Page 4 of Fireline

Nova called the plane and let them know their status. “Visibility is shot with all this smoke. And the wind gusts are a bit worse than we thought. Remind the crew of letdown procedures, because they’ll probably get treed up.”

“Ten-four,” Eric said. “The rest of the crew is coming down in a new jump spot with better visibility.” He gave her the coordinates and she confirmed.

Nova checked the navigation. Two paths looked promising.

She grabbed her helmet and secured it to her pack. “Ridge. It’s quicker.”

“Hold on, Wildfire Girl.” Booth dusted himself off. “That’s a steep, rocky climb and closer to the fire. We could get cut off. Let’s take the forest.”

“It’s too dense. We’ll spend hours cutting through the underbrush.”

“It’s safer than us being trapped like sitting ducks,” Booth said, packing his chute with a bit more force than needed.

Why was he always so stubborn? “Look, the fire won’t wait. Your route will take twice as long, and that’s precious time we don’t have. We’re taking the ridge. Grab your gear and let’s go.”

“Fine.” Booth nodded, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. He hoisted his pack and set off.

As she followed Booth on the rocky trail, Nova couldn’t shake the feeling that her voice, her decision, was lost in the smoke. It’d be nice if maybe, just once, Booth would listen to her instead of looking at her like she was a loose cannon waiting to explode.

It wasn’t like this was her first rodeo. Following in her uncle Jock’s footsteps, she’d joined the hotshot crew in high school and dug an uphill line for three years, followed by three more on the helitack crew before she’d made smokejumper. Booth had only…wait, she wasn’t even sure of his history.

That man was nothing but a mystery sometimes.

They hiked the ridgeline for about six miles, keeping a hard eye on the fire. The entire time, Nova ran fire entrapment training videos through her mind. If the fire started to overrun them, she had two or three escape routes planned.

They found the clearing about an hour later. Nova dropped her spent chute and her gear. She took an assessing glance at her team. All but one cargo drop had been unloaded, but by the looks of it, Vince, JoJo, and Finn would have it done in no time.

Logan carried a box of water on his shoulder, looking like the perfect hero some people seemed to think he was. He set the box down and grinned. “Glad you could join us.”

“Gnarly landing, and a bit of a hike here, but we’re in one piece.” Nova flicked a glance at Booth, but he didn’t chime in. “How ’bout you guys?”

“Came down with far less flair.” Logan waved a hand at the boxes. “We’ve got the gear inventoried, and we’re about to pack what we need for this trip.”

“We got a firsthand look at the fire coming down,” Nova said. “We’ve got a steep slope, so we can start in with a direct saw line at the tail and work up. Redirect the fire north.” She clapped her hands. “Let’s pack up and head out, ASAP.”

In under an hour, they had all their gear to the tail of the fire. It was midafternoon, and if Nova was sweating, the rest of them were probably drenched. “Grab some water before we put together a strategy.”

Nova drank from her canteen and studied the fire that burned some fifty feet away, beyond a meadow where the smokejumpers had already cut a wide line. From here she was safe, but the heat was intense, even with the distance.

“Okay, team, looks like the fire is a little over two acres. Totally doable if the wind doesn’t push us.” She slid the map from her pocket and laid it on the ground. “Right in this area, there are two homesteads in the path of the fire. First priority is to save any locals who didn’t evac.”

“There’s another house way out here.” Logan tapped the map northeast. “The fire’s pretty far and pushing south, so shouldn’t be a problem.”

Nova nodded. “Good. Once we get the line cut here, Logan, take JoJo and go up the right flank. Booth, Vince, and Finn, you guys hit the left. I’ll scout the head of the fire and check the homesteads.”

“I think it’s better if I go with you,” Booth said. “It’s safer if we stay in pairs, and I can help once we get to the head.”

Had Booth ever taken a single order without second-guessing her? “I can handle myself?—”

“He’s got a point,” Logan said. “It's nothin' but a big spot fire. We can handle it, can’t we?”

JoJo, Vince, and Finn voiced their agreement in unison.

She clenched her teeth and bit back the snarky comment threatening to fly out. Logan took Booth’s side and encouraged the rest of the team to do the same. He might be aiming to beat her out as new crew chief, but she was team lead for this fire.

She looked at Booth. “I guess if the team can manage without you, then you’re with me.”

Logan clapped his gloved hands together. “Okay, let’s secure this tail!”