"That does it!" growled Jack. Maria grabbed him with both hands but could not maintain her grip on his arm. He pulled loose with little effort and strode over to the defiant Saurian, snarling like an angry wolf... "Listen, you sour, shriveled, little prick! I don't know who you think you are, but we don't take this kind of shit from anyone!" Jack punctuated his point by prodding Tee's chest with his index finger. "You make nice, or I'm gonna' tear off your putrid little head and use it for a bowling ball! Got it?" The Saurians eyes were wide with surprise. "And one more crack about my friend here..." Jack gestured to Fritz, who was barring Tee's retreat, "and I'll feed you to him... understand?" Fritz, watching through sparkling brown eyes, took his cue well. He pinned his ears back and displayed his teeth, adding a little guttural rumble.
Saurians were sarcastic and cocky by nature, which could prove to be unwise in some situations, but they could never be accused of being blatantly stupid. Between this large human, a race he knew to be extremely dangerous, and his subhuman but obviously intelligent companion, Tee suddenly realized it would have been much wiser to hold his tongue. He had no idea what bowling was, but he was sure he wouldn't like it... especially since it entailed the removal of his head. Not wishing to be eaten or torn asunder, his demeanor quickly softened, "I beg your forgiveness, Commander, you are, of course, right. My attitude has been inexcusable, please accept my apology... to all of you."
Jack nodded and motioned to Fritz, who strolled to his side, past Tee. The Saurian turned and hurried out which exaggerated his curious little waddle. No sooner had he cleared the doorway, than the pilots broke into laughter.
"Think he bought it?" said Jack, with a broad grin.
"Hook, line and sinker!" chuckled Brian.
“You are evil," commented Paul.
"Bloody horrible little bastard deserved it," said Derrik with an offhand wave.
"Well, he's not dumber than dirt," commented Jack, "but he's close."
CHAPTER TEN
PRINCESS HEDONIST: LANTERRA SYSTEM
In an effort to kill time, Jack and Brian started a game of catch, with something resembling an orange from the dinner table. Catch quickly turned into Monkey In The Middle, as Fritz raced back and forth, trying to intercept the flying fruit. That game suddenly turned into Chase, when Fritz succeeded in a spectacular grab and ran away. All play ended abruptly though, when he ate the ball before he could be caught by his pursuers. Paul looked at his watch, "It's late enough. Let's go."
There were still some lights on in the control tower, but the flight deck was void of its earlier traffic. Feeling a bit like adolescents sneaking into a movie theater, they hustled silently past the tower and the darkened bays, making their way to number eleven. Leaving the overhead lights off, Pappy slid into the seat behind the console. "Looks a bit different than the shuttle's control board, but not much. Who's first?"
"You gonna' be able to run it Ok?" asked Jack.
"Sure, no problem, Brian and Mike can help out." They nodded in unison. Pappy powered up the unit, the monitors came on and the board lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Ok, guess I'll go first." Jack strolled over to the sim unit as the canopy opened with the whine of hydraulic motors. He climbed into the cockpit, lowered the canopy and slipped on the communications headset. The others crowded around the monitors to watch Jack's progress. As Jack talked with Pappy over the comm system, they figured out the simulator and its various functions and abilities. It allowed the pilot to fly any one of four specific fighters, each with different characteristics and armament configurations. Jack relied on his eye for lines and chose a ship called a Vulcan.
"Looks like a good choice, Jack, according to the stats, she carries two Laser Pulse Cannons, two Mercury Gatling Guns and a nice array of missiles. Let's see if we can give you something to shoot at." Pappy fed the mission guidelines into the program, explained the mission to Jack and pushed execute.
Sitting in the cockpit of his Vulcan, Jack suddenly found himself awaiting countdown in a launch tube the scenes projected in three dimension on the inside of the train-sim's canopy. He was amazed with the incredible realism of the projections. With the touch of a button, he called up his weapons stores and defense status screens. The defense screen showed the condition of the regenerative power shields, as well as the physical armor of the ship.
"Launch!" The launch tube slid past in a blur, disappearing in the blink of an eye and Jack found himself in the darkness of deep space. A glance over his shoulder and he could see the gargantuan warship he had emerged from. Musical beeping from the targeting computer called his attention to the radar screen. Two red blips were inbound at rapid speed.
Acknowledging the alarm on the threat console, the navigation screen winked out and a line diagram of the target winked on to replace it. One of the blips blinked to inform which target it was identifying. Other targets could be identified by simply touching the threat or targeting keypad. A steady white dot on the radar showed the location of Jack's mother ship. The incoming bandits were medium fighters, fast and heavily armed, their intention; destroy the mother ship. "Two bandits, Vulcan One..." said Pappy, acting as flight control.
"Roger, flight control. I'm on 'em." Jack decided he needed to divide and conquer. The bandits were on a wide arc to approach and attack the mother ship from the rear, "Hmmm, end run, eh? Well, we'll have none of that..." He kicked the nose over and headed straight for the bogies, slamming the throttle handle forward. He thumbed off the safety on the Laser Cannons, they had a longer range.
The fighters came into range and Jack squeezed the trigger. The high-pitched pulse matched the streaks of red racing away from his wings, the sight was mesmerizing. He watched the flashes on their shields and saw the targeting computer register the effect. When the red flashes passed by his own cockpit canopy, Jack stopped being mesmerized and rolled the flight-stick. The Vulcan rolled and he passed the bandits canopy to canopy.
"Shoot them down, Steele, don't ram them!"
"Shut up control, I'm busy!" Successful in getting the bandits to split, Jack cut his power and swung the ship around. Slamming the throttle forward, he squeezed the boost button on the throttle handle, it had the same effect as an afterburner, sending the Vulcan screaming through the simulated void, quickly closing the gap on the second bandit. The first had peeled off out of sight and for now, out of mind. Jack flipped off the safety for the Gatling Guns as he followed the enemy fighter, heading straight for the mother ship. He had to protect it at all costs... in real life it, would be his ticket home. In range now, he could fire but he wanted maximum impact, so he waited... it seemed an eternity.
The bandit opened fire on the mother ship and Jack could wait no longer. He squeezed the trigger. The high pitched pulse of the Vulcan's Laser Cannons, accompanied by the rapid thumping of the Gatling Guns, vibrated through the cockpit. The bandit ship shuddered and bucked as it's defense screens flared red, quickly disappearing. It began to trail pieces of debris as it's armor plating gave way. Jack realized he had depleted the energy banks for the Vulcan's guns, only after they stopped firing. "Damn!" He chose a missile from stores, not wanting to wait for the weapons generator to restore power to the guns. The bandit boosted away, trailing fuel and oxygen vapor, trying to effect an escape. Powering on only one engine, it had no hope of eluding Jack's Vulcan.
Jack was concentrating so hard, he didn't hear Pappy shouting on the comm about the other Bandit on his tail. The threat light winked on and the lock alarm whistled loudly in the cockpit. Jack could see the missile on his radar scope, closing in. Reflexing, he thumbed the boost and headed for the wounded bandit. Laser fire flashed past his wingtips, Jack held his breath, passing the damaged bandit by only a few yards. He cut his engines completely off and flung the stick to the side. Th
e Vulcan spun flatly around, and Jack saw the bandit disappear in a stunning, yellow flash. "YES!" He exclaimed, slapping his knee. Jack had passed the bandit so closely that when he cut the Vulcan's engines off, the missile acquired the other craft as its target. "Ok," he said, taking a deep breath, "one down, one to go..." He suddenly realized he was sweating and wiped his forehead.
Carried by its momentum, the Vulcan drifted backwards, facing the approaching enemy fighter. Bursting through the cloud of debris like an angry hornet, the bandit savagely attacked Jack's ship, head on. Laser fire, shot past the Vulcan's wings and splashed against its defense shields. Jack calmly thumbed the firing button and released the missile he had readied, without locking it on. Experiencing a substantial decrease in shield protection, Jack decided a hasty exit was more than just a good idea. Simultaneously pulling the flight stick back and slamming the throttle wide open with the boost button depressed the Vulcan vaulted out of the line of fire. He could feel the vibration of the hits against the remaining forward shields which collapsed, leaving the Vulcan's plating exposed.
The bandit never moved to avoid the oncoming missile, he simply never saw it coming and collided with it head on. The detonation took his shields down and spun his ship off course, eliminating his chance for pursuit.
Steele couldn't see the connection between missile and target but saw the detonation flare out the side of his cockpit canopy. He called up another missile from the stores list and rolled the Vulcan to come around. He could see the bandit's profile off to the right and the targeting screen showed a target void of forward shields. He squeezed the boost button and closed in, firing the long-range Laser Cannons. The bandit ship shuddered as the fire from the Vulcan hammered at its exposed plating.
Jack opted for a missile lock but the bandit boosted away just as the targeting computer closed in. For the next two minutes, the two craft spun and rolled in crazy circles, firing and dodging. Jack's shielding had regenerated quickly, the bandit's had not. Obviously some of Jack's shots pierced through the exposed plating and damaged the shield generators. He again switched the Vulcan to full guns, hoping to bring down the bandit's stern shields, since that's all that he could get a good shot at. Since the shield generators were not at full efficiency, this proved easier than he'd expected. The Vulcan's Laser Cannons and Gatling Guns hammered the stern shields into non-existence before the bandit could evade. With all shields down, the bandit made a drastic attempt to run, a fatal error.
Jack's targeting computer finally gave him the lock he was looking for. The missile, released from the Vulcan's wing mount, pursued its target with unerring diligence. The remaining bandit disappeared in a hot yellow flash, chunks and pieces flung out in all directions. A chorus of hoots and hollers filled the earphone of his comm unit.
Jack Steele inhaled deeply, then followed commands from simulated flight control and landed back on the mother ship. As the cockpit canopy opened, he was greeted by the real world, the swirl of air entering the cockpit made him shudder with chill.
"Man, that was intense!" he stood on the seat in the cockpit and ran a hand through his hair, "it was so real!"
"Not bad," said Pappy, "not bad at all..."
"Whaddya' mean, not bad?!" Jack countered, as he climbed down out of the cockpit, "that was awesome!"
"Well, I meant, for your first combat flight, you did pretty good... you smoked two without getting yourself in any real trouble and..."
Jumping to the ground from the last wrung on the boarding ladder, his ego bruised, Steele queried sharply, "So you think you could do better?" He knew it was a stupid question the moment he asked it.
"Sure," said Pappy "and so could you. With a little practice. You have great natural dog fighting instincts. A little work and you could be really exceptional." Jack raised one eyebrow.
"This is Lieutenant Commander Paul Smiley," said Mike, jumping in with a grin, slinging one arm over his flight leader's shoulder. "One of the Navy's finest Hornet pilots... a Top Gun graduate! He was even offered an instructor's position."
Somehow Jack's ego felt less abused, knowing Paul was just being objective, not critical, then a sudden idea hit him, "Say, if you've got the ability to train... why not train us?!"
"Sure!" exclaimed Brian, "that would be a great idea!"
"Let's face it," said Jack, "this shuttle thing is ok for now, but I don't want to do it indefinitely... it's boring..."
"Besides," said Brian, "this would be a blast!"
"I for one, would like to see some of the famous Top Gun tactics," said Derrik. "See how they compare to what I learned in the RAF... it could prove to be rather interesting."
Paul suddenly realized everyone was looking at him, waiting for an answer... excited, smiling faces. It was a bunch of grown adults caught up with a new toy. Irresistible. He shrugged, "Oh, what the hell, sure, why not? It'll give us something interesting to do."
"Great!" said Jack, "when do we start?"
Paul shrugged, "Now’s a good a time as any. I need everybody to fly at least one mission so I can tell where we're at, ability-wise..." He walked back over to the console and sat down, "So... who's next?"
Taking turns, the pilots flew the simulator into the wee hours of the morning. Paul Smiley found himself surprised time after time at the resourcefulness and tenacity of these untrained pilots in combat. He decided there was a good deal of raw talent present, and the possibility of creating a well trained combat squadron was not as far-fetched as he had first anticipated.
Rubbing his eyes, Paul rose from his chair behind the console, "Let's call it a night y'all, I'm pooped."
Jack looked at his watch, "Shit, it is late, isn't it? Ok, let's pack it in, kids." The others rose from their various positions of rest, yawning and stretching, as Maria climbed down out of the simulator cockpit. Halfway down the ladder, Jack hefted Maria by the waist and set her gently on the flight deck. "Nice flight," he said quietly.
Maria flew harder than she had ever flown in her life. She was tense and exhausted, definitely in no mood for Steele's strange brand of humor. "Look..." she said pointing her finger in Jack's face. But she had known him long enough to know when he was ribbing her, he'd get that mischievous look in his eyes... and it wasn't there now. "You're serious aren't you?"
Jack nodded loosely, "Yeah, you did good." He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze.
"No kidding?"
"No kidding..." he repeated as they walked. "Scout's honor." He held up his hand in a Boy Scout salute.
She smiled weakly, "Liar, you were never a Boy Scout..."
How does everybody know that he wondered, smiling back. "That's beside the point."
Late the next morning, six tired, yawning pilots, wandered into the shuttle simulator bay in silence. They made themselves comfortable and waited for Tee. The Saurian flight instructor never came, he had abandoned his students. Mike rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and spoke through a yawn, "Good goin', Jack, you probably scared him so bad yesterday, he had a coronary after he left."
Jack smiled mischievously, "Yeah, at this very moment, his body lies face up next to the toilet in his room, blue in the face, his tongue all swollen and purple, hanging out the side of his mouth... and his eyes so bug-eyed they look like two bloodshot golf balls stuck to his face."
Maria made a face of extreme distaste, "Euuchhh, that’s disgusting!"
"Thank you," said Jack, pleased with his description.
"Actually," mused Derrik, "it would be a bit of an improvement on that little troll."
"You men are sick, sick and cruel."
"Lighten up Arroyo..." said Jack.
"Sure," interrupted Paul in a slow southern drawl, "we're just funnin'."
"I thi
nk we ought to go eat," said Mike, changing the subject.
"You would," said Maria.
"Well, I think we should go back to bed," yawned Brian.
Jack nodded as he eyed Maria, "that gets my vote." Maria caught the intent of his gaze and turned away to hide her blush. She had to bite her tongue to keep from smiling.
Paul rose from where he had been sitting on the floor and stretched his arms above his head, "Well, y'all can do whatcha' like, but I'm goin' to go eat, then I'm goin’ to back to bed." The group voted unanimously for that idea and headed for the Ecosphere Lounge.
“Mmm, waffles...” smiled Jack, thinking ahead.
“A nice four-egg omelet and some crispy bacon... oooh and pancakes or some French toast, maybe some sausage, juice...”
Jack looked sideways at Mike as the group walked down the corridor, “Seriously? Holy crap, do you have a tapeworm or something...?”
Pappy just shook his head and smirked.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
PRINCESS HEDONIST: DEPARTING TRELUS 2, LAN SYSTEM
This was the first full day in about three weeks they'd given themselves off, and everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Jack laid on the blue-green grass of the Ecosphere meadow floor, the picnic lunch Maria had made was resting warmly in his stomach. The wine made his eyelids heavy and he let them close, feeling the artificial sun on his face. Relaxed and at ease, the weight of Maria's head on his chest was somehow reassuring.
A few yards away Mike and Brian played catch. Fritz ran back and forth between them trying to intercept the ball, creating an odd version of monkey in the middle and Paul and Derrik had wandered off after lunch to see if there were any fish to be had in the pond at the far end of the Ecosphere. Jack could feel Maria's even breathing and opened one eye to watch the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Closing his eye, he sighed quietly, drawing in the warm, sweet, air of the meadow and let his mind drift...
Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) Page 15
