“Okay,” Rig said over the radio. “I’ve got coordinates for you. You’re going to need to move away from Platform Prime to a more stable part of the debris belt you can cut through to come back down.” Rig gave us some coordinates, and Jorgen put them into the nav system. I accelerated a bit more and swung around chunks of debris that were almost as big as Platform Prime, but twisted and battered.
Jorgen switched the radio to the general channel, and I lowered the volume on my transmitter, but didn’t turn it off.
“Amphi?” Jorgen said. “Nedder? You guys okay?”
“You’re alive,” Arturo said. “Scud, Jerkface, you just disappeared.”
“That’s what he was trying to do, wasn’t it?” Nedder said.
“Right, but I didn’t expect him to actually do it. Where are you guys?”
“Up in the debris belt,” Jorgen said. “I’ll send you the coordinates where we expect to emerge, and you can escort us to Platform Prime.”
“Did you really hyperjump?” Sadie asked. “What was it like?”
I flipped on my radio. “Like being in one place and then suddenly being in another.”
“Um, guys?” Rig said. “The command center is filling up. I think they’re going to take my channel soon.”
“Take your channel?” Jorgen asked. “Why?”
“Hang on. Let me find out.”
Jorgen and I looked at each other.
“We got those coordinates,” Arturo said. “Moving your direction.”
Through the chunks of metal below us, I caught sight of the surface of the planet.
“Skyward Flight,” a familiar voice said over the radio. Cobb, taking over from Rig. “I’m going to need you all to report back to Platform Prime immediately.”
“Why, sir?” Jorgen asked over the radio.
“We’ve got movement from the battleships,” Cobb said. “It looks like they’re pulling their largest ship into position, the one with the planetary weapons.”
Stars. “The what?” I asked.
“Sir,” Jorgen said. “Did you say planetary weapons?”
“Affirmative,” Cobb said. “We knew from the chatter on the datanets that they had missiles they could use to bombard the planet. They hadn’t shown any sign of using them, but they’re moving into position now.”
“Do you think that’s because of us?” I asked Jorgen.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But it seems like too much of a coincidence not to be.”
“Better tell Cobb then, yeah?” I asked.
Jorgen nodded. “Sir, we were successful in our mission, but when we were, I think the Superiority cytonics heard us.”
There was a pause, and in it I imagined Cobb swearing up a storm. “They may have decided it’s time to annihilate us. Can you use the taynix to get any of us off the planet?”
“Negative,” Jorgen said. “I think I can teleport to places I can see or maybe remember, but that’s it.”
“Copy, Flightleader. Get back here as fast as you can.”
I swallowed and resisted the urge to turn up the music again.
We weren’t ready. We couldn’t run, not without full control over the hyperdrives, and the Superiority wanted to destroy us before we got that far.
If they attacked at full capacity now, would any of us survive?
“We’re on our way,” Jorgen said to Cobb as I broke through the edge of the debris belt. Arturo and Nedd both fell in behind us in flanking position, with Kimmalyn and Sadie leading the way to Platform Prime.
“There has to be some way we can use the hyperdrives to our advantage,” I said to Jorgen.
Jorgen nodded. “Admiral,” he said over the radio, “we can’t use the hyperdrives to flee, but I think we could bring them to bear in the battle.”
Cobb was quiet. “You’re too valuable a resource to risk,” he said finally.
“Maybe,” Jorgen said. “But if we don’t make it through this, it won’t matter what we hold back, will it?”
It was a good point, if a sobering one.
“All right,” Cobb said. “Tell me what you have in mind.”
Ten
When we arrived at Platform Prime, the landing bay was in chaos. Much like before the battle where the delver arrived, pilots raced for their ships as they received last-minute instructions, an air of nervousness permeating it all. I brought my ship down next to Skyward One, Jorgen’s usual ship. Rig and two of his fellow engineers were standing around it with the canopy open, and Rig motioned to them furiously.
Jorgen opened the hatch and hopped out.
“Cobb said you were switching to your own ship,” Rig said. “We took the interference module out of Alanik’s ship and installed it in yours. If the information we took from her databanks is correct, it’ll stop the enemy from projecting illusions into your head. You also have five yellow taynix in a box under your dash. It isn’t pretty, but it’s bolted in place, so the slugs won’t teleport without you. Will you be okay with no one to help you with them?”
“I’ll be all right,” Jorgen said. “We need you to fly with FM in the Dulo.”
Rig looked at Jorgen with terror. “I’m not a pilot, Jorgen. I barely started flight school.”
“And you’re not piloting today,” Jorgen said. “We’re going to try to use the hyperdrives to launch a surprise attack on the ship with the planetary assault cannon. The goal is to disable their cannons so they can’t destroy Platform Prime or hit the surface of Detritus. The thing is, we don’t know exactly how these weapons work. We don’t know how to destroy them, or if we can. But if we send you in there, and you get a good look at the guns—”
“Then maybe I can help figure out how to disable them.” Rig nodded.
“Command won’t let me do it myself,” Jorgen said, “but I can feel the slugs in my mind from a distance. I don’t need to be right next to the slugs to communicate with them. So, we’re going to send you in with FM. You won’t be up there alone—they’re willing to let me command Skyward Flight to back you up because I’m going to have to see where I’m sending you. Also, I’ll be able to use the hyperdrive to pull you out if things go wrong.”
I wasn’t thrilled about the plan myself—once I was in there, theoretically Jorgen should be able to teleport me out if something went wrong. But it was all very theoretical. This wasn’t a suicide mission, but it was the closest thing I’d ever done.
I wasn’t Spensa. I didn’t enjoy running headlong into danger and figuring things out as I went along. But I also wasn’t going to let my entire planet be destroyed because I wasn’t willing to do what needed to be done. I was a pilot. I signed up for this. I was going to do the best I could to make sure that as many people came out of this alive as possible, even if I wasn’t among them.
Taking Rig with me was another matter entirely.
“He can’t order you to do it,” I said to Rig. Rig knew that of course, because he wasn’t in Jorgen’s chain of command, but it seemed like a good moment for a reminder. “And Cobb hasn’t ordered you to do it either.” Cobb understood the reasons a pilot might have for not getting into a ship again. Cobb had done it when he felt he had to, but he wasn’t going to make that decision for someone else. He hadn’t ordered me to do this either—it was too experimental, too volatile.
Rig nodded. “I know. I’ll do it.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
Jorgen gave me a sharp look. Rig had just agreed, which was obviously what we needed.
But I didn’t feel good taking someone up into battle with me on a mission this dangerous unless they were sure they wanted to be there.
“Yes,” Rig said. He motioned to a box next to him. “We have one more taynix, in case we need it.” He hoisted the box into the Dulo, with Chubs looking contemplatively over the edge. Rig climbed into the copilo
t seat beside me. He squirmed a little, scrunching himself up on the side of the seat farthest from me, even though I wished he’d sit closer. He put on his helmet.
Scud, I hated this. He’d dropped out of flight school for a reason, and he hadn’t ever wanted to come back, not like Kimmalyn or Nedd. If I got him killed, that was on me. In my mind I saw Lizard’s ship exploding, the wreckage spiraling toward the planet.
Not Rig. I didn’t want that to happen to him. I couldn’t let it.
It didn’t feel like a comfort to know that if he died in this fight, I was likely going with him. “You really don’t have to do this,” I said. I hoped he would back out, even though I needed his help.
This was exactly why having complicated feelings for someone in a situation like this was a bad idea.
“I know I don’t have to,” Rig said. “But Jorgen is right. You shouldn’t be working a hyperdrive alone, especially since you don’t actually have control over it.”
“We’ll be fine,” I said with a confidence I didn’t feel. “I have a perfect record of not dying in combat.”
Rig laughed, but it sounded forced. He was avoiding my eyes again. At least this time he was clearly terrified of the combat and not of me.
“I’m going to do my best not to get you killed up there,” I said. I would. I had to.
“I believe you,” Rig said. “But it’s not always under your control, is it?”
Of course it wasn’t. I could never guarantee that I was going to return from any mission, much less that I could keep anyone else safe.
That was what worried me.
Next to us, I could see Jorgen checking his ship, getting ready to take off. Kimmalyn, Sadie, and the others were hovering in the air, waiting for rendezvous coordinates. T-Stall and Catnip had joined them.
“This new planetary weapon,” I said. “Isn’t it the kind of thing that shield you’re working on is supposed to defend against?”
“It could be if the shield worked,” Rig said. “But we haven’t tested it. If we turn it on, maybe nothing will happen. Or parts of the system might come online, but others might be too damaged to function. The debris around Detritus is in bad shape. The system might fail. Worse, it might short out, making it harder to use in the future.”
“And at worst?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Rig said. “We haven’t had time to map out all the ramifications. If there are shorts on important platforms, there could be considerable damage.”
“To Platform Prime?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Rig repeated. “That’s why it’s too volatile to try until we have time to work up the likely scenarios. But we’ve given a full report to Command about what we know and what we don’t. It’ll be up to Cobb to decide what to do with it.”
Jorgen had a point about the command structure. It did make sense for power to be organized so it could be used efficiently. But then everything depended on the decision-making of the person at the top. Cobb I trusted. Jeshua and the Assembly, less so.
Jorgen’s ship lifted off, and I engaged my acclivity ring, lifting up beside him.
“Skyward Flight,” Jorgen said over the radio, “our orders are to engage the fighters protecting the battleships. We cannot let them destroy Platform Prime or penetrate the debris field to hit the surface of the planet.”
“Skyward Five, ready.” I said over the radio.
When the rest of the flight had sounded off, we followed our navigation track through the maze of upper platforms.
“We’re going to be in the center of the battle today,” Jorgen said. “Our orders are to hang behind Victory and Valkyrie Flights as they punch up toward the battleship.” Jorgen wasn’t going to talk about the other part of our mission over the radio, where there was even the slightest chance the enemy might be able to intercept the message. “FM is in the Dulo today with Rig.”
“Wait, Rig is flying with us?” Kimmalyn said. “Welcome back, Rig!”
“Tell them thanks,” Rig said.
I pointed at Rig’s radio controls. “Tell them yourself.”
He switched on his radio. “Thanks, Quirk,” Rig said. “I’m um…not totally against being here.”
“From Rig, that’s a resounding endorsement,” I said, and he gave me a weak smile. He relaxed in the seat a little, so our shoulders touched, and that at least was a comfort.
“I do intend to keep you alive,” I said to him.
“We’re flying toward a bunch of aliens who intend the exact opposite,” Rig said. “Especially once they realize we have a hyperdrive, even if it’s not a very effective one, and that we’re there to destroy their cannon.”
“Rig, FM, you have the device ready?” Jorgen asked over a private channel as we cleared the platforms and shot out into the black.
Beside me, Rig opened up the box and looked at the taynix.
“Do you know which one Jorgen already used?” he asked.
“I don’t,” I said. “Maybe swap them all out?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that.” He pulled out the four taynix already in the box and swapped them for the one he’d brought with him. Happy stretched out across his knee, trilling softly. I reached over and scritched him behind his frill.
“Ready,” I told Jorgen over the radio.
“That’s an overstatement,” Rig muttered beside me. “But we’re as ready as we are right now.”
I laughed. That felt both profound and terrifying. I put a hand on my transmitter. “How do you feel about music?” I asked.
“I liked that song you were playing before in the lab. Do you have any others?”
“Yes,” I said, and I turned on my transmitter, flipping through the short list of pieces before selecting one.
This one was heavier than the one I played for Jorgen. I had no concept of what instruments could possibly make these sounds. There was a melody buried underneath a lot of shouting in a language I didn’t understand. But the beat was clear and the sounds were oddly engaging, even as loud and angry as they seemed.
Rig listened for a moment and then wrinkled his nose. “Is that music? Are you sure?”
“It is,” I said. “It just takes a refined taste to appreciate it.”
The flight accelerated together, moving toward the battleships in a standard V formation. My proximity sensors began to pick up ships—lots of them, though not yet as many as we’d faced when the delver arrived.
More alarming, the larger ships were now moving toward Detritus. Up to this time they’d stayed in place—a waypoint, not a danger themselves.
The music continued its relentless march as we continued to accelerate up to Mag-8. Outside the debris field, there was so much, well, space. The ships loomed in the distance, but even at high speeds it took us a long while to approach.
A while in which I was increasingly aware of Rig sitting next to me. Our arms were touching now, from shoulder to elbow, warming my whole body. Scud, this was not what I was supposed to be thinking about when I was heading into combat. It was like I told Sadie during the last fight: I had to focus. I wasn’t used to having anyone in the cockpit with me during a fight, let alone a guy who liked me.
He did still like me, right?
“I’m not sure this music is getting any better,” Rig said.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll turn it off.”
“No, you don’t have to,” Rig said quickly, but I’d already reached for the dial, searching for another song. I didn’t share my music with many people, which was probably selfish. It wasn’t that I wanted to keep it all to myself—more that I didn’t want to share it with anyone who wouldn’t appreciate it. It was the one thing that connected me to who we used to be, before our people crashed on Detritus and were reduced to nothing but survival.
I probably shouldn’t have chosen one of the weirder pieces in
my collection to share with Rig. So I decided to pick something a little easier to appreciate.
I chose a choral piece, also in a different language, one my father said had fallen out of use long before humans left Earth. Dozens, maybe hundreds of voices all blended together, singing with different tones and pitches, loud and yet somehow soft all at once.
“Oh,” Rig said. “Stars, that one’s beautiful. Are any of those instruments?”
“I don’t think so. Just voices.”
“Wow.” Rig petted Happy absently on his knee, and the slug began to trill along with the music, adding another high-pitched tone to the voices. Gill edged his way over, nuzzling my thigh.
“You have to like this one,” I said. “Even slugs appreciate it.”
Rig narrowed his eyes at me, and I laughed and smacked him on the hand.
I wished I had the guts to do more. I wished the battle wasn’t coming up so fast. Scud, another carrier ship had arrived, and more fighters poured out of it. It seemed incredible that they’d gotten here so fast, but the Superiority had working FTL communicators. They had hyperdrives that went where they told them to go, and the ability to call up their pilots and transport them across the vastness of space in moments.
We’d made progress, but we were still so scudding far behind it made me want to cry.
Not now. This wasn’t the moment to lose my composure. My flight was depending on me. Rig was depending on me. Detritus was depending on me.
The ships splayed across my proximity sensors as we rapidly approached the battlefield. This time we’d brought the fight to them.
I wished I thought that would give us enough of an edge for the victory to be decisive.
“We’re as ready as we are right now,” I said.
Rig nodded. “No more, no less.”
Several of the enemy ships broke away from the pack, heading toward us.
“Here we go,” I said, and we streaked toward them through the black.
Eleven
Our flight cut up through the center of the battlefield in the wake of Valkyrie and Victory Flights, who were both tasked with getting us close enough to the gunship for Jorgen to see a clear path to it. Jorgen needed a visual on the place he was going to send us to be sure we’d actually arrive.
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