by Ryk Brown
“Two down!” Loki reported. “The other two are at full power and in a wide turn.”
“What about the first four?” Josh asked.
“They’re coming around behind us! Go to full power and skim the trees while I make contact! Then we jump out and start over!”
“Going down!” Josh announced as he dove toward the surface again. He smiled. This was the part he loved most.
“Nash, Falcon!” Loki called across the comms as they approached the search area.
“Be careful with those missiles!” Jessica yelled over the comms.
“We’ll keep jumping in and out. We’ll try to keep them off your back until Telles can figure out a way to pull you out of there!” Loki told her. “How many to pick up?!”
“One!” Jessica yelled, panting.
Loki could tell she was running as she spoke. “Say again?”
“I’m it! Everyone else is dead. I’m fucking wounded, too, damn it! Tell the lieutenant to hurry the fuck up!”
“The first four are launching missiles again!” Josh warned Loki.
“Understood!” Loki answered Jessica. “Jumping in three……two……one……jump.”
* * *
Jessica stopped momentarily, instinctively looking up as the Falcon jumped away in a brilliant blue-white flash that lit up the area for a brief instant. She could hear the whoosh of air and the thunder-like crack made by the Falcon’s departure.
She knelt down a moment and pulled her med-kit from her combat vest. As she opened the med-kit, she continued to scan the trees for signs of pursuit. The two missiles fired from the Falcon had helped her put a little more distance between her and her pursuers, but she knew that the lead would not last long. She was weak and in considerable pain. The Jung soldiers following her were not. They also had the advantage of reinforcements, which were circling around to land troops behind her at the moment… Of this she was certain.
She jabbed herself in her thigh with the mini-ject, sending additional pain medication into her blood stream. She tossed the spent device aside, grabbed the next one—an energy booster—and repeated the process, giving her the additional strength she needed to continue her evasive efforts.
There was smoke everywhere, the result of several fires set off by both the missile impacts and the burning debris that had rained down on the area when the Falcon had destroyed two Jung fighters a few minutes ago. She could hear the crackle of nearby fires and the shouting of Jung troops as they worked their way around and between the blazes. It would slow them down, but it would not stop them. She could hear the sound of the approaching shuttle’s engines as they descended to land and deploy their troops. From the sound, she knew the direction. She would have to change course, no longer able to head for the river. They were putting troops in exactly the right spot, just as they had before, which confirmed her worst fears. Somehow, they were tracking her every move.
As she put her med-kit away, she heard the sound of jet turbines in the distance getting louder with each passing second.
“Nash, Falcon,” Loki’s voice called over her comm-set.
“Go for Nash,” she replied.
“New troops on the ground. Count twelve thermals moving west by northwest, line abreast and spreading out as they advance.”
“They’re trying to pinch me in,” Jessica told them. “They know I’m heading for the river. They’re forcing me south, and I want to go north toward the city.”
“We’ll try to ruin their plans,” Loki promised. “Falcon out.”
“Nash out.” Jessica looked behind her, noticing movement in the trees not more than a few hundred meters away. She crouched down low and headed in the opposite direction, starting a slow arc to the south as she moved through the woods and staying hidden behind brush and trees whenever possible. The jet turbines became louder and louder until, suddenly, the Falcon screamed past her, skimming the treetops. She heard its plasma turret as it fired and the thwumps and subsequent muffled explosions as the energy tore up the ground, the trees, and with any luck, a few Jung troops.
Once again, she knew it wouldn’t stop them, but it would continue to slow them down. Hopefully, it was all she needed.
* * *
“Pitch-over complete,” Mister Chiles reported from the Aurora’s helm. “We’re now flying stern first.”
“We’re closing on the target at a rate of one hundred fifty meters per second,” Mister Riley added.
“The target is approximately four thousand meters in length, so at that speed, it should take us about a minute from the last stern shot to the first bow shot. Will that give you enough time to complete your yaw maneuver, Mister Chiles?”
“That should do it.”
“Jump is plotted and ready,” Mister Riley added.
“Very well,” Nathan said. “Take us in.”
“Aye, sir,” Mister Riley answered. “Jumping in three……two……one……jump.”
The jump flash washed over the bridge, momentarily filling the compartment with blue-white light.
“Jump complete,” Mister Riley reported.
“Cruiser, dead ahead!” Mister Navashee reported. “Ten kilometers and closing!”
“Snapshot five and six!” Nathan ordered.
“Firing five and six!” Mister Randeen replied as he pressed the firing buttons for both tubes. “Five and six away!”
“Pitch us over!” Nathan ordered his helmsman.
“Pitching over, aye,” Mister Chiles acknowledged.
“Thirty seconds to torpedo impact,” Mister Randeen reported. “Standing by to fire plasma torpedoes.”
“Twenty seconds,” Mister Riley reported from the helm as he continued to pitch the ship over to bring her nose onto the cruiser as they rushed toward her.
Nathan turned to his left toward his sensor operator. “Any missile locks?”
“No, sir. We’re too close. The cruiser’s missiles are long-range only.”
“Not ours,” Nathan said under his breath.
“Ten seconds to torpedo impact!” Mister Randeen announced.
“Pitch over complete!” Mister Chiles reported. “Nose on target!”
“One kilometer!” Mister Navashee called out.
“Fire one and three!” Nathan ordered.
“Firing one and three!” Mister Randeen answered.
The inside of the bridge glowed red for a brief moment as a pair of plasma bolts streaked across the spherical view screen toward the cruiser that was growing rapidly in the center of their forward view.
“Translating down!” Mister Chiles announced as he fired the Aurora’s topside thrusters to push her below the rapidly approaching enemy cruiser.
Just as the red glow faded, the bridge was lit with two brilliant white flashes.
“Detonations!” Mister Randeen reported.
“Target has lost aft shields!” Mister Navashee reported.
Nathan leaned forward in anticipation, his eyes fixed on the image of the cruiser’s stern as it rose slightly, moving above the Aurora’s flight path as she translated downward and away from the massive Jung ship. He watched as the fading white flashes were suddenly replaced with a pair of red flashes, then a yellow-orange explosion that tore apart the cruiser’s main engines.
“Beginning yaw and roll maneuver!” Mister Chiles reported as the Aurora began to pass under the exploding aft end of the cruiser.
“Switch cameras,” Nathan ordered. The image changed, and Nathan watched the Earth and the cruiser twist about on the view screen as the Aurora spun on her lateral axis and rolled on her longitudinal one. The bridge suddenly began to shake violently.
“Taking rail gun fire!” Mister Randeen announced.
“Ten seconds until we’re belly up!” Mister Chiles reported.
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“Poor choice of words,” Nathan said, his eyes still fixed on the main view screen.
“Just lost port side forward rail gun!” Mister Randeen announced.
“Damage control reports outer hull breach in section one seven two!” Naralena reported. “Pressure loss on decks C and D, same section!”
The shaking became less violent, settling into muted vibrations that only occasionally rattled them in their seats.
“Our underside is toward the target,” Mister Chiles announced. “Twenty seconds until the yaw maneuver is complete.”
“Coming out from under the cruiser’s bow,” Mister Navashee reported.
“Fire all rail guns!” Nathan ordered.
“Firing all guns!” Mister Randeen answered.
The Aurora’s mini-rail guns, located around her perimeter, began spewing a steady stream of slugs at the enemy ship as they drifted apart at one hundred fifty meters per second. Enemy rail gun fire ripped into the Aurora’s outer hull, creating craters a few meters across and sending debris flying in all directions.
Nathan looked at the left side of the spherical view screen, following the image of the Jung cruiser as it moved toward the center. As it moved closer to the center, the shaking became more violent. The Aurora began taking the enemy rail gun fire across their own bow.
“Yaw complete. Nose on target,” the helmsman reported.
“Range: two kilometers and increasing!” Mister Navashee reported.
“Plasma cannons fully charged and ready to fire!” Mister Randeen announced.
“Snapshot tubes two and four!” Nathan ordered.
“Firing two and four!” Mister Randeen announced. “Two and four away! Ten seconds to impact!”
“Fire plasma torpedoes!” Nathan ordered.
“Firing tubes one and three!” Mister Randeen replied.
Again, the bridge glowed red as the bolts of plasma energy streaked over their heads.
“Lock four missiles on the target and fire!” Nathan ordered.
“Locking missiles on target!” Mister Randeen replied.
Two white flashes on the main view screen that lit up the inside of the bridge announced the detonations of their first two conventional torpedoes. The two red flashes from the plasma shots that followed did the same.
“Firing missiles!” Mister Randeen reported.
“She’s lost forward shields!” Mister Navashee reported. “She’s got hull breaches across her bow…!”
“Missile impact in ten seconds!” Mister Randeen interrupted.
“Ten degrees nose down,” Nathan ordered. “Stand by to fire quads.”
“Pitching ten down, aye,” Mister Chiles acknowledged.
“Locking quads on target,” Mister Randeen added. “Impacts!”
Nathan watched as four yellow-orange explosions tore open the nose of the cruiser, sending sections bigger than his parents’ estate back in Vancouver spinning off in different directions.
“She’s coming apart!” Mister Navashee reported.
“Fire all quads,” Nathan ordered calmly. “Pound the hell out of them.”
“Firing quads!” Mister Randeen replied.
Nathan watched the view screen as they continued to drift away, pummeling the helpless enemy cruiser with rounds from the Aurora’s quad rail guns. “Full magnification,” Nathan added. The view screen refocused, giving them all a front row seat for the Jung cruiser’s death. The Aurora’s massive quad rail gun rounds drilled into the already crippled ship’s outer hull, digging deep down inside her. Bulkheads, furniture, pieces of hull, structural beams, and even human bodies all hurtled away from the doomed cruiser.
“Target is down,” Mister Navashee reported from the sensor station. “Zero threat potential.”
“Cease fire,” Nathan ordered. There was no emotion or remorse in his voice.
“All weapons have disengaged,” Mister Randeen acknowledged.
“Pitch us back over,” Nathan ordered. “Nose first attitude.”
“Pitching over, aye.”
“Contacts!” Mister Navashee reported. “The battleship is firing.”
“At us?” Nathan asked, dreading the answer.
“No, sir,” Mister Navashee answered. “At the surface. Six nukes.”
“Reload all tubes and missiles, and recharge the plasma torpedoes.”
“Aye, sir,” Mister Randeen answered.
“Range to that battleship?” Nathan asked.
“Twelve thousand kilometers and closing,” Mister Navashee answered.
“Mister Riley, new jump. Put us ten kilometers from that battleship on a course to pass under her from a range no more than a kilometer distance.”
“Captain, we’re no match for that battleship,” Mister Randeen objected. “She’s at least five times our mass.”
“More like eight,” Mister Navashee corrected.
Nathan continued staring straight ahead at the main view screen as he spoke in cold, unwavering tones. “That battleship is killing millions of people with every shot it fires at my world, Mister Randeen, and I intend to stop it.”
* * *
“Ten seconds to jump,” Loki said.
Josh glanced down at his threat display. “Are they turning to attack that battleship?”
“Looks like it,” Loki responded. “Five seconds.”
“Are they nuts?”
“Three……two……one……jump.”
The jump flash washed over the Falcon. Both her crewmen were thrown forward against their shoulder restraints as the Falcon came out of her jump and slammed into the Earth’s atmosphere only a thousand meters above the surface.
“God! My shoulders are killing me!” Josh complained.
“Contacts! Close in! They’re firing!” Loki yelled.
“Where? Where?” Josh exclaimed glancing at his threat display and shifting his head from left to right as he looked out the canopy into the darkness.
“Snap roll! Dropping decoys!” Loki yelled. No sooner had the first words left his mouth than the Falcon began to roll rapidly to starboard. “Come out and break left! Now! Now! Now!” The Falcon stopped rolling, ending up on her left side and in a tight left turn. “No side thrust!” he warned, knowing that Josh would try to avoid the altitude loss in the turn by adding the translation thrusters on their left side. The Falcon dropped sideways toward the Earth rapidly. Loki looked out the canopy to his right as two Jung missiles streaked above them in opposite directions.
“Fuck! They’re everywhere!” Josh cried.
“Roll out and climb!” Loki ordered.
Josh rolled right, ending his turn, then pulled the Falcon’s nose up while increasing power to full.
“Jesus!” Loki moaned. “We’ve got eight missiles on our tail! And they’re closing fast!”
“I’m at full power!”
“They’re still closing, Josh! Seven seconds!”
“Jump us!”
“I can’t! The Aurora’s passing directly over us! We might slam into her!”
“Fuck this!” Josh exclaimed. “Drop more decoys!” He grabbed the throttle for the main space drive and pushed it all the way forward as he heard the sound of decoys being jettisoned from their tail. The Falcon leapt upward, accelerating at an incredible rate. Josh grimaced. The interceptor shook violently as she plowed through the rapidly thinning atmosphere in a vertical climb.
“Are you nuts?” Loki yelled over the comms from behind Josh.
Josh eased all his throttles back slowly as the Falcon neared the edge of space, pulling them all the way to zero thrust. He watched their airspeed rapidly decrease as they bled off energy while continuing to climb without power. “Where are those missiles now, huh?” he bragged.
“Nowhere near us; that’s for sure!” Loki exclaimed as his partner began to push the nose back over. “You could have torn us apart with that stunt. You know that, right?”
“It was either that or get blown apart by those missiles,” Josh argued.
“Crew Chief is going to go nuts when he sees that maneuver on the flight recorder.”
Josh pushed the nose into a shallow dive, picking up airspeed as they descended. “Not a scratch on us though. He’s got to like that.”
“Don’t jinx us,” Loki warned.
“I’m putting us onto a glide path for Jessica. Plot a jump to five hundred meters off the deck.”
“Are you sure that’s going to be enough?”
“We’re barely moving right now, Loki. Of course, the longer you take, the faster we’ll be going when we come out of the jump.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.”
“You’ve got to admit that was a pretty slick idea to climb away at full space power like that.”
“How did you know we weren’t going to break up from the stress?” Loki wondered, knowing that his friend had never been one to study the structural limitations of the ships he flew.
“I didn’t.” Josh giggled.
“Not funny.”
“I guess they finally figured out we were always jumping into the same area,” Josh added.
“Next time, can we jump in a little farther out?” He pressed the button to accept the jump plot. “Jumping in three……two……one……jump.”
The jump flash washed over them. A split second later, Josh pulled up on the Falcon’s nose and gradually added power, transitioning expertly to level flight only ten meters above the trees.
“What, no, ‘Jump complete’?” Josh wondered.
“It’s getting kind of redundant, don’t you think?” Loki scanned the surface for Jung troops. “Movement to port. Come left thirty.”
“I was wondering when you were going to figure that out,” Josh said as he started his turn. “Coming left.”
