When the plane arrived at the start of the runway, my fears eased somewhat. What Darius had said was true—this part was decently repaired. There was an okay chance that the plane would at least take off.
“Nervous?” Arianne asked. There was a communication relay between the cockpits—we didn’t need the radio to talk to each other. “Afraid we’ll blow up in a fireball before we get off the ground?”
“I wasn’t. Now that you put the idea in my head, though…”
She laughed. “Good. No harm in a bit of tension. Danger wouldn’t be fun without the sharp edge of fear splicing into the nerve ends.”
The man on the ground gave me the all-clear signal, and I leaned the control stick forward. The plane accelerated. I wasn’t sure how long the runway was, so I didn’t hold back. My breath caught when the left wheel jolted, but it didn’t take the plane off course. As soon as the vehicle reached the critical speed, I pulled back hard on the stick. The nose of the plane lifted, then we were in the air.
Arianne whooped. I leaned the plane to the left to get more distance from the skyscrapers close on the right-hand side. The ground raced away below us. It felt fantastic to be flying again. We ascended into the cloudless blue sky. Above, a formation of J-27s slowly circled the city.
“Brace yourself.” I pointed Blue 7 in the direction of the other planes and applied full thrust. The acceleration jerked me backward and pinned me to the seat. We reached the squadron much faster than I’d expected. I slowed down and fell in behind the other planes. A raw feeling of elation warmed me from the inside. I couldn’t help smiling; that was an unmistakable feeling I got only while flying.
“Let’s not kill ourselves before reaching the battlefield,” Arianne said, though I could tell from the edge of exhilaration in her voice that she had enjoyed it as much as I had.
“I need to know what this baby can do before we go into battle,” I replied. “How are you feeling after that?”
“I felt a little lightheaded, but I didn’t pass out.”
“Blue 9 is in the air.” Darius’s voice crackled through the radio. “Blue 1, you have the coordinates of the Roosevelt.”
“Confirmed,” another voice crackled.
“Lead us in on an interception course,” Darius said. “Maintain radio silence as much as possible.”
The lead plane changed direction, and the rest of the squadron fell in behind. We didn’t even try to maintain formation, and there was some ugly flying from those around me, but at least a collision never seemed likely. A quick glance at the radar screen showed Blue 8 joining up at the rear and Blue 9 not far behind that.
I tilted the plane to the side to get a last look at New York. It was in noticeably worse condition than the last time I had seen it from above. The city had taken a pounding from the Territories.
It felt good to be back in a pilot’s seat once more, feeling the plane respond to every nudge on the control stick and watching the vast expanse of ocean drift by below. But I couldn’t enjoy it too much because of the gnawing in my gut. Burnett wouldn’t give up as easily as Zirconia and Darius expected. Though I was worried more about how I would react under pressure than about the success of the overall mission. I didn’t know if the autopilot would take control the way it had on the V-Tip. And I was responsible for more than just myself.
“You’ve gone very quiet on me,” Arianne said. “Don’t think too much.”
“If only I knew how… tell me this isn’t the only squadron that Celeste is sending?”
“I think we have more planes. Coming from other bases. But I’m not a hundred percent on that.”
So there might be more than nine obsolete planes against the whole Conference. “Wonderful.”
We lapsed back into silence. I tried to keep my thoughts positive, but they kept circling back to the memory of my powerlessness during the Battle of Rockall. When a large blip appeared on the radar screen, I was glad. We had reached the Roosevelt. The time for worrying was over.
Darius’s voice came through on the radio again. “This is Celeste calling the Roosevelt. We demand your surrender. For the good of the Conference and the world.”
After a short delay, Burnett himself replied. “What grandiose claims, Darius. And from a dead man, no less. I do admire the gumption while regretting that you found yourself on the wrong side. I thought we were a good team, and it really hurt me when I found out that you had been false all along. But no point in dwelling on the past. I, too, demand surrender—unconditional surrender. I’m afraid I can’t promise that your life can be spared, but perhaps others on your side can be redeemed.”
That Burnett had replied so quickly worried me. He almost seemed to have been expecting to hear from us. I took a deep breath and forced my fingers to relax from gripping the control stick too tightly. The gigantic devastator filled my front window. If Burnett refused to surrender, would we have to shoot the devastator out of the sky? Undoubtedly, I knew many of the people on board.
“We were never a team, Sam,” Darius said. “You used me as a puppet figurehead, and I pretended to be stupid enough not to notice. We have disabled your defenses. If you don’t surrender, we will open fire.”
Burnett laughed at Darius’s demand. “You aren’t the only ones who know how to infiltrate an organization.”
A beeping alerted me to several new dots on the radar screen. “Enemy fighters coming up fast from behind,” a panicked voice coming from Blue 1 said.
I looked out the front window, and a squadron of V-Tips swarmed into view from the front as well. They had been hiding behind it, using the devastator to hide their radar signature.
I pressed the button to activate radio transmit. “Blue squadron, scatter,” I shouted. I didn’t have any authority to give orders, but we had clearly fallen into a trap. As the two enemy squadrons descended upon us, I sent Blue 7 into a fast dive, the engine screaming. Around me, several of the other J-27s also broke away, though some barely reacted.
“Is that Jordi Roberts’s voice I hear?” Burnett said. “You, too, my friend?”
I pressed transmit. “The ends justify the means.” I wasn’t sure why I’d decided to say that. The phrase from our previous conversation had just popped into my head.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw several explosions as the V-Tips opened fire on the J-27s that hadn’t scattered. I didn’t have time to worry about anyone else though. Behind me, two V-Tips had dived in pursuit. I swerved one way, then the other. Flashes of blue laser light illuminated the left side of the cockpit. The control stick shuddered in my hands.
“Fire. Shoot something,” I shouted at Arianne.
“You are going too fast. I can’t get a lock on anything.”
“Shoot anyway. Maybe you’ll get lucky or at least distract them. Don’t fire missiles unless you have a lock or there are no Blue fighters in the area.”
“We don’t have any missiles.”
“Fantastic.” On the radar screen, the two V-Tips were falling farther behind. The speed of the J-27 was good for running away—I didn’t dare turn and face the more-maneuverable fighters.
Four smaller blips appeared on the radar screen. “Missiles fired,” I said to Arianne. “Concentrate your laser fire on them.”
I continued at full speed, and the V-Tips disappeared off the radar screen. The missiles continued to gain; however fast a J-27 was, it wouldn’t outrun a missile.
“What are you up to back there? Shoot them already.”
“It’s like hitting gnats with a bow and arrow.”
The chance of even an experienced gunner shooting missiles out of the air was slim. For Arianne, it was hopeless. I pulled the J-27 in a long swerve up and to the right, but the missiles followed the heat signature.
The only emergency maneuvers I knew for escaping missiles relied on the dexterity of the V-Tip. I wasn’t sure how the J-27 would manage. I had to try something, though.
I glanced back down at the radar screen. The missiles were clustered
close together, making me think that one maneuver in particular would have a chance of success. I would have to wait until the missiles were close—and I would have only one chance. I decelerated.
“What are you doing?” Arianne shouted. “Missiles closing fast.”
“Didn’t you want me to stop jinking so you could get a clear shot?”
The J-27 drifted forward while the missiles hurtled toward us. I wished I knew how the plane would react. As it was, the timing was pure guesswork. I waited until the last moment then swiveled the nose of the plane to the right and applied full thrust. The chassis of the plane screeched, objecting to the forces applied to it. The g-force threw my head to the side and pinned my cheek against the seat. Once the plane gained enough speed, I cut off the thrust again and watched the missiles on the radar screen. I hoped that the enormous amount of heat from the thrust would attract the missiles, and by the time they went through that patch of sky, they would have lost contact with the plane they were chasing.
The missiles continued straight on.
“We made it,” I breathed, watching as the distance continued to grow. Then one of the four missiles turned and renewed its chase.
“Shit.” I had no idea how to get away this time. It was too close to try the same thing again.
Then the chasing missile disappeared off the radar screen.
“Yee-haw.” Arianne let out a whoop. “I got one.”
I allowed myself to breathe again. But there wasn’t time to celebrate. Our maneuver had taken us far from the Roosevelt and the rest of the battle. We could get away, of course, but I hadn’t come all this way to flee another battle. Darius needed my help.
“Turning back to help the others,” I said.
“Of course.”
The J-27 swept around in a long arc back toward the devastator. I gained height as I came around, hoping that the extra altitude would give an advantage, however slight, when we reengaged with the enemy.
Before we were close enough to see what was happening, Burnett’s voice crackled across the radio waves. “Gamma Squadron Leader, can you confirm that all enemy planes have been destroyed.”
“Eight confirmed kills,” a voice responded. “We are still trying to track down the final enemy fighter.”
“They lie,” Arianne cut in.
I knew it wasn’t a lie. We had fallen into a trap, and the inexperienced pilots flying ancient fighter planes hadn’t stood a chance. We were supposed to be facing empty skies and a toothless devastator. We were never ready to fight a real battle.
I sped up until we were high above the Roosevelt. Far below, several V-Tips looped, patrolling the sky and waiting for me to return. But what’s the point going back into the battle? I had come back to help the squadron, but everyone was dead.
“Arianne, we might as well…”
The radar screen beeped its warning. “Two fighters approaching fast. Five o’clock,” Arianne said.
I pulled up on the control stick, taking the J-27 higher, spinning to the left. The left window flashed blue as laser fire just missed. I jerked back to the right. The radar screen began to get crowded as other V-Tips approached from different angles. This is it then. For me, for Arianne, for Blue squadron’s whole ill-fated attack. Unless…
I pressed the transmit button. “Burnett, this is Jordi Roberts. I surrender.”
Chapter 5
“No you don’t,” Arianne said. “We aren’t just going to give up.”
I flicked the switch to disable the weapons. I didn’t want Arianne to start firing.
The radio crackled to life, and at first, all that came through was a long sigh. Then came Burnett’s voice: “Surrender accepted. Alpha squadron, break off attack and escort the enemy fighter back to the Roosevelt.”
“What have you done?” Arianne sounded angry. “My weapons won’t work.”
I decelerated and nosed Blue 7 toward the Roosevelt.
“Who gave you the right to surrender? I believed in you, and this is how you react. This is worse than what you did at the last battle.”
“It’s over, Arianne. We lost.” Live to fight another day, Darius had told me. He was dead once again—for real, this time. It didn’t hurt as much as I’d expected. Perhaps I hadn’t accepted that he was alive enough for his death to hurt as it did the first time.
“This was our one chance. We can’t just give up. Maybe there is another squadron coming.”
“There’s no one else coming. Zirconia wasn’t as smart as she thought.” Where is she now? What could Zirconia be thinking as she contemplated the failure of all she had fought for? Would she give up or try to rebuild again? ‘Do your part,’ she told me. In the end, my part had not been the one to fail. I hadn’t frozen in battle—the mission to neutralize the devastator’s defenses had failed. And Darius had paid the ultimate price.
Two V-Tips trailed close behind as I brought Blue 7 to the Roosevelt. I was directed toward an isolated landing tube on the edge of the devastator. They weren’t allowing me to fly the plane into the main landing deck in case I had something nefarious planned.
Just as Blue 7 approached the landing tube, dirty air caused it to rock from side to side. I should have been nervous about a tricky landing in an unfamiliar plane. But I let my instincts take over, and it went smoothly.
I taxied to a halt. Two people were waiting for us. I’d expected either mibs or soldiers; instead, it was a pair of technicians dressed like those in Burnett’s lair underneath the Shroud. One of them pushed a ladder against the plane.
I raised the cockpit canopy and stepped onto the wing. Arianne got out, looking ready to tear me limb from limb. Before she could say anything, I shook my head. “Not here. We are among enemies. You can let me know how you feel at great length and in high volume later. For now, what’s done is done.”
I climbed down the ladder. Arianne followed me, and I had to scramble down quickly to avoid having her boot land on my hand or head. When we got down, though, she didn’t try to say anything further. She restricted herself to glowering at me.
Both technicians held guns and watched us warily. I recognized one of them—a slim woman with long brown hair and a severe face. She had escorted me to my cell after I’d interrupted the Grand Council meeting.
I nodded to her. “No need for the guns…” I hesitated. “Kolette, right?” I vaguely remembered someone calling her that.
“Guns are necessary, I’m afraid, in this world,” she said. “Too many people can’t be trusted.”
“Like me?” I asked.
“Burnett tried to give you a chance, and you threw it in his face. I have no idea why he even wants to see you again, but he’s a better person than me.” She gestured with her gun. “Now if you’ll both turn around and face that novelty plane you were flying? Then put your hands behind your backs.”
I had to tug on Arianne’s arm to get her to comply. With a series of clicks, our hands were cuffed behind our backs. We turned around, and Kolette waved her gun toward the exit. “Now, if you’ll lead the way.”
Even though she handled the gun as though it was unfamiliar to her, she waved it around a lot. I hoped the safety was on. I headed in the direction Kolette had directed. Instead of walking alongside me, Arianne fell behind. I was happy to take the silent treatment.
Through the door, I continued down the corridor then paused at the first junction. The layout, colors, and even the smell were familiar to me because I’d lived on the Eisenhower. Devastators had only marginal differences from each other. I glanced back, unsure which way to go, and Kolette gestured me straight onward. I started forward then stopped, seeing Will Saunders approach from the left corridor, wearing civilian clothes.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him.
Will looked at me as if I were a bug he’d scraped off his boot. Then he turned to Kolette. “You bringing him to the control center?”
Kolette nodded. “The chief of staff wants to see him.”
“I’m going
the same way. Follow me.”
Will strode off. I quickened my pace until I was alongside him. He didn’t look across at me.
“Have you always been a member of INSH?” I asked him.
Will continued to stare forward; the slapping of the soles of boots against the floor was my only answer.
“You seemed clueless about all that stuff when I talked to you before. Are you that good an actor to have been lying to me all these years?” I snorted. “Though if you weren’t lying to me, I guess you were one of the only ones.”
The tension in Will’s spine eased as he decided to answer. “When you saw me last, I knew nothing of INSH. After our visit, Burnett spoke with me and invited me to join the cause.”
“Did you have any doubts?”
Will’s head jerked toward me. “Of course I had doubts,” he shouted, spittle flying into my face. Then he took a deep breath and let the anger leach from his face. He faced forward again. “It takes a while to process everything, and I haven’t quite gotten used to the new way of looking at the world. I almost wish you never came to see me, so I could continue in happy ignorance and be joyously celebrating the peace like every other soldier right now.”
“You’d have to get joyously shitfaced to celebrate like every other soldier.”
“Don’t need to be drunk to feel happy, Jordi.” Will’s attitude toward me swung wildly between easy familiarity and outright scorn.
“I find that hard to believe.” I smiled. “Can you explain it to me, Will? Why INSH is the only way?”
“You saw the same hologram I did,” Will said. “It’s not that I’m happy about the way things are. I expect everyone feels an immediate gut-level abhorrence upon discovering the way things are arranged by INSH. But it’s more important to look at the situation with clearheaded logic.”
The chief of staff obviously had spent some time talking to Will—I could imagine those exact words coming from Burnett’s mouth. But Will’s words also resonated with me. I’d had the exact same reaction. Deep down, I was repulsed by the way that INSH was treating everyone. It undermined our core freedom as human beings. But I couldn’t deny that cold logic favored INSH. The structure of a benevolent dictatorship was better than the freedom of anarchy, considering all the dangers the human race faced before INSH’s arrival on the scene. Wasn’t human survival more important than human freedom? After all, freedom wouldn’t matter much if we were all dead.
World War 97 Part 5 Page 3
