Wild Hearts Divided: Wild Hearts, #2

By Andrew Wichland

Earth wasn't the easy target the Wraiths thought it would be, but the victory won by Ian Dragan and the Wild Hearts was short-lived. Garbled communications picked up from across the planet speak of unidentified vessels glimpsed at the fringes of the system, alien weapons primed and ready.If these rumors are true, Dragan must act fast—but how? With the Wild Hearts occupied, Dragan stands alone: one man against the greatest threat humanity has ever faced. To make matters worse, Overlord Kizer, the diabolical Wraith general, believes him dead. If he finds out the truth, Dragan—and Earth itself—are doomed. Meanwhile, the Wild Hearts must investigate UNITY, a shadowy organization whose influence goes deep. With Wraiths infiltrating and seizing control of military and private security details across the planet, the Wild Hearts realize that the number of "allies" they can trust is falling fast.And so Earth's defenders divide. Above the planet, Overlord Kizer watches, his victory drawing ever closer…Wild Hearts 2 is the latest thrilling entry in The Wild Hearts series, and is sure to appeal to fans of sci-fi and YA alike. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andrew Wichland
• Release date: Jul 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393725244

Book preview

title

Copyright © 2019 by Andrew Wichland.

ISBN: 9781079735116

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or

by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and

retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. Th e only

exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

United We Stand, Divided We Fall

~ Aesop

Contents

Chapter 1: Old Battles

Chapter 2: Looking for Trouble

Chapter 3: When All Else Fails

Chapter 4: Ready for Departure

Chapter 5: A Plan of Action

Chapter 6: Old Family Friends

Chapter 7: Shadows in the Night

Chapter 8 A Different Approach

Chapter 9: Past Mistakes

Chapter 10: Silent Predators

Chapter 11: A Friend in Trouble

Chapter 12: Finding Enemies

Chapter 13: On the Move

Chapter 14: On the Move

Chapter 15: A Sister’s Fate

Chapter 16: Vive la Liberté

Chapter 17: The Most Important Thing

Chapter 18: Defiance

Chapter 19: Sentry

Chapter 20: The Love of a Parent

Chapter 21: Found

Chapter 22: Run

Chapter 23: Rooftop Battle

Chapter 24: Hunted

Chapter 1

Old Battles

IAN

My legs were a blur beneath me as I ran, three heart monitors on my bare chest and Doc at my side. While the treadmill-like machine moved beneath my feet, and the heart monitors gave a steady beat from my three hearts.

Doc stepped forward as I neared the fifty-mile mark and turned off the machine. I slid off and then took a small sip of water from my bottle.

Okay, Commander, the doctor said, "this is your third physical and the results are the same. You’re in perfect health—even better than your last check-up when Terra dragged you here by your feet. In fact, you’re doing better than all the previous check-ups.

First, you avoid my office like the plague, and now, even when I say you’re in perfect health, I can’t get you to leave. What’s with the sudden change of heart? Did something happen down in the wraith command ship? Do you just want to make sure there are no side effects from using the Cybersuit? When she was finally done, I pulled off the monitors, slipped on my shirt, and sat on the examination table. She sat next to me, and after a moment of silence, said, Well, Ian?

Maybe I won’t have to come back for another hundred years now, I said, looking at the clock. Damn, is that the time? I’ve got to go!

Why, you got a date? At that, we both froze. Ian, I’m…I’m, she stuttered before biting her lip.

I looked at her and raised my hand. It’s okay. I have to go out to Golden Dragon. We’re training the Wild Hearts again today.

Well, either way, if you want me to run more tests, you know where to find me, she said, still looking uncomfortable.

I smiled as I left the room. Okay, but you know I hate needles.

As I turned the corner, she shouted, I haven’t used needles since the Spanish Inquisition!

A short while later, I was heading for the school in one of our trucks, my sunglasses on, one hand on the wheel, and my elbow resting on the frame of the open window.

As I tapped my fingers to the music, I passed by a fenced open field. I had just halted at a stop sign when a roaring met my ear, and I looked up to see a small Cessna plane move through the sky.

Suddenly, the plane was not a Cessna but a German fighter plane and I was not in a truck but in the cockpit of a P-51.

Come on, come on, I hissed under my face mask as I banked to follow the plane. One slip, that’s all I need!

Just then, the plane turned and appeared in my line of sight. At once, I opened fire, and it fell from the sky, missing its tail section.

Eagle Two, you’ve got fighters all over your tail! one of my squadron members warned me as I fired.

While weaving left and right and rolling, I kept an eye on the fighter as it followed me closely, opening fire on me whenever the pilot thought he had a shot.

Get out of there! Pull up! another squad member said, and I managed to do so.

Suddenly, I heard and felt the impact, and the yoke jerked in my hand. When I saw smoke trailing from my wing, I barked, I’ve been hit! I’ve been hit!

You’re on fire! Bail out!

I reached for the emergency canopy pop release and pulled hard. The canopy separated from the main body, flying off into oblivion. I rolled the plane before I fell from the cockpit and into the open air. After quickly righting myself, I pulled the ripcord, and I was jerked as my chute deployed and opened.

I craned my neck and watched as my plane continued to spiral, falling from the sky, until it exploded in midair. The fire must have ruptured the fuel tanks in the wings. Sighing, I looked at the fast-approaching forested ground.

A honking brought me out of my memories, and I jerked, blinking, as I watched the plane land. At another honk, I looked ahead, left and right, and then pulled forward.

Chapter 2

Looking for Trouble

BLAIR

After class, Aisha and I moved out to the parking lot of Golden Dragon. So, when is your mother supposed to pick us up? I asked.

She gazed sightlessly forward. I spoke to her before we came outside, she said, her white hijab shifting in the wind. She’s stuck in traffic and will be about half an hour late.

Sighing, I turned. Should we go back inside to wait and call the others to tell them we’ll be late?

Now, why would you need to do that?

I looked in the direction of the voice and eyed the Jeep with its cover and doors removed. The Confederate flag on the license plate made my spine go stiff—that and the two young men who climbed out.

One had a sharp, hard crew-cut and wore a sleeveless camo shirt. His boots covering the bottom of his jeans. His friend was virtually bald but for a rat tail growing at the base of his skull. His face bore many piercings—ears, lips, and nose—and he wore a sleeveless wife beater shirt showing under his open button-up shirt.

IAN

I was just slipping on my duster, ready to leave, as I moved to the door. What I saw through the glass, however, made me pause.

Toma, I called out, I think we may have trouble!

She came over, frowning, as we eyed the pair moving toward Aisha and Blair. Should we call the police?

Not after what Chey reported, I answered, slipping on my sunglasses and activating the right mode. Besides, from the look of things, they’re just punk kids looking for trouble.

And what are you going to do? she asked as I opened the door.

I paused, looking back. If they push too far…give them exactly what they want.

BLAIR

Come on, Wheels, the one with the crew cut said, leaning over me, his hands on the back of my chair. Don’t you want to take a ride with a real man?

With disgust and revulsion rising in me, I gripped the rings of my chair hard enough for my knuckles to turn white. I turned my gaze to Aisha, who was being circled by the other guy as he touched her hijab. Each time, Aisha shifted away.

Oh, we don’t need the raghead, the one in front of me said.

My face hardening, I rapidly spun the wheels of my chair back and forth, catching him in the knees. I sent him to the ground with an elbow to the cheek, and then started spinning toward his friend—until one of my wheels came to a sudden stop.

Before I could see what had happened, he threw me out of the chair from behind, and I landed hard, sprawled out on the ground. When I looked back, I saw he had jammed Aisha’s cane between