Free The Fight for Peace by Autumn M. Birt Page A

distant to their newest Lieutenant before leaving to spend two weeks with him and Byran. Jared hadn’t considered the possibility the vacation wouldn’t go well. Of course, there was also the possibility she was testing him. He decided to go with that one.
    “Lieutenant Eldridge is new as a Lieutenant, not as an officer or to the Guard. I’ve seen him lead in the field. The soldiers would respect him for Voltzcrag much less playing spy in Crystal City and giving us the location of the bombs that took down Kiev. Shit. If he hadn’t left the Guard with his injury, he’d be the Lieutenant with the most field experience. Even more than you actually,” Jared said with a smirk her way. “You know very well his dactyl can be programmed to follow mine and sent back to Europe with a command. These aren’t the old style planes. Besides, he’s doing fine flying.”
    Arinna sighed, tugging at her curls. “I know. I just wish I were going.”
    Jared cocked a smile at her. “You gonna miss me or your boyfriend?”
    She blushed, which turned the teasing look Jared wore into a grin. Things had gone well on vacation then.
    “I won’t miss you,” she shot back, then hesitated. “Shit, I can’t let you leave having said that even if joking. Jared, just because you found a settlement in Argentina doesn’t mean they aren’t FLF or will be friendly. That is Godawful far from home. Two planes and a handful of soldiers? I’m nervous as hell for all of you.”
    “Any more planes and soldiers and they’ll think we are invading. This is just recon. The aerials don’t show much in the way of organized military – no tanks, no planes, and no uniforms,” he answered. “But they have a lot of people and if the peace talks don’t work out, we could use their help.”
    “Assuming they don’t shoot you before you have a chance to make friends,” Arinna argued.
    “Do you think I like the idea of you going to a ‘peace conference’ with a contingent of FLF soldiers and politicians any better?”
    “At least I’ll be closer to backup and I know they are the enemy,” Arinna tossed back with a grin.
    Jared snorted a laugh. “It still won’t keep you out of trouble. We head out in the morning, in case you’d like to say goodbye to anyone.”
    Arinna shook her head, the amusement fading. “Maybe it is a good thing you are taking Derrick. I won’t have to sort out what is or can’t be between him and I. Speaking of Derrick, have you run this by Byran yet? You haven’t forgotten he isn’t just our Lieutenant. He is the Secretary of Defense too.”
    Jared swore. “Great, now I want a beer. Don’t suppose you’d ask Byran for me?”
    There was a glint in Arinna’s eye when she replied. “You know, we are Co-Captains. You should have a relationship with our Prime Minister too.”
    Jared groaned, but he kept it to himself. He did manage to track down Derrick before the appointment Kehm set up with Byran. Walking in with Derrick, Jared felt a twinge of the conflict that left Arinna at such a loss. Outside the Prime Minister’s office, Derrick was his Lieutenant. Sitting in a meeting with Byran, Derrick was the Secretary of Defense. Throw old friendships, new relationships, and a code of ethics in there and he was surprised Arinna wasn’t volunteering to go to Argentina, alone.
    “You really think they aren’t FLF?” Byran asked as he looked at the aerial images.
    “If they are, they are nothing like anything we’ve seen historically or those in Crystal City,” Derrick answered. “No armaments, no organization to the structures, no uniforms. It looks more like a refugee camp.”
    “It was the people you met in South America who asked to be refugees that had you looking for this, Captain Vries?”
    “They had to be going somewhere. If there is another free country, I would think you’d want to make contact with them,” Jared said.
    “To see if they want to help fight the FLF if the peace talks fail?” Byran