t garner her very much information, but she did at least learn which of them were the slowest runners.

She tried saving some food, though it was difficult without any containers. It didn’t help that a lot of it would spoil quickly, given the climate. Water - especially if she was running - would be another issue.

Aside from planning logistics, figuring out when and where she would leave base, and gathering the courage to do it, Rainbow had to decide where she was going. Ideally, that would be somewhere close that had people that could help her.

North was probably out. That was Freedom Army territory, and even if they weren’t as bad as the UTA made them out to be, Rainbow couldn’t take the chance.

Remembering Lightning Dust’s political studies, Rainbow sought her out. Of anyone, she probably had the best idea of where they were. But of course, she couldn’t just ask, that might betray her intentions.

One night in the Flyers Club about a week later, Rainbow took her chance. She’d come up with a vague plan of conversation that she hoped would net her what she wanted to know without raising suspicion.

Rainbow tried to initiate the conversation as casually as possible. “So, I was wondering about the markings on your jet. Where’s Rhodesia?”

“It doesn’t exist anymore,” said Lightning. “It used to be a British colony, but it’s now Zimbabwe. That was, oh, 1980 or so.”

“Zimbabwe is…” Rainbow held up her hands and gestured as if an invisible map was in front of her “...south of here?”

Lightning nodded. “Yeah, but there’s Zambia in there, too.”

Rainbow held her hands a little wider. “Did any other jets come from other countries around? What else is out there?”

“Angola’s to the west. Congo is way up to the north. Out east you get into Tanzania and the Great Lakes. I think Pug’s MiG is from Tanzania. The company picks up things where ever it can.”

“Wait, Great Lakes?” said Rainbow. “Like in the US?”

“Kind of. There are more of them, and together they actually hold more water. It’s probably the nicest place in Africa.” Lightning shrugged. “Well, if it wasn’t for all the ethnic conflict and multiple civil wars.”

“There are other wars going on right now?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, maybe not as hot as the Talongo war. I’ve been kind of out of the loop here.” Lightning gestured to the walls around them.

Rainbow didn’t think she could push for finer details without raising suspicion. She disengaged and looked around the room.

The group of them had precious little entertainment. There was a checkers set missing a piece or two. Some books and magazines, all of them years old and heavily worn. Sometimes, like Rainbow had just done with Lightning, they just talked. Of course, certain topics were verboten.

Rainbow saw Kiel over by the window. Since it was dark, he was able to use it as a makeshift mirror, trimming his beard with a colorful pair of children’s craft scissors with blunt tips. An idea came to Rainbow and she went over. “Could I borrow those after you? The weather’s getting kind of hot”

Kiel turned. “Certainly. In fact, I’ll cut it for you, if you like.”

Rainbow shrugged. “I’m not looking for anything professional.” She sat down in a chair and let him work.

In truth, while the weather was getting hot, Rainbow also was thinking about her escape. Shorter hair was easier to hide and harder to grab.

She studied her reflection while Kiel worked. It actually didn’t look too bad. “I think you might be going a little above and beyond there.”

Kiel shrugged. “It reminds me of when I used to do this for my daughters.”

Rainbow wasn’t the only one who had to escape. But she knew she couldn’t trust anyone right now. She resolved to run as fast as she could, to get help, and to come back. She would get them all out of here.

Rainbow waited two more days. She was back to flying now. Soarin’ had patched her plane up, and while it was obvious that it had been damaged, a coat of paint would have made it look almost new.

She had considered breaking away while airborne. Maybe coming back to base and waiting until the others had landed before quickly flying away. But the missile systems around base had convinced her that was suicide. Two vehicles with launchers and radars built in stood on raised mounds of dirt to give them a better purvey of the area. Rainbow had learned from Soarin’ that they were Soviet-built SA-6 systems, and had a range of fifteen miles. No way could the Tucano escape before they began shooting.

Instead, Rainbow used her time flying to keep working on her plan. She didn’t miss an opportunity to look down at the base and try to see where security was weakest. The tall fences with barbed wire were an obstacle, but the gates were heavily patrolled.

But, she decided, it was now or never. That night, she made her break.

She went to bed in the bunkhouse with the others, but didn’t go to sleep. Quietly counting in her head, she ticked off three hours. Lying there with only her thoughts, doubt had started to creep in, but Rainbow forced herself to quietly get up. She moved as slowly as possible, knowing the rusty bed was prone to squeaking.

The room full of people, the squeaky bed - here too Rainbow saw evidence of how well the UTA had plotted against her. She picked up her shoes, meager supplies already hidden with them, but didn’t put them on. Leaving her flight suit behind and instead wearing the clothes she’d been abducted in, she stole out of the building. Pausing for just a moment to slip her shoes on, she headed for the food.

She’d managed to stockpile two handfuls of ogbono nuts and stuffed her pockets. They should be good for protein, but wouldn’t be enough to live off. Rainbow knew that if she was desperate enough, she could go days without food, but water was the priority now.

She headed for the building where they ate. Moving carefully and trying to stay to shadows, she saw and avoided two foot patrols on the way there. The moon was halfway full but occasionally concealed behind scattered clouds. Rainbow’s vision had had time to adjust to the darkness.

The building was locked, of course. Rainbow took a piece of stiff wire she’d borrowed from the hangar out of her pocket and unfolded it. The lock on the back door was simple enough to slip the bolt. If it had been more sophisticated, she didn’t know what she would have done. Probably have gone without.

Slipping inside, Rainbow crept through the kitchen without turning on the lights. She drank her fill of water and hunted for something to carry more, not to mention something to eat. Nothing was immediately visible, and Rainbow knew that the longer she delayed the greater her odds of being caught.

Sacrifices were necessary. She could go a few days without food. If she hadn’t found help, or at least more food, by then she would probably be recaptured anyway.

She did take a small watermelon, though. That at least solved the problem about transporting water, though as she hefted it, it wasn’t going to be easy to carry.

Rainbow slipped back out of the building and locked the door. She headed for the fence.

She had made up her mind to go east. The Great Lakes were there, and Rainbow figured where there was water, there were people. Africa was still a big place, but she was in good shape and could cover a lot of miles. She would have to.

Making her way through the base, Rainbow stealthily approached her exit point. She’d preselected a place behind the hangars where it was dark. Arriving at the fence, she wrapped the watermelon in her jacket and tossed it over. It landed with a muffled thump, and she was sure it had broken, but at least her jacket should keep dirt off it. And hey, this solved the problem of how to eat it.

She grabbed the chain links and started to climb. Eight feet up, there was a roof-like structure of barbed wire. Placing her hands carefully, Rainbow grabbed the wires between the barbs and picked her way across it.

She was at the top and trying to work her way over the other side when she heard a shout. Heart leaping towards her throat, she jumped, but her foot and the leg of her jeans got tangled in the barbed wire.

Rainbow’s body swung off the top of the fence, legs tangled, and she slapped into the chain link, face first and upside down. The fence rattled, but that was nothing compared to the sound of running feet coming closer. Desperately, she tried to free herself, but facing towards the fence she couldn’t curl her body up towards her feet.

A hand grabbed her by the collar. Rainbow twisted her body, but there was a crackling blue flash, pain, and then nothing.

Chapter 8

Rainbow awoke in darkness. Her whole body hurt.

She was curled up on something hard. It was cool to the touch. It might have been steel.

She tried to move. Her hands and feet hit steel walls. Struggling to sit up, she felt around. She was inside a box. It was too small for her to stretch out or stand.

Her fingers felt her neck. It was still tender, and hurt even more than the rest of her. She remembered the tazer.

She’d been caught. Her escape had failed.

Rainbow sucked in a stuttering breath. Now what? Could she try again?

What would they do to her?

A shot of pure panic went through her and Rainbow backed up until she hit the wall. Her eyes darted around the darkness, but there was nothing to see. No sounds other than her own breathing made it to her ears.

She was, well, not safe, but in no immediate danger. Rainbow tried to force herself to calm down, but was only gradually successful.

When she was able, Rainbow tentatively felt around her prison again. The box was crudely made, but solid. There seemed to be a door on one side, but she didn’t find any means of opening it.

She took stock of herself. She still wore her clothing. Her pockets had been turned out and nothing remained. Her pant leg was torn from the barbed wire and the skin of her ankle was scratched.

Rainbow lay down, because it was the most comfortable position she could find. There was no way of knowing how long she would be in here, or even where “here” was. She tried to go to sleep, but it wouldn’t come.

What had gone wrong? Had she gotten careless? Had a lucky patrol spotted her? Would she have gotten away if she hadn’t stopped to search for food first?

There were many questions and few answers. Rainbow was distracted by a faint light. Her brow furrowed and she moved closer to the door. Yes, it seemed like there was the barest trace of light coming in around the crack of the door.

Minutes passed and it got brighter. It was morning, then. Rainbow waited. There was nothing else she could do.

The sun got brighter, to full daylight. Rainbow started to hear faint sounds. Maybe distant conversation. Maybe machinery. The sound of a jet starting up was distinctive. Shortly, she heard seven planes taking off. That was all of the pilots but her.

She kept waiting. Under the sun, the metal box had started to grow warm.

Why were they keeping here? To punish her, obviously, but it seemed strange that they would simply lock her up in solitary confinement without even taking the chance to heckle her.

Time wore on. Rainbow was now sweating. The roof of the box was too hot to touch. She crowded the door, trying to feel any tiny breeze through the crack.

The jets returned. Rainbow counted again: seven.

More time passed. Rainbow felt a headache coming on, which figured, considering how hungry and dehydrated she was.

She tried to sleep, but the thought went through her head that it would be like giving up. Of all the ways to die, in her sleep seemed like the easy way out.

It took her a moment to realize that she was hearing a helicopter. Her headache was part of it, but also she’d never seen one at the base.

It came in for a landing and shut down. A few minutes passed, and Rainbow heard several sets of footsteps coming her way. However, it was still a surprise when the lock clicked and the metal door was yanked open.

The light blinded her, but the cooler air was heavenly. Rainbow tumbled out of the box, eyes squinted to slits. Someone kicked her over and a couple sets of hands grabbed her arms.

The dragged her. Rainbow grunted and managed to get her feet under her without seeing where they were taking her. She stumbled but was very nearly held off the ground by the soldiers.

Eyes adjusting, she managed to look around. The big man who’d punched her in the face on her first day, Connor Clash, was the one who had ahold of her right arm. He looked down at flashed a wicked smile. “Thanks. I’d been wanting to see how that tazer worked.”

Rainbow blinked, not willing or able to spare the effort to respond. She looked in the other direction.

A man clad in a cape walked beside the soldiers that were dragging her. He was bareheaded, and wore wire-framed glasses, with some kind of light jacket and slacks under the cape. Rainbow’s eyes focused. His cape was made of hide. Thicker fur was piled around his shoulders. Was that...a lion skin?

Rainbow was brought from wherever the box was located, across the runway, and over to hangar four.

The other seven pilots and several soldiers were gathered around. Rainbow’s plane sat outside the hangar.

“Where’s the mechanic?” Clash called.

Soarin’, quickly but obviously reluctantly, stepped forward.

“Have you got the straps?”

Soarin’ picked up a few pieces of thick nylon webbing, the kind used to strap down cargo. Rainbow was pulled over to the plane and her arms raised, facing the propeller. Soarin’ strapped her wrists to the propeller blades and the others let her go, backing away.

“Stand up straight,” he advised quietly. “It’ll be easier on your arms.”

Rainbow did, taking the slack off her wrist bindings. The propeller spinner pushed against her chest.

Soarin’ lifted his hand, a blue and yellow piece of cloth in his palm. He pushed it to Rainbow’s lips and in the state she was in, she accepted it in her mouth without question. It was only after he’d backed away that she began to realize what was about to happen.

She turned her head, looking over her shoulder as well as she could. The man in the lion skin stood about ten feet behind her, his hands folded in front of him.

“So begins the sentencing of Rainbow Dash,” he said.

Rainbow tried to turn in her restraints to see him better. He didn’t move.

“She attempted to run away. Throughout history, desertion has always carried a high penalty. As it should.” He cast his eyes over the assembled crowd, focusing on the other pilots. “Cowardice will not be tolerated. I had thought this lesson could have been learned from other’s mistakes, but I will teach it again as often as it is needed.”

One of the soldiers opened a metal briefcase. Lion Heart reached in and took out a rolled up whip. He held it in his hands and looked back to Rainbow. “I sentence you to ten lashes.”

It could have been a hundred. It could have been worse. Rainbow couldn’t believe she was actually feeling grateful. She’d been spanked more than ten times as a kid. This wouldn’t be so bad.

She knew she was fooling herself.

Lion Heart raised his arm. Rainbow flinched.

The first lash slapped her shoulder. It hurt, but Rainbow rationalized that she’d been injured worse playing sports.

Lion Heart moved. Perhaps he took a step backwards to better take advantage of the length of the whip. Rainbow wasn’t looking. The second lash laid into the center of Rainbow’s back. It felt like it was going to leave a welt.

She heard Lion Heart reposition his feet. The third lash snapped harder. Rainbow gasped through the cloth in her mouth.

The next lash sounded different, a hum in the air. Fire lanced Rainbow’s back. She felt a breeze. It had torn her t-shirt. She tried to control her breathing. She told herself she was almost halfway through the sentence.

Lion Heart moved again. And then, he struck a lash so hard the whip whistled and cracked as it split her skin. Rainbow sagged against the propeller, body utterly unable to stand against the pain. Her teeth felt like they were going to bite straight through the cloth and her eyes were squeezed so tight that she saw white.

And then, five more lashes just like that one fell.

Rainbow’s entire world had narrowed to nothing but pain. She didn’t even feel the straps digging into her wrists. For a few seconds, she even forgot to breathe. She didn't even recognize the sound coming out of her mouth. It sounded like a kicked puppy.

A heavy hand came down on her shoulder. Rainbow just barely cracked her eyes. She saw glasses. Why did he approach? Would he hurt her more?

“Do you regret it?” Lion Heart asked quietly, a voice meant for her alone.

“Yes,” Rainbow whispered, and truthfully.

“Good,” he said. “Because this is your last and only chance.” He started to turn away.

“Who was it?” she managed to ask.

Lion Heart paused. He knew what she meant, and it seemed to amuse him. “Well, you would find out anyway when someone got out after only ninety nine missions. It was Lightning Dust.”

Chapter 10

Rainbow entered hangar four, walking fast. It hurt, but that had become normal over the past few days. She’d stopped bleeding, and it looked like this latest set of scabs would hold. Or at least they probably would, if she took it easy.

She wasn’t fully healed and shouldn’t be flying, but they’d told her to go. There was no way Rainbow could refuse, of course.

The mission today was escorting a UTA cargo plane. Somehow, the Freedom Army had developed a plan to intercept it and apparently had enough intel about its route and schedule to worry the UTA.

Rainbow wasn’t sure if it was the same C-130 that had brought her to Talongo. She’d seen the plane a couple of times since then. Apparently it made a regular route, carrying supplies and personnel in and probably the plundered wealth of the country out to sell.

Soarin’ was by the Tucano as she arrived. He glanced at her, seemed to want to say something, but turned away to begin preflight.

Rainbow held out the Wonderbolts bandana. “Thanks for this.”

He looked at it, a few drops of her blood dried on the cloth, and some other stains besides. “You keep it. It probably matters more to you.”

For just a moment, Rainbow was transported back to when she was just a little girl, getting his autograph after the air show. “R-really? Thanks!”

That was tempered by the Soarin’ of the present. He was broken. He couldn’t fight. Great pilot he had been, but, well, “had” was the keyword. Somber, Rainbow climbed into the cockpit. She tied the bandana around her neck, tucking it under her flight suit.

She did the preflight and the tug pulled her out of the hangar. This was the beginning of her...eighth mission. Rainbow frowned as she strapped on her mask. Why had it taken her so long to remember the number? She shook her head, attributing it to being out of the cockpit for so long.

The Tucano was pulled out of the hangar. Rainbow saw the others getting their own jets ready. Six were going this time. It was Angels’ ninety-fourth. Rainbow wondered why all eight of them were never sent at once. Probably, that would be too easy for them to desert en masse.

Pug and Striker had not been ordered onto this mission. Rainbow wondered why she wasn’t being deliberately held separate from Lightning but dismissed it. Lion Heart wouldn't have told her Lightning sold Rainbow out if he cared what she did with the information. It was in his best interest to keep the pilots from organizing.

Answering to Six, as usual, Rainbow took off with the rest. Her seatbelts were loose, and she leaned forward into them to keep her back off the seat.

They flew west by northwest, carefully timed to intercept the C-130 and escort it. Angels worked the primitive radar in her MiG, apparently finding what she was looking for. “This is Patriot.”

“This is Mercury,” came the authentication. Within a few minutes, the C-130 came into view. Despite being propeller-driven and much larger than any of the fighters, it was still faster than the Tucano and had to slow down just a little to let Rainbow keep up.

"Six, fly low cover, " said Angels. "Two, Five, head back east and patrol along the route."
The Alpha Jet and the Hunter broke off. “The rest, follow me.” Angels, Kiel, and Stratus gained altitude, establishing top cover.

As she descended to her ordered postion, Rainbow flew close and waved to the C-130 pilots, though in sudden hindsight was disgusted with herself for doing so. These pilots were not her friends. They had played more than a small role in her abduction.

She flew beneath the cargo plane, hiding herself against its belly. Any Freedom Army fighters would likely not suspect her being there.

Rainbow grimaced. The ambush might work if the Tucano was an actual threat to a jet. Why was she even here? Maybe to help with pop-up ground threats, if that was how the Freedom Army was planning to shoot down the C-130.

Or, a darker part of her mind thought, because they had intentionally put her propeller plane up against supersonic jets. Was Angels trying to use her as a decoy again?

No, Rainbow decided. Angels wouldn’t care for her while she was hurt and then sacrifice her.

Unless she was getting desperate to complete her missions and not die within sight of the finish line. Tending Rainbow’s wounds on the safety of the ground was one thing. Flying in combat was another.

None of these thoughts, though, helped Rainbow herself stay alive. She glanced across her gauges and then quickly back up. The Tucano’s turboprop was redlined to keep up with the cruising C-130 fifty feet above her. Rainbow looked up at it, wondering what, or who, was aboard today. She would find out back at base.

“Tally-ho!” called Angels. “Inbound from the north and high! Two, Five, we need you back!”

Rainbow hesitated. Should she reveal herself now and act as close defense for Mercury, or wait and hold the surprise? Could the others fend off the incoming bogies?

“I count four,” said Kiel.

Without Rainbow, the three UTA MiGs were outnumbered. She gritted her teeth and thumbed the release for her bombs. The suddenly-lighter Tucano began to rise, and she darted out from under the C-130.

“Enemy Fishbeds,” Angels called. “Be careful with your ID’s.”

Rainbow looked skyward, squinting. She caught a flash of sun as the two sides clashed.

Almost immediately, Angels called, “Splash one!” The swirl of fighters began to descend towards the rapidly-departing cargo plane. Flares, tracers, and a lone parachute popped all over the sky.

“Five’s here!” called Lightning.

“Two’s here!” added Pantera.

Even if they had been a few miles away, they’d managed to join the fight quicker than Rainbow, who was still struggling to gain altitude. However, it looked like the fight would instead come to her.

“We’re diving!” called Kiel. The group of jets headed for the deck, the distance making it difficult to tell whose MiG was whose. Kiel called again, “Splash one!”

Two Freedom Army planes remained, and Rainbow was getting a chilling déjà vu of the last time she’d faced a much more powerful enemy jet. She should disengage and get away. The others had a decisive numbers advantage now and wouldn’t need her.

Just as she was banking into a turn, Angels called, “They’re making a run on Mercury!”

“Fox two! Splash one!” called Pantera.

“Who is covering Mercury?” Angels demanded.

“Six!” Rainbow replied.

“Five!” Lightning added. She was? Rainbow thought.

“Three on the way,” Stratus chimed in as Rainbow looked around, spotting Lightning’s green Hunter a quarter of a mile to her left and accelerating rapidly. Where were the others? Rainbow twisted in her seat to look behind, ignoring a stab of pain. She could only see a streaking Fishbed coming at her.

Instinctively, she rolled, tracers lancing past her cockpit. It wasn’t Stratus, then. The Freedom Army Fishbed pulled up towards the sun, apparently deciding that eliminating the C-130 was less important than protecting itself from the half dozen UTA fighters.

Rainbow saw Lightning give chase and she herself pulled into the turn. With only one enemy plane left, she could concentrate fully on the battle right in front of her.

Whoever the Freedom Army pilot was, they’d gotten this far on luck rather than skill. They let their jet slow, turning hard. While the Hunter wasn’t much better in maneuverability, it could at least keep up. The Tucano, of course, turned inside them both.

Rainbow’s finger caressed the trigger. Lightning was trying to line up a shot on the MiG, but Rainbow realized how inviting a target she was.

“Fox two!” A missile came off the Hunter, but went wild without coming anywhere near the MiG. “Ugh! No good!”

Lightning pulled into another turn, trying to aim her last missile. Rainbow closed the gap.

“I have you in sight,” Stratus said.

Rainbow’s finger rested on the trigger. It would be so easy. How could she frame it? Could she tell the others the MiG had gotten lucky? She squinted as the others turned past the sun. Just a little closer...

“Take it!” said Lightning, pulling away suddenly.

Rainbow blinked, starting to pull the stick to follow. A blast of tracers filled her view from nowhere, brighter than the sun, and she panic-jerked, clenching up in her seat as a shape lanced past her cockpit and a sonic boom nearly broke her eardrums.

It was all going too fast to comprehend, though Rainbow’s mind had seen every detail. A second passed as she put it together. Ahead of her, she saw two fireballs spinning to the ground, jets ruined like wadded up paper balls. The gunfire that had gone over her plane had gotten one and her own guns had hit the other.

Rainbow blinked. She didn’t even remember pulling the trigger or hearing the guns, but did recall seeing her own tracers shooting forward. Had she…?

“Splash one,” she said automatically.

But…

It suddenly felt like she was pulling ten g’s even while she was flying straight and level. The second jet…

She only gradually and vaguely began to hear voices in her headset. Part of it was her deafened ears. Part of it was the enormity of what she had done.

Even inside her mask, Rainbow was gasping for air. She looked around. Lightning was flying off her left wing. Angels was off her right.

“Six, are you okay?” Angels asked. “What happened? You got one?”

“Two o’clock, low!” Kiel called, indicating the two falling meteors of wreckage.

“Three…” said Rainbow.

“Did he overrun the bogie and get hit?” asked Kiel.

“I-I…” Rainbow tried, but didn’t know what she would say.

“But you got the last one?” said Angels.

“Y-yeah,” said Rainbow. What else could she say?

No one responded. Rainbow looked around. They all flew to her sides. Did they buy it? Was their silence solemn over a lost comrade, rather than accusing of her story?

Suddenly, another pang hit her, impossibly even harder than the first. The gun camera!

Now there was nothing that could distract her from the trepidation. Not the mission, not the pain as she slumped in the seat. It felt like acid was burning in her stomach as the group of them drew closer and closer to base.

Angels encouraged Rainbow to land first. She did, almost automatically. Part of her wondered why. What did she have to lose by trying to escape now? Sure, she would be easy prey for the other five. Maybe that was what Angels was thinking.

Touching down and rolling to the end of the runway, there was nothing Rainbow could do now. She taxied to hangar four and shut down the engine.

Soarin’ walked over and glanced at her plane. She could see his eyes note the missing bombs and smoke on the muzzles of the guns.

Rainbow’s limbs felt like lead, but she tossed off her belts and threw open the canopy. She needed air.

Lightning taxied in. She got out and stood beside her plane, looking at Rainbow.

Rainbow didn’t know what to do with herself. She turned away from Lightning’s look, crossing her arms protectively across her chest. To her horror, she realized Soarin’ was already inspecting the camera.

The gun cam on the Tucano was a crudely rigged, point and shoot digital camera. One of the only benefits was that it was easy to see the pictures after a flight. Soarin’ looked at the small screen on the back. “Wow.”

Before Rainbow could slap it out of his hand, run, or have a heart attack, he turned it around and showed it to her.

It was clearly the silhouette of a MiG-21 against the sun, however the dark shape was washed out with the glare and no details or markings were visible.

Soarin’ caught Rainbow as she fainted.

Chapter 11

Rainbow still had not received any actual medical treatment. If a doctor even existed in this part of Africa, they probably would have been forced to do their work, just like the UTA pilots. Rainbow fainting in the hangar after her first air-to-air kill was attributed by the others to blood loss and stress.

And the rest didn’t even know how much stress it had caused her.

Rainbow spent the entire next day in a fog. The way her stomach felt, she couldn’t tell if she was giving herself an ulcer or already had one. That was a lot less punishment than she thought she deserved.

Stratus Jade was dead, Rainbow had killed him, and she’d gotten credit for his final victory.

The moment kept playing on repeat in her head. She’d known he was joining the fight. She’d known there were no other enemy planes. She’d only wanted to kill Lightning Dust. Instead, she’d panicked.

Rainbow tried to sleep. She tried to play soccer. Nothing helped.

She felt like she wanted to tell someone what she’d done. The guilt was going to eat her alive. Who could she talk to?

Rainbow considered Angels. But no. She respected everything Angels had done for her too much. Angels was just about to finish her missions. Rainbow couldn’t put something like this on her mind.

Soarin’? No. He was as much a neutral party in the aerial fight as anyone, but she couldn’t face his judgement, as she was sure he would pass. He, the expert pilot, would realize she was just some kid who couldn’t be trusted to pull a trigger. She needed to retain his respect and guidance more than ever now.

Rainbow didn’t even consider any of the others. They would either think she would get them killed, too, or maybe be moved to revenge.

So Rainbow kept quiet. What would it change now? Nothing could bring Stratus back. Her admission would help nothing, and hurt only her.

If keeping the secret didn’t kill her first.

Rainbow wasn’t part of the next mission. When she heard Angels was flying, though, she went to see her off. The jets thundered away, and the base fell to silence once more.

Rainbow hated waiting, even on a good day. With nothing to do, she went by hangar four. Soarin’ was there. Rainbow’s stomach turned as she saw a small lightning bolt painted in dark grey below the cockpit. She hadn’t asked Soarin’ to do that, but she couldn’t say anything without arousing suspicion..

He glanced up from his work. “You don’t look good.”

“Is that any different from how I’ve looked for a week now?” Rainbow asked.

“No,” he allowed. “Most people lose weight here; shit food and stress. Not to mention what you went through.”

“Still going through,” said Rainbow, though in hindsight wished she hadn’t.

Soarin’ frowned, but let it go. “You know, you’re probably the first person to shoot down a jet with a propeller plane since the Vietnam War.”

Rainbow didn’t want to continue the conversation, but couldn’t help but ask, “Really?” To shift the focus off her, she quickly added, “How did that happen?”

“A couple of Navy Spads got lucky against MiG-17’s.” He shrugged and smirked. “Well, it was probably superior pilot skill, but with the Navy it’s hard to say.”

While he seemed to be in a good mood and talkative, Rainbow decided to press on. “What other kind of crazy stuff have you seen here? People like Angels are probably among the most successful female fighter pilots ever.”

“I heard a rumor that, supposedly in the ‘90s during the Ethiopia-Eritrea war of all places, an Ethiopian pilot became the first female to get an air-to-air kill in the jet age. Of course, during World War Two the Soviets had a couple of female fighter aces.” Soarin’ shrugged. “Either way, any records the UTA sets aren’t going to be reported. They have a habit of killing journalists.”

That turned Rainbow’s brief positive attitude around again. No matter what she did, she was still under the thumb of an evil organization.

Angels completed her ninety fifth mission. It was almost nonchalant. Rainbow wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Had it been her coming to the end of her own missions, she would have been on edge for any hint of impending disaster.

There were no flashbulbs or cheering crowds or champagne. There was barely any event at all. The Flyers Club hosted a slightly more festive than usual gathering. Rainbow attended.

Pantera was the next most senior pilot, through having flown the most missions - eighty one. Rainbow thought perhaps Kiel had the most total flight hours, with his former commercial career. Knowing the two of them, she suspected Pantera was more likely to try and fill Angels’ shoes. Though, Rainbow also suspected that no one could successfully replace Angels. She didn’t need to be the standout leader of the motley band of kidnapped mercenary pilots, but she had, and well.

As she looked around the room, Pug gave her an unkind glance, but looked away. He’d been avoiding any contact at all with her since she’d punched him. That was fine with Rainbow, but she got the constant feeling that he was about to stab her in the back. Maybe literally.

The sound of a jet caught the attention of all of them. Rainbow glanced around the room. They were all there, so it wasn’t any of them. She was closest to the door and went out, followed by the curious others.

The plane had landed and was taxiing off the runway. Based on its nose intake, Rainbow initially thought it was a MiG-21. However, as it turned, she saw the variable wings.

“Su-22, looks like,” Kiel commented.

The group walked over to where some UTA soldiers had gone to meet the plane. A man with a leather jacket and a shock of grey hair was climbing down.

“Wind Rider,” Angels said, perhaps not a greeting.

He smiled anyway. “Good to see you. I hear you’re about to leave? Too bad. I just brought this new Fitter by. One of the Libyan ones. After they threw Gaddafi out, no one noticed a few of them going missing.”

Rainbow eyed the green flag painted on the tail. She’d heard about the Libyan revolution, a few years back. It had been on the news far more than anything going on in Talongo.

“So are you going to join up?” Wind Rider asked Angels.

“No way.”

Wind Rider shrugged. “Well, I’ll go make myself comfortable. I’ll be riding out of here with the boss.”

He walked off, apparently towards the headquarters building where the indentured pilots were not allowed to go.

“Who was that?” Rainbow asked.

“He used to be one of us,” Angels said.

“If he got out, then what’s he still doing here?”

“He accepted a paid position.”

Rainbow stared at her, mouth frozen open. “What? Who could…?”

Angels didn’t reply. It didn’t look like she could figure it out, either, and had given up trying.

The group of pilots looked up at the sound of a helicopter. The only previous time Rainbow had heard one was when Lion Heart had come to visit, and there was no way she wanted to see him. The others seemed to feel the same way.

They were almost back to the Flyers Club when there was the sound of another aircraft, the well-known drone of turboprops that told them the C-130 was inbound.

“That’ll be the fresh meat,” said Lightning.

An instant shot of rage went through Rainbow at the comment, but she restrained herself to a glare at the back of Lightning’s head.

The cargo plane landed, disembarking on the opposite side of the runway. Lack of rules at the mercenary base or not, during their flight training the pilots had all learned some basic safety and instinctively did not walk across the runway. Most of them, in fact, turned around to go back to the Flyers Club. Whoever the new pilots were, they would meet eventually.

Rainbow wanted to go greet the new people who had been dropped into her shared Hell. They could certainly use friends. Maybe it could be a kind of penance for her, slowly erasing with good deeds the guilt she felt.

Though, it would have to be a whole lot of good deeds.

But with Lion Heart being around, Rainbow decided to just go back to the bunkhouse. She told herself it wasn’t hiding if he could probably find her either way.

She wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse.

Chapter 12

If only she had her wings, she could just fly out.

Rainbow lay on her bed. Her mood felt like she should be lying on the ceiling with her hands behind her head. Her reality was that such a position would still hurt her back.

She thought about the times she’d had with her friends back home. Even know, she could easily picture their faces and voices. Rainbow still marveled at what the six of them had done and accomplished together. The Magic of Friendship.

So close to her heart, yet so far away. If only she could have some of that now. The UTA wouldn’t know what hit them, and Rainbow would bust out with multicolored magic flying everywhere, herself flying over the fence and out of their reach.

Rainbow smirked at the thought. Then, she frowned. Well, why not?

Coming up on her elbows, Rainbow stared into space. The fact that it would mean she, someone who used the term “egghead” derisively, was going to have to figure out how to reverse engineer magic...the fact that it was the most viable option she could see…

Rainbow sighed and gingerly lay back down. It was actually more depressing that she had been reduced to even considering this. But could she not? If there was a faintest chance, she had to grasp for it.

Okay, how did magic work? Other than being involved, Rainbow knew nothing about it. Were six people always required? She did a mental inventory. There were no ideal options here, and not even many possibilities. It meant that she would somehow have to recruit the others while keeping them from running to the UTA with the information. Moreover, they would have to develop the kind of harmony that Rainbow and her friends back home shared.

Like that was going to happen. Whether Soarin’s indifference or Lightning’s betrayal, not to mention the issue of forcing friendship with unwilling strangers. Rainbow snorted. All she had to do was forgive Lightning for selling her out, get Pug to forgive her for punching him, and get half a dozen other people to put aside their paranoia and self-preservation to join a crazy, potentially suicidal mission. Right.

Rainbow sighed and got out of bed laboriously. It would take a lot of effort. Today, at least, she could make a good impression on the new pilots. She headed for the Flyers Club.

But a small spark of the magic idea remained in the back of her mind, refusing to go away.

Rainbow learned that the C-130 had brought a pair of new pilots. The two of them knew each other, in fact. Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger had both been taken from the same flying school. Rainbow met them for the first time at the Flyers Club.

Vapor was a pale woman with wavy hair and seemed constantly nervous, even on top of the whole kidnapping thing. Sky had a buzz cut and seemed to portray all the confidence Vapor lacked, though Rainbow could see in his eyes that he was at least as terrified.

Vapor and Sky had only just gotten their dingy flight suits. The two of them sat huddled together. Lightning was just handing them the black patches “until fairer skies beckon.” This is your sentence, to fly, or die, or maybe die flying. You don’t deserve it, but here you are. Goood luuuck!

Rainbow’s stomach turned, her own personal horror forgotten for just a moment. To see someone else inducted into this...there weren’t words to describe the injustice.

There were emotions, though. Disgust. Despair. Anger. Fear.

Well, no, not fear, not really anymore. She wasn’t scared now. Rainbow might have been feeling a complex web of emotions, but somehow fear had left her.

That was as surprising as anything.

Perhaps against her better judgement, Rainbow tried to determine why. It wasn’t as easy as just deciding not to be scared. Was it that she’d already faced, and survived, punishment?

Surely it wasn’t her idea for getting her magic working and using it to escape. Rainbow frowned. No...but perhaps related, remembering her friends seemed to have calmed her down and given her a moment of peace.

Rainbow tried it again: The worst mistake of her life, killing Stratus Jade and ending any chance that he too could escape this wretched place.

Her friends would forgive her.

Rainbow actually gasped. The relief was like a physical weight off her shoulders. That didn’t make what she did right, or even something she could forgive herself over, but knowing that her friends would be there for her no matter what she did took away most of the heartache.

A small voice in her mind suggested that perhaps the friends in her mind’s eye were more perfect than real life, but Rainbow squashed it. What did internal monologues know about friendship?

“So, what’s with her?” she was vaguely aware of Sky asking.

Rainbow’s eyes came into focus after her introspection. Everyone was looking at her.

Lightning chuckled. “This is Rainbow.” She made to clap Rainbow on the back, but stopped short awkwardly and pulled her hand back. “Now that you’re here, she’s not the newest any more.”

Rainbow said hello. Sky seemed indifferent, but Vapor caught her eye. Rainbow could tell she was not at home here. Not that any of them were, but Rainbow could almost see the fragility in Vapor. She vowed to give her special attention, on the hunch that she might need it.

Most of them gathered near the runway to see Angels off.

Dusk was falling. The work lights were on in the hangars. The C-130 pilots were making final checks.

Angels wore her ragged civilian clothes, presumably the ones she had been kidnapped in. She stood near the cargo plane’s ramp, arms crossed nervously but smiling. However, there was something melancholy about that, too.

Rainbow remembered Soarin’s prediction. They know once you’re free you’ll try to get some help and bring them down. They’ll play nice and give you a little send off, but when you get on the C-130 to leave, who’s to say they don’t just take you for a ride, shoot you in the back of the head, and push you out somewhere?

Surely Angels had at least considered that. But did she have another choice?

Yes, as it turned out. Lion Heart arrived just then, flanked by Wind Rider, Connor Clash, and a few other UTA soldiers. “Miss Angels High, I hoped I could extend an offer to you before you go. We could use a pilot we can trust. I’m prepared to make you a very generous offer. Cash, gold, or credit.”

Angels shook her head. “I just want to go home. However, I hope I could make one request.” She looked at Rainbow. “I know someone whose skills are in need of a better plane.”

All eyes fell to Rainbow, but at the moment her surprise and hope was only focused on Angels. “You mean…?”

Lion Heart tilted his head. “Well, I suppose she is moving up in the world. Very well.”

It took a moment to sink in that she’d just been handed the keys to a supersonic jet fighter. Rainbow couldn’t have been more delighted if Angels had literally handed her little MiG-21 keys.

Angels smiled, and then she turned and got on the plane. The C-130’s tailgate closed behind her and the turboprops began to start one by one.

Rainbow cleared the flight line with the others, her mood instantly plummeting again. If she was going to try to get her abilities working, the magic of friendship, she’d just lost her best friend here.

Chapter 13

The MiG-21 had grey paint flaking off and enough leaks that they ran together on the hangar floor. Rainbow didn’t care. It was beautiful.

There were eight iron crosses painted below the cockpit. That seemed like a strange symbol for someone like Angels, but perhaps they weren’t all her doing. Kill marks traditionally followed the aircraft, not the pilot. Knowing that also made the skulls on Pantera’s jet less intimidating.

The mechanic Rainbow had inherited along with the jet was named Jubi. He was taller and skinnier than Rainbow thought possible, and didn’t talk much.

As excited as she was to get into the cockpit, there was so much more to learn. The radar, primitive as it was, still had to be properly manipulated. She’d also never flown a jet before.

Rainbow learned as much as she could from Kiel about flying the Fishbed. There wasn’t much time, though, because - of course - her first mission in it was the next day.

She would have also liked Pug’s input on flying the Fishbed, but he still wasn’t speaking to her. Granted, while that was probably an improvement, she at least needed to be able to communicate with him if she was going to try to make real friends.

Four of them were wheels-up in the morning. Pantera was lead, followed by Kiel, Striker, and Rainbow. It was a beautiful day, a shame that she couldn’t just enjoy flying. As always, the mission was at the forefront of her mind. There was no ground controller today. The UTA had simply sent them on a prelanned strike to hit a designated target.

Rainbow spend her time in transit to the target exploring the new aircraft. It was equipped with a double-barreled 23mm gun in the fuselage and four hardpoints under the wings. They were loaded with two bombs and two Soviet-surplus Atoll missiles.

The ancient heat-seekers were better than nothing, but only slightly. Rainbow explored them, using the hot exhaust of the other planes to tune her ear to the tone the missiles made in her headset as the seeker heads acquired a target.

She contemplated the other three jets. Missiles for two, and a gun battle with the other. Probably the L-39. That seemed least threatening. With the three of them down, there would be nothing stopping her from escape.

Rainbow shook her head. She wasn’t going to kill Striker and Kiel, and probably not Pantera, either. The jury was still out on Lightning, but at this point Rainbow realized she’d missed her opportunity. Not only had she turned over a new leaf, but revenge so far after the fact would be more confusing for everyone else. Not that she cared, but it would hurt her chances of making friends with them.

Lightning would be harder to kill, anyway. She’d seemed hopeful that Angels would give her the MiG Rainbow now flew, but failing that had campaigned hard to be given the newly arrived Su-22 and had succeeded. The others seemed attached to the aircraft they were comfortable in.

Rainbow shook her head again, getting back to the mission. Lightning could wait. Her attention was needed elsewhere.

She checked the time and looked outside. The Fishbed was a lot harder to see out of than the Tucano. That was pretty standard for Soviet planes, though the MiG had been designed for high speed and high altitude instead of low and slow.

“That looks like it,” said Pantera. Rainbow spotted a small cluster of buildings. However, something seemed strange.

“Four, go get it,” said Pantera.

“Hang on,” said Rainbow.

“This again?” growled Pantera. “You want to stay alive? Follow the leader.”

“No, I mean, doesn’t it look like it’s already been bombed?”

There were a few seconds of silence. Striker spoke up. “Yeah, maybe.”

Rainbow circled, studying the small village intently. It didn’t look like there was any activity down below, no people, no vehicles. She realized she’d dropped into MANPADS engagement territory, nearly down to ten thousand feet. In the back of her mind, she knew the much faster MiG was harder to hit, but pulled up anyway. Still, she looked back down.

Buildings had been destroyed and debris littered the ground. The swath of destruction looked like a cone shape, starting from a sharp point just outside the village and smearing into a wider arc, nearly bisecting the settlement. Whatever had happened, it flattened buildings and scorched the savannah.

“Well, it doesn’t matter,” said Pantera. “We were told to bomb.”

It was difficult to argue that logic. Rainbow delivered her ordnance. The MiG was a lot harder to do it from, but its speed probably kept her safer. Though, that might have been balanced out by its hotter jet engine being a bigger target.

Still, there was no response from the village and the four of them turned for base after completely leveling the target with their bombs.

One the way back, Rainbow continued to learn the controls on her jet. The radar was the hardest, requiring her to take her hands off the controls. The symbols on the tiny screen weren’t easy to interpret, either. Her head was down, looking at the instrument panel, when Striker called out, “What’s that thing?”

He called out a clock direction and Rainbow looked. She didn’t see anything at first, but picked out a small movement near the ground.

Without saying anything, the four of them circled lower. “That thing” turned out to be some sort of small aircraft. Very small. Rainbow could just barely make out its stubby grey body and slightly swept wings. None of them were willing to get close enough to ID it, however. It was likely flying at only a few thousand feet, probably had no heat signature to speak of, and would be near-impossible to hit with guns because it was small and probably going less than a hundred knots.

“Let’s go,” said Kiel. “We don’t have the fuel.”

Rainbow considered the small aircraft all the way back to base. It was clearly some kind of drone, but whose?

After landing, she went to find Soarin’. He was still alongside the Tucano, tending to its new pilot.

Vapor Trail looked even more scared and frail sitting in the cockpit, even with the engine off. Rainbow tried a smile. “It’s a good plane.”

Vapor still looked nervous. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Frowning inwardly that Vapor still couldn’t even appreciate the new airframe, Rainbow turned to Soarin’. “I think I saw a drone.”

She described what it looked like, but that was hard to do with just words. Rainbow beckoned and the two of them went outside. She drew a crude sketch with her finger in the dirt. Soarin’ studied it. “It could be a ScanEagle.”

“What’s that?” Rainbow asked.

Soarin’s mangled hand unconsciously rested on his chin as he stared at the drawing. “Are you sure that’s what it looked like?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow confirmed. She repeated, “What’s a ScanEagle?”

“It was originally developed for US special forces.”

Their eyes met. Soarin’s voice went quiet. “Where did you see this?”

Rainbow matched his tone. “I’m not sure. Maybe fifteen or twenty miles north.” She swallowed. “Do you really think it’s…?”

“I don’t know. I heard they were selling pretty well, and to all kinds of people. Maybe the Freedom Army has managed to get their hands on some. Maybe even the UTA.”

His pessimism was not misplaced. Rainbow fought to get control of herself. There was no way of telling who owned the drone, not from the altitude from where she’d observed it.

But a chance was better than nothing.

She wondered what to do with this information as Soarin’ walked away. The other three who had seen the drone would probably ask the UTA about it, so it wouldn’t hurt to find out if the UTA knew anything. If they didn’t...well, it was still only a chance.

In the hangar, she spotted Sky Stinger over at the Hawker Hunter. Lightning was giving him a tour around. He seemed bored, though Rainbow imagined it was probably an act. If he and Vapor had been in the same flight class, then Sky had never flown a jet before. If he was any pilot at all, he should be excited.

Lightning seemed excited, though Rainbow couldn’t tell if that was because she was upgrading to a new jet, or if she was just happy to be showing someone around. It reminded Rainbow of how Lightning had treated her while she was new. How was it that someone could be so friendly, but so cutthroat? Was this the most extreme example of “nothing personal” in existence?

Lightning waved Sky away to make his own inspection of the Hunter. She came over just as Rainbow was leaving the hangar. The two of them ended up walking together back to the Flyers Club.

“I’m worried about those two,” said Lightning, breaking the silence. Her face had lost its cheer.

“Yeah,” Rainbow acknowledged.

Lightning sighed. “I mean, I’m going to try to help them, but sometimes you just know when you see someone, right? I mean, look at you. I knew you were a survivor when I first saw you.”

Rainbow glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

“I know you won’t quit. Not even after trying to run and getting the whip.”

Rainbow didn’t plan it, but now was as good a time as any. They were alone. She stopped. Lightning paused, turning to face her.

Rainbow began. “About what you did-”

“What did I do? Why would I do anything to you?” Lightning laughed. “Especially with what you did to Stratus after he snitched on you.”

She knew. Panic shot through Rainbow, but then she wondered: if Lightning saw the shootdown, why didn’t she say something to anyone earlier?

And why would Lightning say that Stratus had been the one who ratted Rainbow out? If it was actually her, then she would know that Rainbow probably never suspected Stratus. Was it a desperate, last-minute ploy to throw Rainbow off?

Rainbow asked, “How did you know it was him?”

“Well, you killed him. I knew you wouldn’t see what he did as just business,” said Lightning. “You were going to have justice. You’re really on the straight and narrow and loyal to what you believe in.” She shrugged. “I’m surprised, honestly. Most people break and turn into criminals, just to survive. Well, not literal criminals, but you know what I mean.”

What if Lightning was only guessing? What if she only assumed Stratus had squealed because Rainbow had shot him down, even accidentally. Apparently, from her cockpit it hadn’t looked like an accident. What if Lightning was wrong and it was actually someone else? What if no one had actually ratted her out and Rainbow had just been caught through dumb luck?

But then why would Lion Heart tell her it was Lightning Dust?

“So did you break? Are you a criminal?” Rainbow asked.

Lightning’s casual manner instantly sobered. After a moment, she said, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“I wouldn’t sell you out,” said Rainbow.

Lightning looked at her. “I know.”

Chapter 14

The conversation with Lightning had only spread Rainbow’s confusion. As Lightning had observed, Rainbow - despite her name - tended to see things very black and white. But now, it felt like her head was constantly spinning through a kaleidoscope.

Why did Lion Heart tell Rainbow that Lightning had sold her out when she tried to escape? Did Lightning? If not her, who? Anyone? If Lightning knew or suspected that Stratus had actually been the snitch, did anyone else think the same?

The two most likely explanations were either that Lion Heart wanted Rainbow to fight Lightning, or that Lightning really had been the snitch. Though if she were considering every possibility, Rainbow had to admit the two weren’t mutually exclusive. Maybe both were true. Not to mention a multitude of other, less likely but possible, scenarios.

Rainbow, through much gritting of her teeth and reluctance, had been prepared to forgive Lightning in the name of friendship. Somehow, finding out the situation was more complicated actually made that more difficult. Why did things have to be so many shades of grey?

At least soccer was still simple. Rainbow was healing and able to get back her full range of motion without tearing her wounds open again. She noticed, though, that her ribs were starting to show through her skin. The recovery had cost her a couple meals, or what passed for meals around here, though her weight had been dropping since she arrived. She hadn’t even had that much weight to lose. She was almost getting to what some of her fancier friends would call gaunt.

As she kicked the soccer ball around with Striker, she asked, “Did we ever find out anything about that drone?”

“Over at the HQ, they said it wasn’t the UTA.” He shrugged.

“What were you doing at the HQ?”

“I didn’t go in.”

Rainbow thought about it. There were still other possibilities. The drone could have come from anywhere. She didn’t want to get her hopes up on the mere assumption that there might be a SEAL team or something out there somewhere. It sure would be nice if there were, though.

“So how would you go about getting inside?” she asked.

Striker glanced at her and then around. “It would be a bad idea to try. They know who we are and that we’re not supposed to be there. You’d either have to sneak in or somehow get someone to do it for you.”

Rainbow considered it. “How good are you at sneaking?”

Striker flashed a brief grin, dribbling the ball between his feet. “Back in Brazil, I spent a lot of time in the jungle, usually just playing or something. I like to think I retained some of it. However,” his tone turned serious “you know what the price of failure is. It’s high.”

Rainbow wanted to ask him if he was prepared to pay it. She wasn’t sure how she would respond when he told her, no matter what reply he gave.

She liked Striker. That actually surprised her, that she could appreciate someone else in this hellhole. Then again, she’d appreciated Angels.

Rainbow quickly forced that thought away. Much as she wanted to, Angels had left now and couldn’t help Rainbow. She consciously avoided thinking about what might had become of Angels.

At least Striker was likeable. Of course, Rainbow might like Lightning too, if it weren’t for the potential, as-yet unproven backstabbing. Rainbow reviewed the others in her mind. Kiel was withdrawn and kind of old, but not a bad guy. She found herself tolerating Pug more the longer he didn’t speak to her, but knew that wasn’t a proper way to evaluate a relationship. Pantera resented her, probably. Rainbow didn’t defer to her attempts at leadership or the psuedomystical vibe she tried to present. The others, Vapor and Sky, she hadn’t gotten to know well enough to judge.

Rainbow frowned inwardly as she still tried to keep up with the ball. The rest of the pilots didn’t seem to be doing much to try and escape or subvert their captors. Did they need prodding in that direction? Was Rainbow also going to have to assume a leadership role in addition to her other efforts? Of course, maybe the others were looking for ways to escape but they didn’t trust her enough to let her know. Wasn’t getting publically whipped good enough to show that she wanted to get out of here? What else did she need to do to convince them of her loyalty?

Though, Rainbow could see the problem. How could she trust them? Considering them innocent until proven guilty, taking a simple leap of faith to trust them, would be unwise, especially if the penalty for them betraying her could very well be Rainbow’s death.

She would have to build the friendship slowly, being absolutely sure they were on her side. Rainbow wished again that her friends from home were here. But she was alone. She was going to have to manage all aspects of friendship herself.

Trusting in herself to pull it off might be even harder.

She didn’t want to, but she was going to have to talk more, and more often, to everyone. Rainbow Dash, social butterfly. The conversations were going to be awkward. They might not even work.

Rainbow still had almost ninety missions to fly, though she wasn’t convinced the C-130 would actually take her home at the end. She either had to figure out how to escape before then, or do like Angels had and throw herself to the assumption the UTA would actually keep their word.

Rainbow went to bed that evening still turning the problem over in her mind. She estimated it would take at least three months, though probably longer, before she got close to one hundred missions. But there was the ever present threat that she could be killed in combat well before then, not to mention wanting to escape the UTA sooner rather than later.

Still, three months sounded like a long time, but establishing true friendships from scratch would be no easy feat. Especially considering that if her magic plan were to succeed, those relationships would likely need to be top-tier love and tolerance, not just refraining from active hostility.

She went to sleep, hoping a plan would come to her.

It was still dark when she woke up. Rainbow realized a noise had awakened her. It sounded like someone knocking on the door.

She turned her head, seeing Lightning’s eyes open in the dark. She’d heard it, too.

“What was that?” Sky’s voice asked the darkened bunkhouse. His feet hit the floor and he shuffled over to the light switch, fumbling across the wall for it.

The sound had evidently awakened the others, too, but there were still a few groans as the lights came on at full brightness. Rainbow looked to Sky, who stood near the door. He bent over, and picked something up from the floor.

Everyone got out of bed and crowded around. Sky held a map and a laminated card, which most assuredly had not been there when the pilots went to bed.

“This is…” Lightning unfolded the map, which was quite large and made of some sort of tough, waxy material. She didn’t complete the sentence. She didn’t need to. It was clearly a map of southern Africa, centered on Talongo.

Sky was looking at the card that had come with the map. “What the heck is this?”

Rainbow had a look.

``` Designated Area of Recovery (baseline): 7.5332S 30.2188E

Word: Hawkbill

Letter: L

Number: 22

Duress: Feather

SARNEG: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 S C U B A D I V E R ```

The card also listed several frequencies.

“Scubadiver?” said Striker.

Rainbow didn’t know what that meant, or who could have possibly left these gifts, but her suspicion of “a SEAL team” grew slightly.

Chapter 15

The knock on the door that had awakened the pilots in the middle of the night couldn’t have been random. Someone had left them a map and code phrases and wanted them to know.

After the revelation with the gifts, Pantera opened the door and looked out. Rainbow wasn’t sure what she was expecting to see. Whoever had knocked was long gone, otherwise why wouldn’t they have introduced themselves?

Pantera closed the door again and turned to face the group. Keeping her voice down, she said, “Where could this have come from?”

No one had a very good answer. Rainbow knew who she wanted to have her back, but had no proof.

“We have to turn this in,” said Kiel, whispering, but everyone heard.

“Are you kidding?!” responded Rainbow, barely able to keep her voice in check.

“If they find this,” said Kiel. He looked around at all of them, meeting their eyes. “Or if someone tells them we have it - we’re all dead.”

Rainbow fought it through her head, but reluctantly realized he was right. The eight of them could stand together, but if only one of them wished for the reward of turning in deserters, they would all go down.

“But we could go tonight, right now!” protested Sky, not keeping his voice down.

“Unless this is a trap,” Pantera pointed out.

There was that possibility, too. But...Rainbow was suddenly unwilling to believe that. Why would the UTA give them a map? They might have been confident in their ability to catch deserters lured to escape by the promise of outside help, but still, why take the chance in allowing them to see the map?

She perched on a knife edge. Should she say something?

“I don’t think it’s a trap,” said Lightning.

“I do,” said Pug.

Kiel looked around. “Shall we vote? All in favor of turning this in.”

Kiel, Pantera, Pug, and Striker raised their hands.

“And in favor of escaping?”

Lightning and Sky raised their hands. Seeing Sky, Vapor raised hers.

Rainbow didn’t vote. But even if she had, the score would only be tied. That was too much division. They needed to work together, as a whole unit, as friends.

There was silence after the vote. Pantera broke it. “Well, let’s go.”

Even if most had voted to hand over the map and codes, all of them still dawdled as long as possible while putting on clothes and shoes. Everyone wanted to take a good long look, to mourn what they were losing...or to memorize it.

The group trooped out of the bunkhouse into the night. Surprising them all, they actually made it to the headquarters building without being intercepted by a roving patrol. Pantera knocked on the door. The slit opened and eyes peered out.

“We have escape materials to turn in,” Pantera said.

“What are you talking about?” It sounded like Clash’s voice.

Rainbow knew then. The UTA had not planted the map and codes. It was no trap. Friendly forces wanted them to escape, and they had just thrown it away.

The faces around her appeared to realize it, too. But now, there was no taking it back.

The door opened. Armed soldiers came out, surrounding them. Pantera explained what had happened, her voice sounding like she was a child explaining a misdeed to a parent.

At least they didn’t receive any punishment. Clash took the things from them and told them to leave.

Rainbow spared a glance through the open door into the building, but saw nothing of value. Of course they wouldn’t keep anything valuable like maps within sight. And now, the map they’d had was gone, too.

The pilots walked back to the bunkhouse in silence. Rainbow glanced around. Everyone wore various expressions. Regret. Worry. Anger.

Sky was the most obviously exasperated in the group. Rainbow hung back to where he was walking with Vapor. She said quietly, “Don’t do anything stupid.”

He threw a look at her. “Have you ever tried to escape?”

She threw it right back. “Yes. And it didn’t work because I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t have enough help.”

“Do you want us to just rot in here, waiting around?”

He had a point. And Rainbow knew there was no answer that would satisfy him. None that would really satisfy her, either, now that she thought about it.

Vapor looked worriedly between Sky and Rainbow. “Could we...make a plan?”

“Be careful who you say that to,” said Rainbow. “Selling out deserters gets people a mission off of their count.”

“So who are we supposed to trust?” said Sky.

Rainbow wanted to say, “trust me.” But could she, without sounding like a hypocrite? She hadn’t stood with Sky on the vote to escape.

“Talk to me,” said Rainbow. That was as good as she could do. For now, anyway.

The next morning, before strapping in for a mission, Rainbow went to find Soarin’. He listened to her description of the items found in the bunkhouse. She told him her theories on how it had gotten there.

“It sounds like an evasion chart and search and rescue information,” he said. “But if someone was able to get into base to leave it, why not just pull you out then and there?”

It was a good question, and now that it had been asked, Rainbow felt somewhat slighted. Who was badass enough to sneak onto a UTA base but not willing or able to make a rescue?

Though it didn’t make much sense, maybe whoever it was wanted them to help themselves. Could it be a double agent working inside the UTA? Her mind raced at the possibility that there was someone on base hiding in plain sight that could help. Whatever the case, Rainbow tried to keep the information the gifts provided fresh in her mind.

The map, what Rainbow had remembered of it, might have indicated the location of Manatada air base, and she mentally kicked herself for not searching for it before the map was gone. She had glanced at the coordinates listed on the card that had appeared with the map. Roughly, she knew it was on the eastern border of Talongo, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, which bordered several countries. Was it a safe haven? A pickup point? Was anyone waiting there now?

She figured that if pressed, the others could probably give her a better idea of where the base was located, which would allow her to determine how far to the location of the coordinates. However, no matter the distance, she was skeptical if the UTA would ever allow the planes to be loaded with enough fuel to get there.

Rainbow considered it as Jubi the inherited mechanic helped her into her g-suit. The suit was uncomfortable, not the least because it was sized to fit Angels.

She strapped in and did a radio check with the others. It was the first flight for Sky and Vapor. It was fortunate that the UTA practiced relaxed radio comms, or she wasn’t confident that the two of them could remember what they learned in flight school.

Rainbow frowned. What had the others thought about her, when she first arrived? She’d proven her abilities now, but someone needed to give Sky and Vapor the benefit of the doubt. As a friend would.

The group of them got airborne and formed up. They had to stay slow for Vapor’s benefit in the Tucano. Rainbow looked around, since she had time. It was a nice day, with clouds thinly scattered below. She made a mental note to look outside as often as possible. Who knew, maybe she would see something interesting.

That, or maybe see something before it saw her.

Rainbow let her eyes move, brain turning inward for a moment. The mysterious map was still at the forefront of her mind.

She looked out at the planes around her, and then, with some deliberation, reached for the radio controls. There had been a couple of frequencies listed on the laminated card with the map. Rainbow was no scholar, but she had a knack for remembering things related to flying. She tried one of the freqs that her radio could reach.

There was silence. Rainbow listened, knowing she didn’t have much time before they reached the mission area or somebody tried to contact her on the UTA frequency.

Nothing appeared to be happening on this channel. Rainbow tried, “Hello?”

Silence. But after a few seconds, a voice replied, “What is your business?”

Rainbow’s pulse quickened. The replying voice might have been female, but beyond that not much could be discerned through the radio static. It was definitely a long range contact. Could it be coming all the way from the rescue coordinates?

Rainbow said the first thing on her mind. “I’ve been kidnapped.”

More silence before the reply. “Unless you have a reason to be on this frequency, leave it alone.”

“But I need help!”

“Don’t we all. This channel needs to remain clear. Don’t use it again.”

“Are you even listening to me?!” Rainbow shouted.

Music started to play, but Rainbow shouted above it. “Wait! I’m an American citizen, my name is Rainbow Dash, I was kidnapped from college three weeks ago!”

The volume only increased, effectively drowning any conversation on the channel. It sounded like Creedence Clearwater Revival. Rainbow had no idea if her message had gotten through.

“Hello?” Rainbow tried.

There was no reply.

She slammed her hand on the MiG’s instrument panel in frustration. It was made to Soviet specifications and was unharmed.

Who could have left the map? Why didn’t they want her on this frequency? It didn’t make any sense to Rainbow. From the radio instruction she’d received as part of flight school, identifying yourself was standard. If she’d been flying a legitimate plane, she’d have given her number. The other station hadn’t said who they were, and did not ask who she was. In fact, they’d seemed to actively oppose her telling. The music was still playing.

Rainbow frowned. Why would they provide that frequency but then not want her to say anything?

Chapter 16

Soarin’, once again, provided answers.

“Maybe the people on the radio, if they were actually trying to make a rescue, didn’t want you to give away what you knew on an open channel,” he suggested. “Your name, or some of the information on the search and rescue card, could have compromised whoever left those things.”

“Well, it’s already compromised,” Rainbow pointed out. “The UTA have the card and the map now.”

“True, but whoever was on the radio doesn’t know that.”

Rainbow’s stomach fell. If they were potential rescuers, she might have increased the danger to them and reduced the potential of her own rescue.

There was nothing she could do but harden her resolve to make friends and get herself and them out of here. It was the only choice Rainbow saw.

They flew again. Pantera wasn’t on the mission, leaving Kiel to lead. His style was much different, though at least he and Rainbow weren’t sniping at each other.

Rainbow sought out the channel where she’d had the brief, frustrating conversation the day before. It had stopped playing music, but no one answered her call.

Disappointed, though unsure what she would have said, Rainbow glanced at the sky around her plane. The six of them held a loose formation.

The mission today was in support of a heavy ground assault by UTA. As the approached the target area, Kiel called the ground controller of the day, Warthog. Based on the conversation, it seemed like they would be going home with empty pylons.

The fighting today was along a deep wash, where water probably ran after a heavy storm. It was bush fighting, but the high embankments and debris from floods provided cover. With the narrow and sloped terrain, it was going to be difficult to get angles for strafing. Well, that’s what bombs were for.

Kiel rolled in first and planted his weapons on Freedom Army positions ahead of the advancing UTA, throwing smoke and dust into the air. Taking a high overwatch position, he then directed the others in fulfilling Warthog’s requests.

There had been a few pops and cracks of ground fire. Rainbow could see the tracers reaching into the sky, but they were disorganized. Kiel next directed Rainbow to escort Vapor in.

“I-I’d much rather do it with Five,” said Vapor.

“Yeah,” put in Sky.

“Acknowledged, but we need someone with more experience,” Kiel came back. Rainbow and Vapor started down.

Rainbow felt good about her bomb release. They hit forward of UTA advances, allowing them to keep rolling forward down the dry wash. As she pulled off the target, she craned her neck to see Vapor’s effort.

The Tucano seemed to rock a lot, avoiding either real or imaginary tracers. It was still steady enough when the bombs came off. It wasn’t a perfect hit, but still effective. Vapor was a better pilot than her attitude implied.

“Three, Five,” Kiel ordered.

Sky flubbed it. His bombs didn’t actually hit UTA troops, but based on Warthog’s angry screaming, it was a near miss. Fortunately, Striker had actually hit the target.

“Next time, bring pilots who can actually fly!” Warhog shouted.

“Oh, there won’t be a next time,” said another voice, one that none of them recognized. Though the radio made it scratchy and hard to identify, the words were clear enough and the tone wasn’t friendly. “Patriot, I’m putting you on notice: I’m coming for you.”

“Get off this channel,” said Warthog tersely. “Who is this?”

The voice laughed. The evil kind, not the happy kind. Rainbow would know.

Once finished laughing, In response to Warthog, the voice replied, “This is Death.”

“Two, get on it,” Kiel broke in, his tone annoyed more than anything.

“Have your fun today,” said Death. “None of you know the peril you are in. Don’t worry. When we meet, I’ll show you.”

Pug finished his run. The planes hung out for a few more minutes, but the fuel ran low and they turned back for base.

On the way, Sky spoke up. “What the heck happened back there?”

“It’s hard to use encrypted radios, what with the many different kinds of planes and ground radios. So we don’t use encryption. But that means anyone can hear what we’re saying,” explained Kiel. “So that’s why we use callsigns. Maybe it’s time to retire Patriot, though changing it won’t fool anyone for long.”

“‘Death,’ really?” said Pug. “What kind of superstitious idiots does he think we are?”

“I thought it sounded like a woman,” said Striker.

Rainbow wasn’t sure who to agree with. Then again, Rainbow herself wasn’t exactly known for having a feminine voice.

“They might be trying to bring back the reputation of Freedom Army’s best pilot,” said Kiel. “But they’re gone. Pan-pardon me, our friend in the Alpha Jet would know more, though I think it’s still before her time. All I know is Death - the original at least - is dead.”

Back at base, Pantera confirmed the story. “It was before my time, but the rumors were still fresh when I arrived here. The Freedom Army had somehow gotten their hands on a few MiG-23’s. They were the hottest fighters around and the pilots must have thought highly of themselves. They used the callsign Death. They tried to play it up, to say that Death was an ace pilot. They would claim Death themselves was flying even when they weren’t.”

“What happened to them?” Rainbow asked.

“It was a fierce battle. We lost several people. But we won, and since then the Freedom Army hasn’t really challenged us in the air.” Pantera nodded to Rainbow’s inherited Fishbed. “Our top pilot was Angels. She carried the day.”

“Any idea if this new Death is for real?” Rainbow asked.

Pantera looked grimmer than Rainbow had ever seen her. “We’ll find out.”

It was only after Rainbow had walked away that she realized she had made the jump to candid conversation with Pantera. They’d both apparently decided that it was better to have a friend. Well, that was one down.

That just left the hostile Pug and the potentially untrustworthy Lightning to make up with. Both of them, though, were probably more likely to accept the reality of the magic of friendship than old man Kiel. Rainbow would have to figure out how to get Sky with the program. Vapor should be easier.

With that in mind, she went to see the two of them. Or tried to. Alarms suddenly blared all over base. Rainbow had never heard them before, but logically assumed it meant danger. Caught in the open, she hesitated, but ran for the hangar.

The roar of a distant rocket motor caught her attention. She had never heard that before either. One of the SA-6 units parked outside of base was firing. The missile streaked away, vanishing into the distance.

Soarin’ stepped out of the hangar, looking at the smoke trail. Rainbow stopped beside him, catching her breath.

“Do you know anything about that?” he asked.

“Not a thing.”

Soarin’ was quiet for a moment. “The last time the Freedom Army tried attacking us here, they actually had a functioning air force. They had some MiG-23’s.”

“Death?”

His eyebrows went up. “How’d you know?”

She told him the story. Soarin’ contemplated it. “Well, that’s a coincidence, sure enough, but not proof.”

“Still, what if we have to fight MiG-23’s?”

Soarin’ tilted his head in the direction of Rainbow’s jet. “You have a little higher top speed, though the Flogger might accelerate a little better. The Flogger also doesn’t handle as well as you might think, even with the swing wings. The biggest threat is going to be if they have long range missiles to go with their radar.”

The alarms abruptly stopped. Soarin’ lowered his voice appropriately. “Jump them if you can. That’ll be hard to do because their radars are better. Use your numbers, because we probably have more than them.”

“I heard last time there was a big fight.”

Soarin’ nodded, catching her drift. “There was a lot of turnover then. The Tucano wasn’t my first airplane. You weren’t my first pilot.”

There was a silence.

Awkward question that it was, it would be more awkward to let the silence grow. Rainbow asked, “What would you do to fly again?”

“Anything but fight for the UTA.”

Soarin’ might be the hardest to convince about magic, but Rainbow got the feeling that he would be a pegasus variant of ponying up, like her. That was slightly amusing to picture. It also reminded her that even if she got the others’ friendship magic working, not all of them might have wings. She’d have to plan some other way to get them out.

But first was the all-important step of just getting the magic working.

Chapter 17

The alarms shook Rainbow awake. Two danger calls in two days? She debated the safest place to be, but ultimately decided the hangar would at least get her closer to taking off if she needed to.

Rainbow usually slept a little later than most. This was despite sleep being one of the few respites from life indentured at a paramilitary base in Africa.

She hadn’t seen or heard any more missile launches by the time she got to the hangar. Was it not an air attack? Did that mean it was a ground attack? Somehow, that frightened her more.

And for good reason. Rainbow turned, trying to keep watch for any invading troops, but instead found herself staring at a pair of lions.

Quick as her name, she dashed straight up the MiG’s ladder and into the cockpit, slamming the canopy closed.

The lions, both of them female Rainbow saw, regarded her for a moment and then moved on. She breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, that was probably a good enough reason to call a base alert.

She heard pops of gunfire in the distance. Rainbow felt a little sorry for the lions, but, well, she wasn’t sitting here in her plane for no reason.

The gunfire kept going, and was getting closer.

Two more lions, one of them a male with a full mane, ran by. He had blood on his mouth.

Rainbow decided to sit still a while longer.

A few minutes passed and the alarm stopped. Still cautious, Rainbow climbed down and left the hangar.

She spotted a lump on the runway. The poor thing had probably had no cover out in the open and made easy pickings. Over near the kitchen she saw another. Soldiers stood around it. One of them was already skinning the beast. Of course, when it came to warlord mercenaries, what was one count of poaching a protected species?

Rainbow turned, spotting human bodies for the first time. Soldiers near the gate had been killed first, not surprisingly. The lions had apparently made their way in from there.

Rainbow walked by a group of soldiers, passing parallel to the hangar and headed for the Flyers Club. There was the creak of metal, drawing Rainbow’s attention upwards. The male lion perched on the peaked roof of the hangar, where it came down to the corner. He was fifteen feet over her head, streaked with blood, and looking right at her.

Rainbow started to move just as the lion leaped. She saw the claws and teeth coming at her in slow motion. Her attention was so focused that she didn’t even notice that the soldiers had been watching the whole thing.

Bullets streaked by. The distinctive crack as they broke the sound barrier in front of Rainbow’s face was louder than the distant muzzle blast. It wasn’t easy hitting a target like a lion while it was falling through the air, but enough AK-47’s could solve problems like that.

The lion didn’t land on Rainbow, but its blood did. The big cat was dead before it hit the ground.

She skidded to a halt a few feet away, legs still tense for action. The lion was still. Rainbow raised her hands, flecked in blood. It felt like some had gotten on her face.

The soldiers laughed at her. Rainbow realized she must have been played, just like the lion. Sure, the initial incursion by the pride probably had been real, but they must have cornered the last one on the roof and just waited for someone to come along and bait it down.

The skinner came over and pulled out a rusty set of pliers. He yanked the lion’s claws and gave them to Rainbow, grinning.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with these?” Rainbow demanded.

Rainbow sat in the Flyers Club. She’d cleaned herself up, or as clean as anyone could ever get around here.

The others seemed excited somehow, talking a lot. Granted, lions killing a few of the UTA soldiers was exciting. None of them had gotten as good of a look at the action as Rainbow, and she definitely noticed the difference in their attitudes.

Rainbow remembered the attitudes of the soldiers that had shot the lion in front of her. Well, technically in the air above her. They hadn’t been afraid at all. In fact, they’d made a game out of it. A lion could kill a man with the element of surprise. But a lot of men with guns had such an advantage they thought the hunt was sport.

Rainbow shook her head. The lesson she should take from that was strength in numbers. She looked around at the rest of the room.

Sky was talking to Pug. The two of them had such a similar personality that it was slightly amazing they could exist in the room together. Vapor had been left behind, sitting near Rainbow. Vapor kept stealing glances at her.

“Is there something on my face?” Rainbow asked.

“You, uh…” Vapor pointed to her own cheek.

Rainbow felt, finding a drop of crusty dried blood that she quickly scraped off. Her face flushed, but she wasn’t sure why. There hadn’t been a mirror available to ensure her face was perfectly washed. “Thanks.”

“I can’t believe that happened to you,” said Vapor.

Rainbow gestured to the room. “After all this, I kind of stopped keeping score about what karma owed me.” It was true, she realized. And Rainbow was someone who kept scores.

Vapor nodded. Even with the conversation, it was slightly amazing how withdrawn she was.

“So you two were at flight school together?” said Rainbow. She knew the answer, but it was the first topic she seized to keep the conversation going.

“That’s right. We’ve been friends forever.” Vapor actually smiled. Not a real smile, but her lips turned up enough to count for it. None of them really smiled much here.

“Friends are good,” Rainbow agreed, happy to be on the topic. She came up short, though. What else could she say? Speeches weren’t really her thing.

She didn’t need to, though. She saw the look Vapor gave Sky. There was a pause in the conversation across the room. Sky glanced around, saw Vapor, and sent a genuine smile her away before turning around to start talking again.

The two of them weren’t good for each other, the mouse and the loudmouth, but that didn’t mean they weren’t friends with an honest appreciation for each other. Even Rainbow could see that.

Seeing it was the best part of her day so far. Friendship could exist, even in a place like this.

Of course, Rainbow’s day swung like a pendulum back to being terrible. She and the others were thrown into a last-minute mission that afternoon. They were riding off to rescue some UTA unit that was outgunned.

Pantera led. Lightning, Striker, Rainbow, Sky, and Vapor filled out the rest. The mission was a relatively short hop to the north. As they flew, Rainbow saw smoke clouds gathering on the horizon.

A ground controller named Puma was literally screaming for help. Unfortunately, what he said didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Rainbow caught the word “monsters.”

They arrived overhead a bush fire. Only occasionally could they see the ground through billowing clouds of smoke. Rainbow could barely make out the remains of a village. The fire seemed to have spread downwind of it.

Buildings had been destroyed and debris littered the ground. The swath of destruction looked like a cone shape, starting from a sharp point just outside the village and smearing into a wider arc, nearly bisecting the settlement. Whatever had happened, it flattened buildings and scorched the savannah. The wind had carried the fire beyond that.

Rainbow frowned. She was reminded of another, earlier incident. That one hadn’t spread to a full-on fire. What could have caused it?

No time to ponder, there was a mission. Pantera managed to glean enough about Puma’s position to not bomb them, but that didn’t provide a lot of information about what else was going on.

“Forget it,” Pantera muttered. There wasn’t fuel to hang around much longer. She started calling out targets in a circle around Puma. They could say they tried.

Rainbow hit her target. Weapons off, she returned to altitude and circled until the others formed up to head back.

They left the smoke behind. Puma called for help again, but there was nothing to give. Bombing was one thing, strafing through smoke was a good way to run straight into the ground. Besides, if he was really up against monsters, what were the pilots supposed to do? Rainbow snorted. Like they were actually monsters. The soldiers were still alive, weren’t they?

“A whole platoon on khat, or something worse,” Pantera grumbled.

Rainbow had heard of khat. It was some kind of plant that some of the guards chewed. It was apparently amphetamine-like and easy to get in Africa.

As they headed back for base, Rainbow looked down and did a double-take. “Two o’clock low.” The ScanEagle was back.

“On it!” said Sky, immediately putting his Hunter into a dive.

“Hang on,” said Lightning.

“If you can even hit it,” said Pantera. Rainbow didn’t think Sky could, either. Even a good pilot would have trouble.

They watched from altitude. Sure enough, Sky’s first pass went wide. He turned, pulling the Hunter for as many g’s as it would give him.

A missile suddenly leaped out of the grass, smoke trail reaching for the low-flying jet like a snake strike. It slammed into the Hunter’s tail, and in the middle of a turn there was nothing that could be done.

Sky might have been able to eject, but a second was all he had, and he missed his opportunity. The jet slammed into the ground, cartwheeling and disintegrating into a fireball.

“Sky!” Vapor screamed.

As the shock wore off, Rainbow belatedly realized what must have happened. It stood to reason that any force well-equipped enough to have modern drones also probably had MANPADS. Maybe they had even been intentionally using the ScanEagle as bait.

No, probably unlikely, she decided. They’d waited to fire until the jet had already attacked the drone. That didn’t make them less dangerous, but might imply they followed rules of engagement, which automatically made whoever they were a lot more trustworthy than the UTA.

“There’s nothing we can do now,” said Pantera, quietly. She led the vector back towards base.

Rainbow throttled back and flew on Vapor’s wing. Her head was down. Rainbow looked over, wondering if she could see outside to see where she was going.

As Rainbow watched, Vapor raised her head. She seemed surprised that Rainbow was so close.

“Let’s go back,” said Rainbow.

She almost said, “You need to rest.” She almost said, “You’ll feel better.” She wanted to say anything, but she knew nothing she could say would actually help Vapor. They were just words. But Rainbow wanted Vapor to know that she was there for her.

Vapor looked at her. She looked over her other shoulder, towards the open sky.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“You can’t go,” said Rainbow. “We...we’re in this together!”

“I’m sorry,” Vapor repeated, and banked away.

“Is she leaving?” called Pantera.

Rainbow stared as the Tucano broke from the formation. “You can’t do that!”

Vapor did not reply.

“You’re closest, Four,” said Lightning.

Rainbow glanced over her shoulder at the rest of them.

“If you don’t stop her, it’ll be on you!” Pantera warned. “If the UTA hears you just let her go!”

“We could say…” Rainbow swallowed. “We could say they were both shot down.”

Her words were hollow. She couldn’t trust that one of them wouldn’t go straight to the UTA. Pantera, despite her attitude turnaround, might. Lightning definitely might. Would Striker?

Rainbow considered the two missiles under her wings and the loaded cannon ready to go. Three opponents. Could she do it? Would all three of them fight her?

She looked at Vapor’s plane shrinking in the distance. The life of one versus the life of three. Even if those three hadn’t chosen to try for freedom.

“We could go with her,” said Rainbow.

“We don’t have the fuel to go anywhere,” said Striker, after a long moment.

He was right. The gauge on Rainbow’s instrument panel was nearly empty already.

She pushed the stick over and turned after Vapor.

“Come back,” she called. “You can’t do this!”

Vapor didn’t reply. Rainbow already knew that nothing she could say would change that.

She blinked, the reticle in her jet’s HUD difficult to see through the tears in her eyes. But the steady tone of the missiles growling in her ear meant she didn’t have to.

If Rainbow had thought about it, she chose the missile because it was less personal than guns. But she didn’t think about it. She couldn’t.

Her thumb rested on the button, applying pressure slowly until it suddenly became too much. With a noise Rainbow could hear over her own jet engine, the missile reached out on a trail of white smoke. It was too close to miss. The explosion tore Vapor’s aircraft from the sky. Rainbow couldn’t look.

The radio remained silent.

Rainbow landed badly. The sturdy Soviet MiG was unaffected, but she could have easily killed herself if she’d been any rougher. She wiped her eyes, strangely unfazed by the thought.

She stopped at the hangar and climbed down from the jet as if on autopilot herself. Jubi was at the foot of the ladder.

“Don’t,” she said. “Not this one.”

He glanced briefly at the crosses painted under the cockpit, but said nothing.

Rainbow walked towards the bunkhouse. She wanted to do anything that wasn’t thinking. She walked by the empty spot in the hangar. Soarin’ stood there, arms crossed. Their eyes didn’t meet. It hadn’t been his first plane. It hadn’t been his first pilot.

She closed her eyes and swallowed. Her gaze didn’t reach up much past her feet all the way to her bed, where she lay down on her face.

Rainbow had stopped crying, even though that seemed like it might feel better. She rolled over. Her eyes didn’t want to close. Was she going to suffer through this?

Why did she have to? What else could she have done? How could it be that killing a friend had been her best option?

She sat up, uncomfortable in any position. She sat at the edge of the bed, hands clasped and head down. Her breath hitched, as if she were going to cry again.

Rainbow got up. She sucked in a breath, now recognizing the surging anger overcoming the grief. How could this happen? How had no one ever realized the UTA was kidnapping people?

She paced, teeth together and lips parted. How had she become ensnared in this sick game of a war? How could evil like Lion Heart be allowed to exist?

Rainbow stopped, breathing hard and shoulders heaving. Her fists clenched. Heat seemed to sweep through her body. If Lion Heart were here, no matter what Rainbow might be up against - bodyguards, guns - she would take her fist and-

An electric streak of magenta shot forward, slamming into the wall hard enough to rattle the entire building. The punch went straight through the particle board, plywood, and tin siding, fragments of each exploding outwards.

Rainbow jerked her hand back, the iridescence fading from her skin as her surprise overrrode her emotion.

Her eyes went wide. How did that happen?

Chapter 18

The UTA soldiers were rather bemused by the strange hole blown right through the wall of the bunkhouse. Rainbow didn’t say how it had happened, to anyone.

The UTA didn’t do anything, because the building was where the pilots slept and nobody cared what condition it was in. Rainbow managed to convince Soarin’ to install a patch of metal on the outside the next morning.

“How did this happen?” he asked as he worked. Rainbow held a few tools for him, in replacement for his mangled hand.

“Eh…” she said. Now didn’t seem like a good time to mention that it was magic. Her magic.

At least, she thought so. But without a way of actually controlling it and calling on it at will, was it really? Subsequent experiments she’d tried had been utter failures. Rainbow wasn’t sure if she had to be genuinely emotional, or if the outburst had been a one-time thing.

Neither were good options. She’d have to murder another friend. Either that, or the magic had been a fluke.

Well, at least she didn’t know for sure that there weren’t other options. There was a time when she could “pony up” when she was playing guitar in a rock band with her friends.

The key phrase there was probably “with friends.” Whatever had happened with Rainbow after Vapor Trail...it felt entirely wrong.

Was this the same magic she’d shared with her friends?

If not, was it still good enough to get her out of here?

Rainbow had almost forgotten her five mission reduction for shooting down a deserter. The next time she remembered was when she sat down in the cockpit and mentally counted. She was almost to twenty.

Pantera was at ninety. Kiel was somewhere in the seventies, Lightning in the fifties, Pug in the forties, Striker in the thirties.

It was hard to believe it was down to just the six of them. In the month Rainbow had been here, four people she knew were gone. Three had been killed on the battlefield. Rainbow was responsible for two of them.

As she sat there exploring dangerous feelings, she was interrupted by the sound of a jet. Looking out the hangar door, a fighter came in for a landing. Rainbow scrutinized it. The plane appeared to be a Mirage F1 in Libyan markings.

“Dibs!” called Lightning over the radio.

“You may be disappointed,” said a voice. “I’m going to be keeping this one for myself.”

It must be Wind Rider, Rainbow realized. Keeping it for himself? Was he flying with them now?

Yes, as it turned out. Wind Rider had gotten his hands on one of the best jets on the continent and come to lead the ragtag group of indentured pilots. Perhaps Lion Heart was a little unsettled by losing two jets on the same day that ground troops had reported “monsters.”

Wind Rider refueled and took off again with the rest. They were flying by following him, rather than with hasty time/distance directions. Apparently Lion Heart was also considering the attempted escape and had decided to deny the pilots any prior knowledge of their missions until after they had taken off.

“There’s a decent sized city up there,” said Wind Rider over the radio as they flew. He pointedly didn’t tell them where or even what it was called. “We’re pushing in today and so the Freedom Army is going to be out in force.”

The so-called decent sized city was in fact the largest settlement Rainbow had seen since she’d been in Africa. It wasn’t as big as Ponyville, but not by much.

Buffalo the ground controller called them. “About time. Are you ready, Patriot?”

Rainbow wondered why the callsign still hadn’t been changed.

They were not immediately ordered into ground attack. Capturing buildings intact was apparently the idea.

In the meantime, Wind Rider called, “Pair of bogies moving in from the north. Low.”

They were all still at altitude. Wind Rider lined up and fired a Super 530 missile. “Fox one.”

Being semi-active, the radar still needed to be pointed at the target, and the group followed along behind him as the distance closed.

“Splash one,” said Wind Rider smugly. “Fox one again.”

The distance was closing rapidly. Rainbow’s own radar, though barely functional with a lower target against the ground, showed the remaining contact only five miles away. Her eyes widened - no, it was Russian radar - five kilometers.

Out the cockpit, she saw the trail as Wind Rider’s second missile went by an Su-25 Frogfoot that was coming at them. Why the Soviet attack jet hadn’t changed course, Rainbow couldn’t imagine. Maybe they knew they couldn’t run and had chose to fight. Either way, they would soon realize the error of their ways.

Wind Rider maneuvered to get behind the Su-25 for a heat-seeking missile shot. Rainbow gauged the enemy’s trajectory as probably going right beneath her, just two miles or so lower. She rolled over and pulled into a split-s.

The MiG accelerated like a bullet. To prevent telltail tracers from crossing in front of the Su-25, she pulled the trigger when her gunsight was just behind it, walking the rounds forward.

“Guns,” she called. “Splash one.”

But it was not to be. The Frogfoot started to smoke, and banked away from its course, but didn’t go down. Rainbow belatedly remembered that it was built to do the same job as an A-10, and armored nearly as well.

“Fox two,” Wind Rider called. His missile blew the wing clear off the Su-25 and it spiraled into the buildings below, its own weapons adding to the explosion.

“You’ll have to do a little better than that, Seven,” he said smugly, rejoining the formation.

Rainbow, for her part, was humbled by the too-early call, but had the feeling that he was only rubbing it in because he thought she’d tried to steal his kill.

She didn’t know much about Wind Rider, but he seemed like kind of an asshole on top of being a paid UTA mercenary.

“Buffalo, Freedom air has been taken down,” said Wind Rider.

“Don’t be so sure of that,” a voice broke in.

“Oh really?” said Wind Rider. “I just shot down two of your friends. You want to try your luck?”

“Luck isn’t necessary when one is Death itself.”

“Hi, Death, I’m Wind Rider. Bring it on.”

His words and confidence did not appear to phase the alleged Death. “I will meet you at the time and place of my choosing, as it should be.”

“Coward!”

Death did not reply.

The mission had been relatively uneventful after that and the group returned to base. After landing, Wind Rider turned his jet over to a team of people Rainbow hadn’t seen before and left for the headquarters building.

She taxied to the hangar and shut her jet down. Climbing out of the cockpit, she saw Soarin’ standing there. Rainbow nodded to him. He glanced at the soot around her jet’s gun port.

“I got a piece of a Frogfoot,” she said. “Wind Rider got the other half.”

“I’d actually heard of him, back before all this,” said Soarin’. “He was in the Air Force.”

“What did you think?” asked Rainbow.

“The reason I heard of him was because he was running drugs in the pockets of his flight suits.”

Well, at least Rainbow could still trust her instincts. “But is he a good pilot?”

“Yeah, he is.”

“Better than Angels?”

Soarin’ tilted his head. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

Rainbow grinned. “Better than you?”

Soarin’ chuckled. “Not even close.”

He turned to the MiG. Apparently he was her mechanic again. Rainbow left him to it. She stripped out of her g-suit and headed back for the Flyers Club.

All of them had flown together today, something that had apparently never happened before. Granted, since Rainbow had been there, they’d never had only six kidnapped pilots. They’d also never had a paid pilot with them. Rainbow wondered how many of those they might have. The C-130 crew. Lion Heart’s personal helicopter crew. Did the UTA have any other air assets?

Wind Rider wasn’t there when she arrived. Apparently he didn’t feel like associating with the plebes.

“So what was the deal with Death?” said Rainbow. “You don’t think they’re scared of Wind Rider, do you?”

“He introduced himself, so I’m not sure if they know of each other,” speculated Kiel. “The first Death was gone by the time they hired him.”

“I don’t think Death is real,” said Pug.

“I think I agree,” said Rainbow. “Two taunts and no shows.”

He met her eyes, but looked away. Rainbow decided that the next chance she got, she would have to pull him aside and formally put things right between them. Hopefully it would go well. Then again, what was the worst that could happen? She was trying to rebuilt a bridge that had already burned.

The talk turned to other matters. Nobody, it seemed, wanted to discuss Wind Rider. It had never been said, but Rainbow had noticed none of them ever mentioned sensitive matters in the Flyers Club or in the bunkhouse. Were they wired? Should she assume they were?

Another UTA mindgame. Rainbow left.

Over at the bunkhouse, she sat down on her bed and pulled her shoes off before lying down on her back. She glanced briefly at the hole she’d made in the wall. How to get her magic working…

Rage, or remorse over killing a friend? Actual friendship? What else could have been a factor that day? Rainbow turned it over in her mind. Adrenaline. Combat. Being covered in lion blood.

Rainbow sat up. She’d tossed the handful of lion claws under her bed shortly after receiving them, because they disgusted her. But what if it was the lion blood?

She heaved a sigh and lay back. If it was the lion blood, she was in more trouble than she thought.

Adjusting her position, Rainbow reached out to try and fluff the bedraggled pillow. Her hand brushed something beneath.

She pulled out slip of paper. Holding it up, Rainbow stared at the block letters printed on it.

```

C R A Z Y H O R S E

```

Her eyes cut side to side. The room was empty.

Rainbow crumpled the paper and quickly stuffed it in her pocket.

Chapter 19

Soarin’ and Jubi had newly painted the outline of an iron cross with the full ones on Rainbow’s jet to represent her half-kill. Wind Rider’s Mirage had a full red star on it. Soarin’ seemed to care more than Rainbow. Mostly, she just avoided Wind Rider. She had other things to worry about.

There was still no luck on the topic of magic. Rainbow had even tried lion blood again, but the meager bit left on the claws under her bed had done nothing. Or maybe her attitude just wasn’t right. What might be right still eluded her.

Rainbow kept searching. Running always helped her think, even though she had less and less energy lately. What passed for food kept her and everyone else alive, but it wasn’t really the thriving she was used to. Still, Rainbow realized, she had to give herself every advantage. She ate what she could.

She wasn’t desperate enough to try eating bugs for extra protein. But more - and better! - food would be nice.

So when she stumbled on some flowering vines woven through the fence, she couldn’t help but stop and take a look. To her surprise, she realized they were baby watermelons. She realized this was where her failed escape attempt had taken place.

Looking around, Rainbow carefully unwound the vines from the fence, partially to keep them from being seen, partly to let the watermelons creep across the ground through the tall grass. She was skeptical the golf-ball sized fruit could reach maturity before being discovered, but there was nothing to do but try.

The thought drifted across her mind that the same applied to a lot of things. But where should she start?

There was another mission that afternoon. Another all-pilot sortie. After taking off and getting set on a heading, Rainbow hastily unfolded the crumpled paper from her pocket and held it up.

```

C R A Z Y H O R S E

```

Rainbow dialed in the frequency she still remembered from when the map was left. Silence. She tried, “Hello?”

“I take it you got the message.” It was the same voice from before.

“Yeah.” She wanted to add, “How do you people do that, anyway?” but didn’t think this was the time.

“For authentication, spell your name in alphanumeric, using the SARNEG we provided.”

“Uh…

“A one, b two…”

Rainbow did some quick mental math. R was number eighteen. So one-eight on the CRAZYHORSE alphanumeric was… “Romeo Sierra.”

She finished spelling out her name via number via SARNEG. She was getting antsy that she’d already spent too much time on the frequency and away from the UTA channel. Someone would notice.

The voice came back. “You like rock music?”

What did that have to do with anything? “Yes.”

“Listen to this.” The voice gave her a letter code, which Rainbow translated back to numbers using the SARNEG. She then dialed it in as a frequency. Music was playing.

Did you see any action/did you make any friends?
Would you like some affection/before I leave again?

Rainbow knew the song, but it had been a while.

I been walkin' behind you/since you been able to see
There's never been any reason/for you to think about me

That’s right, it was called Never Been Any Reason.

Did you have any bad dreams/did you break any glass?
Would you be my companion/is there even a chance?

Rainbow liked the song, but she couldn’t quite place the band. Some one-hit wonder.

Bring a good feelin' ain't had in such a long time
Save my life I'm goin' down for the last time

It came to her. The band was called Head East.

Wait…

She flipped back to the other station. “Really?”

“Did you get it?”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow. “I got it. I just don’t know if I’m going to be able to.”

“We’ll be here.”

Even despite the pilots handing over the previous set of codes to the UTA? Whoever this mysterious group was, they’d changed the SARNEG, so apparently they knew the information had been compromised, but the location was the same. Was the UTA not able to reach far enough to hit them there? Were they, whoever they were, powerful enough not to worry about it? Or was “head east” a general direction and they would find her along the way?

“Thank you,” said Rainbow. It was only polite. She flipped back to the UTA channel without waiting for a reply. A good thing, too, as Wind Rider was just spelling out the mission for them.

“We’re doing close air support to the northeast. The trees get thicker over there. There may even be some actual jungle.”

“How are we supposed to spot targets?” Kiel asked.

“Carefully.”

The ground controller, Giraffe, was not amused. “The bush is thick here. I’m almost tempted to have you clear it for us. We can’t even see the enemy.”

Looking down, Rainbow could definitely understand how likely that was. At least she felt safe from ground fire. Whoever was down there probably couldn’t even see the sky, much less get a missile lock.

Giraffe fumbled around and managed to get a flare launched out through the canopy. “Drag one kilometer south of our position. Drop there.”

Wind Rider went first. His bombs hit where Giraffe thought he wanted them, though it was hard to tell with the dense undergrowth.

“I swear this wasn’t here before,” Rainbow heard him mutter on the radio.

Giraffe was able to mark his position once more before running out of flares. The others dropped their bombs into the forest at rough intervals, clearing circular holes out of the vegetation, though much smaller than Rainbow would have guessed. Nature wasn’t having it.

With nothing more they were able to do, the flight headed back.

Circling for landing, Rainbow saw a truck rolling out the base gate. It tore off across the savannah, beelineing for something. She took her mind off it, putting the MiG down.

Within a few minutes of landing, however, the truck was back. It pulled up in front of the hangars as Rainbow was climbing down. Out of the back, soldiers pulled a man in a pocketed khaki vest. He was dirty and sweaty, as if he’d spent a lot time roughing it. He seemed to have, of all things, a striped pageboy hat. They forced him to his knees.

One of the soldiers smashed an expensive-looking camera on the tarmac. “We caught him snooping around.”

“We’re going to have to pick up those pieces or we’ll suck them into an engine,” Soarin’ warned.

Wind Rider walked over, Connor Clash with him. “What do we have here?”

“My name’s Big Shot,” the detainee said. “I work for a nature magazine.” He glanced at the smashed camera and quickly added, “You could have seen my shots of animals, but this moron broke my gear!”

The soldier in question kicked Big Shot in the back. Nobody stopped him. Big Shot sprawled forward, but picked himself up, going back to an upright position on his knees. “Look, I’ve got a satphone. Just let me give my office a call.”

“Nah,” said Wind Rider. He pulled a Glock pistol out of a pocket of his flight harness, racked the slide, and put a bullet in Big Shot’s head. Blood splashed across the pavement. Big Shot’s body fell forward and lay still, blood dribbling out of the wound.

Rainbow was surprised, but, well, not that surprised. More about the speed of the action than the end result.

Though, a creeping horror came over her about just how numb she was to it. Maybe if she’d known him. Maybe if they’d fought together.

His death was still tragic. He seemed innocent enough. Or maybe he was a spy trying to get the kidnapped pilots out, as the UTA seemed so quick to believe. Either way, Rainbow should have been on his side. She should at least feel sorry for him. Even more so than anyone around her. He was more worthy, more innocent of everything.

Wasn’t he? Why didn’t that make him more important in her mind than the other pilots, who she couldn’t fully trust with her life?

I am loyalty. She was true to her comrades, even if some of them would willingly stab her in the back. It wasn’t about how they treated her, it was about what she did for them.

Rainbow blinked away tears. She finally knew what she had to do.

Could Rainbow pull off her plan before Pantera completed her one hundred missions? That probably gave her less than two weeks.

Rainbow lay in bed in the dark. Her eyes were closed, but she was a long way from sleep. Mostly because she didn’t actually have a plan. Understandably, that kept her awake.

There was no idea she’d developed that she considered a possibility higher than the others. Everything had flaws. Everything depended too much on the others. Just because she would stick by them didn’t mean she couldn’t plan on them betraying her if given the opportunity.

Still, the best option might just be shooting Wind Rider in the back with a missile and then convincing the others on the fly to head east. They probably wouldn’t make it all the way to the promised extraction point, but it would get them closer before running out of fuel.

But who could she tell about her plan? Rainbow, through her friends, had come to understand that decisions were best made in groups. She was smart enough to know she wasn’t the smartest.

Maybe she should tell Lightning false information about an escape attempt. Heck, maybe all of them. That would show who she could trust. But no, there would be backlash if the UTA found out they were lying, even unintentionally. She couldn’t do that to them. Rainbow rolled her eyes. And if they UTA didn’t find out they were lying, there could be backlash on her.

Considering her options, of all the people around her, only Soarin’ stood above the rest. He’d at least been actively keeping her alive.

But what could she tell him? What would he think about an aerial escape attempt that he couldn’t be a part of?

The alarms around base suddenly went off. Around the room, pilots were sitting up. Rainbow was already awake. She got up and headed for the door.

Outside, it was still dark. Rainbow’s eyes searched the night for the possible reason for the alarm. Turning in place, she spotted a glow on the horizon. Watching, distant flames leaped up.

She wasn’t too concerned. Not yet, anyway. If the fire even burned that long, it would reach the concrete of the base and die out.

Of course, there was also the possibility that the alarm had been called based on potential enemies that might have started the fire. In that case, they were still pretty far away. Rainbow could just barely see the flames. She estimated it might have been a mile.

Strange how her standards had changed. If it was that far, she was going back to bed.

Author's Note

Chapter 20

The next morning, Rainbow discovered the watermelons had grown large enough to eat. In one day.

This was troubling, because the only thing she could think of that could have caused it was magic. Magic that had apparently passed so closely, yet not touched her.

But the priority of the moment came back and Rainbow picked the three watermelons that were ripe. She hurried back to the bunkhouse, eyes peeled for UTA patrolls.

Reaching the building, she walked in and said, “Who wants some?”

Everyone did, of course. Free watermelon was best watermelon.

However, as they were breaking them open to share, Lightning asked, “Where did you get this?”

“Found them.” Rainbow shrugged. “They were growing near the fence. I can’t believe no one noticed them.”

“They still might think we stole them,” commented Kiel, wiping his mouth and suddenly frowning.

“So we’ll need a way to dispose of the rinds,” said Pantera.

They all ate in silence for a few seconds, stuffing watermelon into their faces just to ensure they got as much as possible before the UTA found out in case Rainbow really had stolen them.

“Just toss them back over the fence, I guess,” said Rainbow. “The grass is tall.”

Everyone seemed to agree on that. The problem then became smuggling the rinds back out when they were finished. They took turns making sure the coast was clear before hustling in small groups to the fence to dispose of the evidence.

There didn’t seem to be many soldiers around today. As she was on her way back from the fence, Rainbow glanced across the runway and spotted a group of them coming out of the headquarters building. Had they been having a meeting? Why?

Some of them seemed kind of surly, based on what Rainbow could see of their distant body language. Bad news?

As she watched, the unmistakable figure of Wind Rider came out. He paused to talk with Connor Clash and then went on his way.

Curious, but not that curious, Rainbow headed for the Flyers Club.

The day passed slowly. Rainbow plotted ways to escape. She came up with plenty. She didn’t have confidence in any of them.

They were called in the late afternoon to hit a village to the north. Strapping in, Rainbow squinted at the gauges in the cockpit. They’d never flown at this time of day. It might be dark by the time they got back.

Wind Rider seemed to realize this and pushed them hard to get up north. This time, it was Striker’s L-39 that lagged behind, despite also being a jet.

The shadows were long as they arrived, the small buildings down below hiding behind each other. There was little time for coordination, and no way to see what they were aiming at, anyway.

At least the MiG’s teal cockpit interior provided some contrast, instead of the dark grey most western fighters used. Rainbow couldn’t understand the Soviets’ fixation on teal, of all things.

Wind Rider made the call to have only half of them drop. The village was pretty well leveled by that point.

They headed back. The setting sun wasn’t quite in Rainbow’s eyes, but she fought it. It took a while for her to realize there was also a plume of smoke on the horizon.

They arrived back overhead the base just as twilight was falling. The smoke was coming from the same area that there had been a fire the previous night. Was it still smoldering and she had just missed it while taking off?

No, as they came closer, Rainbow saw a fresh line of flames. They were still not worryingly close to base, but it was still worrying how they seemed to have sprung up in the short time since she’d left.

The runway was visible enough that she could land, though another few minutes would have made it harder. Rainbow didn’t know whether the lights at the base actually worked.

Turning her jet over to Soarin’, she walked out of the hangar and paused, looking at the fire, far away outside the fence.

Rainbow squinted and took a step forward. Was that a person all the way out there? The fire was still probably half a mile away, she shouldn’t be able to see that far. But just for a moment, she thought she’d seen someone illuminated by the distant flames.

That evening, Rainbow slipped out of the bunkhouse. She looked, but the fire was out.

Carefully making her way over to the fence, she checked for guard patrols and then headed for the watermelon patch.

As before, they’d grown faster than they’d had any right. How was this possible?

But Rainbow’s thoughts were wiped away when her eyes fell on the fence itself. One watermelon was wedged under it, the rapidly growing fruit actually bending the chain link up.

Rainbow crouched on her hands and knees. If she broke the watermelon out of there, the resulting hole might be big enough for her to squeeze through. Heck, as quick as they seemed to be growing, it probably would be big enough in another hour or two.

Rainbow looked over her shoulder, back in the direction of the bunkhouse. But if it would only barely fit her, it was too small to fit most of the others.

She decided to come back in the morning. If the hole was big enough, then she might show it to the rest. They could make a decision then.

And if not, free watermelon.

Chapter 21

Someone hammered on the door of the bunkhouse just before dawn.

Rainbow had just been putting her shoes on to go check on the watermelon fence hole and cursed the timing. Had she been found out?

She got up, but the door was thrown open before anyone could answer it.

Connor Clash walked in, stopping in the doorway. “Pack up. We’re leaving.”

“Leaving?” said Rainbow dumbly.

Clash didn’t elaborate, turning to walk out.

The others were just getting up. “What the hell is he talking about?” said Pug.

None of them knew, but it seemed like a bad idea to do anything to draw Clash’s ire.

Fortunately, Rainbow had next to nothing to pack up. She trooped out of the building with the others. Unsure of where they were going, it seemed prudent to wait for further instructions.

There were a group of soldiers clustered around the fence and Rainbow’s heart sank. They must have found the hole.

But, as she watched, the crowd parted enough for her to see the damage. Eyes widening, she bumped the elbows of the two people standing closest to her. “Look!”

The watermelon vines had twisted the chain link apart, spreading it open like an arched green gateway big enough to walk through. It looked too perfect to have occurred naturally, not to mention the speed in which the plants had grown. How such a thing could have happened overnight...well, Rainbow was convinced the answer could only be magic.

But who was doing it? If they had that kind of power, why not help the prisoners directly? Rainbow considered the other strange events she’d witnessed. Could any of them be attributed to outside intervention?

The C-130 came in for a landing. After parking, the tailgate opened and people started loading it up.

Clash came back. “We’re moving to a different base,” he said.

Surely it wasn’t just because of the hole in the fence. Though, Rainbow supposed, the UTA had also probably noticed a few of the other strange goings-on. In fact, having kept the pilots in the dark as much as possible, they might know more than she did.

The idea that they might be getting jumpy because of magic in the air was a small comfort. Though, Rainbow still didn’t know how it was happening, or who was responsible. She also still wasn’t sure how to actively use it herself.

The C-130 left first. Wind Rider corralled the pilots. They had to preflight their own aircraft; the ground crews had already gone.

Once airborne, Rainbow saw that the SA-6 launchers were gone. Tracks across the savannah pointed west, the same direction they flew.

She was acutely aware that the relocation put her further from possible rescue. Was that part of why they had been sent somewhere else?

“Why are we moving?” she tried on the radio.

“Orders,” said Wind Rider. “The diamonds dried up or something. Pretty suddenly, from what I heard.”

Rainbow realized he must be referring to a mine the UTA owned. “But what do diamonds have to do with us?”

“It’s not the only thing,” Wind Rider said, but didn’t expound.

Rainbow figured the answer was probably a combination of the bust mine, to make the pilots escaping less likely, or maybe the UTA was freaking out a little more than they showed about the magic incidents.

The group left Manatada air base behind, heading for parts unknown.

The flight was short. Rainbow estimated they traveled thirty miles nearly due west. On the way, they passed over the tracked SA-6 vehicles. Could they shoot while moving?

She shook her head. For the short flight, they’d been given next to no fuel. She’d never get away after an attack, even if it was successful.

An airfield appeared. It almost looked too small. The runway was shorter, but there were far fewer buildings.

“What is this place?” said Pug.

Wind Rider did not reply, instead giving orders for the landing.

As Rainbow touched down, she got on the brakes harder and earlier, mindful of the shorter runway. She turned off, and spotted Soarn’ waving. She followed him to a hangar.

It was...small. They might be able to fit the same couple of jets into each one, but it would be tight.

“What’s this place like?” Rainbow said as she stepped down.

“There’s no fence,” said Soarin’. “No accommodations. They said we’re sleeping here and there’ll be guards outside.”

“What, on the concrete with the jets? I don’t see any bedding. How long is this supposed to last?”

“I get the feeling it wasn’t temporary.”

The bed and the bunkhouse, terrible, smelly, and soiled as they were, at least gave Rainbow a place to sleep that wasn’t the floor with spare clothes for a pillow.

The Flyers Club, and the base inside the fence, was effectively a prison, but at least it was better than being shut inside a hangar.

Rainbow snorted. If she was concerned about her quality of life, then apparently it hadn’t been bad enough. Like she cared where she slept when she was still being held by a warlord army. Priorities.

Chapter 22

The small airport was near a small town called Katange. Rainbow didn’t know if anyone lived there, or if it was just a UTA outpost now.

She didn’t get to see much of the airport, only what was visible out the door. And if it wasn’t hot, they probably wouldn’t have even let the pilots have that. Stuck all day inside a metal box could cook someone. Rainbow, of course, had personal experience.

The food sucked even worse than usual, because the tiny, formerly-public airport didn’t have the facilities to handle the number of people living and working there. It was mostly cold, raw things, and not much protein. Rainbow wondered again how permanent their accommodations were here.

The hangar was not much. There was at least a built in toilet and small machine area, but none of it was in very good shape. The concrete floor was cracked, and somehow things were growing in the cracks even indoors.

It was a tight fit with three jets. Rainbow found herself sharing accommodations with Pantera and Pug, not to mention their mechanics.

Rainbow had noticed Pantera turning more introspective lately. Her voodoo veneer had worn off once she realized it wasn’t working. She was still a good pilot, though not as good as Angels. Rainbow thought she probably realized that, and it made her unhappy. Even taking on the informal leadership role seemed to cause her angst.

Of course, a lot of it was probably due to the looming end of her missions. Less than ten to go. Rainbow could understand that. The devil they knew was captivity by the UTA. Who could say what the devil they didn’t know might be - they didn’t know it.

If only they could find out where the C-130 went with a departing pilot. Did fairer skies truly beckon?

Soarin’s original comment still made the most sense: of course the UTA would never just let someone go who could tell what happened here. Killing Big Shot, the man with the camera, was proof enough for Rainbow.

She’d already lost Angels. Could she save Pantera? The rest?

Doing that would require the trust of everyone. Trust was not always a two way street, and even if Rainbow knew the others could stab her in the back at any moment, she needed them to know they could trust her.

And so, she turned away from Pantera and made her way across the hangar to Pug.

She’d decided there was no time left. She was going to have to be direct. At least she was good at that.

Pug was lying stretched out under his MiG when she approached. He glanced up at her and looked away.

“Can we talk?”

“About what?” he asked, doubtfully.

It might have been the longest conversation the two of them had had in weeks.

“I’m sorry I hit you,” she said.

He frowned in confusion briefly before realizing, and then shook his head. He’d actually forgotten for a moment why he hated her.

He sat up. “Why bring this up now?”

“Because I should have said it a long time ago.”

He studied her. “What are you trying to pull?”

“What? Nothing!”

Pug got up and faced her, arms crossed. “I don’t believe you. You sucker punch me, and only just now suddenly decide you want to say sorry?”

“Does that make me any less sincere? Isn’t a late apology better than not getting an apology?” It wasn’t supposed to be difficult to make friends, Rainbow thought. Weren’t honest feelings what were needed to make it work?

“What am I supposed to do with that?” said Pug.

“You’re supposed to accept it.” What else did one do with an apology? Rainbow held back her annoyance.

“I’m not taking anything from you. Just saying sorry doesn’t make us even,” said Pug.

“You want to be even? Fine.” Rainbow’s suppressed emotions flared. “Free shot, right here.” She pointed to her face, lifting her chin.

Pug made a fist and held it up. He rolled his shoulders, eyes scanning her cheek, looking for the perfect place.

This was the stupidest thing Rainbow had ever done, she only realized now. Depending on where he hit her, she could get a concussion. She could end up with broken bones.

But she meant what she said. It might be her only chance to get through to him.

Pug pulled his arm back, cocking for a haymaker. But he stopped.

A long moment passed.

“This is fucked up,” he said. “You’re crazy.”

“I owe you.”

He hit her.

There was nothing cold that Rainbow could use to soothe her black eye. She’d only just barely finished healing from the previous one, given to her by Clash on her first day in Talongo.

“He was right, you know,” said Soarin’. “That was fucked up. You’re crazy.”

Rainbow sat against the landing gear of her jet back on the other side of the hangar. She’d left Pug alone. He still seemed surprised. She didn’t care, as long as he realized she was genuine.

“Can I tell you something?” she said quietly.

Soarin’ glanced around and then crouched down to her level on the balls of his feet.

She looked at him. “I’m going to get us all out of here.”

He didn’t reply for a moment. Then, he quietly asked, “What are you planning?”

“I told you about the search and rescue information,” she said. “It’s still active.”

Soarin’ considered that. “But how are you going to get everyone there?”

She looked at her hands. “I’m still working on it.”

“You might be able to do it alone.”

“I know. I could have escaped a couple times already. The opportunities were there, but...”

She held back. Could she really say she’d turned down magical assistance? Maybe that wasn’t what it really was, but these were no coincidences. The watermelon vines had split the fence, for crying out loud. She was sure she could have used the other instances to her advantage, too.

While she wrestled with what to say next, Soarin’ stood up. “It’s getting late. You’d probably better rest and give that a chance to heal.” He gestured at her face.

“I mean it,” she said.

Soarin’ turned back, raising his eyebrows. “What?”

She met his eyes. “I’m not leaving without everyone.”

Chapter 23

Rainbow didn’t sleep well on the concrete underneath her jet. She was seriously considering sleeping in the threadbare Soviet ejection seat instead.

She finally decided that she couldn’t stand it anymore when the first light of dawn crept under the door. Rousing herself and sitting up, Rainbow’s hand brushed something. She reached out again, groping gingerly. Her fingers touched something that she realized was some sort of plant. It seemed to be growing out of the crack in the floor.

Curious and excited to see what it was, she continued feeling around and located another. Rainbow got up, disregarding the others that might still be sleeping, and stumbled her way over to the wall where the lightswitch was located. Along the way, her legs brushed against more of the plants.

The hangar lights flickered on. Every crack in the floor was lined with leafy green plants. There might have been a hundred of them. Small pods hung from their stems.

Pantera was nearby and groaned at the light, rolling over. She ended up on top of one of the plants and got up in a hurry. “What in the world!?”

“It’s like the watermelons,” said Rainbow. “I don’t know where they came from.”

Pantera bent over. “These are chickpeas.”

“We can eat them?”

“They aren’t the best raw, but yes, you can eat them. They’re high in protein.”

Rainbow grabbed the nearest plant and yanked it. Looking closer, the pods seemed to have the peas inside them. Sure enough, they weren’t very tasty or tender, but food was better than no food.

Soarin’ walked over wearing a troubled look. “Not that I’m complaining, but…”

Rainbow knew what he meant. Plants that, overnight, grew to full size. Inside a dark building.

They pulled Pug and the mechanics into the effort. It wouldn’t do if the UTA found the plants, so they picked them all, stripping the chickpeas as they went. Everyone got a couple of handfuls. They stuffed the stems into jet exhausts. They would burn out on startup.

After that, though, there was not much else to do but wait. Such was the theme of being locked in a hangar.

They were let out later in the day. The breakfast of hard chickpeas had been better than nothing, but Rainbow was grateful to get out of the hangar to eat the meager food provided at midday. It was also the first time she’d seen the other pilots that day. Lightning, Kiel, and Striker had been kept with their planes in the other hangar.

Walking to get in line, Rainbow brushed elbows with Pug. He looked at her her black eye, his lips tightened, and he looked away. He got in line behind her.

Standing in line, Rainbow found herself behind Lightning, who glanced back. Out of the corner of her mouth, Lightning said, “The weirdest thing happened last night.”

“Something growing?” Rainbow guessed.

“You might say that. You guys too?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know what’s going on around here,” said Lightning. “I saw what those watermelons did. And this…”

“I get the feeling we haven’t seen anything yet,” said Rainbow. Part of her wondered if that was true. All of her hoped it was. She amended, “But I hope we get out of here soon.”

“You aren’t planning anything.”

Lightning’s tone was strange. It wasn’t really a statement. It was barely a question. Was she implying that Rainbow would tell her if she was planning anything, and since Rainbow hadn’t told her, then she must not be planning anything?

Rainbow figured she was overthinking it. Also, if she was going to extend an olive branch like she’d done with Pug, now was the time.

“I’m working on it,” she said.

Lightning glanced at her again. “I’m all ears.”

“Whatever we do, we have to do it together.”

“That makes it harder.”

“I can’t leave anyone behind.”

“What’s so important?” said Lightning. “It would be a lot easier to get out in small groups.”

Rainbow hesitated. She could explain her element. She could explain magic, and friendship. Not here, though. “I just can’t leave anyone behind.”

“Why is it a big deal? You didn’t have any problem killing Vapor.”

“That’s different!” Rainbow barely curtailed her voice. “It’s not like I wanted to. It was her or me. You were there.”

“I’m not saying it wasn’t a lose-lose scenario.” Lightning’s voice was remarkably calm. “But how can I trust you, knowing you aren’t afraid to shoot someone in the back? Make that two someones, actually.”

Rainbow grabbed Lightning’s shoulder and spun her around. She took a step forward, ducking her head to the left as she stepped into Lightning, their flight suits touching. Her right hand ended up on the side of Lightning’s neck and her mouth was right at Lightning’s ear.

“When I was tied up and being whipped,” Rainbow hissed, “Lion Heart himself told me you were the one who sold me out.”

Lightning opened her mouth, but Rainbow applied a little more pressure to her neck to get her to listen. “I don’t care if it’s true or not. The point is, I gave you the benefit of the doubt. How about a little mutual respect?”

She let go of Lightning and stepped back just as the guards noticed and started walking over to break up any commotion. Rainbow backed off, but shot Lightning a look to emphasize their private conversation.

Lightning turned around slowly, her shoulders stiff. She didn’t speak to Rainbow again through lunch.

Rainbow knew that getting the others on her side was one thing. A difficult thing, to be sure, but still just one component of her goal. Actually putting together an escape was another. Should she wait for the next magical incident? Would it be enough of a distraction to get everyone free?

Another opportunity came that afternoon. Rainbow was once again lying around the hangar when she heard the unmistakable trumpet of an elephant.

Had she time to reflect on it, she would have considered the strangeness of hearing, but not seeing, an elephant.

As it turned out, maybe it was better that way. There were some shouts and then something heavy hit the wall of the hangar. Not elephant-heavy, more like person-heavy. That’s when the shooting started.

Based on the angry elephant noises, AK-47’s apparently didn’t do very much.

Pug grinned. “They should aim for the big hose coming out of his face.”

“A Simpsons reference? I knew you weren’t Russian,” Rainbow laughed.

In some perverse way, it was easy to be merry when locked inside a building and secure from a rogue elephant attack. Rainbow wondered how many UTA soldiers would be killed this time.

Louder, much slower gunfire suddenly began outside the building.

“That sounds like an anti-tank gun,” commented Soarin’.

It seemed to work pretty well on elephants, too. That was the last noises they heard for a while.

Rainbow chanced a peek out the door, opening it just a crack. The huge bulk of a dead elephant was nearby, almost on the runway. Clash stood there, holding what appeared to be an anti-tank rifle. The other soldiers stood around. They appeared to want to skin the elephant or something, but weren’t quite sure how to go about it.

Rainbow closed the door. At least she’d seen a couple of dead UTA people. They still held a large numbers advantage, but they were getting jumpier. If only Rainbow had a plan to exploit that.

It was hard to judge the time inside the building, but when the shadows sliding under the door grew long, they all tried to sleep. There was nothing better to do.

Rainbow settled in beneath her jet again. She idly wondered what might be for breakfast.

Chapter 24

It was air potatoes for breakfast.

This was quickly becoming ridiculous.

Rainbow awoke to the familiar darkened hangar, but the floor seemed to be covered in vines. Panicking for a moment that they might have wrapped her up in her sleep, she quickly discovered that was not the case. However, when she made her way over the light switch, she discovered that the whole hangar floor was covered in thin, leafy vines.

The so-called “air potatoes” as Pantera identified them, were in fact a kind of yam, but grew edible fruits from their stems. That was good, Rainbow wasn’t keen on digging the tubers out of the concrete.

Unfortunately, there was no way they were going to be able to conceal everything that had grown overnight.

At least there was plenty to go around.

As she ate, Rainbow reflected that whoever was doing this had gone past the point of subtly helping her. That was good, the others were reaping the benefits too, but the UTA would definitely notice.

“I can’t figure it out,” commented Soarin’ as he sat nearby. It was pretty clear what he meant.

“Magic,” said Rainbow. With two different crops growing overnight, not to mention everything else that had happened, she didn’t figure she was saying anything surprising.

Soarin’ made a noise that might have been reluctant agreement or amusement. It was hard to tell with his mouth full.

Rainbow went on. “It’s things like this I was talking about when I said I’d already had a couple of opportunities to escape. Like when those watermelons pulled the fence apart.”

Soarin’ swallowed. “You think we can use this? Make the vines into rope or something?” He shook his head. “Nah, never mind. There’s nothing to climb around here.”

“Still, that’s good thinking,” said Rainbow. “I’ll need help to get everyone out of here.”

“You still think you can save everyone?” he asked.

Rainbow nodded. “I have to.”

“You don’t have to. You don’t owe anyone anything.”

“It’s who I am,” Rainbow said, realizing it was true. “One for all.”

“You expect everyone else to be all for one?”

Rainbow looked away. “I’m trying.”

“You know you can’t trust anyone.”

Rainbow raised her head again. “Can I trust you?”

Soarin’ took another bite and did not reply.

The mystery of the magic was now an open secret. Rainbow knew about it, but even if the others didn’t have her level of knowledge, there was no denying what they all had witnessed.

Though, there wasn’t much they could do about it. When the hangars were opened, Rainbow and the pilots were met with stunned silence from the UTA.

Clash was the first to react. “What the hell happened!?”

“They just grew,” said Pantera, shrugging.

Clash kicked a vine, finding it firmly rooted through the crack in the concrete. He looked like he wanted to say more, but instead shook his head and ordered, “Get the jets out of there. While they’re gone, somebody get that flamethrower.”

Flamethrower? But there was no time for Rainbow to gawk. They had a mission.

Wind Rider led off, as always. The other six followed him up. The short runway made a quick takeoff prudent. They made sure to avoid the dead elephant that was nearly on the runway.

Mission or no, all anyone could talk about were the air potatoes.

“This is so strange!” said Striker. “I’ve never seen anything like it, and we have all kinds of weird plants in the jungle back home. Not even kudzu grows that fast.”

“You all really have no idea where it came from?” said Wind Rider.

A chorus of no’s replied. Rainbow wasn’t one of them.

“Do you have any idea?” Kiel tried.

“There have been a lot of unexplained things,” Wind Rider allowed. “I heard something about a laughing sickness going around. This new airport seems at least as...afflicted, I suppose, as the other place. Strange things keep happening. Not that we’re staying long. I heard the other diamond mine dried up, too.”

“I didn’t think I’d died and gone to hell,” Pantera muttered.

“You think so?” Striker replied.

Rainbow, while she might have thought so before, had gotten too much benefit from the strange happenings to think the same.

“I guess this being purgatory would explain a lot of things,” Striker remarked.

“If you buy into religion,” said Pug.

“It depends on the religion,” said Pantera. “I remember something Phoenix Whitebirch once wrote about-”

“Who?”

“She was elected First Officer of the Covenant of the Goddess back in the nineties.”

“Wait, you’re actually Wiccan, not some crazy voodoo thing?” Lightning broke in.

“What I was saying,” Pantera went on, “Was that not all purgatories are between Heaven and Hell.”

“If you all don’t lock it up, you’ll find out,” Wind Rider ordered. “Follow me.” He came about on a new course.

Rainbow banked into the turn, but something seemed off. Her jet gave a little shimmy and a warning light illuminated on the panel. She didn’t speak Russian, and didn’t know what it was for.

“Six, you’re trailing smoke,” Kiel called.

Rainbow craned her neck. He was right. “I’ve got some kind of problem here.”

“Can you make it back?” Wind Rider asked.

There was a faint poof and the MiG started to decelerate rapidly. “No!”

“Manatada is due south. Try for that.”

Rainbow brought the jet around, trying to save as much airspeed as possible. The dart-shaped jet didn’t glide very well. She could see the abandoned air base in the distance, but wasn’t sure if she was going to make it.

Her mind raced, trying to process what the problem could be. Nothing she could fix, more than likely. It also seemed such a strange way for an engine to fail.

She waited to drop the landing gear until the last possible moment, hoping that without power it actually would drop. The fence got large underneath her, but she barely cleared it and touched down short on the runway.

It was then that she discovered that the brakes didn’t work.

Being on the ground was step one. Slowing down from two hundred miles per hour was a big step two. Rainbow lowered the flaps and tried to use a combination of ailerons and rudder to add drag. With no power, the control inputs were heavy.

She still had the ejection seat, but that was a last resort. Not only would it be unpleasant, but with the jet on the ground she wasn’t sure if her parachute would open in time.

By the other end of the runway, the MiG had slowed to an indicated ninety kilometers per hour. It dropped off the pavement and rolled through the clumps of grass, slowing faster now, but also threatening to bounce over.

The fence came up, and that finally stopped the dead jet. The chain link tore, the MiG's punched its sharp nose through but caught its wings against the fence and came to a halt. Rainbow let out the breath she’d been holding since the incident began.

She took stock. The remains of the fence were actually behind the canopy. She opened the release and climbed up, sitting on the back of the cockpit with her feet down on the seat.

“Six, are you all right?” she heard in her still plugged-in headset. She looked up to see the other aircraft circling.

“I'm alive.”

“I’ve already called a recovery crew,” said Wind Rider. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay put. There’s nothing left at the base for you, and there’s nowhere you can run without supplies.”

He may have even been telling the truth, Rainbow realized. Still, that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to look around base. “I’m getting off the radio now. I don’t want to be anywhere near the plane if it catches on fire.”

She unplugged and did as she said. Walking over the spine of the plane, she dropped to the ground, sliding down the lowered flaps.

If the recovery crew was on the way, Rainbow estimated she had at least half an hour before they arrived. Maybe as much as an hour.

She saw the planes departing, still having to complete their mission. Wind Rider either thought his warning would get her to stay put, or hoped it would. Though, Rainbow realized, she would go back to the small airport at Katange. Her personal mission wasn’t over yet. Not without everyone.

But while she was here, where would she go first? The command building, of course. Rainbow had little doubt that everything else of interest had probably been removed.

Of course, it was to no great surprise to discover the place was empty. She had to break the padlock off with a rock to find that out, though.

She walked through the bare rooms, trying to visualize what they had contained. If only she could get her hands on a map. Just a quick look, to orient herself.

There was no way to get blood from an air potato, though. If there was nothing to find, then Rainbow would find nothing. Resignedly, she went to wait for the crew from Katange.

Chapter 25

The dust cloud told Rainbow the soldiers were coming. She sat and watched as it got closer.

When the truck eventually pulled up, four UTA soldiers got out. Also, to her surprise, Soarin’.

“Where’s the plane?” he asked.

In response, Rainbow pointed down the length of the runway, where the MiG lay against the far fenceline.

She got in the truck with the five of them and they drove over there. Soarin’ examined the situation and said, “It seems pretty trashed. I don’t think it’ll fly again.”

“You didn’t even look at it,” said one of the soldiers.

“Are you the expert here?” said Soarin’.

“I’m the one in charge.”

“Fine.” Soarin’ turned to get a closer look at the plane. “Rainbow, give me some help.”

The two of them crawled under the jet to examine the landing gear.

“What the hell?” he whispered, barely audible. “Why didn’t you run?”

Rainbow did her best not to glance at the soldiers, all standing over by the truck. “I told you already.”

“I didn’t-!” Soarin’ paused, getting control of his voice. He resumed, in a whisper. “I didn’t fucking break your jet for you to just sit here. I didn’t expect you to make it back to Manatada, but even ejecting would have gotten you away from the UTA.”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped. “You did this on purpose!?”

Soarin’ gave her a look, but didn’t reply.

Rainbow swallowed. “Well, I appreciate that you want to help me to escape. Thank you. But it’s like I told you: not without everyone.”

“Yeah, I’m beginning to see that,” he muttered. He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “Okay. Follow my lead.”

Before Rainbow could ask, Soarin’ got out from under the plane. “Don’t bother, it’s toast,” he called. “The landing was wrong and the main gear is cracked. I don’t want to think what that might have done to the fuselage, not to mention the dead engine. It’s not worth fixing.”

“Why should I believe you?” said the guy who was apparently in charge.

Soarin’ gestured to the plane. “You want to take a look for yourself? It’s got dirt and debris stuffed up into the wheel wells, if the engine wasn’t dead when it landed, it could have ingested more, there’s no telling what kind of damage was done to the intake and radome. It won’t fly, and we don’t have the parts to fix it.”

He hadn’t actually examined it that closely, though Rainbow could believe the MiG was done. It might have been able to be fixed, but not by one guy with no supplies in the middle of Africa.

“Anyway,” said Soarin’, “While we’re here, we can pick up that Cessna we left behind when we evacuated.”

“What are you talking about?” said the soldier. Rainbow wondered, too.

“That old propeller plane in the back of hangar four,” said Soarin’. “What, you think I was just keeping it around for decoration?”

“Nobody said it could fly,” the soldier protested.

“Nobody asked. At any rate, we didn’t have the pilots to get it out of here when we took everything else. It isn't good for much, but it’s better than not having another plane.”

Rainbow had a vision of herself flying a Cessna 172 into combat. More like a nightmare.

They started to load back into the truck. Soarin’ said, “Aren’t you going to burn it? You don’t want anyone else getting their hands on it.”

“You said it couldn’t fly.”

“That doesn’t mean the Freedom Army doesn’t have better supplies than us,” said Soarin’. It’s cheap insurance.”

Rainbow, for her part, didn’t want to see the jet destroyed if there was still some small chance of fixing it. The Fishbed had seen a lot with her, and probably a lot more with Angels. But, per Soarin’s instruction, she said, “That makes sense. I could probably arm up the bombs. If you stand back and shoot it, that might do it.”

The other three soldiers, faced with the prospect of setting off a large explosion, quickly agreed to the plan, trumping their so-called leader. Though, he too seemed to like the idea.

Rainbow climbed into the cockpit and armed the weapons. She took a moment, her fingers tracing over the instrument panel. It was too bad. Not that the jet was a person to be saved, but it had served her loyally.

She got out and loaded up in the truck. They drove a couple hundred yards away and stopped. The four UTA soldiers aimed their AK-47’s and unloaded.

Nothing happened. At least, not at first. When each of them had finished firing their first magazine, Rainbow saw flames start licking the airplane.

“Well, that’s probably good enough,” said Soarin’.

“But we wanted it to explode!” protested one of the soldiers.

“If your boss is okay with you wasting the ammo.” Soarin’ gestured to the in-charge soldier.

The man glared at him and waved to the others. “That’s good enough.”

They continued over to the hangar. The dingy Cessna in the back had to be towed out with the truck.

“First, we’ll need gas,” said Soarin’. The truck pulled the plane over to the pumps where AvGas and vehicle fuel were dispensed, separate from the jet fuel.

The engine cover was still off the Cessna, but if Soarin’ said it was flyable, Rainbow believed him. Though she still wondered what he was playing at. Rainbow stood by, doing her best not to betray anything, but having no idea what she should, or shouldn’t, be doing.

“Don’t think you can just fly away,” said the leading soldier as Soarin’ stretched out the fuel hose.

“I’m only putting twenty gallons in the tanks,” said Soarin. “You guys have seen us fueling the planes before.”

Rainbow kept her mouth shut. The Cessna’s wing tanks held twenty gallons, each. The small piston-propeller plane was a lot more fuel efficient than an afterburning jet. In fact, if Soarin’ managed to fill it up, it could travel more than five hundred miles.

“But if it makes you feel better, somebody can ride with us,” Soarin’ added.

That was enough to cause an argument, one that the leader won. While the fuel was still pumping, Soarin’ said, “Come over here and I’ll show you the plane.”

Rainbow stood near the truck. It was parked in front of the plane, rope still tied to the front landing gear. Two other soldiers leaned on the back of the truck. The last one was around front, probably chewing khat or something. Rainbow walked over and leaned on the side of the truck bed. The two soldiers near her carried their AK-47’s across their bodies loosely. She didn’t meet their eyes. They seemed more interested in what was going on at the plane.

Soarin’ was doing a walkaround, pointing to a few things. The leading soldier followed him. They came around the tail and started back towards the front.

Just then, there was a distant explosion. That would be the bombs cooking off in the fire.

With the distraction, Soarin’ suddenly grabbed the back of the soldier’s head and smashed it against the Cessna’s wing spar. His left hand swept down to grab the AK-47 and twisted it up, firing point blank into it’s owner’s torso.

The two soldiers nearest to Rainbow turned back around from the explosion to address the much closer threat, raising their weapons. Soarin’ tugged the rifle loose and hit the pavement, rolling under the plane. It didn’t look like the maneuver was going to buy him much time, the distance was just too short.

Instinctively, Rainbow reacted, striking out with a side kick into the nearest man. She wasn’t prepared and weeks on substandard food had cost her some strength, but it was still enough force to knock him sideways into the other one. Neither went down, but both stumbled and started to turn towards her.

Soarin’ completed his roll and came up on one knee, holding the rifle against his left shoulder and supporting the foregrip with his mangled right hand. He fired a long, fully automatic burst that hit both soldiers.

The fourth member of the UTA came around the front of the truck, raising his weapon, but he was too slow and brain-addled, and Soarin’ got him, too.

There was deep silence for a long moment

Soarin’ straightened up. He made a quick sweep, kicking weapons away from dead fingers. One of the rifles the soldiers had carried had been damaged by his bullets.

The fuel pump started to overfill the tanks and Rainbow automatically shut it off. It seemed to natural, like she hadn’t just brought nothing to a gunfight.

“You could have warned me,” she said. Soarin’ didn’t hear, and Rainbow realized his ears were probably ringing. She repeated herself, louder.

“I would have, if I’d had time or if I’d even had the plan in mind,” he said. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“We need to go back.”

Soarin’ stopped, looking at her like she’d just told him the Wonderbolts were now flying hot air balloons. “Are you out of your mind? We were just handed this golden opportunity to get away. We can go to South Africa. We can go to that place you talked about out east. We could be back in civilization tonight.”

“Not. Without. Everyone.” Rainbow crossed her arms.

“If we get away, we can tell the authorities where they are,” Soarin’ pointed out.

“Do you think they would actually do something?” said Rainbow. “Who has the power to mount a rescue mission deep into warlord territory? How long would it take? Would the UTA move everyone before help could arrive?”

“You can’t save everyone!”

“Why not!? Have you ever tried?”

Soarin’ reacted as if punched. He looked down at the AK-47 in his hands. Several long seconds passed. He didn’t put the rifle down down, but shifted it to rest under his left arm. He raised his right hand. “I told you I was shot. I didn’t say that I did it myself.”

“Wait, what!?”

“When they took me, I decided I wasn’t going to fight for the UTA. I wouldn’t kill for them. So I took myself out of action. And since then, I’ve been helping everyone to survive. You think this ancient equipment stays up by itself?”

“Why-”

“I had forgotten that, why I was still here.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “You’re right. This is about more than just us.”

He turned, raising the rifle to rest on his shoulder. “Come on, let’s stage the scene.”

Bewildered, but willing to follow advice, Rainbow helped him untie the rope and push the Cessna back. After that, they filled the truck’s fuel tank from the other pump and went over the bodies to remove weapons and anything of value.

Rainbow found the package of khat. Soarin’ bit off a couple of pieces and spat the ends into the tall grass. He then dropped the three gnawed pieces near the soldiers who didn’t already have some nearby.

Soarin’ stepped back to look at the scene. “So they stopped to fill up the truck, decided to have a khat break, and got ambushed.”

“You think that will hold up?”

Soarin’ shrugged. “Better than nothing. Anyway, let’s get out of here.”

Soarin’ gave her a crash course in how to use an AK-47. It was pretty simple. He then showed her a panel that came loose in the interior of the plane, allowing access to the hollow tail boom. They hid the three undamaged rifles and the extra magazines in there.

The two of them loaded up and put on the dusty headsets they found. The Cessna’s engine coughed, but it did run. It was the same plane Rainbow had been learning to fly at school, and Soarin’ let her have control. It was slightly surreal to be operating from a quiet airfield, no radios, no other traffic.

They got airborne and Rainbow turned west for the small airport at Katange. Soarin’ opened the window and threw the soldiers’ valuables out.

“You know,” she said, “you shoot pretty well for a guy with no trigger finger.”

Soarin’ smiled. It looked as if it was the first time he had done so since she’d first met him at that air show so many years ago.

He turned to look out the windshield, back to business. “We’ve got a few minutes before we get there. Let’s get our story straight.”

Chapter 26

Rainbow had forgotten about the SA-6’s.

When she saw the rising smoke trail in the distance, it didn’t immediately register in her mind what it was.

Soarin’s hand flew towards the Cessna’s windshield. “SAM! Dive!”

High-wing recreational propeller planes were not meant to perform Split-S’s. Faced with a choice between that or dying in a missile explosion, Rainbow gave it all she had.

They didn’t hit the ground, but it was a close thing. Rainbow kept the plane skimming the grass as the missile went wild overhead, trying to stay below the system’s radar horizon. She popped the flaps and throttled back, slowing down and making it easier to not crash into anything.

“They weren’t expecting us,” Soarin’ muttered. He glanced at her. “It’s the little things you don’t think about that screw you the hardest.”

“Oh, I know,” Rainbow replied. She grabbed the radio and dialed up the usual frequency. “This is Patriot, don’t shoot at us! We’re inbound from Manatada with the old Cessna from the hangar. My MiG was trashed, but we decided to fly this back.”

A couple of sentences were probably not enough to fully explain the situation. A voice - it sounded like the base controller - said, “If you are who you say you are, come back to cruising altitude.”

“Don’t you recognize my voice?” Rainbow grumbled, slowly pulling back the yoke to gain altitude.

“Patriot flight is inbound to visually identify you.”

It only a few minutes, they were intercepted. The timing must have been pretty good to catch the rest of the flight while they were on the way back.

Rainbow relaxed the flaps and throttled up. Even still, the L-39 was the only jet capable of flying slow enough to hang off their wing.

Rainbow’s hair wasn’t quite as bright as it had been when she’d had regular access to a shower, but it was good enough for Striker to call, “It’s her, all right.”

“The mechanic’s with me,” said Rainbow. She added, “The others are driving back.”

It didn’t mean anything to the rest of the flight because they hadn’t been involved in sending the repair truck, but it helped establish the story early.

Rainbow and Soarin’ were the last to arrive at Katange airport, owing to their slow maximum speed. The way the SA-6 launchers turned to cover the approaching Cessna nearly made Rainbow lose her focus.

Even still, she set down on the runway, the easiest landing she’d made in weeks. The only hangar available was where Wind Rider’s Mirage had found its home. It looked like it would be getting company.

Wind Rider and Connor Clash came over as Rainbow pulled up and shut the engine off. The plane’s momentum rolled it the rest of the way into the hangar.

“They’re suspicious,” Soarin’ said quietly. He opened the door.

“Where are the others?” Clash asked as the two of them got out of the plane.

“They’re coming,” Rainbow replied. “It took them, I don’t know, forty five minutes to get to Manatada? It’ll probably be another twenty or so for them to get back.”

“Why didn’t one of them ride with you?” Wind Rider asked.

Rainbow couldn’t come up with a lie fast enough. She looked at Soarin’. “Did you talk to them?”

“Your guys aren’t exactly the brightest bunch,” he said bluntly to Clash. “I think with all this so-called magic flying around, they didn’t want to take a risk on anything.”

“Or maybe khat makes you airsick,” Rainbow added.

It was hard to tell if they bought it.

“Did you bring anything back?” Wind Rider said.

“Besides the plane?” said Soarin’ quickly. “There wasn’t any room.”

What if they searched the plane? That seemed pretty likely. It wouldn’t take much effort to find the AK-47’s hidden inside. Rainbow’s eyes cast around for a distraction.

The rest of the pilots came over, evidently curious about what had happened. Rainbow had a sudden idea, and prayed they trusted her.

“What did you do to my plane!?” she shouted, stalking forward past Wind Rider and Clash. Rainbow raised her hand and pointed at Pug.

He stopped, blinking. “W-what?”

“Who else would have? We were in the same hangar and you must have taken something off my MiG for yours!” Wind Rider and Clash now at her back, Rainbow winked obviously. She hoped he interpreted it correctly.

“That’s ridiculous,” said Pug, though without much conviction, still confused.

“You thought you could mess with me and my plane!?” Rainbow gestured at her black eye and raised her fists. She took a swing at him.

It was hard to tell if Pug was with the program and trusted her not to hurt him, or if he was still processing. Either way, Rainbow connected with his cheek. It was enough force to make a sound, but she didn’t follow through.

Pug did try to duck, which made it seem like he was rolling with the punch more than he really was. He took a step back and raised his own fists.

Kiel tried to slide between them, but Rainbow pushed on his shoulder and sidestepped. Her arm went out and she caught a handful of Pug’s sleeve, pulling it towards her and throwing a roundhouse that she telegraphed for miles. Pug ducked and stepped inside her swing.

Now that they were at grappling distance, Rainbow swept his leg and used her own body weight to pull him down. She felt hands grasping at her shoulders but shrugged out of them to end up straddling Pug.

He pushed up, throwing her off. Rainbow got her feet under her and landed well, coiling to spring at him. This time, it was Striker who tried to step in. Rainbow feinted, and then dove between his legs to get at Pug again. He met her head on and the two of them rose up, bleeding off momentum. She had a hold of his collar and he had a hold of hers, both of them winding up for a punch, when there was a gunshot.

That got their attention. Wind Rider stood with his pistol out, pointed at the sky. “Both of you have a job to do, even if one of you is short a plane. I would have thought the first fight was enough.” He indicated Rainbow’s eye.

“But-!” Rainbow tried.

She didn’t know what she was going to say, so it was good that Wind Rider interrupted her by squeezing off another shot. “Enough!”

Rainbow saw Soarin’ emerge from the depths of the hangar. His gaze flicked to her, and then away, keeping a neutral expression..

She let go of Pug. Their eyes met. She still wasn’t sure he fully understood.

“You don’t have a plane, so it doesn’t really matter where you sleep, right?” said Wind Rider, holstering his pistol. “Well, I’ve got an idea.”

Chapter 27

Rainbow half expected what Wind Rider had arranged. Only half.

With no jet to call her own, and the fake fight with Pug making everyone think the two of them should be kept apart, Wind Rider arranged for her to stay in the hangar with the Cessna and his Mirage.

She was mostly surprised that he didn’t have a bed somewhere. Apparently the transition to Katange airport had been hard on everyone, even the UTA. If Wind Rider had to sleep on the floor like the indentured pilots, the foot soldiers must have been even worse off.

Not that Rainbow was feeling sorry for them, of course. Between animal attacks and magic going around, they were probably becoming pretty on-edge. Maybe the diamond mines drying up was also affecting their pay. Maybe for the same reason, the UTA was planning to move out of Katange, too.

But for the present moment, Rainbow had other things to worry about. Namely, being alone with Wind Rider. Needless to say, she didn’t trust him in the slightest.

The first few hours passed without even any conversation. They both sat near their respective planes. Wind Rider was reading some kind of novel. He was patient, she had to give him that. Rainbow still bore no illusions that they were staying in the same hangar out of the goodwill of his heart.

Her thoughts turned inward, as she had nothing else to keep her occupied. Unless she’d thoroughly missed her guess, she could trust Soarin’. He’d proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. She hoped, and decided to assume, that he’d told Pug that the fight hadn’t been real. Whether Soarin’ trusted Pug enough to tell him about the smuggled AK-47’s was another matter.

Reviewing everyone else, Rainbow was on the fence about Pantera. In another few missions, Pantera would be nearly at one hundred and have nothing to gain by turning in potential deserters. But, faced with the prospect of getting on the C-130 and leaving once complete, would she help escape? Or was she of the crowd that believed the ride out was actually a ride to her death? Would that actually make her more likely to help? Again, Rainbow deferred to Soarin’, as he shared the hangar with Pantera.

The others were still question marks. Rainbow felt that Kiel would be most likely to act passively, not hurting, not helping. She most wanted to trust Striker. He’d been nothing but friendly. Lightning...Rainbow wanted to trust her. Wanted to.

Wind Rider got up and stretched. “It’s dinner time,” he called.

He did not go outside to wherever the food was being served, however. Instead, he produced a couple of packages wrapped in brown plastic. They were labeled as Meals Ready to Eat.

Rainbow had heard of MREs. She’d heard mixed things. But it was also likely to be the most filling thing she’d eaten since arriving in Africa. No wonder Wind Rider seemed healthy by comparison to any of the others, even the UTA.

Still, she wanted to refuse. No one else got the opportunity to eat this. Wind Rider thought he was doing her a favor. Plus, according to the packaging, the MREs were two years old.

However, denying herself glorious calories would not help the others. Rainbow accepted the package without comment.

“Do you like that kind?” he asked. “I’ll swap you, if you want.”

Rainbow looked at hers: vegetable lasagna. She looked at his: buffalo chicken. “I’m good,” she said, finally deciding to draw a line.

He shrugged. Rainbow walked away, back to sit against the Cessna’s landing gear. It took a little while to figure out how to eat the MRE.

She surreptitiously glanced up occasionally. Wind Rider was watching her.

In the morning, there were no newly-grown plants for breakfast. Rainbow wasn’t sure if that was because she’d eaten well, or if they wouldn’t grow for Wind Rider. She hoped the others were being fed.

Someone knocked on the door. “Come in,” Wind Rider called.

A soldier stuck his head in. “Sir, we’ve got a mission.”

Wind Rider stood up and stretched. “All right. Come on, Rainbow.”

Surprised, Rainbow got up and followed him. She shouldn’t have been too surprised, though. Outside, he turned her over to the custody of the soldier and walked away to the command center, or what passed for one at Katange.

In a few minutes, Wind Rider was back. Across the way, Rainbow saw the hangar doors opening as the others got the news.

He glanced at his own Mirage as the hangar opened and then back at her. “Now what are we going to do with you?”

A sudden inspiration seized her. “I can fly in someone’s back seat.”

Wind Rider studied her. “A wizzo, huh? Well, it’s better than doing nothing.”

Rainbow grabbed her helmet from the hangar and hustled over to the others. Pantera’s Alpha Jet and Striker’s L-39 were the only ones that had a back seat. She debated, but headed for Striker.

He was surprised to see her, but rolled with it as she quickly explained. “Sure, get in. An extra set of eyes never hurt.”

Rainbow climbed in. The L-39 was apparently still set up as a trainer and had a second set of stick and throttle in the back seat. She did her best not to touch them, but the feeling of being out of control came up suddenly. It was the first time she’d been in a plane in years where she wasn’t the pilot.

She made herself calm down. Striker had more missions than she did. Back seat flying was unbecoming.

Besides, she had to focus on figuring out where Striker stood.

Rainbow pondered how to do this as they taxied for takeoff. Ultimately, however, it was Striker that broke the silence. Over the intercom, he asked, “How are you over in the other hangar?”

Was he asking about her wellbeing? Was it something more? Did he care about her enough to be concerned with her staying with Wind Rider? Or could he be suspicious about her own motivations?

“He’s a creep,” said Rainbow. “He tried to use food to buy me off."

“Did you have anything grow overnight?”

“No. Did you?”

“Some kind of melon. It was tasty, though the soldiers came and took most of them.”

“Interesting that I didn’t get anything,” said Rainbow. “Maybe it didn’t want to grow for Wind Rider.”

Striker was silent for a moment. “It’s so strange, the way everything’s been happening.”

“It’s magic.”

He was silent for longer this time. “What do you know about that?”

She almost told him right then and there. She wanted to reminisce about her friends and the special bond they shared. But could he use that information for personal gain? What if he told the UTA?

“It just seemed obvious to me,” she said. “And better yet, I think it’s on our side.”

“Yeah,” Striker agreed after some contemplation. “I think it is.”

Chapter 28

Rainbow’s first mission as wizzo was apparently close air support. Or, it was going to be, anyway.

They were just clear of SA-6 range and still headed north when the radio rang with decidedly sinister laughter. Rainbow had heard enough of it in her time to recognize it.

“Patriot...this is Death.”

Here we go, thought Rainbow.

“I hope you’re ready to fight,” Death went on. “You can’t choose your end, because it’s been chosen for you.”

The voice sounded female. It was hard to tell. The radio was scratchy.

Rainbow felt the L-39 bank slightly, keeping up with Wind Rider’s Mirage as it changed course. Did that mean he had a radar contact? The lack of encrypted radios was now more than ever a burden; they couldn’t talk without being overheard.

“Patriot, pull back inside the missiles,” said Wind Rider, turning the formation around.

“Do you think the SA-6’s can differentiate between us and them?” Rainbow couldn’t help but say.

Death laughed again. “Oh, is that Rainbow Dash concerned about friendly fire?”

A shot of panic went through Rainbow’s chest. How did they know!? Not just her name, but how could they have found out about…

“Rainbow Dash isn’t flying,” tried Kiel. “The jet was wrecked.”

“Oh, you don’t need to lie to me, Kiel Kielbasa,” Death purred. “I know she’s here. I recognize her voice.”

“What the hell is going on?” Striker muttered through the intercom.

Rainbow wanted to know that, too, but tried to focus her thoughts and work through the puzzle. Did Death really recognize her? If so, how did they know her name and associate it to the sound of her voice? She tried to do the same with Death, but came up blank. There was something familiar about the voice, but enough distortion that she couldn’t place it.

Who could possibly know? Was it the operator of the mysterious radio station out east? Rainbow considered it, but ultimately couldn’t say for sure. She wasn’t convinced, but couldn’t bring herself to dismiss it, either, because she had no other ideas. Besides, weren’t they trying to help her?

The UTA jets pulled back at Wind Rider’s order. Rainbow noticed him flying a racetrack pattern in an effort to keep his jet pointed north as much as possible.

“Yeah, I thought the missiles would stop them,” he said, apparently taking radar measurements.

Death chuckled but didn’t reply.

“So...are you going to tell us what we’re up against?” Pug asked.

“I will, Pugachev Cobra,” said Death. “There are two of us. MiG-23’s. Air-to-air pure.” A moment passed. “Well? Any takers?”

A three-to-one numbers advantage was good. But the Floggers carried much better missiles than all of them except maybe the Mirage. Even if the two enemies probably wouldn’t survive a dogfight against all the UTA planes, they had a good chance of giving better than they got.

“We won’t get another chance like this, just handed to us on a platter,” said Lightning.

“If that’s what you think, Lightning Dust.”

Rainbow would have advised caution. The L-39 she sat in could undoubtedly out-turn an MiG-23 in a close quarters fight, but it would be vulnerable at any other distance.

“So are we doing this or not?” said Pug.

“Don’t give it to them,” said Wind Rider. Rainbow reluctantly admitted that his caution might perhaps be due to something he knew that the rest of them didn’t.

Still, she privately agreed when Pantera uncharacteristically burst out, “Are you a coward or something?”

“No, I’m just not expendable,” Wind Rider replied cooly.

“You wouldn’t want to take any unnecessary risks, Pantera Prowl,” said Death. “Owing to your final mission coming up.”

“I’m calling it,” said Wind Rider. “No point in wasting the fuel.” He turned back for Katange. Death’s laughter followed.

“Not that I mind staying out of trouble,” said Striker over the intercom, “But if we let them go, they might come back with more next time.”

“Well, maybe Wind Rider will keep chickening out,” said Rainbow.

“I guess we’ll see.”

After a moment, Rainbow asked, “Is it just me or did Death sound familiar?”

“Maybe,” Striker said. “I’m not sure if they’re using some sort of voice modulator or if they’re hoarse or whatever.”

Maybe that was it. But then, if the voice should be even more recognizable, it again raised the question of who it could be? If she could only hear it unmodulated.

Thoughts of the mysterious voice went out of her head as she spotted smoke on the horizon. They hadn’t even been gone a full hour, what could have happened?

Arriving overhead, it looked like the airport was nearly consumed in the flames. The grass wasn’t thick enough to support that kind of fire, was it? Had it somehow grown thicker just to burn - were the different facets of magic cooperating now?

Despite the situation, that was actually kind of amusing. The fire had even waited to start until the planes were gone. But, Rainbow realized, the fire wasn’t smart enough to know that without access to Katange, they didn’t have enough fuel to go anywhere else.

“We may have to land, get fuel, and leave again,” said Wind Rider.

“Do we have that kind of time?” said Lightning.

“It’s either that or try to land on the ashes where the fire’s already burned.”

There were no good options. The jets descended through the smoke.

It wasn’t quite as bad as it seemed on the ground, Rainbow thought. Striker made a good landing, but she kept her oxygen mask on. It seemed like a good idea.

Down at the end of the runway, she saw the wind sock moving. As she watched, it turned completely around. Within seconds, the smoke seemed to get thinner. Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. The magic was still watching out for them.

The same could not be said of the UTA. It seemed like few soldiers had remained at their posts. They began to arrive back at base after running from the fire, but all were clearly shaken. The burned grass had reached to mere feet from some of the buildings.

Rainbow quickly apologized to Striker for not helping him put the plane away, but she had something more pressing to do. As the plane came to a stop, she climbed down and hurried for the other hangar.

Soarin’, Pantera, and Pug all looked up as she came in. Soarin’ was closest. He said quietly, “Hell of a day.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed. “I wish you could have been there. I feel like I know who Death is, but just can’t quite place it. Do you think they’d let you ride with someone like I did today?”

“That might push the bounds of me being not fit for duty,” he said, indicating his hand for emphasis. “Besides, I’m needed here. After what happened today, I think they were just about ready to cut their losses. Instead, I think they’re going to move the base again.”

“Cut their losses, what do you-”

“The aviation program is causing too much trouble, he said. “I’ve heard that no other base or unit has been having problems like this.”

Rainbow got the point. Their timeline was now even shorter than ever.

She opened her mouth to ask him something else when a soldier came over and shoved her. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”

Soarin’ started to move, but stopped himself. Had he been just about to intervene? For her?

Rainbow gave him a look. Not yet. This is about more than us. She let the soldier escort her away.

Back to Wind Rider’s hangar.

Chapter 29

Rainbow found herself once again sitting under the Cessna’s wing. She was tuned out, as usual trying to plot her way to freedom for herself and the others.

A not-unimportant part of that was figuring out what Soarin’ did with the AK-47’s. Rainbow couldn’t search for them while Wind Rider was there. She didn’t know if they were still in the plane, though she doubted they were.

If opportunity came knocking, she had to be prepared to depart at any moment. There had been moments, of course. She’d passed them by, trying to find a better chance when everyone could go. That was proving remarkably difficult. She’d already lost Angels, Stratus, Vapor, and Sky. If she didn’t act soon, Pantera would be gone.

But what if she couldn’t save everyone?

Rainbow didn’t know if fate was a thing. What if someone simply wasn’t to be saved - whether they didn’t deserve to be, or here was simply where they were fated to die?

No, she decided. Fate was stupid and she wouldn’t give up. She wouldn’t even let herself consider her own potential fate.

Ironic, then, that her thoughts turned to Death. Just for a moment. She still had very little information about the mysterious unit. Rainbow couldn’t imagine how they were so well informed, knowing everyone’s names. A mole? A leak? Something else?

If there was one thing magic had done for her, it opened her mind to alternate possibilities. Things just didn’t seem impossible anymore. That applied not just to alternate explanations for Death’s knowledge, but also her plans to get out of here. And it might be just the boost to her confidence she needed to pull off the escape.

Wind Rider came over with more MREs. Rainbow didn’t even look at the one he gave her as she opened it. That was mostly because he sat down next to her, cross legged on the concrete. She hoped her stare was enough to convey her feelings. It either wasn’t or he ignored it.

There was a whole package of peanut M&Ms in his MRE. He smiled and offered it to her.

“No thanks.” Rainbow was dying for chocolate. But in that moment, death was preferable to accepting a gift from him.

Wind Rider looked honestly hurt. “I’m just trying to be nice.”

“You think that doesn’t make me suspicious?” She could have elaborated, about how the UTA did everything they could to sow mistrust among the pilots to keep them constantly on edge and unwilling to cooperate.

“I’m not your enemy here. I don’t have anything to gain from exploiting you.”

“Not my enemy?” She shook her head. “You’re literally employed by the guys who kidnapped me.”

“Did you know that I was once in your shoes?”

Rainbow wrinkled her nose. “And so you joined the UTA?”

Wind Rider visibly backpedaled. “I’m doing what I have to to survive.”

“What, couldn’t make it to one hundred missions and get a free ride out?” she challenged.

“You know-” Wind Rider stopped abruptly and shook his head. “I didn’t have a choice. It wasn’t a great choice, but I’m living better now than when I was a prisoner.” He gestured at the food. “And I think you know a little bit about choosing between a rock and a hard place.”

Rainbow crossed her arms and looked down her nose at him contemptuously. “Doing what you have to to survive? What about when you had a good job in the military but were still running drugs?”

Wind Rider’s mouth dropped open, but he quickly looked down. He took a moment and appeared to come to some sort of realization. “Did Soarin’ tell you that?”

Rainbow shrugged. If he’d guessed, there was no point in denying it.

“You know, I looked up to Wonderbolts pilots. They wouldn’t have gotten the job if they weren’t the best. I’m surprised he even knows who I am.” Wind Rider shrugged. “But who you were before doesn’t count for much here.”

“You’re wrong. I’m only surviving this place because I know who I am and what I stand for.”

Wind Rider’s lips flashed an amused smile that was gone as quickly as it came. “So you say. But you’ve changed. You can still be broken. Look at Soarin’. He went from being one of the world’s best pilots to being a crippled slave. The tables turn, don’t they? I think I made the right choice.”

Rainbow had seen for herself that Soarin’ had a fire inside that would astonish Wind Rider. But she didn’t need to tell him that.

Though, it made her wonder. What did Wind Rider have? Was there anything to salvage? What about Conner Clash or any of the others? Those who’d kidnapped her and forced her into this twisted nightmare.

Could Rainbow put aside the wrong they’d done her and reach out for redemption?

Could she live with herself if it didn’t work?

Maybe, and Yes, she decided.

The C-130 arrived in the morning. Rainbow could hear its distinctive engines outside the hangar. Pantera was only at ninety eight missions, so did the arrival of the cargo plane mean they were getting ready to move again?

Her question didn’t get answered, because they were suddenly called to action. Rainbow slipped out of the hangar before Wind Rider could say anything. She suspected that after their conversation the previous day, his attitude towards her might be changing.

Rainbow chose to ride with Pantera this time. The Alpha Jet was a little harder to see out of than the L-39, but better appointed.

As they rolled for takeoff, Rainbow said over the intercom, “What are you going to choose when you finish your missions?”

Pantera was silent for a moment. “I want to leave.”

“Are you sure that getting on the plane to fly out is...actually what they do?”

“No.” Pantera sighed. “No, I’m not sure. Taking the money and working for them is at least a more likely way to survive.”

“You know I’ve been working to get us out of here.”

“How is that going?”

Rainbow paused, but admitted, “Not well. Do you have any ideas?”

“What, so you can turn me in at ninety nine missions?”

Rainbow balked. “I...I was only talking to you because you have nothing left to gain by turning me in.”

“But you can see my point, right? I’m sympathetic, but I can’t put my faith in anyone but me.”

Just like that, another option was closed. Rainbow had tried to reach for help, but again was returned to the fact that she might be the only one who could pull this off.

Actions spoke louder than words. Would she actually have to get her plan in motion before anyone would join in? Would she have to drag them along?

What if they didn’t join her? Could she make them? What if she was forced to leave some behind? Was a partial solution better than none at all?

Rainbow couldn’t stomach that. Yes, a partial solution was better than none at all. No, she couldn’t accept leaving anyone behind.

Loyalty wasn’t practicality. But if she wasn’t true to herself, what did she have?

But then, should she sacrifice her own principles to keep people alive? Was her “all or nothing” attitude causing more suffering for others?

Chapter 30

They did airstrikes in support of an ongoing operation. Rainbow squirmed a little at being in the back seat, but Pantera flew well and didn’t get them killed. Not that Rainbow thought she would. It was just that she wasn’t used to being at the mercy of someone else’s control.

Thoughts of loyalty were next. Being loyal meant sacrifice, going against her natural inclinations. She had to go with the others, whatever that might bring.

She just hoped that when the time came, they would all step up like Soarin’ had.

Pantera rolled out of her attack and the two of them returned to altitude to watch the others.

“So where do you think we’re going to go next?” Rainbow said over the intercom. “I keep hearing rumors that the UTA is going to leave Katange.”

“Me too, but I don’t know much else,” Pantera replied.

Rainbow looked around. Strange how her sense of danger had changed in the last few months. She was out of range of the ground and nobody was taunting her on the radio, so it felt pretty safe. She kept her eyes peeled, though.

She thought about the mysterious radio station out east. Were they still there? They hadn’t tried any more contact.

The hardest part about trying to plan the escape were how many unknowns there still were. Rainbow hadn’t managed to clear any fog away. Trust in her friends was one thing. Trust in the unknown was stupid.

But - there might not be another choice. Eventually, something would have to give. They might be forced to wing it. Needless to say, a terrible prospect when their lives were on the line.

When they got back to the base, the C-130 was gone, along with a lot of equipment. It seemed like the rumors of departure might turn out to be true.

This was compounded by lunch. They were fed until the food ran out. Rainbow purposely placed herself behind Soarin’ in line. They hadn’t had a chance to properly talk yet.

“What did you do with the stuff?” she asked straight off. She kept her voice down.

“Jubi helped me bring them over to our hangar.”

“You trust him?”

“Yes.”

Rainbow wanted to ask, but there wasn’t time or words to spare. She would have to trust Soarin’s judgement. “Well, at least we got away with it.”

Their staged scene back at Manatada, with the dead soldiers, seemed to have held up. When questioned after the soldiers hadn’t arrived back at Katange, both of them had feigned ignorance. The suspicion was there, but it was just as easy to blame the Freedom Army, particularly since Death had begun roaming around. The UTA was getting more than a little jumpy.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Soarin’.

“Yeah,” Rainbow had to agree. “Do you have any ideas?”

He paused. “Maybe.”

“That’s it?”

“Do you have more than that?”

She hated to say it, but, “No.” She sighed. “Pantera’s getting close to her time.”

“I know.”

“Can we do anything?”

Soarin’ shrugged. It wasn’t dismissive, he just didn’t have anything to say. His eyes were still pointed towards the front of the line.

The helplessness was the worst. Rainbow looked around at the soldiers. They seemed tireder than usual, more preoccupied. Also…

“Hey,” she whispered. “Does it seem like there’s fewer guards than normal?”

Soarin’ turned his head slightly, covertly. “Yeah, now that you mention it.”

Was this another opportunity? Should she make a move? Would Soarin’?

She studied him, but also the soldiers. She saw the slight movements his head made, tracking them.

Then, they heard the plane. The C-130 appeared, coming in for a landing. It pulled up to the hangars and shut down. Only the pilots got off. There didn’t appear to be anyone or anything else on board. The only reason Rainbow could think of for arriving empty was that it would leave full. Apparently they were pulling out.

However, as the plane’s engines died away, they heard another aircraft, unmistakably a helicopter. Surely that wasn’t Lion Heart’s executive transport. But it was. Rainbow stared as it came in for a landing. What was he doing here?

That aside, she moved forward in line to receive bread and some type of native fruit. Turning, she looked for Soarin’, who was already heading for the hangar.

Rainbow’s eyes drifted to the horizon, where a small cloud of birds had just taken off from the tall grass. She looked at the guards. Upon Lion Heart’s approach, they’d gone tense, hands touching weapons.

Lion Heart, flanked by Clash and Wind Rider, walked over from the helicopter. The afternoon sun glinted on his wire framed glasses. He still wore his lion skin cape. By now, any eyes not doing something else were on him.

“Miss Pantera Prowl,” he said. “I wanted to congratulate you on your final mission.”

I thought she was only at ninety nine? Rainbow glanced from him to Pantera.

Seeing Pantera’s own confusion, Lion Heart said, “We’ll count the ferry flight from Manatada.”

This was it. Time was up. Pantera was leaving, one way or the other. Rainbow’s fists clenched.

Lion Heart said, “I hoped I could extend an offer to you. We could use a pilot we can trust. I’m prepared to make you a very generous offer. Cash, gold, or credit.”

Pantera swallowed. She said, “I’d like to go home.”

Lion Heart nodded but did not smile. He turned to the rest of the assembled pilots. “I will make a one-time offer to you all. For now only: you may accept the same paid position and leave this place, one hundred missions will be waived.”

Rainbow’s heart jumped. Was this really…? Would anyone accept? She looked to her fellow pilots.

“You should take it,” said Wind Rider, standing near her. Rainbow turned to face him.

“We can use you,” he said. “You would be great. I know you would.” He held out a hand.

Rainbow looked at his hand, and then threw the same morose glare to his face. “Get away from me, creep.”

Wind Rider drew back, his face petulant. He walked a few steps away and nodded towards Lion Heart.

The UTA Leader turned back to his helicopter and began to board. He waved his hand over his shoulder. “Kill them.”

Chapter 31

After Lion Heart ordered their deaths, several things happened in the next fraction of a second.

The nearby soldiers started to raise their rifles. Wind Rider put a hand on his pistol. But the first gunshots exploded from over Rainbow’s shoulder, striking the designated executioners before they were able to fire.

Running on instinct alone, Rainbow dove at Wind Rider. He saw her coming, but didn’t have time to level his gun before she slammed into him. Her weight was barely half his, but it was Rainbow Dash; she had speed to spare.

The two of them went to the ground, gunfire from both sides going over their heads. Rainbow grabbed for his gun hand, fingernails digging at his skin. The pistol went off into the air, setting her ears ringing. He bent his legs, trying to roll up underneath her. Rainbow felt his boot plant in her stomach and gripped his wrist even tighter as he straightened his legs.

She went flying off him, but managed to strip the gun. It landed in the dirt nearby and they both dove for it. She aimed a kick at his face that deflected him and came up with the gun in her hands.

Though, it instantly flashed through her mind that perhaps standing up in the middle of a shootout was the worst thing she could do. She ran for the relative safety of the other hangar, from where the presumably friendly gunfire was coming.

The other pilots were already ahead of her. Pug was apparently Russian enough to know how to use an AK-47. He held one of the captured rifles. Lightning held another.

Soarin’ was just changing magazines when Rainbow shot through the door. She looked back. The airport had cleared out. No one, not even Wind Rider, remained in the open. A few bodies lay where they had dropped from the initial barrage.

Rainbow did a quick count, seeing that everyone was there. Soarin’s surprise attack had gone perfectly. She had time to take a breath and only then realized that it was now or never. If they were going to escape, there was no better opportunity. This was it. There was no backing down, there was no failure. It all ended now, one way or another.

Soarin’ glanced out the door and saw Lion Heart’s helicopter taking off in the distance. He raised his rifle, but reluctantly put it down again. The distance was a couple hundred meters, and the helicopter was Soviet. No way was a rifle going to take it down.

“We need to get out of here!” shouted Rainbow. Not only were several of their ears ringing, but it just seemed like a thing to shout.

“I can fly the C-130,” said Kiel.

That was an excellent idea. However, Striker cautioned, “We can’t just run over there. We have no way of knowing where the rest of them are. They could pick us off from cover.”

“I’ve got it,” said Lightning. She handed him her rifle and ran for her jet.

“What is she…” Rainbow watched Lightning yank the covers off the Su-22’s guns but do no other preflight. She jumped in the cockpit and spun up the engine.

The thrust blew the metal panels off the back of the building as Lighting accelerated the jet out of the hangar. The others scattered, trying to cover behind the Su-22 while simultaneously not getting blown away.

Lightning swung the jet around and pulled the trigger. The jet’s two 30mm cannons tore into the next hangar, the high-explosive rounds instantly setting afire the jets inside and tearing all the way through the building.

Soldiers ran from behind their destroyed cover. That made them easy targets and they knew it, preferring to flee rather than fight. Still, some did aim at the jet. The Su-22 wasn’t heavily armored, but it was a lot more protection than being out in the open.

Next, Lighting riddled the building with the Cessna and the Mirage. More soldiers had been hiding there, too. Her distraction was all the others needed to run for the C-130.

Rainbow did a headcount on the way. Aside from Lightning, all the pilots were there, plus a handful of mechanics including Jubi.

Clash and Wind Rider were there as they approached, trying to get aboard the plane. The gunfire in the distance had concealed the escapees’ footsteps until they already had their weapons trained on the two.

Clash carried his big anti-tank rifle, while Wind Rider was still unarmed. Facing three AK-47’s and a handgun, they put their hands up. Soarin’ said, “Grab them.”

Both were put in the back of the plane and bound with cargo straps by vengeful mechanics. The rest got aboard. Rainbow, Soarin’, Striker, and Pug stood guard with weapons. Between Lightning and them, they kept the UTA at bay while Kiel spun up the engines.

Pantera appeared at the side door, gesturing them in. The four hastily climbed inside, Pug remaining by the door for overwatch. The mechanics were in the cargo bay, hanging onto things in preparation for takeoff.

Rainbow entered the cockpit. Kiel was in the left seat, and Pantera sat down beside him. She put on a headset to match his. He released the parking brake.

“We need to take out the SA-6’s!” came Lightning’s voice on the radio.

“You’ve got weapons,” Kiel replied.

“But I don’t know if I can get both before they get me,” Lightning protested.

“I’ll do it!” Rainbow said. She didn’t even consciously make the decision. She ran to the door and jumped down, sprinting for the last hangar.

Kiel’s MiG was inside and she climbed aboard. His helmet was on the seat and she put it on, though it was too big. The oxygen mask didn’t fit.

The exhaust from hers and Lightning’s jets still hung heavy in the hangar despite the extra ventilation punched in the back wall. The blue and yellow Wonderbolts bandana Soarin’ had given her was still tied around her neck. She tugged it up, tying it over her nose.

As soon as the engine started to spin up, she keyed the radio. “I’m coming.”

“Glad to hear it.” Lightning’s voice was almost casual, trying to be cool in such a hot situation. “So, what are our callsigns?”

“Well, I’m claiming Freedom for us,” said Pantera.

“Nice. What about us? Suggestions?”

The opportunity was too perfect. “Harmony,” said Rainbow.

“Got it. This is Harmony Lead. Let’s go, Two.”

Why does she get to be the leader? But Rainbow shook it off. She had a job to do.

She and Lighting violated all safety rules in heading for the runway. They were at a critical juncture where they’d be leaving the C-130 vulnerable for a minute while they attacked the air defenses. Rainbow hoped that wouldn’t be too long.

Harmony flight thundered down the runway and pulled straight up as soon as they had the airspeed to do so. The MiG-21 out-accelerated the Su-22, but they weren’t racing each other, they were racing time.

The SA-6 probably had a minimum arming distance. Rainbow didn’t know what it was, and it didn’t matter anyway. The race was on to eliminate the launchers before they could shoot.

“The gunfire is getting too intense,” said Kiel. “We have to get moving!”

Rainbow glanced over her shoulder, seeing the C-130 begin to roll. Owing to its sturdy undercarriage, Kiel simply steered it off the pavement and around the burning hangar, putting it between the plane and the UTA. It began to accelerate for takeoff.

It was hard to discern what happened next. Rainbow saw the tiny figures of the UTA scattering and larger, faster shapes converging on them.

“Rhinoceros!” exclaimed Pantera.

One last send-off gift, Rainbow thought. The magic was protecting her friends as they made their escape.

She checked her altimeter and pulled over, throttling back for the maneuver to dive. “Harmony Two has the eastern target.” There was barely time to line up the reticle and drop the bomb. She pulled hard on the stick, squirming as the g-forces piled on. There hadn’t even been time to put on her seatbelt harness, much less a g-suit.

She barely cleared the blast radius as the bomb slammed into the ground within feet of the SA-6 launcher and exploded. Even still, she thought she felt a thump of something hitting the jet.

“Good hit! One has the western target,” Lightning announced.

Rainbow looked over as the Su-22 dove on the other missile system. She saw the SA-6’s launch rack turning and elevating its missiles. The bomb came off Lightning’s jet and she turned away, the jet’s variable wings splayed to gain every ounce of lift.

“Good hit!” Rainbow called as the weapon found its mark.

“Freedom is airborne,” Pantera called.

“You’re clear!” Rainbow called.

She and Lightning reversed course, catching up to the C-130 as it departed to the west after its ground roll.

Rainbow was just about to breathe a sigh of relief, when Lightning spoke up. “So...what now? We aren’t carrying the fuel to go anywhere, much less as far as Freedom can go.”

“Maybe the two of us can land at Manatada and transfer to the other plane?” suggested Rainbow. “Just a quick in-and-out.”

A voice said, “That might work, if we weren’t about to kill you.”

“Death,” spat Lightning.

“Yes, and this time I’m afraid that you don’t have a choice,” purred the voice. “That’s a nice escape attempt you’re making, but you’ve only made our job easier. It sounds like you took out the air defense. It sounds like there’s only two of you and a big, slow freighter. You should have engaged us when you had the chance. We brought four today.”

Without a word, the C-130 banked away to the west. There was nothing they could do. It would have been stupid of them to hang around.

Rainbow glanced over at Lightning, flying a quarter of a mile off her wing. It was just the two of them against bad odds.

But Rainbow had one trick to pull, one broken circle to close. Death had been mysterious so far, seeming to know everything. But after some long thinking, Rainbow had figured out what she was dealing with.

“We don’t want to fight, we just want to go home.”

Death started to say something, but Rainbow talked over the voice. This was too important.

“If we have to, we’ll fight. That cargo plane is going to get out of here one way or another.”

She took a breath, steeling herself what what she had to say next. “I know we should have had this conversation earlier, and I know that I might not be able to stop you now. But for what it’s worth, I want you to know that I’m sorry.

“...Vapor Trail.”

Chapter 32

Rainbow glanced at her radar screen. The MiG-21’s primitive systems were still able to tell her that there were four planes ahead of her. She had Lightning Dust at her side, and a cargo plane of others to protect.

That would have been bad enough. But she knew what - and who - she was facing.

Vapor Trail had survived, somehow. Rainbow had intentionally not checked for an open parachute after shooting her down. At the time, she didn’t want to remember the event any more than she had to.

But Vapor had survived. She now flew for the Freedom Army in some of the best jets in the region. And she wanted revenge.

“You think you can just say sorry for trying to kill me and make it better!?” burst out Vapor Trail after Rainbow’s apology.

“Not that it helps, but I want you to know that I don’t hate you.”

“You’re damn right it doesn’t help! I don’t care how you feel about me, you tried to kill me!”

“You know as well as I do that I didn’t have much of a choice,” said Rainbow. “If I hadn’t taken the shot and let you get away, they would have killed me instead. Where were you even going? You didn’t have enough fuel to go anywhere.”

“That’s not the point!” Vapor shouted.

“I think it is. When it came down to you or me, I made my choice. It wasn’t just about my life, I had to be there for my friends.”

Vapor laughed, that signature Death laugh, but somehow even creepier this time. “Your friends? You know they would stab you in the back.”

“They’re all on that cargo plane, escaping together,” said Rainbow. “And anyway, what are friends? People you would do anything for. I never wanted to hurt you, Vapor, and I don’t want to now, but I’ll stand between them and you if I have to.”

“Three, Four, go after that plane,” said Vapor. “Two, on me.”

Rainbow’s radar revealed that two bogies split off to the west, after the C-130. She immediately turned hard to give chase. It put Vapor on her wing, but Rainbow meant what she said about protecting her friends.

The MiG slid through a mach but Rainbow didn’t notice, racing to get ahead of the oncoming Floggers. She knew where they should be and took a guess where her trajectory would bring her back into the mix.

Rainbow strained her eyes scanning the sky. A tiny spec that could have been a divot on the canopy caught her eye, but no, it moved. She squinted. It was the C-130.

She looked further east, spotting two fast-moving dots against the sky. She turned in.

The MiG-23’s were more sophisticated than Rainbow’s old -21. When she turned her radar on them, their warning gear went off and both of them turned nose-on to face her.

Rainbow glanced over her shoulder. Lightning’s Su-22 was there, hanging back far enough to be her own target. Rainbow twisted in her seat back to the fight, grit her teeth, and selected guns.

With over a thousand knots’ closing speed between the planes, Rainbow had a fraction of a second. Too soon would be useless, too late could get her killed. Her finger closed around the trigger.

The burst of machine guns was short, and Rainbow was immediately pulling hard on the stick. She twisted her neck over her shoulder, searching for her opponents. One of them had gone up in flames, momentum still carrying the now-wrecked jet forward but gravity beginning to take over. Rainbow focused on the other jet, which had started a turn of its own.

She scarcely paid attention to the head-on gun kill she’d just made at nearly mach two of relative speed. She barely noticed the g-forces. They shoved her hard into the seat, but her focus was too great to let a little thing like that enter her mind. Her vision had narrowed to a tunnel, but she was already focused like a laser.

The other Flogger had slowed, spreading its wings to turn harder. Rainbow completed her turn, purposely matching her opponent’s radius. They reversed course and she followed, selecting her next weapon.

The missile’s tone was good and she let it go. The Flogger suddenly popped a string of flares and reversed its turn. The primitive Atoll missile took the bait.

Advancing the throttle, Rainbow got closer, cutting inside her opponent’s turn. They reversed again and Rainbow followed, setting up an opposing weave, back and forth. Mentally timing it, Rainbow tracked the jet with her eyes, lining up for when they would cross in front of her again. Her 23mm guns cut it in half.

“Harmony Two engaging!” Lightning warned.

Rainbow looked up as if her name had been called close-range, pulled from her concentration. Rainbow knew Lightning, and knew she would never directly ask for help, but her plane wasn’t a dogfighter like Rainbow’s and she was facing two aware enemies.

The three of them were already circling and weaving when Rainbow arrived. She tried to tell which plane Vapor was flying, but had to settle for engaging the closest target.

“Get the plane!” shouted Vapor.

The other Flogger broke away, streaking towards the distant C-130.

Rainbow’s breath seized. If that was Two departing, then that meant Vapor was right in front of her. She could have the kill in seconds.

But that wouldn’t stop the other Death pilot from killing everyone.

Rainbow tore off after them, leaving Vapor unchecked, with Lightning. This was another choice, deciding who lived and died. She prayed she was making the right one.

Rainbow could already tell that the race to the C-130 was going to be tight. She had an angle on the other pilot, who was chasing the cargo plane from directly behind. Rainbow pulled a little lead, aiming for the intercept from the side and hoping beyond hope that she could get there in time.

Her heart seemed to stop as she saw the missile come off the Flogger’s rail. It was going to pass by Rainbow and drive straight at the undefended C-130.

The countermeasures button on the stick shattered under her thumb. The MiG’s entire load of chaff and flares poured out. And amazingly, it worked. The heat-seeker detected the massive bloom and adjusted course, turning off-axis to instead aim for Rainbow.

She had nothing left to decoy it again.

Chapter 33

The missile pointed towards Rainbow’s plane like an accusing finger. You!

And it was her. She’d taken it on, saving her friends. The missile had been decoyed from the C-130 onto her own airplane.

The missile aimed for the center of her MiG. It hit the bottom of the fuselage at the midpoint of the wings and exploded.

It had been behind her cockpit, but as the jet folded in half while doing five hundred knots, it didn’t really matter. If Rainbow had been able to perceive what happened in the next few miliseconds, she would have seen the jet coming apart around her. There was no time to pull the ejection seat. The wiring had been torn away, at any rate. There was nothing but wind and violence.

She tried to open her eyes, but saw nothing but a blur of color - a mixture of sky and ground and burning airplane and her own hair. Her helmet was gone and she didn’t know what had happened to it. The pistol she’d wrestled from Wind Rider was in her hand somehow and her fingers gripped it until her knuckles turned white.

Mostly, she just fell.

Rainbow’s eyes managed to track the C-130 as her feet tumbled past her head again. She saw the Flogger that had fired the missile lining up another one on the defenseless cargo plane. No! She couldn't save the others!

She squeezed her eyes shut. There was nothing she could do. She’d come this far with the motley crew that had become her friends. And now she was failing them.

This wasn’t justice. This wasn’t her. It couldn’t be allowed. Rainbow would do anything for her friends. Loyalty didn’t know the word “can’t.”

Her eyes opened. Her vision sharpened. The wind at altitude didn’t feel so cold. Energy like an electrical charge swelled in her heart and she felt it crash through her body like a tidal wave, focusing especially on her upper back.

The magic had returned.

Rainbow’s fall suddenly reversed and she shot skyward like a rocket. She could feel her wings tear through the wind. Her eyes weren’t watering from the speed any more. There was no time to lose.

She extended her left hand, raising it above her head like a lance. A cone of magenta fire flickered around it, spreading back around her arm.

She punched straight through the Flogger’s belly, lancing through aluminum panels, wiring, hydraulics, and out the other side, her entire body passing through the hole. Back broken, the jet disintegrated.

There was no time to consider the pilot. Rainbow’s wings gave her options, but she had other loyalties. She headed for the remaining fight.

Lightning Dust’s Su-22 and Vapor Trail’s MiG-23 were a closer match than the Flogger-Fishbed matchup and they were still circling. Rainbow dove in.

Lightning was currently at the disadvantage, but not yet in danger of being shot. She missed Rainbow’s appearance.

Vapor didn’t. While she may not have realized what was rapidly approaching, she instinctively rolled away, but there was no jet on earth that could keep up with Rainbow. There was nothing Vapor could do to get away.

Rainbow thumped into the side of the jet. She braced her foot on the edge of the engine intake beside the canopy and grabbed a probe just forward of the cockpit with one hand. With the other, she held the muzzle of the pistol against the canopy, pointed at Vapor’s head.

The two of them stared at each other for what felt like a long moment. Vapor’s expression was difficult to read behind her tinted visor, though Rainbow could see her eyes. How did she get this way? Had the Freedom Army done something to her? Was it all triggered by Sky Stinger’s Death? What did Rainbow owe her?

A chance. Friends forgave. Friends understood.

Rainbow tossed the gun down the engine intake. The results were as immediate as they were drastic. The entire jet shuddered and belched black smoke out the tailpipe. Through the canopy, Rainbow saw the warning lights come on.

She peeled away from the stricken jet. Seconds passed as it continued towards the ground, trailing smoke. There was nothing that could be done, Vapor just had to realize it.

And then, the ejection Rainbow had been waiting for. The canopy blew off and the seat fired out. The parachute opened a moment later.

When Vapor got her bearings, Rainbow was there to greet her. She descended slowly, keeping pace with the parachute.

“Wh-how-” Vapor stuttered, anger giving way to pure astonishment at Rainbow’s wings.

“We can talk later,” said Rainbow.

Vapor opened and closed her mouth. Then, she grabbed for her sidearm.

Rainbow should have seen it coming. Still, it wasn’t too hard to avoid. She simply flew around behind Vapor, who hung in her harness, unable to turn.

“What are you!?” Vapor screamed.

Rainbow moved closer, putting herself within easy conversation distance of Vapor’s back. “I’m going to apologize to you until you accept it. I’m sorry for what I did to you. I wish I’d had another choice. I wish you hadn’t put me in that position, but I don’t blame you for doing what you did. I might have done it myself, before I considered the consequences to everyone else. This isn’t just about me. It’s about you, about everyone.”

Vapor pointed the gun as well as she could over her shoulder. Rainbow deftly slid to the other side. Vapor twisted, still looking for the shot.

“What does it take for me to convince you?” said Rainbow. “I don’t believe I’m fully at fault here. You might have a different opinion. What can I do to make it up to you?”

“Drop dead!”

“Even figuratively, I can’t do that. I told you, I have a duty to everyone.”

“What do you owe them?”

“Well, not anything, really. But I can’t just let them go. I can’t let you go. Being loyal is who I am. I’m here for you. That’s my choice. I’m here no matter what you think about me or any wrong that I’ve done to you. I hope you can forgive me.”

Vapor lowered her head. Even suspended as she was in the parachute harness, her shoulders slumped.

Rainbow was not known for being particularly perceptive, but she knew a moment when she saw one. She moved forward, sliding her arms around Vapor. After a moment, Vapor seemed to sigh, and leaned her head into Rainbow’s.

“So…” said Vapor after a long second. “Is that plane going home?”

“Yes.”

Vapor sniffed. “I wish I was on it.”

A sudden idea hit Rainbow. “Do you trust me?”

Vapor turned her head. The two of them were practically nose to nose and their eyes stared into each other. “Yes.”

Rainbow adjusted her arms, sliding them through Vapor’s harness. She then unclipped the parachute.

There was a jerk as Rainbow took up the weight, but it was nothing. In a moment, they were ascending and picking up speed.

Rainbow glanced over, seeing Lightning flying alongside. Even in the distance, her awestruck expression was plain to see.

The improvised formation approached the C-130. Rainbow saw the tailgate begin to open, likely due to a timely radio message from Lightning. She and Vapor came aboard.

General surprise was etched on every face in the back of the plane, especially the two prisoners. Rainbow and Vapor parted, the latter taking a few unsteady steps away from the back of the plane to sit on one of the side seats. She looked towards the front of the plane and felt the crude seat material under her fingers, as if scarcely believing it was real. She glanced up at Rainbow, and despite everything that had happened, smiled.

Pug appeared, wearing a headset. He shouted to Rainbow over the airplane noise, “We’re going to make a quick stop at Manatada to pick up Lightning.”

Rainbow glanced out where the Su-22 was still in trail. She shouted back, “Why not tell her to punch, and I’ll grab her?”

She stepped off the tailgate into the propwash, getting her wings open and making the turn to fly alongside Lightning.

Lightning glanced over, apparently getting the message over the radio. She checked a few things inside the plane and then reached for the emergency cockpit lever. The canopy blew off, but the seat didn’t fire. Probably a good thing, saving her some potential spinal trauma. Rainbow swooped closer as Lightning unclipped her seatbelts, and lifted her up out of the cockpit. The jet fell into a slow spiral and headed for the ground.

They made the quick trip back to the C-130. Landing on the tailgate, Rainbow turned, pulling her arms free of Lightning’s harness.

Lightning suddenly stiffened and stepped to the side. Rainbow spun in place, but it was Lightning’s fist that shot past her and smashed into Connor Clash’s face. He’d somehow gotten free of his restraints and had charged.

Lightning hit him again on the same spot on the cheekbone, the sound audible even over the plane. A contingent of mechanics wrestled him down, but they were too slow to stop the onrushing Wind Rider, who emerged from the fight with a cargo strap in his hands.

He raised it up, the thick nylon wrapping around Rainbow’s neck. Her hands grabbed at him, but scrabbled uselessly against his manic attack. She choked, her feet scrabbling as he lifted her clear of the floor.

A shot rang out and Wind Rider jerked. He and Rainbow both looked, to where Vapor was on her feet, gun up.

Wind Rider’s fingers lost their purchase and the strap slipped off. He went to his knees, blood running down his chest. One leg slipped, the boot going over the edge of the tailgate. And then he was gone.

Everyone caught their breath. The tailgate began to close. Rainbow walked over and sat beside Vapor. She could feel nothing but her own skin against the seat. She didn’t need wings for this.

Vapor started to shake. Rainbow put her arm around her. That helped.

Rainbow looked around the plane. They were leaving. It was still a long flight, but she could practically see the light at the end of the figurative tunnel.

She let out a sigh that felt like she’d been holding it for months. Fairer skies did beckon. They were going home.

Epilogue

Striker stuck his head through the door. “You’re all fueled up.”

Rainbow smiled. “Thanks a lot.”

They’d followed the GPS in the C-130’s cockpit to a tiny airfield in rural Brazil. It was apparently a UTA forward base for making the hop between Africa and the Americas. No one was there when they arrived, so they hastily refueled and disembarked most of the passengers.

Striker, of course, was staying in Brazil. He would help some of the others to get to their embassies and get home.

“You should come visit sometime,” he said.

Rainbow laughed. “As soon as I can stand flying again. I’ll bring my soccer ball.”

Striker stepped back and closed the door. He waved to her through the tiny window.

Rainbow walked forward and sat down in the cockpit. Soarin' glanced over from the pilot's seat. He showed her the new GPS setting, back north. Rainbow nodded. One more flight. She thought about everything she had been through. She thought about who she’d done it for.

“You ready?” said Soarin’ in the headset.

She nodded. “Let’s go home.”

Author's Note

I had a rough idea of the plot when I began this story, though had to figure out the interpretation along the way.

I tried to include a little of the feel of Metal Gear Solid V, with the weird things happening in Africa, but didn't find many opportunities. Fighter plane story versus tactical espionage story.

All the aircraft mentioned in the story were plausibly available in Africa, either from a failed governments or surplus sales.

All the food and native plants and animals were also regionally plausible. I really learned a lot about Africa while writing this story.

I toyed with the idea that maybe they were all unknowingly in purgatory after dying, and trying to get out. None of them could remember how they got there, plus Rainbow had thought Soarin' was dead. The magic (animal attacks, diamond mines drying up, fast-growing food crops, fires, mention of laughing sickness) were Rainbow's friends kicking up trouble trying to get her out. The C-130, callsign Mercury, bringing them in and out of the place. I ultimately didn't make this idea an explicit part of the plot, but kept some elements. You can interpret it that way if you want.

When I first started writing, Lightning was slated to be in sort of Wind Rider's position. However, she gradually evolved into a more sympathetic character. Heck, if she was an undercover Interpol agent or spy or something it would fit. After all, she was the only one who recognized the name Phoenix Whitebirch, which is a name most commonly found as part of the US Army chaplain's manual on Wicca. Why did Lion Heart target her? Either for her real or assumed position, or because he thought she was too friendly with Rainbow.

Where is the fictional country of Talongo? Basically, the southern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The place names I used were slight misspellings of real things in the area.

There were lots of recursions in the plot. Lightning getting in a lick to Clash's face at the end, just like he did to Rainbow in the beginning. That's also a good example of allowing the other characters to shine. Rainbow, as loyalty, is technically only supposed to support. Of course, she has to be her own kind of hero, but the others got plenty of their own moments. Soarin' was arguably the one who drove the escape the hardest. Rainbow wouldn't like thinking she was a secondary character in her own story.

I owe a debt here to the anime Area 88. I got a general idea of the plot from it. I purposely have never watched it, though, because I didn't want to make this story too much like it. Maybe I will now.

Thanks for reading.

Chapter 1

The first thing Rainbow noticed was a splitting headache.

Either that, or someone had axe-murdered her in her sleep. Really, it felt like either one of those was plausible.

She groaned and shifted her head, which for some reason was lying crooked at an angle. She was sitting upright, and everything seemed to be vibrating. A horrible noise was boring into her ears and she raised her hands to cover them. She missed a couple of times before managing to get her hands into the right position. But now, even the gentle touch of her hands on her head hurt. What had Rainbow done to deserve this?

She opened her eyes to slits. Her multicolored hair fell in front of her eyes and she brushed it away with her fingertips. She was sitting in a seat made of mesh draped over a metal frame. Her shoes rested on a perforated metal floor. There were people sitting to either side and also in a line across from her.

Rainbow closed her eyes and tried to force her brain to work. The answer came to her suddenly and she snapped her eyes open again, immediately regretting it. Why was she on a cargo plane?

She squinted again, looking around. There were perhaps a hundred people on the plane, plus a few crates strapped to the center of the floor. Most of the other passengers were men. Most of them looked bored.

But again, what was Rainbow doing here? She tried to remember.

Nothing came to mind. Looking down, she was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday. Yesterday? Well, that was a start. She’d gone out to have some fun on a Friday after classes. And then...blackout.

What had she done?

Grimacing against the noise and the pounding in her head, she turned to the nearest person and shouted above the noise, “Where are we!?”

He shrugged.

Rainbow looked around. None of the others seemed particularly interested in her question. She turned back to the man who’d already declined conversation once. “Surely you must have some idea!”

He said something offhand, though whatever it was fell below the noise of the engines. “What?” Rainbow shouted.

He looked annoyed now. He put his hand on the back of her neck and dragged her close. His lips to her ear, she finally heard him say, “Atlantic, somewhere.”

“What!? Why!?”

The man sat back and looked away, crossing his arms.

Rainbow stared at him. She looked around. No one else met her eyes.

She struggled to get up, swaying on her feet, and promptly fell. Her jeans protected her knees, but she decided not to stand again. Instead, she crawled forward on the dirty floor. She could feel the eyes of everyone else on the plane watching her.

Forward of her seat was a side door with a window smaller than her face. Reaching it, Rainbow hauled herself up. The light nearly blinded her, but she squinted through it.

There was nothing outside but sky and sea.

Rainbow tried to put her thoughts in order. The sun rises in the east in the morning, and we’re flying this way, and it’s...morning?

She fumbled for her cell phone. It wasn’t there. She dug in her other pocket. It was empty, too.

Panic crashed over her like a tidal wave, rose up in her throat like-

-no, that was vomit. Rainbow heaved so hard her forehead bounced off the window. Puke sprayed down the door and all over her feet. There wasn’t much in her stomach, but it all tasted bad.

“Ugh, oh damnit.” She looked around. Everyone else was back to ignoring her. There was nothing she could use to clean up the mess.

Rainbow swallowed and tried to force the taste out of her mouth. At least she felt marginally better, even if the headache remained. Steadying herself on the fuselage wall, she made her way forward.

Out the window, she’d seen the distinctive high wing and turboprops that made her guess that this must be a C-130. The versatile airlifter had been around for more than fifty years and could be found in nearly any country in the world. What Rainbow was doing aboard one was still a mystery.

She’d been training to be a professional pilot, making it her college major, but nothing could have prepared her for this. How had she gotten on the plane if she was so blacked out she was still having trouble walking? Why had they even let her? This didn’t look like a passenger ride at all.

Maybe the pilots could tell her. She kept going forward, reaching the cockpit door. Rainbow put out a hand, but the knob wouldn’t turn. She jiggled it and then banged a fist on the door. “Hey!”

It only then occurred to her that doing so might not be a good idea. Airline passengers had been tackled for less. But looking around, this sure didn’t look like an airline.

Nobody opened the door, even after Rainbow banged again. Nonplussed, she turned and slowly stumbled back in the direction of her seat, but out of the corner of her eye noticed that something was different outside.

Stepping gingerly, she went to the window again. Now, the view below was of thick trees, grass, and red dirt. There was no civilization to be seen.

She stayed there for a long time, desperately searching for something that would tell her where she was. But it was not to be. Rainbow gave up, going back to her seat to sit and close her eyes.

She wished she could sleep, but her head hurt too much. So she endured.

Hours passed. Rainbow had no way of telling time, but it had to be hours.

When the pitch of the engines changed, Rainbow’s head shot up, setting loose another wave of pain. Her condition had steadily been improving, but the diminished headache still remained and now she was also hungry.

She was tempted to go to the window, but instead clung to her seat as the plane went into a steep spiral. She nearly threw up again before it leveled out and came in for a bumpy landing on rough pavement.

The plane taxied off the runway and came to a stop. People started getting up. The rear door opened, folding its ramp down to the ground.

Rainbow shuffled off with the crowd, squinting in the afternoon sun. The air was humid, and hotter than it should have been. It was only spring.

She looked around. Aside from the airstrip, there were a few hangers and other airplanes parked within sight. There was no control tower. In the distance, she could see other buildings, probably not aviation-related.

Her eyes widened at the variety of smaller planes around the airport. Propeller planes, helicopters, jets. Her mouth dropped open when she realized that some of them were definitely armed.

Someone grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. “What’s your name?” he demanded. He was a foot taller than her and she had to look up.

“Rainbow Dash.”

He pushed her back towards the plane. “Clean up that mess.”

“With what?” she asked, but the man was already gone.

Rainbow did feel responsible, though, and tentatively stepped onto the C-130’s tailgate. She spotted a pilot coming out of the cockpit and walked towards him. “Hey, can you help me? I need a rag or something.”

He looked at her for a moment, and then shook his head. “No. Get off the plane.”

“But I was supposed to-”

He pushed her gently back down the ramp and then pointed over her shoulder towards a squat building on the far side of the parking apron. “Go there.”

Utterly confused once more, Rainbow followed his directions. Approaching the building, she saw someone had hand-painted Flyers Club above the door.

Stepping inside, she was greeted with utter squalor. There were a few pieces of furniture, all of it mismatched, a table, another table that might once have been a ping pong setup, debris, dirty clothing, and various grades of reading material scattered around. It smelled like unwashed bodies and tobacco.

There were a few people already present who looked up at her with interest. One of them was a woman with short golden hair. She got up and came over. She was wearing a ragged flight suit. So were the rest, Rainbow noticed.

“Fresh meat, huh?” she said, eyes running up and down Rainbow’s body, taking in her t-shirt, faux leather jacket, jeans, Converse high tops, and the puke all over it all.

“I’m Lightning Dust,” the woman said, putting out a hand. She might have been Rainbow’s age.

“Where am I?” Rainbow asked.

“Talongo.”

“Ta-Africa!?” Rainbow had heard the name of the small country before, somewhere. She knew what continent it was on, but that was about it.

“You didn’t know?”

“No! I only woke up on the plane, I didn’t mean to come here. This is a huge mistake!”

Rainbow spun on her heel and went back out the door. She fast-walked back across the apron to where the men she’d ridden with were unloading the plane. The big man who’d told her to clean up the puke was easy to spot and she reached up to tap him on the shoulder.

“Hey! I’m not supposed to be here! Why didn’t you tell me? I need to get home. I didn’t consent to-”

He hit her in the face with a right cross that she saw coming but her hangover left her powerless to stop. It lifted her completely clear of the ground and sent her sprawling on the concrete.

Everyone nearby laughed.

“She’s new,” called Lightning, arriving just then. She bent down to Rainbow, who was holding her head again.

“What’s happening?” Rainbow whispered.

“You just have to survive.” Lightning touched the patch on her flight suit, which had a constellation of stars on a black sky. “Until fairer skies beckon.”

Author's Note

This story shares a similar concept to the anime Area 88, but nothing beyond that.

Title suggested by Jarimor

Thanks for reading.

Chapter 9

Rainbow lay facedown on her bed. It hurt just to breathe.

She barely remembered the aftermath of previous day’s whipping. She knew she hadn’t gotten to the bunkhouse on her own two feet. Someone had removed her torn and bloody shirt. She vaguely remembered the sting of being washed.

At the moment, she was covered by a sheet. Even the gentle touch seemed to hurt, and if her wounds hadn’t scabbed yet, the cloth was surely going to stick. Still, she wasn’t going to let flies or who knew what else land on her. Not to mention, she still retained some dignity. She wasn’t going to go topless in group lodging, even if she was on her front and didn’t have a lot to cover.

Angels came in. She had a bucket and a sponge and sat down on Stratus’ bed, next to Rainbow’s. “How are you?”

“Really?” muttered Rainbow, burying her face again.

“I mean everything besides what happened.”

Rainbow considered it, but then just groaned into her bedding. She would have shrugged, but, well…

Angels gently pulled the sheet back. The air felt better to Rainbow, but it would have been much nicer if it was cool. She didn’t know what time it was, but estimated it was midday.

Angels didn’t warn her the sponge would hurt, but she didn’t need to. At this point, Rainbow was just assuming everything would hurt.

“You’re mostly cleaned up,” Angels said. “If you’re lucky, it won’t become infected. Try to avoid that. All we can get is rubbing alcohol.”

That sounded horrible.

Angels finished. “You need to at least drink something. Come on, I’ll help you up.”

Rainbow groaned again, but moved to avoid pain as Angels put her hands on her arm. She slowly came up to her hands and knees and from there to kneeling. Under her hand, she saw the blue and yellow cloth Soarin’ had given her to bite and didn’t remember it being there.

Angels laid Rainbow’s flight suit on the bed. “It’s loose.”

She left Rainbow alone for a moment to get dressed. Rainbow glanced at the bed and the sparse blood on the sheets. They were old when they became hers, and something told her that she wouldn’t get new ones just for bleeding on them.

Leaning over, she picked up the cloth she’d bitten on. It had helped. Rainbow had been too busy to notice at the time, but she remembered how hard her jaw had involuntarily clenched.

Unfolding it, she realized to her surprise that it was a Wonderbolts bandana. The winged lightning bolt in the center was inside a blue diamond. The corners of the bandana were yellow.

Rainbow looked at it for a moment, and then tied it around her neck. She turned the tail backwards and put her flight suit on over it. It wouldn’t cover very much of her back or the part where the injuries were the worst, but it might help a little.

The flight suit, loose though it was, still only stayed off Rainbow’s flayed skin when she consciously leaned back. Steeling herself against fresh pain, Rainbow staggered out of the building.

She was thirsty, but didn’t have much appetite, especially for the tasteless food that the kitchen made. Still, Angels convinced her she needed the calories.

Rainbow sat stiffly in the chair, her back not touching its back. Angels sat across from her. The meal today was something that resembled oatmeal, but not made with oats. Gruel? It tasted faintly of something starchy and was filling, but that was about it.

As she ate with a spoon, Lightning Dust came in. Stiff as she already was, Rainbow stiffened even more. But as her eyes went up to meet Lightning’s, she pulled them back down. No, now wasn’t the time.

Rainbow couldn’t tell if Angels had caught the exchange or if she even knew what Lightning had done. For that matter, Rainbow didn’t know if Lightning knew that she knew.

Rainbow kept eating, but her mind was somewhere else. She even forgot her pain. She was the Element of Loyalty. Ordinarily, that meant being one sixth of a magical force for good.

She almost snorted into ther gruel. That used to be her ordinary. How messed up was her life now? So much had changed.

But one thing hadn’t. Rainbow valued loyalty above all else. Lightning had snitched. She’d sold Rainbow out. For one mission off.

Rainbow had nearly been killed flying in combat several times already. She was likely responsible for the deaths of Freedom Army fighters, but she could tell herself that they would gladly have done the same to her. But fighting for her life was different. Being stabbed in the back for personal gain hurt, on several levels.

Rainbow paused, the spoon halfway to her mouth. Fighting for her life… Was it different? Rainbow fighting the Freedom Army was for her own survival. Was that how Lightning saw her fellow pilots?

The revelation twisted Rainbow’s gut. On the one hand, it meant Lightning had sold her out strictly for business. It was harder to hate her if it hadn’t been a personal slight to Rainbow. But it also meant that Rainbow was even more alone and isolated than ever. Lightning wasn’t her friend, and never had been. She could be amicable in conversation, but that didn’t mean she would do anything for Rainbow. It wasn’t betrayal if she’d never been loyal in the first place.

That didn’t mean Rainbow didn’t want her revenge. She knew it wouldn’t bring her peace, and Lightning probably wouldn’t see it as equal retribution. But she wanted it.

Not now, though. What Lightning deserved couldn’t be done spur of the moment. Rainbow didn’t look at Lightning as she finished eating and got up. With Angels, she made her way out of the building.

Going straight back to bed was probably the best idea. Still, maybe she could show her face and let the others know she wasn’t so easily beaten. Maybe they would be inspired.

It wasn’t much to hope for, and she certainly wasn’t hoping they too would be caught trying to escape. Still, Rainbow headed to the Flyers Club.

Stratus was near the door. He looked up briefly and then away. Kiel met Rainbow’s eyes, long enough to convey that he recognized her presence in the room.

Striker came over. “It looks like you won’t be playing for a while.”

“You mean it looks like I won’t be beating you for a while.” It wasn’t a good joke, and Rainbow’s boast fell flat in her obvious injured condition. Striker gave her a crooked smile that was more awkward than humor.

“What does it look like?” said Pug, coming over. He gestured at her back.

Rainbow stared at him. “Weren’t you there? I thought they made you watch, to try to make an example out of me.”

“Well, you made an example out of yourself. This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t tried to-”

It was honestly hard to say if Rainbow or Pug was more surprised when her right hand crashed into his cheekbone. It didn’t stop there, either, but by then she realized she was punching him and went right along with it. How dare he suggest that any of this was her fault! She wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Lion Heart and his mercenaries. Trying to escape was trying to help herself, and if he thought he could suggest that she had any part in this…!

It wasn’t until several pairs of hands were pulling Rainbow off him that she realized how much pain she was in. She could already feel the reopened wounds bleeding down her back.

She was unrepentant. Lightning had taught her how things worked around here.