by REM
Shawn’s voice came through over the transmission. “I can’t get him off me! He’s trying to get a lock! I need help, I need help!”
There was a thunderous Boom!
Josh heard Maya gasp, and glanced over to where Shawn’s craft had exploded. He then heard Stewart say: “They took out Shawn! They got him!”
No… NO! Josh thought, curving his striker back toward the other ships. He watched as Stewart pulled off from the shadow fighter he had been following and went after the striped fighter.
“I’m going to kill him. I’m taking this piece of shit,” transmitted Stewart.
“Stewart, no! Let me engage the marked one,” said Josh. He slammed his throttle, but could already hear Stewart breaking down.
“He’s going to die. I swear, he’s going to die,” Stewart muttered over the transmission, his voice shaky.
Hell! thought Josh, seeing the fighter Stewart had pulled off of swerve down at Stewart’s rear. Thoot! Thoot! Josh fired two shots to force the Mercen craft from his crewmate’s tail. The fighter broke right into a dive. Josh dove after it.
“Maya! How are you doing!?” transmitted Josh.
“Leveled out and mixing it up,” she replied.
“You can beat him, Maya—stay focused,” he responded.
He then heard her utter, “They killed Shawn,” in the saddest of tones.
Josh curled his lips and sent his thrusters blazing in pursuit of the fighter he was shadowing. The Mercen craft shot up into a helical curve. Josh wooshed after him. This one’s pretty good, he thought, in all seriousness. He couldn’t help peeking over to where Stewart was tangling with the marked wing fighter. They were twisting and circling in all directions.
The shadow fighter Josh was behind made an acute right and dove at a steep decline. Instead of following it, Josh hooked back in the direction of where Stewart was fighting. Just as the ships came into view, he saw them flying at each other head on. Careful, Stew, careful! he thought.
Both craft fired. There was a series of mutual misses before, Boom! Stewart’s striker ignited into a ball of flames.
Josh’s eyes widened in horror. “Dear, God,” he muttered—feeling empty inside. He eyed his radar and saw the ship he’d broken off from looping back his way. But he still pressed the throttle and zipped off in the direction of the marked fighter.
“Josh! Stewart’s downed, there’s a fifth fighter on radar. We have to bug out!”
Her words were exactly what Josh didn’t want to hear. His gaze was locked on the marked fighter. Anger and sadness poured through his soul like a busted dam of emotions. He stayed his course.
“Josh, the fifth fighter’s almost here we’ve got get out of here. The two of us cannot take on four shadow fighters!” A moment later: “Josh, I’m in trouble!”
Josh slammed his control stick to the side and brought his striker into a spinning turn. He gave his thrusters everything they had and sped off in Maya’s direction. “Damnit!” he said, under his breath. I can’t lose Maya too! he thought. “I see you, Maya. I’m on my way!”
Maya was weaving from side to side, trying to shake the dark craft. She panted over the transmission. “They’re too hard to see when behind. I keep losing him,” she said.
“I know. I’m almost there. Hang on.” Josh peeped at his radar and the two fighters racing after him. He saw they were far enough that he could stay on his current course. His attention shot back toward Maya’s fighting. “He’s going to fire on you, Maya—break left!”
Just as he had finished speaking, two shots flashed out from the Mercen’s laser cannons. Maya rolled left and narrowly evaded the beams.
“On my call, cut west and head for the Rampage. Get ready!” said Josh. He flew at the shadow fighter tailing Maya from a rear angle and fired. “Now!” The first rays blazed past the enemy fighter, but the second wave broke against its shield. The Mercen craft shifted direly off Maya’s trail to avoid any subsequent shots.
Josh cut hard left and zoomed off on the same course as Maya. “I’m right behind you,” he transmitted. Give your thrusters all they’ve got,” he said, pushing his throttle to the maximum too.
“They’re still coming!” said Maya.
“They’re not gaining on us. Just keep going.”
“You know we can fry our engines by maintaining full throttle for too long, right?”
“What choice do we have, Maya?”
Each kept their eyes fixed on their radar and the relentless dots chasing them. It was clear the Mercens were hardly satisfied with their victory, and wanted total kills.
They remained at top speed for more than five minutes until finally, the Mercen shadow fighters broke off from the pursuit.
Chapter 4
Josh and Maya had called in the Cosmolis incident prior to arriving at the M.N. Rampage. When they landed on the north flight deck and stepped down from their ships, Officer Rolly was already waiting for them—and he looked anything but happy.
“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do!” said Rolly. “What the hell were you doing out in the Cosmolis?” He gave Josh a grilling stare, then Maya, who had a tear running slowly down her cheek.
Both recruits hesitated to respond.
Josh peered at the floor before returning his eyes to Rolly. “It was my fault, sir,” he said somberly. “I pushed everyone into going—it was my idea.”
Rolly eyeballed Josh in disgust. “You just lost two lives and two high-priced ships. How do you feel about that, huh? I’ve heard about you. The wildcard, right!? Did no one inform you you’re not to fly in that region in groups of less than five, preferably ten? Huh? Even then you shouldn’t be traveling there unless on patrol. Did Nate and the others not advise you of this?”
Josh was stunned. He glanced at Maya’s sad face and said, “I was informed, sir. I thought we would be okay as four.”
“You thought? I’d say you did a poor job of that if you were willing to risk the lives of your crewmates in a dangerous region, one you knew little about.”
Josh was speechless.
Rolly’s stare shifted to Maya. “And you… you had a choice not to go, but went along with this foolery.”
“I’m so sorry, sir,” Maya replied. She hung her head. “I was only being loyal to my friends.”
Rolly gave another grilling look. “Out here, your loyalty belongs to the whole of Creston and the M.N. Rampage first! You knew it was a bad call, didn’t you?”
Maya nodded.
“Commander Clint and I know your father, and neither of us think he’d be pleased to hear about this!”
Out the corner of his eye, Josh thought Maya to look completely broken. Her lips were sunk and she seemed drained in a way that made it appear she had gone days without sleep.
But Rolly wasn’t finished. “Speaking of which,” he said, “Commander Clint has ordered to see you both for questioning—and it will go on record in front of a panel of officers. Follow me!”
Officer Rolly turned and led the way across the north flight deck, and then up to a small chamber where the debriefing took place.
Josh and Maya were sat in the center of the room and interrogated by the committee for well over an hour—before Commander Clint berated them some more. The commander finished by saying, “Get these poor excuses for Creston pilots out of my sight! I want them discharged and thrown in jail!”
A guard escorted the two recruits out into the hall and had them sit on a bench while the senior officials deliberated their case. Maya began crying right away. Josh tried placing a hand on her shoulder, but she batted it away.
The guard watching them frowned at Josh, then said, “Get up! Go sit over there!” He pointed to a chair at the end of the hall.
Josh stood sulking and slogged over to it. I really blew it this time, he thought.
A chunk of time went by before Josh heard a door open and close in the room he was sitting near. He then heard Commander Clint slam down his and Maya’s files onto a desk and say: �
�If it wasn’t for the favor I owe her father, she’d be history… History!” Josh couldn’t see it, but Officer Rolly was nodding. “And an Admiral’s Mark on that other pilot’s file… I can’t believe that one,” said Clint.
An Admiral’s Mark? What the hell is that? thought Josh.
“I’m just as astonished, sir,” Rolly replied.
There was silence in the room.
“Have them brought back in,” said Commander Clint. “If they so much as step out of line, even in the slightest, nothing will save them. You have my word on that!”
When the hearing ended, Josh and Maya were escorted to the third unit. The result of their actions was a two-day flight ban. The panel passed off the ruling as an act of leniency based solely on the fact that Josh and Maya were so new.
Everyone from the 3rd squadron was waiting for them in the front lounge as they walked through the door.
Maya still had traces of tears on her face. Reena rushed over to give her a hug. Instead of stopping, Maya strode straight to her room with Reena’s arms wrapped around her in support.
All eyes were on Josh. Even Smokey had switched off the TV for once and turned in his direction.
“Why were you in the Cosmolis?” Kyle was the first to ask.
“We went to explore Nomo,” Josh replied.
Nate shook his head. “We warned you multiple times not to travel in that region. Why in the world would you still go?”
Josh glanced down for a moment, shaking his head. “It was my fault. It was a dumb idea,” he said.
“Good job getting your friends killed, jerkoff!” said Hoss.
Ace extended a calming hand to the big man.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Josh, still giving his head a slight shake.
“I think you owe the unit some answers. They were our crewmates too,” said Ace.
“How many shadow fighters were there?” asked Kyle.
“Four,” Josh answered, “with a fifth adding late. We tried idling out, but the Mercens broke fifty miles and rushed us.”
“They out fought you straight up?” Ace asked.
“I took down one,” replied Josh. “Maya held her own, but there was a marked fighter there.” He looked at Nate. “The same red striper from yesterday. I tried getting to him after Shawn went down, but Stewart was livid and wouldn’t disengage. I had to pick up the fighter he pulled off of.”
Smokey shook his head from where he was sitting on the couch. “They didn’t stand a chance going up against a marked wing,” the old pilot said. “It’s hard enough facing a regular fighter your first time out; the dark craft and their quick cuts can be real tricky for a newbie.”
“Hope you’re proud of all that hotshot shit now!” said Hoss.
Josh felt anger swelling in his chest upon catching a glimpse of Hoss, who was basically scowling at him. “Like I said, I don’t want to talk about it,” said Josh. He turned and walked straight toward the hall leading to his room. Once in his quarters he closed the door.
The following morning, Officer Rolly entered the third unit quietly and made his way into Josh’s room. “Wake up!” he said, in a low tone.
Josh woke groggily, and was a bit startled at seeing Rolly in his quarters. He hadn’t slept well and had been having nightmares of fighting in the Cosmolis all through the night.
“Get dressed. You’re coming with me. You’ve got three minutes to be out the front door,” said Rolly. He marched out of the room.
Josh hustled to his feet and hurried to get dressed. When finished, he walked out to the front lounge, but didn’t see Rolly anywhere. The lights were off and the room was dark. Then he noticed the door was cracked, and he walked out of the unit. Rolly was waiting for him in the hall.
“Let’s go,” said Rolly, leading the way down the long corridor. They traveled down a few more, then up a floor before stopping at a small room. Rolly knocked on the door. A few seconds later a heavyset man with a trimmed beard opened it. “This is him,” said Rolly. He then turned and left.
Josh made eye contact with the man, who was dressed in a dirty uniform.
“So you’re the new tough guy, uh?” the guy asked. He reached over and handed Josh a mop. “Try swinging this around.”
Josh was confused and tilted his head.
“You’ve been assigned to janitorial duty. I’m Kirk, and you’ll be doing what I say for today. Is that clear?”
Josh was about to shake his head in disbelief, but caught himself and nodded instead. Great, he thought, knowing the day was probably going to be hell. Where’s Maya? “Will there be anyone else from the 3rd squadron working with me?” he asked.
“Nope, just you,” Kirk replied. “Let’s get to it.”
A couple of hours passed. Josh was mopping on a long, windowed hallway when he stopped to look out at his squadron blasting off from the north flight deck. There were only six strikers, which let him know Maya was most likely still on the Rampage.
His mood was already down, but he felt even gloomier at seeing his team fly out. He wanted to be with them, not stuck doing janitorial work and replaying his friends’ deaths over and over in his head.
Eight long hours went by before Kirk told Josh he was done for the day and ordered him to the simulations room at Rolly’s request.
When Josh arrived at the sim room, he was asked to sit in on a lecture about battle tactics, which was followed by another short discourse on the current state of Creston-Mercen relations. After that he sat at a machine and began doing flight simulations.
He completed one, and then a second, but on the third Josh intentionally crashed his ship into a virtual asteroid and smacked the controller. He tightened his lips. “I’m going to get that son of a bitch. If I ever see that marked winged again…” he said, balling his fist.
When he had completed all of the required sims, Josh returned to the third unit. It was already late evening by then.
When he stepped into the lounge, Ace and Hoss looked up from their foosball and gave Josh a cold stare before getting back to their game. Nate and Reena packed up their stuff from the main table and carried them down the hall to Nate’s room. Kyle was nowhere in sight.
Figures, thought Josh, seeing clear and well the others were unsatisfied with him at the moment. He saw Smokey sitting on the couch in front of the T.V. as always, and headed for the hall leading to his room.
“Hold up there a sec, young buck,” said Smokey, just after Josh had passed.
Josh twisted toward the old pilot, who was now patting at the seat cushion.
“Come sit for a second,” said Smokey.
Josh sat down on the couch.
Smokey grabbed a handful of seeds and shoved them into his mouth, then moved them all to one cheek. He lowered his head and stared at Josh in a way that had the young recruit once again questioning the older man’s sanity. A good few seconds passed before Smokey said, “Don’t let it get you down, son.” He did so in a voice low enough that Ace and Hoss couldn’t hear over the noise from the television and the light music playing over by the foosball table. “You’re not the first to make a mistake like this. We all know the last thing you wanted was to get your friends killed. You’re just overconfident and inexperienced right now. You got to stop doing wild things, son.”
Josh nodded solemnly. He was grateful for the encouragement and stung by the bluntness.
“Your crewmates are a little frosty right now, but they’ll get over it,” said Smokey. “I told them, and I’ll tell you: you’re a natural, son. You’ve shown some of the best raw talent I’ve seen from rookie in years—right up there with Kyle and Ace. You just have to learn to fly smart, make good decisions out there.”
Josh nodded again. “Thank you,” he said.
Smokey spit out some shells and turned toward the monitor to continue watching his show.
Josh got up slowly from the couch. He walked to his room and stopped in front of it to peer at Maya’s closed door. After pondering for a sec
, he strode over and knocked softly. There was no answer. He knocked again. “Maya,” he said. “Maya.” But still no answer. He tried twisting the knob, but it was locked. She’s in there, he thought. Probably doesn’t want to talk to me, just like the rest. A deep sadness poured through Josh, and he felt as if invisible weights had been placed onto his shoulders. He lowered his head and went to his room.
The next day was the same. Officer Rolly woke Josh and had him meet Kirk at the same small room as yesterday. There, he mopped, swept, and cleaned around the ship for another eight long hours, only stopping for two short food breaks. After that, it was off to the simulation room.
This time, instead of going back to the unit when done, Rolly was waiting out front and led Josh to the gymnasium for a workout. No one else from the 3rd squadron was present for the session. Once that was over, Josh was finally permitted to return to the unit.
The lounge was empty when he walked in, so he made his way straight to his room, but stopped again upon seeing Maya’s door closed. Josh moved to it and knocked. Just as last night, there was no answer. “Maya,” he said, checking the knob to see if it was locked. It was. “Maya, are you in there?” He waited a few more seconds, but there was no response.
Josh went into his room and took a shower. But rather than retire for the night, he started getting dressed afterward. Once fully clothed he left the unit and headed for a bar one floor up.
He walked into what he considered to be an average-sized crowd and made his way straight to the main counter. Josh peered over a huge chalkboard with names of drinks he’d never heard of and then ordered a galaxy one, which was some type of hard liquor.
The bartender pushed over a triple shot glass. “J-67793,” Josh uttered. He’d learned earlier all crew members received credit codes to access their pay. Kirk had taken him down to the currency room earlier to get his. He also explained how to exchange Creston money into any of the popular currencies in the Void zone.
Josh drank leisurely, thinking about the past few days. The fight in the Cosmolis was still haunting him, though not as much as the day before. He couldn’t believe his friends were truly gone, just like that. How ironic, he thought, tuning in to Creston blues playing at the bar, which only added to his sorrows.
