That’s not the way it works. Most soldiers who make a conscious decision to place themselves in harm’s way do it to protect their buddies. They do it because of the bonds of friendship—and it goes so much deeper than friendship. Eric Massa CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT SOMEONE RIPPED MY my helmet ...
MORNING. Justin Nguyen rushed back to the tent, eager to show his family the score he’d made. He’d spent the last several weeks volunteering to clean up at Swansea Bakery. He’d helped shut the place down and had swept and mopped, backbreaking work, never asking for anything in return. This was hi...
Survival is the exception. Carl Sagan CHAPTER EIGHTEEN I HELPED DUPREE to a sitting position. “It’s going to be okay, man. We’ll get this fixed and Charlie Mike,” I said. Continue mission. The scientist felt carefully around the lip of the b...
Trampoline Girl He woke the next morning to the sounds of elastic springs going boing, boing, boing. He moved to sit up but a bolt of lightning arched from his left shoulder. He lay back and panted, hearing the same sound over and over. He finally determined it was coming from outside at about th...
They'd helped the Mad Scientist prepare his pickup truck for the assault. The explosives were attached to the front grill, ready to be detonated by remote control; a video camera installed on the back of the seat provided a view of the road from just over the driver's right shoulder. There was no...
I don’t think so. Hell, if this was anywhere other than America, I might just kill him.” After a moment of thought, “And it would be legal.”The squirrel glanced up from its feast of shelled walnuts and cashews and appraised the giant black man. Cocking its head, the squirrel paused from chewing f...
Zagat-rated translated to freaking expensive. They ate at Monsoon Indian Restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego. Lemon chicken, roghan josh, and fish were piled high on their table. After a bottle of wine, the curries and gingers and Far East spices mingled admirably in their palate. Walk...
Los Angeles boasted four million souls, but the population of the county of the same name, inclusive of all the suburbs, crested ten million. Bordered on the south by Orange County, the east by Riverside County, the North by Ventura County, and the Pacific Ocean on the West, Los Angeles County ha...
Here and there, these containers rose on taut lines. Semi-trucks, the life-blood of the port, hauled them from ship, to yard, their final destination to fuel the lives of the masses somewhere beyond the port sprawl. Like herd dogs, tugs nudged great cargo ships into positi...
Everything hurt. His chest felt as if a cargo container had fallen on it. His arms and legs ached. His head pounded so badly he had trouble keeping his eyes open. Even when he could, the world was nothing more than a silvery smear. Twin spikes of pain lived somewhere on his back. But the worst of...