《Catherine Mann - Rules Of Engagement》.pdf

Rules of Engagement by Catherine Mann Chapter One Fire indicator light, number two engine! The copilots barked alarm rocketed through Captain Ray Gator Perezs headset. Blazed through his gut. Rays eyes shot to the control panel on his C-17 aircraft. The warning light glowed. Damn. Roger, co. Ray twisted, hard and fast. Looked out his side window. Checking number two visually. Hell and damnation. Red shards of fire poured from the seams of the number two engine — streamed over the planes gray wing and into the star-studded night sky. Visual confirmation. Fire in number two. A nanosecond of ominous silence followed from the crew. Bulky Bronco looming in the copilots seat. Silent Tag, the loadmaster, in back. Not even a word from renegade flight surgeon Cutter sitting in the instructors seat. Then training overrode emotion. Aircraft commander for the mission Ray clipped orders through the headsets, exhausted emergency checklist procedures. Still, the fire indicator light glowed like the unity candle he and Megan had planned for their wedding. A wedding that would never happen. A wedding once scheduled for today. Ray shut down that thought faster than his flaming engine. He couldnt afford images of his cool, blond ex-fiancée screwing with his concentration. Not now, with a cargo hold of medical supplies to deliver to the war-ravaged eastern European village below. The same village where Megan waited, stationed at the American-held military airfield, the main reason hed volunteered for his hell-bound flight. Deliver her ring and his goodbyes. If he got to the ground in one uncharred piece. Loadmaster, haul forward and strap in. Ray cranked the throttle up on the other three engines, using airspeed to combat the fire, keep it blowing aft. It was damage control at best. God help them when time came to slow for landing. He radioed the airborne warning and control system aircraft for the airfields tower frequency and spun up the number. Eagl