Take to the skies with Lance Star: Sky Ranger! Attacked by The Ghost Squadron, Lance takes the Skybolt II into evasive action. It's tense air combat in chapter 4 of Lance Star and the Ghost Squadron, now available in
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Learn more about Lance Star: Sky Ranger
HERE.
Read chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6
HERE.
Chapter 6 also posted below. Enjoy.
Bobby
Lance Star and the Ghost Squadron
Chapter 6.
“This is gonna
hurt!”
Damaged from
missile damage, the Skybolt II, famed shiny silver aircraft belonging to Lance
Star, the leader of the adventurers known the world over as The Sky Rangers,
dropped out of the air like a stone toward the rocky ground below.
While Lance
fought the controls in an effort to land them as safely as possible, Buck
Tellonger, his co-pilot, called in a mayday. They were a long way from
civilization, somewhere in the open wilds of Utah, steep mountains, desert,
buttes, and mesas surrounded them. It would be far too easy to get lost in a
place like this. Even harder for rescue planes to find them.
Provided they
survived the crash landing.
That was the
first order of business. A gifted pilot, Lance had the situation in hand. In
his varied colorful adventures, this was not the first time he had been shot
at, and not the first time a plane he was in had been shot down. Between luck,
talent, and experience, he was still in one piece, still flying.
Between him and
Buck, they had logged in more hours in the cockpit than most. Their passenger,
Jacob Cutter, was no stranger to air combat either. That’s how they all met.
During the war. It seemed so long ago now.
The ground
rushed at them quickly, rocks and brush zipping by like a blur. The Skybolt’s
landing gear touched earth, the rubber wheels bounced, sending the plane back
into the air before coming in for another attempt. The landing was rough.
Pockmarked dusty trails filled in in place of the non-existent airstrip.
Once the wheels
gripped the ground, the pilot pulled back, throttled down, and the great
airship began to slow. A trail of dust trailed the plane as the wheels dug into
dirt.
The Skybolt
slammed to a halt, the front wheels buried, the plane’s twin noses pointing
down. The pilots breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that the twin propellers
survived undamaged. That increased their chances of getting back in the air
exponentially.
“Everybody
good?” Lance asked.
Both Buck and
Cutter responded favorably. Once they were certain there was no risk of fire
and everyone was unharmed, Lance popped the seal and followed Cutter through
the Skybolt’s fuselage toward the cargo door at the back of the plane. The port
side door took damage during the attack. By the time they hit the ground, Buck
was already waiting for them.
“How’s it look?”
Lance asked.
“It’s not
pretty, boss,” Buck said, chewing on a thick, ugly, unlit cigar. Lance never
understood his friend’s fascination with them. “We took damage, but it’s all
fixable.”
“Can we get back
in the air on our own?”
“I think we can
get her in the air,” Buck said, running his hand along the silver hull. “I
can’t guarantee she’ll be combat ready.”
“We may not have
a choice, Buck,” Lance said. “Whoever shot us down is bound to come looking for
us. We need to be ready for them.”
To be
continued…
