modular units housed test operations, the computer-communications center and a dispensary. The security center, nicknamed Rattlesnake Ops after the leather-tough, take-no-prisoners military police guarding the site, occupied another unit. A larger unit contained a fitness center and the dining hall, which also served as movie theater and briefing room when the site’s commanding officer wanted to address the entire cadre. The hangar that housed Pegasus loomed over the rest of the structures like a big, brooding mammoth.
Personnel were assigned to the trailers, two or three to a unit. Kate and the other two women officers on-site shared one unit. Scott would bunk down with Major Russ McIver, the senior Marine Corps rep. Kate directed him to the line of modular units unofficially dubbed Officers Row.
“You probably want to change into your uniform before checking in with Captain Westfall. Your trailer is the second one on the left. Westfall’s is the unit standing by itself at the end of the row.”
“First things first,” Scott countered, pulling up at the small dispensary. “Let’s get your ankle looked at.”
“I’ll take care of that. You’d best get changed and report in.”
“Special Ops would drum me out of the brotherhood if I left a lady to hobble around on a sore ankle.”
He meant it as a joke, but his careless attitude toward his new assignment was starting to seriously annoy Kate. Her mouth thinned as he came around the front of the pickup. Sliding out of the passenger seat, she stood firmly on both feet to address him.
“I don’t think you’ve grasped the urgency of our mission. I’ll manage here, Captain. You report in to the C.O.”
Her tone left no doubt. It was an order from a superior officer to a subordinate.
Scott cocked an eyebrow. For a moment, his eyes held something altogether different from the teasing laughter he’d treated her to up to this point.
The dangerous glint was gone almost as quickly as it had come. Tipping her a two-fingered salute, he replied in an easy, if somewhat exaggerated, drawl.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Dave took care not to spin out and leave Lieutenant Commander Hargrave in a swirl of dust. His eyes on the rearview mirror, he followed her careful progress up the clinic steps.
The woman was stubborn as well as gorgeous. And not above pulling rank on him. Well, that pretty well fit with what he’d heard about her.
The sexy Hurricane Hunter couldn’t know it but her ex-husband had piloted the mission Dave had flown with the reserve unit out of Keesler. The man had had a few things to say about the wife who’d just dumped him, none of them particularly flattering. She was, according to the still-bitter aviator, ambitious as hell, fearless in the air, a tiger in bed and a real ball-breaker out of it.
Dave figured three out of four was good enough for him.
Yes, sir, he thought as he caught a last glimpse of turquoise spandex in the mirror. This assignment was looking better and better by the minute.
Two
Showered, shaved and wrapped in the familiar comfort of his green Nomex flight suit, Dave tracked down the officer in command of the Pegasus project. He found Captain Westfall at the Test Operations Building.
“Captain Scott reporting for duty, sir.”
The tall, lean naval officer in khakis creased to blade-edged precision returned Dave’s salute, then offered his hand.
“Welcome aboard, Captain Scott.”
The man’s gravelly voice and iron grip matched his salt-and-pepper buzz cut. His skin was tanned to near leather, no doubt the result of years spent pacing a deck in sun, wind and salt spray. His piercing gray eyes took deliberate measure of the latest addition to his team. Dave didn’t exactly square his shoulders, but he found himself standing a little taller under Westfall’s intense scrutiny.
“Did you take care of that bit of personal business you mentioned when you called last night?”
“Yes, sir.”
Dave most certainly had. Fighting a grin, he thought of the waitress who’d all but wrapped herself around him when he’d stopped for a cheeseburger in Chorro. The cluster of sunbaked adobe buildings was the closest thing that passed for a town around these parts. The town might appear tired and dusty, but its residents were anything but. One particular resident, anyway.
Dave would carry fond memories of that particular stop for a long time.
Although…
All the while he’d soaped and scraped away the bristles and road dust, his thoughts had centered more on a certain redhead than on the waitress who’d delayed his arrival at the Pegasus site by a few hours. Kate Hargrave was still there, inside his head, teasing him with her fiery hair, her luscious curves and those green cat’s eyes.
As if reading his mind, Westfall folded his arms. “I understand you brought Lieutenant Commander Hargrave in this morning.”
Word sure got around fast. Dave had dropped off the gorgeous weather officer at the dispensary less than twenty minutes ago.
“Yes, sir. We bumped into each other on the road into the site. Have you had a report on her condition? How’s her ankle?”
“Doc Richardson says she’ll be fine. Only a slight muscle strain.” A flinty smile creased Westfall’s cheeks. “Knowing Commander Hargrave, she’ll work out the kinks and be back in fighting form within a few hours.”
“That’s good to hear.”
The smile disappeared. Westfall’s gray eyes drilled into his new subordinate. “Yes, it is. I can’t afford to lose another key member of my test cadre. You’ve got some catching up to do, Captain.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ve set up a series of briefings for you, starting at oh-nine-hundred. First, though, I want you to meet the rest of the team. And get a look at the craft you’ll be piloting.” He flicked a glance at his watch. “I’ve asked the senior officers and engineers to assemble in the hangar. They should be in place by now.”
The hangar was the cleanest Dave had ever seen. No oil spills smudged the gleaming, white-painted floor. No greasy equipment was shoved up against the wall. Just rack after rack of black boxes and the sleek white capsule that was Pegasus. It took everything Dave had to tear his gaze from the delta-winged craft and acknowledge the introductions Captain Westfall performed.
“Since Pegasus is intended for use by all branches of the military, we’ve pulled together representatives from each of the uniformed services. I understand you’ve already met Major Russ McIver.”
“Right.”
The square-jawed marine had just been exiting his trailer when Dave pulled up. They’d exchanged little more than a quick handshake before Dave hurried in to hit the showers and pull on his uniform. From the package headquarters had sent him, though, he knew McIver had proven himself in both Kosovo and Kabul. The marine’s function was to test Pegasus’s capability as a vehicle for inserting a fully armed
