Free Ketty Jay 04 - The Ace of Skulls by Chris Wooding Page B

grin.
    ‘Well, alright then.’ She smiled. ‘So you just keep yourself safe till then, you hear?’
    Crake glanced at the Shacklemores one last time, then looked away before they could notice his attention. ‘I aim to,’ he said.

 
     
     
     
    Six
     
    Harkins Takes Flak – A Warzone – ‘Now We Got a Problem’ – Dynamite – Jez Is On Her Game
     
     
     
     
    H arkins screamed as the night sky exploded in front of him. He banked away from the blast, his Firecrow rattling and shuddering as it was battered by concussion. Shrapnel pinged off the canopy, inches from his head.
    All across Korrene, the darkness was lighting up. Anti-aircraft guns spat explosive shells at the half-seen shapes slipping low over the city streets. Tracer fire drifted up from colossal autocannons. The Coalition aircraft flew without lights, sallying out from the safety of the forward base. They were ferrying hundreds of soldiers to strategic drop-points in the heart of the shattered city. From there, they intended to encircle the Awakener troops and drive them out for good.
    Harkins didn’t care about their grand plan. He was only concerned with making it to tomorrow.
    Another shell exploded close by, shaking him violently in his seat. He screamed again.
    ‘Will you shut up , you brown-arsed pansy?’ Pinn yelled at him through the earcuffs. ‘I can’t think straight with you howling in my ear.’
    You can’t think at all, you fat moron . Harkins imagined himself saying it, pictured the look of shock on Pinn’s face. Maybe he’d be so angry he’d choke on his own porky cheeks and fly into a building. Wouldn’t that be fun?
    But Harkins didn’t say anything. Pinn would only come back with something worse, and double his humiliation. He’d long ago learned that defiance got you nowhere.
    The flak eased off as the guns aimed at other craft, and now they were all but invisible again. He looked for the Ketty Jay , having lost her momentarily, and found the glow of her thrusters in the dark. Pinn’s Skylance was somewhere nearby, tracking the larger craft just as he was.
    Harkins tried to ignore the explosions and concentrated on following the Cap’n. He wasn’t too sure where they were going – he didn’t concern himself with stuff like that – but he wasn’t too happy that the whispermonger was calling the shots. He didn’t like newcomers at the best of times, and especially foreigners, who were not to be trusted. Even Silo, whom he’d known for years, made him uneasy on account of being Murthian.
    Then again, most people unsettled him for one reason or another. And none more than Jez, nowadays. He couldn’t believe he’d actually fancied her once upon a time.
    Another explosion lit up the Ketty Jay ’s lumpy, ugly form in silhouette. She slewed away to port and Harkins followed, his teeth gritted with the effort of keeping quiet. He’d flown through much heavier fire than this before, but it distressed him nonetheless. At least you could see your enemy in a dogfight. With anti-aircraft guns, you were just waiting for a shell to come from nowhere and blow you to pieces. The tension was awful.
    He tried to reassure himself. It’s not so bad. Looks worse than it is.
    And it was true. Muzzle flashes lit up small patches in the broken sea of buildings beneath them, but there were not many guns, and their shots were speculative. Already he saw Coalition craft sinking down towards the streets, their belly lights coming on as they dropped below the flak, easing themselves into their designated landing spots.
    ‘How’d he get to be such a good pilot when he’s such a chickenshit?’ Ashua’s words from last night. He thought she was probably trying to be kind, but she had a rough way of showing it which he didn’t like.
    You’d be scared too, if you’d seen what I have , he told her in his head. Two wars. Friends shot down, and then more friends. So many brushes with death that he’d lost count. It was enough to crack