by REM
When he had emptied his glass, Josh held up a hand and ordered another. The bartender slid it over. Josh took a sip and hung his head. The buzz was really starting to set in.
“Hey there!” said a voice from Josh’s right.
Josh turned to two men with buzz cuts, who were standing a couple feet from his side. Both looked to have had one too many drinks for the night, with their tilted postures and overly focused eyes. The one with a light mustache looked as if he had just smelled something horrible, or was irritated—it was hard for Josh to tell which.
“We heard about you,” said the guy with the smooth chin.
“You’re that new hotshot every one’s been talking about. The one who got his friends killed!” said the fellow with the mustache.
Both were eager to see how Josh would respond, but instead, he turned forward and took another small sip from his glass.
“Rude little cussard, ain’t he?” said the guy with the mustache.
“It’s this type of attitude that got his crewmates shot down… isn’t it!” The guy with the smooth chin batted at Josh’s glass and knocked most of the drink onto the counter.
Even then, Josh tried ignoring the two men. He glanced at the remaining alcohol in his glass and gulped it down while looking straight ahead.
“I’m talking to you, punk!” the guy with the smooth chin said. He shoved Josh off of his stool.
Josh stumbled to the side and hustled back up. “What’s your flippin’ problem!?” he shouted.
The guy with the smooth chin punched him in the face.
Josh jerked back with saliva flying from his mouth, then counter punched the guy in his lips. He was tackled immediately by the one with the mustache. They wrestled heatedly on the floor, until the guy managed to wrap up Josh’s arms when both had made it to their knees. Josh struggled to break loose, but the man’s clench was too tight. He watched defenselessly as the smooth-faced guy, who had been hovering around their grappling, cocked back an arm for a big shot.
When the fist flew, Josh braced for the blow by turning his head and shutting his eyes—but it never struck. He opened his eyes. Much to his surprise, Hoss was there. He had caught the guy’s punch and pushed him away. He then pried the other fellow’s arms from Josh. “That’s enough!” said Hoss. He extended a hand to help Josh up to his feet.
The tipsy troublemakers wanted nothing to do with the big man and walked away.
“Folks are upset about what happened in the Cosmolis. That incident sent a bad message to the Mercen. Creston is going to have to show them we’re still committed to maintaining neutrality in the region. It’s not the first time we’ve had to do this,” said Hoss. He paused. “I’m sorry about your friends. They were nice guys.” He then walked off.
Josh stood thinking. He caught eyes with the last of the spectating patrons before things in the bar went back to normal.
Depression was the only emotion that Josh could feel. He fixed his lips in such a way that his cheeks were sagging, then lowered his head and slogged back to his seat at the bar. “Another,” he said, moving his glass on the counter.
Later that evening, Josh lay on his bed reading a book when there was a knock at his door. “Come in,” he said.
It was Kyle. “Rolly wants to see you in his quarters,” he said. “I’ll take you there.”
Josh got up, slipped on some clothes, and followed Kyle out the door.
Upon arriving in front of Rolly’s office, Kyle said, “This is it,” then turned and left.
Josh knocked on the door.
“Enter,” said Rolly.
He walked in and strolled over to where Rolly was sitting at his desk.
“Have a seat,” said Rolly, motioning toward the chair directly across. Once Josh had done so, he spoke. “No one’s holding you responsible for the deaths of your friends. Everyone involved in the Cosmolis incident had a choice.” Rolly picked up his already lit cigar and tucked it into his mouth. “Your two-day flight ban wasn’t just punishment for poor decision-making; it was also to give you and Maya time to reflect.” He let out some smoke. “You will resume flying tomorrow. When you’re out there, try to forget about what happened and focus on all you’ve learned since then. It’s time to push forward, Josh.”
They looked at each other eye to eye before Josh nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“That’ll be all,” said Rolly.
Josh got up and went back to the unit to retire.
Chapter 5
The next morning, Josh was woken early by Nate. He hustled to get suited and make it down to the north flight deck, where the rest of the 3rd squadron was waiting. He, Nate, and Smokey were the last to arrive. Everyone else was standing in a spread line.
“Fall in,” said Ace.
Once in place, Josh peered to Maya standing at his left. It was the first time he had seen her in two days. Her face looked stern and her attention was focused straight ahead. There was a short lapse of time before Officer Rolly appeared, flanked by two others.
“Good morning, everyone. As most of you already know, these gentlemen at my sides are reserve pilots Lauler and Henry. They will be joining today since you all will be entering the Cosmolis at some point.” He glanced to both and said, “Fall in.” Each did as told. “As usual, Ace will be in charge. Get to your ships.”
Josh turned toward his, but continued peeking over at Maya in hopes that she would make eye contact. She never did.
Moments later, the 3rd squadron blasted off from the north flight deck.
“All right, we’ll be splitting up for practice. Josh, Lauler, Henry, and Smokey, with me. The rest with Nate,” Ace transmitted.
Both groups broke formation. Josh’s group flew south.
“Smokey, will you be participating today?” asked Ace.
Josh heard a grumble over the transmission, and then what he knew to be a seed shell being spat.
“Okay, so we’re going to be running a four-man round robin; everyone will face off at least once. We’ll start with Josh and Lauler, Henry and me. Switch to safe mode—let’s get to it.”
Josh and Lauler faded off from the five-man formation and remained parallel. “Your break,” said Josh on their one on one channel.
“Roger,” Lauler replied. He waited a few seconds. “Break!”
Josh broke left and Lauler right. Both had the same idea and tried corkscrewing back around for a shot. Each fired with minimal space between the two ships, then cut past each other at close range.
Damn, that was close! thought Josh.
Both hooked for a second crossfire—light beams flashed out from their strikers, but neither could connect.
Swoosh! They shot by each other again in close proximity. This time, Lauler curved wide and Josh swung around in pursuit.
“You’ve got balls, kid, I’ll give you that,” said Lauler. The thrusters on his ship brightened into high speed.
Josh pressed his throttle and zoomed after him, smirking cockily for the first time since his friends’ demise, and said, “You don’t know the half.”
Lauler dove at a weak slant while accelerating even more.
But Josh twirled once and stayed hot on his tail, keeping his primary focus on the targeting screen. The control stick wobbled in his hand. Then, when it looked as if he might have a good shot, Josh fired. Soot! Soot! The targeting circle skipped right upon doing so.
Josh thought for certain he’d missed, but then heard, “Son of a gun!” over the transmission and saw the shot had registered. He smiled widely.
“Over already?” Smokey transmitted, popping in on the channel, and laughing heartily. “Young buck, you are something else. Don’t be ashamed now, Lauler; he did it to Hoss too,” said Smokey, chuckling some more.
And here I was thinking I might be rusty, thought Josh. So much for the layoff. He waited around, idled, until Ace had scored a win. It was then Josh versus Henry and Lauler against Ace.
“Don’t you underestimate him now, Henry. He done already ta
ken down Hoss and Lauler,” transmitted Smokey.
“That’s very good, kid,” said Henry. “Come on and show this old dog some new tricks.”
“Order of new tricks, coming right up,” said Josh merrily. And I know just the one, he thought.
“How do you want to do this?” asked Henry.
“I’ll give you a quarter mile at my rear,” Josh responded.
Henry barely managed to suppress a laugh. “Too easy, kid. I don’t want to win that way.”
Josh smiled, lighting up his thrusters and blazing ahead. “You won’t. Smokey, call it.”
“What a joke,” said Henry.
Right when Josh had made it a quarter mile: “Fights up!” Smokey shouted.
Henry tore off on the chase. “You’re a fool for this one, kid,” he said, zooming in at Josh’s rear.
Am I? thought Josh, slamming the throttle and thrusting his stick right, and into an ultra-sharp curve. Then he yanked the controller the opposite direction, making another unsound cut, and another, slicing through space in all kinds of directions.
Henry tried keeping up, but was having a hard time dealing with all the sudden shifts. He’d never seen anything like it. Josh could tell, and accelerated into a wild curl, which forced his way to Henry’s rear.
“Holy…” uttered Henry over the transmission before sending his striker into a desperate wind.
Josh winded right after him, and when the shot was clear, he fired. A light went off in Henry’s cockpit, signaling he’d been hit on his right wing.
“What the fuck was that?” Henry exclaimed. “That was insane!”
“Woo-hoo!” Josh transmitted.
Smokey chuckled. “Kid’s a natural.”
“I’m a believer,” said Henry. He and Josh looped in Smokey’s direction. It wasn’t long before Ace and Lauler joined them.
“This kid is something else,” transmitted Henry to the entire group.
“He ain’t lying,” said Lauler.
Ace smirked. “All right, Josh, it’s you and me,” he said.
Josh pulled his lips into a similar grin and felt a rush of excitement. If only Shawn and Stewart were here to hear about this. He had always loved proving to them how good he was. I can’t believe they’re gone… A sudden sadness came over him, deep and gut-wrenching. The mind-storm that had seemingly washed away came crashing back to reality.
“Ready?” said Ace.
Josh shook his neck as if shaking off a chill. It took him a moment, but he answered, “Yeah… yeah, I’m ready.”
Ace rotated his striker and flew away. Josh fired up his thrusters and soared over to Ace’s side. Henry and Lauler had set off in another direction, but circled back to where Smokey was idled.
“I’ve got to see this,” said Henry.
Lauler was nodding. “Absolutely.”
“Five-second break?” transmitted Ace, with Josh still parallel.
“Aye,” Josh responded.
“Call it, Smokey,” said Ace.
“Ready… set… break!” said Smokey. He waited five seconds after Josh had split left and Ace had broken right, and then said, “Fight’s up!”
Both strikers curled into a head-on. Instead of flying straight, Ace swerved in at different angles to try and gain the advantage.
Josh saw what he was doing and started shaking it up too. Each fired as they neared but were unable to get off second shots before swooshing into a fierce tangle of twists and turns.
Damn, he’s good! thought Josh, trying hard to maintain a grip on their circling and weaving. His mind drifted for a split second to a vision of Stewart’s ship blowing up right in front of his eyes. The maneuvering then felt suddenly unstable and it was difficult for Josh to keep from getting dizzy. Stay on him! Stay on him!
Ace shot out first from their virtual knot with Josh sharp on his heels. The squad leader punched the throttle into a stiff 180, then a figure eight, but Josh stuck tight, never missing a beat.
Definitely a natural, thought Ace. But that makes two of us. He bent left at a higher speed than most flight instructors would recommend and then climbed into a gyrating spiral with Josh chasing. When Ace figured it was least expected, he yanked his striker into a tight loop and buckled into position at Josh’s blind side.
Oh damn, thought Josh—making a swift break in the opposite direction.
Ace was right on his tail. “There’s no getting away from me, Josh,” he transmitted.
Eh, we’ll see about that, thought Josh, swinging his striker into a sharp curve and twirling out of it. He snaked his ship from left to right to avoid getting target locked, but Ace was relentless on the hunt. Glued. Let’s see if I can get him how I got Henry.
Josh felt fright seeping into his skin, though he wasn’t truly scared. It was the same feeling he’d had when thinking he’d lose Maya in the Cosmolis after seeing his other friends get taken out. He shivered a bit, but still shoved his stick to the side and raced his striker into an acute turn, followed by jerking it in the opposite direction and making another abrupt shift—then another, and another, piercing through space every which way, until at last jockeying his craft to Ace’s rear.
Like Henry before him, Ace had never seen anything like it. “Excellent,” he uttered, but only to himself. He found it hard to believe Josh could maintain control of his ship through all of the sudden cuts.
Ace punched the throttle and maneuvered evasively with Josh buzzing on his heels.
It’s going to happen. I’m going to get him, thought Josh, fidgeting with his controller and edging toward a clean shot, but something still felt off. There was a loathsome aura at being back in his ship; the dreaded feeling of what had taken place in the Cosmolis two days prior.
Ace inverted his striker and dove into an unexpected curl. Josh snapped from his daze and plunged after him, but Ace looped up and around until coming back down with Josh in his sights. He fired. Josh saw the flare from Ace’s ship, then the flashing lights in his cockpit, signaling he’d been struck.
Damnit, thought Josh. I shouldn’t have fallen for that. I’m better than this—better than him!
“Okay, that’s it for today,” Ace transmitted to the entire group. “You did good, rookie, but you still have some stuff to learn.”
Josh felt disgusted at knowing he could do better.
“That was amazing,” said Henry. “Great showing from both of you.”
“I agree,” said Lauler.
Smokey spit out some shells over the transmission and said, “That could have gone either way. Don’t let it get you down, young buck. Ace has a lot of experience; you’re just starting out.”
Josh shook his head in dissatisfaction. “Next time,” he transmitted.
Everyone huddled by Smokey and then set off to where Nate and the others were finishing up their duels. When all ten pilots were together, Ace transmitted, “We’ll be heading to the Cosmolis now to patrol the area. Things have been extremely testy over there the last few days, so be on high alert and ready to fight if needed.” He put his ship in motion, hovered toward the east, and switched on his thrusters. “Fluid formation.”
The 3rd squadron and reserves drifted into position and blasted off for the Void Zone.
Once they neared the colorful aurora, Ace called for a V formation. Moments later the group flew into the Cosmolis. Josh felt a cold chill upon entering its mists. His heart skipped a beat at arriving to the spot of the fatal fight. He peered about the space where his friends had been blown to particles.
Maya felt a similar feeling wash over her.
Their squadron flew past Nomo and made a lap around the entire region. When cruising the last third of their route, Kyle was the first to spot something on radar. They had seen two slow-moving craft earlier that they’d disregarded, but the current objects were moving extremely fast.
“Shadow fighters, southeast,” Kyle transmitted.
Josh peered at his radar and saw there were four dots approaching, which after a few second
s blipped into eight. He felt a jolt of adrenaline surge through his chest and could only imagine how Maya must feel. “Here we go again,” he muttered to himself, waiting for Ace to make a call.
“They’re coming in hot,” said Hoss.
“Battle spread!” Ace ordered. Once all strikers were in formation, he said, “Idle out.” The pilots did as instructed.
I hate this procedure, thought Josh, not because it was a bad one, but because he didn’t like sitting still at such a tense moment.
“They’re almost at a hundred miles and not slowing down,” said Nate.
“If something does go down, stay by me, Maya and Josh; I’ll keep you safe,” said Kyle.
The remark brought a grin to Josh’s lips and brightened his spirits a smidge. This kid, he thought.
The Creston pilots waited anxiously.
“Enemies approaching, fifty miles,” said Reena.
“Get ready for a fight!” said Ace.
Shit, this is really going down, thought Josh, shifting in his seat, and steeling himself for battle. I hope that marked fighter’s with them! I’m going to get that piece of shit.
“This is it!” said Hoss, staring at his dash screen in anticipation of Ace’s call.
Josh watched the dots on his radar fly right up to the fifty-mile mark—then curl in the opposite direction.
A bead of sweat dropped from Maya’s head.
“Looks like they done wizened up,” said Smokey. The Mercen crafts were circling and flying routes near the fifty-mile mark without ever crossing it.
“Always did hate coming out here,” said Henry.
“Hold the line, and get comfortable,” Ace transmitted. “I got orders to send a firm message to Mercen. We’re going to be out here for some time.”
Ace wasn’t joking. The crew held their position for five hours, even after the shadow fighters had left around four. The 3rd squadron then made another lap of the entire Cosmolis before finally setting off for home.
