V Plague (Book 11): Merciless Read Online Free PDF

out of the ground.
    I also had to be careful not to pull out of my higher speed fall too soon.  If that happened, I’d be above him and would have to try to fall faster again.  Starting and stopping, wasting so much time that we’d probably reach the point where he’d pull his chute before I got my hands on him.  I’d fall past, and have the whole crater problem again.
    I needed to flare to reduce speed just before I reached him.  Slow my body so the impact didn’t disable or knock me out.  At the moment, I was falling nearly twice as fast as the Russian.  An impact with another human body at our closing speed would make the hardest hit on a football field look like a gentle tap with a feather pillow.  All of this went through my head as I continued to close the distance between us. 
    This was actually something I had done at one point in my military career, but it hadn’t been officially sanctioned training.  It was one of those things that someone had, um… suggested.  Well, it was more of a dare, so I’d done it.  Jump out of a plane, catch another jumper in freefall and take their chute away.  I think the idiot that had challenged me had seen it in a movie. 
    Of course, I’d had a chute on my back when I did it, just in case, so there wasn’t the risk of auguring into the dirt.  My CO wouldn’t have cared if I’d had a jet pack strapped to my ass.  I’d landed in a world of shit.  Nearly had my ticket pulled and kicked out of the Army.  The brass likes operators with big balls.  They don’t like ones with tiny brains.
    Now, I was in a world of shit, again, but at least I’d done this once before.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  Twenty years ago.  Dismissing all of this from my mind, I focused on the pilot.  Made sure I had a solid grip on the knife I’d taken off the dead Spetsnaz.  I’d have one shot at this, and if I made any mistakes, I was dead.
    At what I thought was the right point, I spread my legs and began moving my arms out to the sides.  I wanted to bleed off some speed, but had to be careful to not change my body position too quickly or I’d get flipped over backwards.  The rate of closure slowed and I tilted back some more, killing velocity until it appeared as if I was hanging only a few feet above the Russian.
    I spared a look at the ground, but it was still too far away to see in the darkness, even with the NVGs.  Adjusting my body’s attitude, I closed the final distance to the pilot.  As I came close, I entered the wake he was creating as he fell through the air and struggled against some slight turbulence.  Then I was inside the negative pressure zone immediately above his body.
    When I entered this area where the air was calm, I suddenly fell faster than him, closing the final few feet and slamming into the Russian’s back.  I was prepared for this, snaking my left arm around his neck and striking with the knife.  Careful to avoid the parachute or any of its straps, I plunged the long blade into his side and twisted it up.
    The struggle that had started when I’d locked my arm around his throat stopped after I gave the blade a final turn.  Leaving it embedded in his corpse, I began fumbling to release the straps.  It took more time and effort than I’d expected, or remembered, but I worked the buckles free.  And nearly lost the parachute when I did.
    The large pack had very different aerodynamics than a human body, and when it came free it was almost ripped out of my hand as it slowed.  The added drag, out of position, caused me to start a spin.  The pilot quickly fell away and I fought to pull the chute to my body to stabilize my fall.
    It had been easy up until now.  Free falling and joining up with another person who isn’t trying to evade you is relatively simple for an experienced jumper.  Getting a parachute pack with the wind resistance of a brick positioned and strapped on your body is a totally different matter.
    Every time I shifted it, I spun