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I need you too, Julie. Get some rest. We'll need it when we reach Earth.<br />
Promise me I'll have the chance to show you how much I've missed you?<br />
Oh, I can definitely promise you that Ms. McGrath.<br />
---------------<br />
The Drop Shuttle was crowded with a full Dagger, ten people, in hard suits along with the<br />
shuttle's normal crew. They'd had to strip everything they could out of them, and strap on<br />
additional fuel tanks, to get them to reach mars from where the Home Fleet had been positioned.<br />
They'd make it.<br />
Barely.<br />
"Major, we're about to enter the atmosphere!"<br />
The pilot was nervous. She didn't blame him; the Bak'ra had entered the atmosphere ten minutes<br />
earlier.<br />
"Get us down close to Mars base!"<br />
"I'll do my best, Major!"<br />
The ship bucked as it slammed into the thin Martian atmosphere. Thin streaks of light wisped up<br />
over the thick armored view ports.<br />
"Ma'am, got a read on the Bak'ra. They're touching down sixty klicks south of Mars Base."<br />
Katya grunted in acknowledgement. That meant they were staying clear of the base's ground<br />
weapons. Probably getting sorted out before taking them. A cautious maneuver on the part of<br />
whoever was in charge over there. She added that to a small mental file.<br />
The fighters came out of nowhere. The first they knew about it was when two Drop Ships turned<br />
into flaming tombs for the Marines onboard them. Then another two, and four more afterwards,<br />
ten were gone before the fighters scrambled from Mars Base managed to reach them.<br />
Katya was ready to shoot someone to get the hell out of that Drop Ship. If she was on the ground<br />
she could see who was shooting at her, usually anyway, and do something about it. Up here she<br />
didn't even have the illusion of being in control. Here she was strapped down and at the mercy of<br />
the pilot's skills.<br />
So she was very happy when they pulled out of their descent two kilometers above the surface of<br />
Mars and her command Dagger jumped. The Drop Ship went into a short, and brief glide, as the<br />
pilot killed her anti-gravity drives for her people to jump. Since getting put through a meat
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