No Quarter Given (SSE 667) Read Online Free PDF Page A

kitchen right now concocting some god-awful paste that's stinking up the entire apartment. We'll be lucky if the landlord doesn't throw us out for contaminating the atmosphere. He might even call in the Environmental Protection Agency."
    It hurt to laugh, but Dana did anyway. "Mol didn't know which box her journal was in."
    "I told her to index those boxes!"
    "I know. But she was more concerned about getting our houseplants down here uninjured." Molly had driven her sensible station wagon loaded with plants and breakable items to make sure they arrived in good shape. She didn't trust moving vans.
    Maggie smiled fondly, looking toward the open door. "If she wins her wings, I think we ought to call her Mom or Mother." Every pilot who graduated came out of flight school with a nickname that stayed with him or her forever.
    Dana's smile disappeared. "I worry about her, Maggie. Everything we've heard about flight school being twenty times more demanding than the academy worries me."
    Maggie snorted. "I'm worried for myself, too. At the grocery store I bumped into a sixth-week student from Pensacola. He told me ninety percent of his class had already been washed out."
    "Wow!" Dana clenched her fist. She had to make it!
    "I'm just glad the three of us are going into this together."
    "Yeah. Misery loves company."
    Grinning, Maggie got up. "You're feeling better, I can tell. You're back to your usual pessimistic sense of humor."
    Dana slowly got off the bed, feeling a bit light-headed. Maggie came to her side and slipped her arm around her shoulders.
    "I know...you can make it on your own," Maggie chided, leading her toward the door. "But suffer my help, Dana. You look like hell."
    "Thanks."
    The bright light hurt Dana's good eye. Her other eye was swollen shut. She bowed her head and allowed Maggie's lanky frame to offer partial support. "This hasn't been one of the better days of my life."
    "Don't we know it. Come on, let's go out to the kitchen where Dr. Molly is stirring up her brew. I wonder if you have to drink it? The cure may be worse than the black eye."
    It hurt to grin, but Dana couldn't help it. The kitchen was huge, with a highly polished light green tile floor. Molly was working furiously over the stove, a white apron wrapped around her tall figure. The apron looked funny with the short shorts she was wearing, but Dana didn't comment, realizing it might hurt Molly's sensitive nature.
    "Oh, good, you're up! I found my grandma's journal!"
    "Yeah..." Dana sat down very carefully at the table, her legs feeling a bit unstable. Maggie stood at her shoulder, concern on her face. "I'm okay, Maggie. Go sit down."
    "Naw, I'm going to get the camera for this one. This goes in our Sisterhood scrapbook: How To Help An Injured Sister."
    "Don't you dare!" Dana gave Maggie her best glare.
    Grinning, Maggie turned and left the kitchen.
    "This won't be so bad," Molly soothed, bringing the pan over to the table. She set it on a hot pad. Wiping her damp brow with the back of her hand, she smiled. "It smells awful, but I'm sure it will help."
    Dana eyed the mixture in the bottom of the pan. "Good God, Mol, that stuff smells horrible!"
    "Well... it's a mixture of horse liniment, crushed comfrey leaves and—"
    "Don't tell me any more. It probably contains eye of newt and tail of frog."
    "Oh, no! They're just herbs, Dana. Grandma wasn't a witch. She was a healer all her life. You have to smear it all over the swollen part of your face," she explained apologetically. "Grandma said it will reduce swelling in twelve hours or less."
    "It better," Dana growled, holding her nose. "I'll put it on myself. Is it hot?"
    "No, just warm." Molly sat down, watching eagerly.
    Maggie appeared at the entrance to the kitchen, camera in hand. Dana glared at her. Maggie laughed.
    "If you ever show these pictures to anyone, you're dead meat, Donovan. Got that?"
    "Roger, read you loud and clear."
    Molly groaned. "You two! You're always threatening each other. Aren't