by Ryk Brown
“Let’s hope your faith is not misplaced,” Commander Dumar said as he turned to exit the control center.
* * *
Loki peered in through the doorway to the starboard pilot’s briefing room prior to entering. The room was like a small auditorium, with progressively elevated rows of comfortable high-backed seats that formed an arc around the room so that all the seats pointed directly at the podium. Behind the primary seating there was another level known as the gallery. It had four rows with ten seats in each row. Normally, it was covered by a retractable wall. Today, the wall was gone and half the gallery was filled with the additional flight crews from the sixteen four zero twos that had arrived the day before.
“What the hell are you waiting for?” Josh called from behind.
“We don’t usually attend these briefings,” Loki said under his breath.
“What are you talking about? We’ve been to several of them.”
“Not with this many people,” Loki said.
Josh peered into the room from behind Loki. “Damn, there are a lot of people in here, aren’t there.” Josh pushed Loki forward. “Come on, let’s find a seat.”
Josh stepped around Loki and started heading for a pair of seats in the back row of the main section of the briefing room.
“Where are you going?” Loki asked, seeming slightly panicked.
“There’s two seats over there, Loki.”
“In the middle of everyone? Maybe we should sit in the back?”
“Why?”
“Humor me.”
“Okay.” Josh turned and followed his friend up the steps on the side of the room and up to the second to the last row in the gallery, taking two of the empty seats near a cluster of Corinari pilots who had been on board the Aurora since they had first left the Pentaurus cluster. “Kind of far back, isn’t it?” he asked as they sat.
Loki looked across the rows of seats below. “Most of the four zero two crews are down front.”
“You know, it is better back here,” Josh realized. “We can make smart comments and the CAG can’t hear us.”
“Just be quiet, Josh,” Loki warned. “There’s got to be a reason that Major Prechitt asked us to come to this briefing.”
“Yeah, it did seem kind of strange,” Josh agreed, “seeing as how we don’t have a ship, and all.”
Loki continued to scan the room. His brow furrowed slightly. He leaned toward Josh. “Why is everyone looking at us?”
“Because we’re famous, remember?” Josh waved at the some of the four zero two crews that were looking back toward them. “How’s it going, guys?”
“Oh, jeez, Josh,” Loki exclaimed. “You don’t even know them.”
“Hey, they’re looking at us, remember.”
“Remain seated!” Major Prechitt ordered as he entered the room with Major McCullum following close behind. Major Prechitt stepped up to the podium and immediately began to speak. “To those of you who have recently joined us, first I’d like to welcome you aboard. Second, I’d like to warn you that you might as well forget most of the combat tactics that you learned in the Corinari, as ninety percent of it won’t work in the Sol sector. The Jung are a completely different type of pilot. They fight to the death, they don’t believe in surrender, and they don’t believe in mercy. Luckily, the Jung seem to believe in quantity over quality, as most of the pilots that we’ve faced thus far were not that skilled. In addition, their ships, while fairly effective in space, are poorly designed for atmospheric flight. If you do run into a good pilot, get him to chase you down into the atmosphere and you’ll be able to fly circles around him. Of course, none of that really matters to those of you flying the four zero twos, as you’re better off using the jump and shoot approach rather than straightforward dogfighting. Do not let your instincts to engage the enemy in the traditional sense take over. You’ve been blessed with jump drives. In combat, I strongly suggest you use them. I urge you four zero two crews to review the flight data from all of the Falcon’s engagements. You’ll learn quite a bit.”
“Oh, don’t let your head start swelling up,” Loki said under his breath. He looked at Josh next to him, noticing the change in his posture and expression. “Too late.”
“Incidentally,” Major Prechitt continued, “the four zero twos will now be referred to as ‘J-F-Four-Zero-Two Falcon’, or ‘Falcon’ for short. We will be forming a second air wing specifically for the Falcons. This wing will be under the command of Major McCullum.”
“That sucks,” Josh mumbled as the major continued his briefing. “There can only be one ‘Falcon’.”
“I don’t know,” Loki disagreed, “I think it’s pretty cool. Sort of an homage.”
Josh looked at him. “A what?”
“A sign of respect.”
“Yeah, right. None of those four zero twos will ever be the Falcon.”
“I know, but I still think it’s cool.”
“What do you know? You think math is cool.”
“That concludes my portion of this briefing,” Major Prechitt said. “The Falcon crews will remain for their flight assignments from Major McCullum. The rest of you are dismissed.”
“Well, that was certainly a waste of our time,” Josh said as he rose from his seat.
“Yeah, it kind of was,” Loki agreed, seeming surprised.
“Mister Hayes, Mister Sheehan,” Major Prechitt called out, “you two should remain as well.”
“Uh, oh,” Loki said. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything,” Josh objected as he took his seat again.
“Then why is the CAG coming over here?” Loki wondered. “Did you make a face at him or something?”
“I swear, I didn’t do anything.”
Major Prechitt came up and took a seat in the row directly in front of them, pulling the release lever at the base of the seat and rotating it around so he could face them as Major McCullum continued to brief the four zero two crews below.
“Major, why are we here?” Josh asked with some skepticism.
“You’re here for two reasons. First, I want to give you a ship.”
“What, like a shuttle or something?” Josh asked with disdain.
“We’ll take it.” Loki interrupted without hesitation. “Hey, at least we’d be flying.”
“Actually, I was going to give you Major McCullum’s ship.”
“You’re giving us another Falcon?” Josh asked in disbelief.
“I thought you said there was only one Falcon?” Loki mumbled.
“Shut up.”
“Are you two finished?” the major asked.
“Sorry, sir,” Loki said.
“What’s the major going to fly?” Josh wondered.
“He’s going to be too busy setting up a new air wing for now. He can fly one of the ships from the next batch. So, do you want it?”
“Hell, yes,” Josh insisted.
“What about you, Loki?” Major Prechitt asked.
“A shuttle would be safer,” Loki admitted, remembering all the times Josh had put them at extreme risk.
“Shut up!” Josh scolded. “He’s in,” he told the major.
“Yeah, I’m in.”
“Great. There is a catch, however,” the major warned.
“Let me guess, we’re doing nothing but cold-coasts from now on,” Josh surmised.
“Actually, we’re not even going to let you do that. You’ll be running support missions for now, until you finish basic flight training.”
“Uh, we already know how to fly, Major,” Josh pointed out.
“Actually, only Loki knows how to fly, Josh,” Major Prechitt explained. “You know how to pilot a ship. If you’re going to fly under Major McCullum’s wing, you’re going to need some additional training.”
Josh looked the major square in the eyes. “No disrespect intended, Major, but we all know that I can pilot just about anything better than anyone in this room, yourself included.”
Major Prechitt laughed. “You’ve never l
acked in confidence, have you, Josh. Look, I’m not arguing that you’ve got amazing skills, but you need a better knowledge base to go with them. Think about it, Josh. Think about how much more amazing you’d be with the right training. Understanding the how and why of flight makes you a better pilot. It makes you able to think your way out of a dangerous situation instead of just relying on your instincts.”
Josh smirked slightly, then reluctantly nodded his agreement. “I guess I can understand what you’re saying.” Josh sighed. “It’s just that, well, you see, I’ve never really had much education, Major. Hell, I was flying ground hoppers when I was ten. Then shuttles, and then the harvester. To be honest, I don’t understand how half the shit in that cockpit works. I just know how to use it.”
“That’s my point,” Major Prechitt said, “and don’t worry about the holes in your education. Loki has already been through formal flight school, so he already knows everything except for the tactical stuff. He can help you through the science and math.”
“Math,” Josh moaned.
“Don’t worry, Josh,” Loki said, “they let you use calculators.”
“Here’s the thing,” Major Prechitt continued, “Once you pass, we’re prepared to offer you both commissions.”
“In the Corinari?” Josh exclaimed. “Uh, neither of us are from Corinair, remember?”
“The Corinari have disbanded,” Major Prechitt explained. “The nations of Corinair have joined together and formed a unified planetary government. The ways of the Corinari no longer serve the needs of the military that will be replacing them. That’s why so many of them are volunteering to join the Alliance.”
“So you’re offering us commissions in the Alliance?” Loki asked.
“Once you complete your training, yes.”
“So, we’re going to be officers?” Josh wondered, again appearing skeptical.
“Correct.”
“Commander Hayes,” Josh said. “I like the sound of that.”
“How about you start off as ensigns and work your way up like everyone else.”
“Will I outrank Marcus?” Josh wondered.
“Master Chief Taggart? Yes, you would.”
“I’m in,” Josh answered without delay.
“When did Marcus become a master chief?” Loki wondered.
“That’s right,” Josh realized.
“Technically, he hasn’t, yet. The captain is going to promote him and offer him the job as chief of the boat.”
“What about Master Chief Montrose?” Loki asked.
“He’s going to be reassigned to the Celestia.”
“The Celestia barely has a crew,” Loki said.
“She’ll be getting a bigger crew soon enough,” Major Prechitt explained. “She’s going to need a COB she can trust.”
“Yeah, Marcus would drive her nuts,” Josh agreed.
“So you both agree to go through training?” Major Prechitt asked.
“Sounds good to me,” Loki said.
“If it means I can give orders to Marcus, then hell yes,” Josh agreed. “Are we going to fly at all in the meantime?”
“That’s why you’re here, to get your next assignment,” the major explained. “You’ll start your training in a week or two, as soon as we get the Falcon wing all settled in.”
“Who’s going to be our instructor?” Loki wondered.
“You’re looking at him.”
“Great,” Josh moaned. “No offense, sir, but you can be kind of a dick sometimes.”
“It might be best if you didn’t start your military career off by insulting your instructor, Cadet Hayes,” Major Prechitt said as he rose to leave. “Gentlemen.”
“Real nice, Josh,” Loki said as the major left the room. “Real nice.”
“Hey, that’s Cadet Hayes to you,” Josh mumbled.
* * *
“Captain on deck!” the officer of the watch announced as Nathan entered the Aurora’s flight operations center.
Nathan moved through the center of the space to the plotting table at the center of the room, where Major Prechitt and one of his aides were studying sensor readings displayed on one of the many view screens clustered around the overhead. “Something to show me, Major?”
“Yes, sir,” Major Prechitt responded. “Right here,” he added, pointing at the view screen.
“What is that? A debris field?”
“Mostly, yes,” the major answered. “As you know, my people routinely perform after-action reviews of all combat data, comm traffic, and sensor records after every flight. These were from sensor downloads taken from the new Falcons during their engagement with the battle platform. This is a debris field from one of the plasma torpedo impacts, either ours or the Celestia’s—we haven’t determined which as of yet. This sensor image here is from one of the Falcons, just after it micro-jumped clear of the platform and swung back around to jump in again. It’s this object right here that is the problem,” he said as he tapped on the screen to zoom in on the object in question.
“That doesn’t look like debris,” Nathan said with concern in his tone. “Its shape is too clean. How big is it?”
“About thirty-two meters, sir. We also see it in these sensor sweeps as well, all of them consecutive, right up to the point where the ship jumps back to reengage the platform.” Major Prechitt showed each frame in rapid succession. “That particular object is not following the same path as the rest of the debris being blown away from the platform. It’s steering a different course. Another Falcon caught glimpses of it as well, right up to the point it disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“Or went to FTL,” Major Prechitt said. “It’s about the size and shape you’d expect for a comm-drone.”
“So you think the platform got a final message out before it came apart.” Nathan did not look happy. “And you’re telling me this two days later?”
“My apologies, Captain. We’re making things up as we go in regards to the four zero twos. It may take a few more days to get them fully integrated into our operational procedures. That’s why I doubled-up the eyes on these sensor readings.”
Nathan sighed. “I suppose it doesn’t really matter. We couldn’t have done anything about it anyway.”
“We could try and track it, maybe knock it out of FTL and destroy it,” Major Prechitt suggested.
“For all we know, it’s one of many that were sent out,” Nathan told him.
“When they receive that comm-drone, it will undoubtedly include battle data. Assuming that its target was the platform in the Alpha Centauri system—which is the general direction it was headed when it went into FTL—they’ll be able to analyze how we defeated the first platform and prepare a defense against that tactic.”
“Which means we have two choices,” Nathan said. “Either we come up with another way to take down a Jung battle platform, or go to Alpha Centauri and destroy the other one before that comm-drone reaches them.”
“Captain, so far, the Jung FTL technology appears to work in similar fashion to that used by the Takarans. The most prudent assumption would be that the Jung comm-drones are at least as fast as the Takaran comm-drones were before they began using ZPEDs as their power source. If that is the case, then…”
“I know,” Nathan interrupted, “that means we’ve got about two weeks.” Nathan sighed again, then looked at the major. “Got any other good news?”
* * *
“Tanna Control, Falcon Three One Eight,” Loki called over the radio.
“It’s a good thing that you usually do the talking,” Josh said as he prepared their ship for entry into the upper atmosphere of the planet. “I’d still be referring to us as ‘Falcon’.”
“This is Tanna Control,” the voice answered over the comms. “Who is calling?”
“Tanna Control, this is Falcon Three One Eight. We are about to enter your atmosphere, en route for the Terran settlement spaceport.”
“There is only one Falcon,” the controller a
rgued.
“That’s what I said!” Josh exclaimed.
“Well, now there are more,” Loki replied over the comms, “a lot more.”
“What the hell is with the ‘three one eight’ bit anyway?” Josh wondered. “I mean, I understand ‘one eight’, but what’s with the ‘three’?”
“It was Lieutenant Telles’s idea,” Loki said. “If there are any Jung spies monitoring transmissions, it will appear as if there are hundreds of us.”
“Seriously?”
“Maybe it has something to do with translating from English to Jung or something, I don’t know.”
“Falcon Three One Eight, state the nature of your visit,” the Tannan controller demanded.
“Tanna, Falcon Three One Eight is here to speak with members of the Terran settlement leadership, and to deliver a request from Captain Scott to the leaders of Tanna.”
“Like they could do anything to stop us if we decided to buzz downtown or something,” Josh mumbled from the front of the cockpit.
“Don’t even think about it, Josh.”
“I was just making an observation, Loki.”
“Falcon Three One Eight. You are authorized to land at Terran settlement spaceport. Do not attempt flight to any other location until Tannan security forces have verified your identity. Do you understand?”
“Tanna Control, Falcon Three One Eight, understood. Proceeding directly to Terran settlement spaceport to await Tannan security forces.”
Josh smiled. “New SOPs dictate that we jump from orbit to the surface to save fuel and wear on the airframe.”
“I don’t know, Josh,” Loki disagreed. “We might spook them.”
“They’ve had shuttles jumping down for weeks now,” Josh insisted.
“You’ve got a point.”
“Besides, what are they going to do, shoot at us with guns?” Josh waited for several seconds for a response, then turned his head slightly as if to look back at his friend sitting behind him. “It’s protocol, remember?”
Loki sighed. “Plotting the jump,” he finally said. “Nose down three and reduce speed to land. Come right twenty.”
“Down three, right twenty, and decelerating hard,” Josh answered.
“This isn’t a combat jump, remember,” Loki warned. “We’ll jump in at five hundred meters on a twenty-kilometer final to the primary pad and sweep the area before we land.”
