The Glove: No Task Too Tough

By M.C. Bunting

The crew of Cougar 1 is back and after their actions six months prior they are officially known as the celebrity crew of Space Earth. Recently returning from their world tour where they went from school to school, event to event representing Space Earth to recruit more individuals the crew only has another world tour on their mind, but Space Nations has other plans. M.C. Bunting author and creator of the Glove Series will take you on another wild ride with new crewmembers and a new task for the crew of Cougar 1 proving no task is too tough!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 30, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462894833

M.C. Bunting

Author of The Glove and The Glove: The Reunion M.C. Bunting has proven himself to be a stand out for authors in the science fiction community. Growing up in a military family and traveling around the world he took what he knew of the military at the age of 13 and wrote a 15 page fairy tale titled The Glove as an assignment for school. Through the years he wrote sequel after sequel to when he eventually joined the military and rewrote the book series of his younger years. M.C. currently serves overseas with the US Military.

Book preview

THE GLOVE

No Task Too Tough

M.C. Bunting

Copyright © 2011 by M.C. Bunting.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011911330

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4628-9482-6

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4628-9481-9

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4628-9483-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

100244

Contents

The Glove Series

Main Characters In The Glove Series As Of The Glove: The Reunion

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Be On The Lookout For The Glove: Team Delta Force

THE GLOVE SERIES

The Glove

The Glove: The Reunion

All Books Available through Xlibris.com, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and Borders.com

MAIN CHARACTERS IN THE

GLOVE SERIES AS OF

THE GLOVE: THE REUNION

Space Earth

Major Larry Daze—Missile launcher for Cougar 1, the oldest member of the crew and usually displays more leadership than his peers. His father is a retired Space Earth commander, and Larry is expected to make the same rank.

First Lieutenant Samuel Daze—Pilot for Cougar 1, younger brother to Major Daze, considered one of the best pilots in Space Earth.

First Lieutenant Sara Anderson—Copilot for Cougar 1, used to doing things her own way and tends to get corrected by Major Daze. Sara is smart, witty, and usually up to any task, but first she has to ask questions. She is also the fitness guru of the crew.

Staff Sergeant Leo Russell—Aerial crew chief for Cougar 1, laid-back, but always ready for any task. Leo tends to mind his own business and follow orders.

Staff Sergeant Steven Kurr—Aerial radar technician for Cougar 1, computer-savvy and ready to outwit Lt. Anderson in any argument. Steven is like Sergeant Russell; he tends to mind his own business and follow orders. The two have been friends since being in Space Earth.

First Lieutenant Ronald Pullum—Aerial gunner for Cougar 1, proves himself to be a leader and tends to do exactly as he’s told. Some would say that he’s Lt. Daze’s right-hand man.

Senior Airman Rainer Pullum—Aerial gunner for Cougar 1, considered the crew’s funny guy. Younger brother to Lt. Pullum.

Private Airman First Class Megan McLaughlin—Aerial fuels operator for Cougar 1. Under a lot of pressure from the crew because her brother’s the base commander. Megan’s tough, and she and Lt. Anderson are known for their continuous arguments.

Private Airman First Class Jocelyn Daze—Aerial fuels operator for Cougar 1, also the younger sister to Larry and Sam. She and PAFC McLaughlin met in Junior Cougar School and have been best friends since.

Commander Christopher McLaughlin—Space Earth Base One Commander, the youngest commander on the Council of Commanders for Space Earth.

Space Nations

Lord Tyler—Leader of Space Nations; when he was a civilian he led the uprising on Earth against the Council of Commanders, which led to his downfall and his stealing of the glove and creating the nation of Space Nations. Currently resides in Neptune with the nation of Space Nations.

Major James Ball—Operations group commander for Space Nations. Lord Tyler’s right-hand man and deputy. Known to get yelled at a lot for small mistakes, but Lord Tyler won’t trust anyone but James to get the job done.

Captain Robert Tinny—Major Ball’s right-hand man. The two have known each other since they came to Space Earth. They left Earth at the same time. Robert is the commander of the Space Nations Personal Guard, which is Lord Tyler’s bodyguard.

In loving memory of Larry Eugene Bunting II

Cover Art work designed by Slinging Silver Photography and Design

Author Photo by Amber Marie Mcbride-Tebeau

CHAPTER ONE

Rainer looked through the window and watched as the rest of the crew shoveled snow outside. It’s way too cold out there, he said. He was dressed in his cold weather gear. He had his flight suit on, and on top of it he had a cold weather parka that was padded and had a hood to it. For bottoms he wore heavily padded cold weather pants. He had a knit cap on, and he stood watching the rest of the crew shovel in the freezing 15°F weather.

Sara looked up and saw Rainer standing by the door. She pointed at him and signaled for him to come outside. All of them were dressed exactly the same. Rainer opened the door, and when he stepped outside the cool breeze hit him in the face. He walked toward everyone else.

Man, it’s way too cold! he yelled.

How do you think our crew chiefs feel? said Leo. He handed him a shovel.

Guess that’s true. He walked toward the front of the fighter and started shoveling the snow.

Six months had passed at Space Earth Base One. It was the month of January, and a blizzard had just hit the base the night before, dumping a massive amount of snow that covered most of the base. It was the responsibility of the flight crew to get their fighters dug out from the snow because fighter crew should always be ready to fly. For the crew the six months allowed a lot of them to mature and grow older. Everyone at the base knew who they were, and they were pretty much celebrities. Space Earth used the crew for recruiting commercials and pamphlets. A month after the mission, the crew embarked on a worldwide recruiting tour where Space Earth featured them on live TV. Each of them was interviewed about their experiences in Space Earth, and on the tour they also had the opportunity to go to schools and recruit individuals into signing up. For them the month of August was amazing, getting to actually travel around and not have to worry.

Plenty of them had had their birthdays as well during the past six months. In September Sara and Megan both turned thirteen, while in October Sam and Leo both turned fourteen. November came and Jocelyn turned twelve, and Rainer thirteen. For Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year each of the crew went home for those days. Plus Space Earth shuts down the day before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving Day. However the day after mission-essential personnel—meaning security forces, the tower controllers, and emergency personnel—had to be back at work. The rest didn’t have to report back until that next Monday.

For Christmas they were given Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, and for New Year they were just given New Year’s Day off. Individuals who had leave, which was paid time off, were allowed to take as much time off as they wanted unless they were mission essential and needed to be there. Each of the crew took four days off each during all three holidays. Most of them had their families within an hour of the base.

Since Space Earth had the glove they used it to create bases six through eight, and in doing so a lot of personnel left and new personnel arrived. The recent junior cougar class to graduate flying the Model 1B was split off. Half the crew went to Base Six, the other half to Base Seven. Base Eight was supposed to get the newest set of junior cougars about to graduate. Along with that Commander Pinkerton was the base commander at Base Six, and Commander Chris as of right now had moved Junior Commander Riley Davidson who was in charge of the communications group and went by Junior Commander Riley into Commander Pinkerton’s spot.

Junior Commander Riley didn’t mess around though. She was tough and only wanted the best in the top crew. Even though she was a communications officer, she still knew how to run operations and was considered to be better than Commander Pinkerton. Everyone expected her to get the rank of commander in no time, but Commander Chris didn’t see it that way. The Intel Squadron was under the communications group, and they didn’t detect Space Nations’ previous threat. He wasn’t too happy and would constantly remind her of what happened.

Back outside Rainer shook his head as he continued to shovel snow and move it off to the sides. Their two crew chiefs stood by and watched. They thought it was funny because the crew actually got to feel how they felt for once. After another ten minutes of shoveling, the snow was cleared out, and they turned on the heaters in the overhang to keep the area warm for the crew chiefs.

Why didn’t we just turn on the heaters to begin with to melt the snow? asked Rainer.

Because it takes too long to melt! yelled Larry.

Oh.

Thanks, you guys, said newly promoted Senior Airman Dolton.

Hopefully this next round of snow doesn’t hit, said Staff Sergeant Martin.

Yeah, well, if it does, at least you know we’ll be out here to clear it out, replied Sam.

True that.

The crew placed their shovels on the side and began walking back inside and taking off their cold weather gear. Everyone was laughing at how Rainer was quick to get his gear off and turn on the heat in the room, grab a blanket, and bundle up.

Rainer! It’s not that bad, said Sara.

I don’t like the cold! he yelled.

And most of us don’t either, but we’re sucking it up!

Sara, just leave him alone, said Megan, jumping into the conversation.

The two still had a rivalry going for no reason. Sara turned to face her and was about to say something when she saw Larry gazing at her, knowing that was him telling her that she better not. She shook her head and walked off into the girls’ room to relax a bit. As she did the phone rang, and she reached and grabbed it. Cougar 1 crew room, this is Lieutenant Anderson speaking, she said.

Lieutenant Anderson, it’s Senior Airman Dunn, said the voice on the other line.

Hey, what’s up, Janine?

Not a lot, just trying to stay warm. Junior Commander Riley wants to see Lieutenant Daze ASAP. Can you pass that message along to him?

Yeah, he’s standing near me so he’ll be headed that way.

Awesome, thanks.

Sara hung up the phone and looked at Sam. What’s up? he asked.

Junior Commander Riley wants to talk to you, she said.

As in right now?

Yes, right now.

Sam looked at his watch. 0815. He was hungry and just wanted to sit and eat breakfast. He didn’t want to know what Junior Commander Riley wanted. She was known to be extremely hard on them for being the top crew.

I guess I’ll head down there.

Everyone could tell he didn’t want to. Normally when he came from her office he was mad. Have fun! yelled Rainer sarcastically.

Sam walked to the door, opened it, and stepped out into the main hallway. He dreaded the short walk down to the command section. He passed by the food court and saw people ordering their breakfast from the few restaurants that were open. He could smell the food, and it was making his stomach growl. After passing the food court, he saw the sign pointing to the operations group auditorium. He passed by it and came to a stop right outside the command section.

Senior Airman Dunn was seated in a circulatory desk dressed in SBUs and was watching him. It’s not that bad, Lieutenant! she said.

Janine, you have no idea, replied Sam.

She’s waiting for you in her office.

He took in a deep breath and pushed open the door to the command section. The first door on the left was Commander Chris’s office. It was shut, which either meant that he wasn’t there or he didn’t want to be disturbed. A few feet away from the door to Junior Commander Riley’s office he saw a slight shadow against the light beneath the door. If anything she’s leaning up against her desk waiting on me he thought to himself. He walked to the doorway and stepped in.

Lieutenant Samuel Daze, was all he heard. He was standing in the presence of Junior Commander Riley. Eighteen years old, with brown hair, standing at five foot five and weighing about 135 pounds, she was dressed in SBUs and stood leaning up against her desk with her arms crossed, waiting on him.

You wanted to see me, ma’am, said Sam.

Yup. She turned and walked to her seat behind her desk and took a seat. Have a seat. Sam stepped into the room and sat down on the black leather couch that she had in the room. So any idea as to why I have called you down here this morning?

Plenty of thoughts came to Sam’s mind. He wanted to blurt stuff out but figured it wouldn’t be worth it. I could think of a few, he replied.

Name some.

He was surprised he wasn’t expecting her to say that. Well, ma’am, rumor has it that we might be going on another world tour to represent Space Earth and also we might be doing another recruiting commercial.

Really? Who’d you hear that from?

Well, you know, ma’am, people talk.

That they do. Well, first yeah, it’s true, you guys probably will be going on another world tour, but for now with this weather you won’t be. Secondly, the reason I called you down here is because we have a situation at hand. During the shifting of crews from different bases we ran into a problem. We had an issue at Base Three, which is home to the Sp-8s, which they’re planning to replace with the model 1B Sp-6. One of the Sp-8 crew was having an issue, their third rank crew, ya know. You’ve probably talked to them before. Knights three is their call sign. Anyways, well, they’ve been having issues, and they split half the crew. Half of them went to Base Seven; the other half went to Base Eight. One member got left out. She’s a female, a senior airman, really good at her job as an aerial radar technician. Well, she got left out of the bunch and has nowhere to go.

Wow, that sucks for her.

Yup, it does. But it’s even better for your crew.

Sam was caught off guard. What do you mean, ma’am?

I’ve already decided to assign her to your crew. You’re authorized to have two aerial radar technicians.

I know, but you’re going to assign her to us?

Yup. Is that a problem?

No, ma’am. When is she arriving?

Well, honestly she’s supposed to be in my office right now. I wanted to catch you guys off guard, but due to that blizzard last night she wasn’t able to fly out this morning. And that blizzard’s in the Atlanta area, which is where Base Three is, so she’s stuck there being hit with snow.

Oh . . . So probably tomorrow?

Yes, more than likely she’ll arrive tomorrow, and I’ll bring her to your crew room.

Any idea what time?

Depends on the flight. However, I’ll delay it and have her arrive in the afternoon probably.

Okay.

Lieutenant, you need to brief your crew on this so they know. Especially your crew chiefs, they have to install a seat for her.

Yes, ma’am.

Okay, you’re dismissed.

Thank you, ma’am. He stood up and walked out her office. He walked toward the exit and saw that Commander Chris’s door was still shut.

Back in the crew room Jocelyn sat on the couch with Rainer who was completely bundled up in a blanket.