Deep Space

by REM

  Focus, he thought, trying to keep his mind off everything but his current predicament.

  “Keep dodging!” said Tomlin, as their ships shot into outer space.

  “There it is,” Ven transmitted.

  Josh saw the large craft ahead and knew they’d gain on it quickly. He swerved left, then up and right to avoid being hit. Their strikers were still buzzing at max speed. Everything was happening so fast, then—boom!

  Ven’s striker exploded into particles.

  Josh’s eyes widened to their fullest, conflicted with the pain of losing a team member, but the thought of, Can’t say I’ll miss him. Josh felt a gut-wrenching awfulness.

  Thoot! Thoot! More lasers flared past his and Tomlin’s craft.

  “We’re almost in range!” said Tomlin.

  Josh prayed he didn’t get hit.

  “Now!” Tomlin shouted.

  Josh pressed his trigger. Both pilots squeezed off concurrent laser fire in consecutive streams. Their beams dispersed against the terra-ship in flashes of light.

  “Shit! It’s got enhanced shielding,” Tomlin transmitted.

  Josh saw an energy field fan out from the terra-ship’s rear. It covered the vessel’s entire backside. “Son of a…” he muttered.

  “We’ve got to take out these fighters on our tail, or we’re going to end up like Ven!” Tomlin transmitted.

  “Agreed.”

  “If we can blow them up fast enough, we should be able to catch up to the terra-ship.”

  “Call it.”

  “Break!”

  Josh hooked left, Tomlin right.

  The shadow fighters curled in counter.

  Josh fired at one—then veered away from an incoming shot.

  The enemy craft crossed paths, making it easy for one to lock onto Josh. It fired a blast.

  Josh rolled right into a wild dive. He saw Tomlin twisting to escape flashing beams.

  Josh swung up into a loop, aiming to secure a positional advantage. The fighter he was after cut left and corkscrewed back around.

  It fired.

  So did Josh.

  Thoot! Thoot! Lasers whisked past each of their craft, as Josh slashed to the side. Snakes are fighting hard for that terra-cannon! And their lives. He bent into a four fighter tango. Lasers zipped every which way.

  The roundabout jockeying went on for a tense stretch.

  “That terra-cannon’s going to be off radar soon! We’re going to risk losing it if we don’t go after it!” Josh transmitted.

  “Hot damn!” These Mercen pilots are fighting like demons,” Tomlin transmitted. “We should’ve bested them by now. On my mark—climb for a quarter mile and max-out toward the terra-ship. We can’t let it escape!”

  “Roger.”

  “Climb!”

  Josh yanked his stick and shot straight up. Tomlin was right with him. At a quarter mile, both cut off from their rise inverted, and leveled out turning upright. Their thrusters burned into top speed.

  No, no. You’re not getting away, thought Josh, staring at the large dot on his radar.

  They raced through space.

  The dark shadow fighters stalked them—slipping in and out of the Creston pilot’s visibility.

  This is a motherfucking nightmare… thought Josh. Giving up our blind so the primary doesn’t escape.

  It took some time, but Josh and Tomlin had gained on the Mercens’ deadliest weapon once more.

  “Almost in range!” Tomlin transmitted.

  “Yeah, so are those shadow fighters at our six.”

  A few rigid seconds passed.

  “Try to hit it from long range!” Tomlin transmitted.

  Josh fired. Successive beams flared from his cannons, in conjunction with those from Tomlin’s.

  One shot hit, but did zero damage.

  Thoot! Thoot! Thoot, thoot! Lasers zipped from the terra-ship, blazing within inches of Josh and Tomlin’s craft.

  “Urgh!” Josh grunted, shifting his stick heavily to avoid getting hit.

  “How’d I know it would be armed!” Tomlin transmitted.

  There hectic maneuvering slowed their pace so much that—thoot! Thoot! The trailing shadow fighters were now within attacking distance.

  Josh slanted up into a wide spiral, not even waiting for Tomlin to make the call.

  Tomlin rolled to the east.

  Here we go again, thought Josh, winding in and out of the four fighter tangle, while the fleeing terra-ship hurtled through space.

  “Watch your right!” Tomlin transmitted, riding a shadow fighter that had swerved at Josh from an odd angle.

  “I see him!” said Josh, jamming his controller. He zoomed into a crescent dive, then crooked toward the other enemy craft and fired. Boom! The targeted shadow fighter exploded. About fuckin’ time!

  Josh veered toward where Tomlin was tight on the remaining shadow fighter’s trail.

  “I got this one. Go after that terra-ship!” Tomlin transmitted.

  Josh curved his striker in the direction the vessel had fled.

  Only a short moment had passed, when he saw an explosion reflecting in his rearview. Josh checked his radar and verified it was Tomlin who’d survived.

  “I’m on my way!” Tomlin transmitted.

  Good, thought Josh, who was closing within attack range of the terra-ship.

  Thoot! Thoot! Thoot! Beams flared from the enemy vessel.

  Josh swayed from side to side to evade each one. He shot back, both missing. Another flurry of lasers zipped past his striker. Fucking hell, he thought, performing more evasive actions.

  It wasn’t long till Tomlin had made it to Josh’s wing. “Keep strong! We can do this!”

  “You betcha!”

  Tomlin discharged a couple of rounds. Josh did the same. Two of their shots burst against the terra-ship—neither broke its defenses.

  “That shield is something else,” Josh transmitted.

  “We’ll get it down.”

  The pilots increased their speed. They gained on the enemy craft while weaving through beams.

  Sploosh! Josh saw a flash of light break against Tomlin’s striker.

  “They got my shield!” Tomlin transmitted. “Can’t believe that hit!”

  “Careful, Tomlin.”

  “I’m fine, rookie. Let’s put an end to this chase!”

  Tomlin accelerated.

  Josh shoved his throttle.

  More lasers whizzed in their direction. Then, a black cloud streamed out from the terra-ship’s rear.

  “Why’s it smoking?!” Josh transmitted.

  Tomlin didn’t respond.

  Two small craft shot out from the side of the terra-ship.

  “That’s not smoke!” said Tomlin.

  He and Josh flew the through dark cloud. An oily substance splattered against their canopies.

  “I can’t see a damn thing!” Josh transmitted, having barely any visibility when looking straight ahead. His side view was about half as bad. He looked at Tomlin’s striker to his right and heard: “Fuck, me neither! Two drones, watch out!”

  Josh saw the enemy craft on his radar. He jabbed left, soaring into a rear curl. Smaller, but faster firing lasers sprayed past his striker. Gadzooks! This is too much! He caught a glimpse of Tomlin swinging away from enemy fire, then made a sharp cut and let loose at one of the drones. Not even close. Josh veered from an incoming blast. “They’re so small it’s hard to get a target lock,” he transmitted.

  “Missiles!”

  “Of course!” Josh slid a finger to a side button on his control stick. Two missiles zipped from his wings.

  Boom! The missiles exploded before reaching the drones. So did the ones fired from Tomlin’s striker.

  Son of a bitch! “These things have mini-missile counter systems!” Josh transmitted.

  “I see!” Tomlin responded.

  Josh blazed into a wide loop, an attack drone hot in pursuit. Lasers flashed past the center of his ship—missing his thrusters by less than a foot.
It’s not my day to die. Not today! Josh snapped his head back while inverted. He got a clear line of sight on the drone through a clean spot atop his canopy. He broke off from his intended maneuver, twisted toward the unmanned enemy craft, and fired a shot.

  Boom! The blast blew the drone to pieces.

  Josh glanced at Tomlin’s location on his radar. He can’t see out of his cockpit. He needs me! But destroying the terra-ship is the primary… Josh veered east and accelerated into top speed. “I’m going after the terra-cannon!” he transmitted.

  “Good! I’m running this drone around until I get a clear shot. It can’t match speed with a striker,” Tomlin responded. “I shouldn’t be far behind you.”

  Josh felt relieved to hear Tomlin’s confidence in such a dire predicament. I’ve got to win this for us, he thought.

  It took some time, but before long Josh was entering attack range of the terra-ship. I hope to hell there aren’t Mercen reinforcements on the way.

  The terra-ship opened fire. Lasers zipped toward Josh’s striker yet again. I’m getting really tired of this shit! he thought, sifting through the array. He fired back and watched his beams break against the enemy vessel’s extended rear shield. Maybe missiles, he thought, mashing a side trigger. This time the projectiles shot out from the body of his striker and exploded against the terra-ship’s defenses. It’ll take all day to try and break the vessel’s shielding this way. How about I hit you from another angle!

  Josh thrust his throttle and belted up at a slant. Enemy fire flashed all around. When he’d made it above the terra-ship, Josh twisted into a dive and swooped toward the vessel. He discharged two sets of dual-beamed blasts, then swerved off in a different direction.

  The lasers erupted against the top of the ship—failing again to break its defenses.

  Josh narrowly avoided an enemy shot. He dove his striker. This time below the terra-ship, before swinging up and letting loose another series of twin blasts. His lasers broke against the vessel’s bottom; but didn’t come close to cracking its shielding.

  “Got rid of that last drone! I’m closing in,” Tomlin transmitted.

  “I’ve hit this thing high and low. Can’t breach its defenses. It’s going to take a more powerful cannon.”

  “We’ll have to concentrate our fire.”

  “That’s going to be extremely hard, considering we can barely see out of our cockpits. I’ve been attacking almost solely with radar. And have almost died twice trying to evade under these conditions.”

  It took Tomlin a few seconds to respond: “There’s got to be a way. We’ve got to take it down.”

  Josh cut through a stream of lasers inverted, while scanning the terra-ship through the clear spot on his canopy. C’mon, there’s got to be a weakness. An idea came to him almost instantly. Our shielding doesn’t cover our thrusters or cannon tips. We can’t hit the terra-ship’s thrusters because of that extended shield at its rear—but maybe I can nail a beam down the tip of its cannon! It’s a long shot, but the barrel is wide enough it might be possible. “I’m going to try and shoot a beam down the terra-ship’s main cannon!” he transmitted.

  “You’re going to try and do what?!”

  “It’s all we’ve got. Millions of lives are on the line.”

  “Too gutsy; you would have to line yourself in front of the cannon and land a shot that would be difficult, even with a clear view! If that cannon were to fire, you’re a goner. Not to mention the side cannons will be firing on you.”

  Josh threaded beams and returned fire at the terra-ship. He inspected his front canopy, then said, “I’ve got a clear spot I should be able to eye the cannon through. If you could just distract those side cannons when I disengage, I’ll re-engage at max thrust and go for the kill.”

  There was a moment of silence over the transmission, before Tomlin transmitted, “Go for it!”

  Josh’s eyes brightened. He pulled up on his stick and zoomed ahead of the terra-ship as Tomlin evaded a few shots while engaging. Hang in there, Tomlin, he thought, glancing back at his beleaguered crewmate, who was trying his hardest to crack the enemy vessel’s shield.

  When Josh had made it about fifty miles in front of the terra-ship, he bent around and came at it head on from a higher elevation. He could see red and blue lasers flashing in the distance. This one’s for all the marbles! he thought, wiping a bead of sweat from his temple, then thrusting his striker into maximum speed.

  “Ah! I’m hit!” Tomlin transmitted.

  Josh felt his heart skip a beat, adrenaline swirl.

  “Ship’s smoking, but it’s still in one piece!”

  “I’m making my approach!” Josh eyed the terra-cannon getting closer by the second. Almost in range. Keep it busy, Tomlin. Don’t you die on me.

  Tomlin was slashing in and out like an angry bird guarding its nest.

  Josh peered best he could through the clear spot in his canopy and tried lining himself directly with the cannon.

  Thoot! Thoot! One of the terra-ship’s side cannons snapped in Josh’s direction.

  Josh jerked sideways to avoid a blast, then up and down to evade another. He tried his best to remain on a direct course. More enemy lasers zipped his way. Talk about suicidal!

  Koosh! A blast skimmed the top of Josh’s craft, sending sparks flying but only leaving a mark. Too close! This is it! he thought, lining his target indicator as best he could with the terra-cannon. Beams whisked by his ship in close proximity.

  A trace of red light raced around the rim of the terra-cannon’s tip. Orange squares illuminated along its sides.

  Josh’s eyes gaped. They’re going to fire the main cannon at me! He jabbed down on his trigger. Beams flashed toward the terra-cannon. They missed its barrel by a few feet to the right. C’mon damnit! he thought, peering intensely through his canopy. It’s going to fire any second. And I’ve got to pull off either way to avoid collision. If this doesn’t land—I don’t know what we’ll do!

  He used the information garnered from his last shot to try and line up a precise one. C’mon baby, c’mon!

  The orange squares along the terra-cannon began changing to red. Josh knew it would fire imminently. Lasers from a smaller cannon blazed past his striker. “Go to hell you Mercen pieces of shit!” Josh jammed his trigger—feeling as if somehow his shot might hit.

  He yanked his striker off course with the terra-ship. His lasers zipped into the barrel of the terra-cannon, down into the body of the vessel. There was an explosion at the head of the Mercen craft, then another a bit deeper into the vessel. Its shield dropped.

  Tomlin squeezed off consecutive beams. The first wave set the ship ablaze—the second round tore it to pieces.

  Josh stared, almost unable to believe his eyes. We did it. We fuckin’ did it! “Woo-hoo!”

  “Fuck yes!” Tomlin transmitted. “That was some incredible shit! You’re every bit the pilot they say you are.”

  “No, I’m better,” Josh responded, with a huge smirk.

  Tomlin grinned, savoring the moment—but it didn’t last long. “We need to get back to that liquid planet!”

  “Right!” said Josh. He felt a world of worry thinking about his friends still fighting at the enemy base. We’ve been gone for too long. He shoved his throttle to top speed in unison with Tomlin’s craft.

  They zoomed toward the liquid planet, both switching to the main channel when in range.

  “Ace, what’s the status?!” Tomlin transmitted.

  “The remaining shadow fighters have pulled off. We’re chasing them east.” Ace transmitted.

  “Keep on them. Run them down, or out of Creston space. What are your co-ordinates? Josh and I will try to catch up.”

  “Pinging them now. Did you get the terra-cannon?”

  “Terra-ship’s down!” Tomlin responded.

  “But it was hard as hell!” said Josh.

  Some of the pilots cheered—others suppressed their joy with sorrowed thoughts of the lives lost during the battle.
r />   Ace knew there would be no catching the maxed-out shadow fighters, so after a while he slowed the fleet so Josh and Tomlin could join up.

  “We’re heading home,” the blue leader transmitted, breaking off from the fleet with the only other remaining striker from their squadron.

  “Thank you for your service,” Tomlin transmitted. There was a chorus of the same from the rest of the pilots.

  “Reena…” Josh transmitted, remembering she’d been shot down.

  “She’s in my cockpit, banged up pretty bad, but I think she’ll be all right,” Nate responded.

  “Hang in there, Reena,” said Maya, knowing her friend probably couldn’t hear her.

  Only Ven lost for our squadron. That’s much better than expected, thought Josh, letting out a sigh of relief.

  Their pursuit went on for countless miles, most of which silence was maintained over the transmission. At some point, there was a flicker from Josh’s dash. He glanced at the light indicating that Jill had opened a private channel between them.

  “Join me for a beer when we get back? My treat?” Jill transmitted.

  Josh smirked and replied, “Sure thing.”

  When the fleeing shadow fighters had been chased out of Creston space, Tomlin led the group home and transmitted over the fleet’s main channel to the M.N. Rampage: “The terra-cannon has been destroyed!”

  Josh heard wild cheers erupt in the background.

  Deep Space

  More from R.E.M

  If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review on Amazon. I would appreciate it!

  Interested in urban fantasy? If so, here is the link to the first three books of my Fate’s Karmas series: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075RBN711/ref=series_rw_dp_sw

  The story centers around Kelvin, a 25-year-old who can tell when karma is making its way back around to fated individuals. When this happens a glare appears on the fated. Such occurrences often trigger the emergence of an immortal fate dealer, looking to impose a judgment handed down by Fate. Under certain circumstances the dealer’s execution may be extreme. And for this reason, fate seers like Kelvin are needed to ensure that the punishments truly fit the crimes. His encounters will test the task of a human—against the wrath of an immortal.