by L. E. Thomas
Lowering his shoulder, Austin crashed into Jameson and took the man to the ground. The captain hurled Austin like a toy. He crashed into a wall. Rolling over on his back, Austin saw Jameson towering over him.
“Enough!” The captain fired once into the air, the laser bolt burning into the ceiling and sending sparks onto the floor. The fight behind him ceased, replaced by a stirring silence. Jameson held the pistol toward Austin, the muzzle shaking. “You’ve done it now.”
Austin stared into the gun’s barrel, fear creeping into his soul. Jameson’s bulging eyes blinked, his face twitching. His finger rested on the trigger.
“I should—I should …”
The pistol shook.
“Please,” Austin said, holding up his hand. Terror filled his mind. Was this man going to shoot? “Please don’t.”
Sorn took a step forward, his lip bleeding onto his chin. “Captain,” he said, his voice calm, “we were in the wrong, sir. We didn’t mean to do it.”
Jameson’s face launched into a violent spasm, and he placed his free hand on his forehead.
“Return to … your hangar,” he said through clenched teeth.
One of the Tizona Star Runners, a deep cut bleeding over his left eye, stepped forward. “But, sir, they—”
“Silence!” Jameson spun around, the pistol still in his hands. He squinted as if he was staring into bright sunlight. “All of you! Get out of here! Now!” He glared at Austin. “There’ll be another time.”
Sorn stepped over Austin and offered his hand. “Come on. Hurry.”
Austin nodded as Sorn pulled him to his feet. Glaring at the Tizona Star Runners, the Scorpions straightened their fatigues, leaving the bar covered in shattered glass and the splintered remains of barstools and tables.
“I need to know everything,” Wilkos said, offering a bag of ice to Austin.
The battered Scorpions filled the briefing room, nursing superficial wounds and bruises thanks to the scuffle with the other Star Runners. Bear wiped dried blood from his chin where his teeth had bit into his lip, courtesy of the uppercut from the Tizona CO.
“I’ve been sent an official complaint from Captain Sio Jameson about the behavior of my Star Runners tonight,” Wilkos said, crossing his arms over his chest. “It will take some time for this complaint to reach Command. So I want to know what happened in there, and I want to know now.”
Sorn raised his hand. “Permission to speak freely?”
“Granted.”
“That man’s a whack job.”
A weak chuckle spread through the Scorpions.
“Can it!” Wilkos barked and looked at Sorn. “This is a Captain you’re talking about, Sorn.”
“I know,” he said, pressing an ice bag to his lip, “but there’s something not right with the guy.”
“Explain.”
“He’s twitching like a druggie going through withdrawal for one.” He nodded toward Austin. “I thought he was going to fry Rock’s face off for a minute there, but he probably couldn’t have hit him at point blank range.”
Wilkos frowned. “What do you mean?”
Sorn made a gun with his finger and shook his hand around. “He was doing this when he was about to shoot and then he stopped.”
“I see.” Wilkos looked at the other Star Runners. “Anything else?”
“Yes, sir,” Bear said.
“Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
Bear stood on wobbly legs. “Captain Jameson said the Tizona squadron tried to ruin Austin’s landing tonight.”
Expression faded from Wilkos’ face, his piercing eyes boring into Bear’s. “They said that? They said those very words?”
“Yes, Major.”
“Hmm.” Wilkos stared down at the floor before looking back at Austin. “You okay, Lieutenant?”
Austin nodded, but wondered. He still felt shell-shocked at having a superior officer jab a gun in his face. Shaking away the discomfort, he cleared his throat. “Yes, sir.”
“Good.” Wilkos stood at his full height. “You all still have tomorrow off, but I don’t want you going into town for the duration of our assignment here. Got that?”
“Yes, sir,” the Scorpions said in unison.
“Things are liable to get a little dicey around here. Just heard from Command there has been some marauder activity at the edge of this system. Intelligence believes they might be preying on incoming traffic to Omeya over the next couple days.” He looked at Austin, a smile creeping across his face. “We’ll have to stay frosty.”
Austin’s face warmed. “Yes, sir.”
CHAPTER NINE
Alarms sounded, filling the air with an ear-bursting screech. Flashing lights washed the hangar in the color of blood.
“ALL STAR RUNNERS TO THEIR SHIPS!” a voice boomed over the intercom. “ALL STAR RUNNERS TO THEIR SHIPS! INCOMING FREIGHTER UNDER ATTACK! ALL STAR RUNNERS TO THEIR SHIPS!”
Austin yanked his black flight suit from the locker and pulled his helmet down from the overhead shelf. The locker room clamored with activity as Star Runners rushed around in front of their lockers. The message repeated over the intercom, blasting into the area like cannon fire.
“Fun way to wake up in the middle of the night,” Bear grumbled, locking his gloves into his flight suit. “Having a good dream, too.”
Austin smiled, remembering the night they left Tizona Academy in the wee hours. “You always were a morning person.”
Bear rolled his eyes. “Right.”
“You two never change,” Skylar said, grabbing her gloves. “I mean seriously. You never change.”
Austin and Bear looked at one another, shrugged.
“All right, Scorpions!” Senza yelled, hurrying into the room. “Get to your ships! Those people out there needed us airborne two minutes ago! Move!”
The Star Runners sprinted out into the hangar and made for the line of Tridents. The maintenance crew opened the massive hangar door, allowing the humid Omeya air to flood into the expanse. Wind shot a pair of leaves around the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, Austin saw Major Cayo Wilkos boarding a Trident.
“Looks like we’re all going up!” he yelled, slapping Bear on the shoulder. Austin smiled, turning toward his Trident. His boots pounded on the steel ladder as he ascended to the cockpit. Collapsing into the seat, Austin swept his fingers over the control board. The maintenance crew had already prepped the engine the moment the alarm sounded. As he activated the onboard systems, the whine of the engine grew to a roar. Placing the black helmet over his head, he locked it into place and plugged his flight suit into the fighter. The rush of fresh air surrounded him as he lowered the canopy.
“—pions, this is Hound,” his gamma wave sizzled to life. “Tower is transmitting a current report to your birds. Give it a look and prepare to follow me on my command.”
Austin’s seat rumbled. He gave a thumbs up to the maintenance crew, and they pushed away the ladder. The men and women responsible for maintaining the squadron scurried across the deck as the hangar filled with the force of seventeen Tridents prepping for launch.
The signal from the tower filled his control board. A convoy of eight freighters with two Trident escorts inbound for Omeya had come under attack. A force of a dozen bogeys swarmed around the ships like ants on a carcass.
“We don’t have a lot of time! Let’s go around the horn!” Wilkos barked into Austin’s earpiece. “Sound off! Hound, ready to launch!”
“Spinner, ready!”
“Chrome, ready to go!”
“Sparrow, ready!”
“Bear, spooled up and ready!”
“Cheetah, ready!”
Austin swallowed, adrenaline rushing through his veins. “Rock, ready!”
“Giggles here,” Dimas Sorn transmitted, a trace of worry filling his voice. “Engines are sputtering. Think I’ve got a flameout.”
“Try again!” Wilkos yelled.
A pause. Austin craned his neck, staring over at Sorn’s Trident next to his own
. The light from the twin engines flashed, and darkened.
“No go,” Sorn said.
“Scrap your mission and sit this one out,” Wilkos said. “Continue the sound off, Scorpions.”
“Roger,” Sorn said.
Austin glanced over at Sorn’s cockpit, saw the Star Runner pounding the control board in frustration.
“That’s it, Scorpions,” Wilkos said when the final Star Runner confirmed readiness. “Follow me!”
Austin watched Wilkos’ Trident lift off the deck and hover toward the open door, followed by Senza’s fighter. On his left, Skylar glanced over at him and pressed against her canopy, offering an excited smile as she gave a thumbs up. She lifted her visor and mouthed the words, “Stay frosty.”
Nodding, Austin pointed at her with his index finger and raised two fingers. She grinned and winked at him,
A second later, she lifted her Trident off the deck and moved toward the door. The force of her engines rattled against his fighter.
My turn.
He rubbed the top of his control board. “I’ve got you, sweetie,” he said, tapping the stick. “Let’s do this.”
Pulling back, he lifted his Trident and turned it toward the hangar door. The vast starfield glowed above. A burning line of the preceding Tridents lifted into the darkness, the twin engines looking like sparkling embers soaring into the sky.
He tilted the nose back and slammed down on the throttle. The force smacked him into the seat, his helmet shaking as the powerful new Legion fighter shot into high orbit in a matter of seconds. As his entire body shook, he grinned beneath his helmet. This baby can move.
Risking a quick glance to the right, he watched the surface of Omeya fall away and out of sight in an instant. His altitude reading vanished from his HUD as the Trident swept into high orbit and moved away from the planet. The life support hummed. The control board whistled. Austin smiled. I’m back where I belong.
“Form up, Scorpions,” Wilkos said, a calmness in his voice.
Austin glanced at his sensors, saw the convoy eleven hundred MUs from their position. Looking up, he could see faint flashes of laser fire in the distance.
The sixteen Tridents formed in a spread formation. Austin slowed, allowing his Trident to slip into the position they had practiced countless times in orbit of the Scorpions’ Nest.
“Maximum intercept speed—go!” Wilkos yelled.
Austin buried the throttle, and the Tridents catapulted forward in unison. A piece of space debris flashed off his shields. He didn’t flinch. Instead, he smiled and remembered when such an occurrence had scared him.
Six new signals popped on his sensors, coming from Omeya. Austin frowned, watching as the signals squawked Legion codes.
“Hound, Rock,” he transmitted. “You see our trailers?”
“Roger. Jameson and company are watching the store while we’re out.”
Austin winced. He thought of the Tizona captain thrusting a gun in his face the other night, remembering the officer’s twitching face. Sorn was probably right about the man’s state of mind.
Shaking his head, he focused on the convoy in front of him. Only one escort Trident remained against six bandits—three pelting the rear freighters while three more scrapped with the escort.
“I’ve got eyes on the enemy,” Wilkos said. “Spinner, take Rock, Cheetah, Chrome, and Warthog on the rear. The rest of you—come with me!”
“Roger, Hound,” Senza said. “Rock, form up on my wing. The rest of you hang back and catch any of these bandits slipping away.”
“Roger,” Austin said, meeting up with Senza as they shot toward the bandits.
Senza’s Trident soared to his left and slightly below, the engines burning bright as they flew at full throttle. Austin fell into position and glanced at his sensors: Two hundred MUs.
“Rock, Spinner,” Senza said, “we got three bandits ahead. I’ve got the leader. You lock his wing and take him. Fastest shot takes the final bandit.”
“Roger, Spinner,” Austin said with a smile, “like fish in a barrel.”
“Repeat your last?”
Austin clenched his teeth. “Stay frosty, Spinner.”
“You got it, Rock.”
The distance dropped fast. A line of fire and gas trailed the rear freighter, pieces of the hulk blasting off into the void as the vessel made for Omeya at its best possible speed. Craters covered the hull, releasing gasses and more clouds of debris. The marauder bandits unloaded a flurry of laser fire into the rear freighter’s stern.
Austin moved his crosshairs onto the leader’s wing. The moment his lock attempt hit the fighter, he broke off the attack and launched into evasive maneuvers.
“Got a live one,” he said, adjusting course to stay on the bandit’s tail.
“He’s not going to just sit there, Rock,” Senza said.
A second later, she released two missiles. The flashes illuminated the darkness, sending two glowing trails off toward their target.
Austin shook his head. She is good.
His crosshairs pulsated yellow as the bandit shot in and out of his target area. Come on, come on.
Rolling, he anticipated the bandit pulling up and heading back toward the freighter for an attack. Leading the target, Austin pushed his crosshairs ahead of the enemy in hopes he would bear down on the freighter. He swallowed. The bandit continued heading away, making for deep space. Had he been wrong?
Suddenly, the bandit looped around and headed toward his prey, directly into Austin’s field of fire. Smiling, Austin led the crosshairs ahead until the image burned red. He squeezed the trigger twice. Two missiles shot in rapid succession, screaming hard for the target. The bandit panicked, spinning and diving as he tried to elude the two deadly projectiles bearing down on him.
A second later, it was over. Two explosions filled the darkness before being extinguished by the vacuum of space. Austin pulled around, heading back toward the battle.
He shook his head.
No signals appeared on his scope other than the convoy and Legion Star Runners.
“You don’t waste any time, Spinner,” he said.
She laughed on the gamma wave. “Life’s too short.”
“All right—cut the chatter!” Wilkos said. “Convoy is clear for landing at Gen’s Folly. Space is clear all the way to home. Spinner, take your people and form up for escort duty on the final leg. I’m taking the rest on a patrol of the Omeya moon. Well done, Scorpions.”
“Copy, Hound,” Senza said. “You heard him, people. Take up escort positions. Rock, you think you can handle the rear?”
Austin smiled, watching as Senza’s Trident soared in the direction of the convoy. “Oh, I think I can handle it, Spinner.”
“Good.”
Wilkos led the rest of the Scorpions away from the convoy and toward the Omeya moon. Austin watched the eleven departing Tridents, wishing he could join them. The major must have a hunch about the local moon or, more likely, he didn’t feel like flying a boring escort mission.
That’s fine, Austin thought, settling into his seat and gripping the stick. Easing back on the throttle, he brought his Trident to the rear of the convoy and took in the sight as the cluster of ships lumbered toward Omeya. Lines of gas and pieces of debris filled the space around him as he watched the other escort ships take their positions around the convoy.
“In place, Rock?”
“You got it, Spinner.”
“All right. Stay frosty back there.”
Austin shook his head. In his wildest dreams, he never would have thought a cheesy line between him and Josh during their online gaming sessions would have now spread across the Legion. “Roger, Spinner.”
Doing a quick calculation on his control board and taking into account the maximum speed of the convoy, Austin estimated it could take nearly one hour to reach Omeya. He took a deep breath and stared out at the stars. The Omeya moon hung like a white pearl in the distance, and he wondered what his comrades might discover out
there. Exploring and discovering the universe held quite a bit of interest to Austin. Ryker spoke of exploration all the time when they were together and dreamed of a day she would be able to use her talents in the cockpit for something other than war.
During his leave on Oma, he had read about the latest news in the Legion Navy. One article, in particular, caught his attention; the story about the Legion Star Runner Scouts. According to the article, the Scouts spent their tours in small groups or entirely on their own in special deep-space Tridents rigged for extreme distance curves. It had been one of Ryker’s dreams to become a Scout.
Austin smiled. While the excitement of space combat had certainly played a significant role in his initial interest in the Star Runners game, he had started to transition toward exploration. In real life, combat simply didn’t have the attraction it once did. While he had been told the marauders and pirates of the Fringe were the lowest scum in the galaxy, comprised of thieves and murderers, Austin never forgot that each exploding fighter meant the death of its pilot.
Debris particles showered across his forward shields, the minor collision sending a ripple around his ship like the surface of a pond disturbed by skipping rocks. Omeya grew closer, the drab surface of the planet nearly filling his canopy.
“Rock, Spinner.”
Austin frowned. “Go ahead, Spinner.”
“I’m picking up the Tizona Home Guard moving into high orbit. They are not responding to my hails.”
“Strange.”
“Exactly.” She sighed into the microphone, her breath causing static on the transmission. “Break off from the escort and see if you can communicate by sight. If they need our help, let me know.”
Austin’s stomach turned at the thought of helping Captain Jameson and his thugs, but he cleared his throat. “You got it, Cap. Be back in a jiffy.”
