by Ryk Brown
Just as General Telles had predicted, Master Koku dropped several countermeasures to spoof the first group of missiles as he pitched up into the path of the second group. But he pitched up much more sharply than Nathan thought possible, and the second group of missiles missed him by more than five meters. “Damn, he’s good,” Nathan exclaimed as he armed the plasma cannons on the front of his engine nacelles. “These ought to bring his shields down a few points, and make the crowds squeal,” he said as he pressed the firing trigger.
General Telles looked at the clock, then at Jessica. “He’s five minutes from the far end of the course. Time for you to go.”
“You’re up, Quory,” Jessica said, standing. “I’m in your hands.”
“I won’t let you down,” Quory promised, turning to lead her out the door.
Jessica followed Quory, looking at Telles, and rolling her eyes on her way out.
General Telles turned back to his console. “Jessica says you’re doing well.”
“Understood,” Nathan replied, acknowledging the coded message.
“Oh, shit!” Nathan exclaimed as Makani’s fighter seemingly stopped in its tracks, forcing Nathan to fly past him in the blink of an eye. “How the fuck did he do that?”
Nathan twisted his flight control stick and leaned it over, sending his fighter into a spiraling dive to starboard as plasma torpedoes, courtesy of Master Koku, streaked past his port side, one by one, following him as he continued spinning down between two closely packed asteroids. He activated the private frequency and called out, “how come you never taught me that?”
“If a master reveals all his tricks, he quickly loses his mastery over others,” Makani replied in the same sage tone he had used throughout Nathan’s training.
“Yeah, well, I can think of a few tricks that you might not know,” he replied as he flipped his engine nacelles over, stopped his spin, and fired his engines at full power. His plan was to force his opponent to stop firing and flip his engine nacelles over, as well, in order to decelerate to maintain his advantageous position behind Nathan.
But the plasma torpedoes kept coming, slamming into Nathan’s shields and shaking the hell out of him. Two hits, three, five…and his shields were already down to forty percent. The only thing saving him from losing his forward shields was the fact that Makani seemed uninterested in staying behind Nathan, and continued past him.
Unfortunately, Master Koku rotated his engine nacelles as he passed, keeping his plasma torpedo cannons trained on Nathan’s ship while he continued to fire. The flashes of red-orange on his shields walked up his nose and across his canopy, filling the inside of his cockpit with their blinding light. By the time the barrage ended, the only shield of Nathan’s that wasn’t drained below forty percent was on his ventral side.
“That was enjoyable,” Makani said. “Any other tricks you’d like to share?”
“It’s a good thing Master Koku is on our side,” General Telles commented.
“Could have fooled me,” Nathan grumbled, still shaking off the beating he had just taken.
“Stealth jump four, complete,” Loki reported. “We’re in the launch corridor.”
“Get those bad boys ready, old man!” Josh called over his comm-set.
“Let’s hope they’re right about the target area,” Loki commented.
“I swear, if that little shit calls me ‘old man’ one more time,” Marcus grumbled as he lowered his helmet visor and sealed it shut. He grabbed the rail to steady himself in the fractional gravity of the Seiiki’s cargo bay, and activated the open cycle for the cargo bay door. Before him, were two of the Aurora’s jump missiles, each of them loaded with the most dense materials possible to maintain their compact size. The weapons themselves were ominous enough, but what really made him nervous were the antimatter mines that had been attached, at the last moment, to the front of them. Either of them had enough antimatter to make the Seiiki cease to exist, along with anything else within one hundred kilometers of them. “You know, that molo farm on Haven is starting to look a lot more attractive right now.”
“But you hate molo,” Neli reminded him.
“Not as much as I hate antimatter mines.”
“Jesus, how does he keep getting behind me like that?” Nathan cursed as more of Master Koku’s plasma torpedoes slammed into his aft shields.
“I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet,” General Telles commented.
“You, too?” Nathan replied in frustration as he continued to attempt to shake his attacker.
“You’re approaching the furthest turn,” General Telles warned.
“I know,” Nathan replied as the rain of red-orange fire continued to rattle his teeth and drain his shields. “I think you’re overselling it, Makani,” he said to himself. Nathan began watching his power levels out of the corner of his eye. If they had anticipated the Dusahn’s plan correctly, the operator of the remote power cut-off device installed in his ship would be triggered, at any moment. As soon as he entered into that furthest turn, the odds of their plan being successful decreased by leaps and bounds with each passing second.
“Here we go,” Nathan announced as he approached the turn. He began to push his flight control stick to the right, when his power levels suddenly dropped by twenty-eight percent. Reacting quickly, he veered slightly left, away from the turn and out into open space, then pulled the remote activator on his main power breaker, interrupting the flow of power from his reactor to the rest of his ship. All his systems went dead, his lights went out, and his life-support system reverted to the pack on his back. Nathan switched to emergency battery power, which was only enough to run his comms and his transponder. “Mayday, mayday, mayday,” he called, feigning controlled tension in his voice. “Gunyoki Seven Five has lost all power. Reactor is auto-scram. I’m drifting outbound from asteroid three eight five. Repeat…”
“I’m picking up a control signal from the race platform,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported from the Aurora’s sensor station.
“Can you get a fix on the position within the platform?” Cameron asked.
“I’m working on it,” the lieutenant commander assured her.
“Captain!” the comms officer called. “Distress call from Captain Scott!”
“Put it up,” Cameron ordered.
“…yoki Seven Five has lost all power. Reactor is auto-scram. I’m drifting outbound from asteroid three eight five. Repeat, Mayday, mayday, mayday. Gunyoki Seven Five is dead stick, and drifting outbound from three eight five, on batteries. Requesting rescue!”
“That’s it,” Cameron announced. “That’s the code phrase. The trap is set.”
“Repeat, Mayday, mayday, mayday. Gunyoki Seven Five is dead stick, and drifting outbound from three eight five, on batteries. Requesting rescue!”
“Roger Mayday, Seven Five. I’m notifying Race Control, now,” General Telles replied. He punched in a call code, then spoke once he got an answer. “This is the controller for Gunyoki Seven Five. Seven Five is zero power, and adrift outbound from asteroid three eight five. Requesting rescue.”
“Roger rescue, Seven Five Controller. Help is on the way.”
A small smile formed on the general’s face. The call code he had used was not that of Race Control.
Makani watched his sensors as he continued on the course. Although he had seen Nathan’s ship drifting out into space without power, and he had heard his distress call, the plan required that he keep up appearances. This meant he had to continue on, complete the course, and destroy the final objective, in order to claim victory. Any deviation from that action would alert Yokimah, and his Takaran associate, Jorkar Seeley, if in fact, he was the Dusahn spy, as they suspected.
He only hoped his fellow Gunyoki pilots would come through, as promised. He was quite sure of the three who were true Gunyoki, but the independents were all unknown to him. But they were all he had, and trusting them was a risk they had been forced to take.
Nathan sat in hi
s cold, dark Gunyoki fighter, drifting toward deep space at more than a thousand meters per second. It was a turtle’s pace, compared to the speeds that even the Seiiki could fly. But his speed had been limited by the radical maneuvering required during a Gunyoki combat race. Unfortunately, it made him an easy target. If the Dusahn wanted him dead, he would not be able to get his reactor spun up and his shields raised in time.
Without any power, Nathan had no way to calculate his position. But after looking at his battery-powered time display, and doing a few calculations in his head, he estimated that he would drift past the planned engagement area in just over a minute. The further from the engagement area he drifted, the more adjustments the Seiiki would have to make, before launching the antimatter tipped jump missiles. That meant more time in the Dusahn’s crosshairs, which was not a place in which he cared to be.
Vol Kaguchi set his frequency to the one specified by Master Koku, and activated the motor to close the canopy on his Gunyoki fighter. “Six Seven. Who’s up?” he called over the secure frequency.
“Komo, Four Four Two,” the first pilot replied.
“Takoda, Three One Eight.”
“Kane, Three Two Four.”
Vol smiled as the replies kept coming in. By the time the last Gunyoki pilot announced his readiness, twenty-six ships had reported in. Nearly every pilot on the platform, other than those flying for Yokimah and the other big teams, had answered Master Koku’s call to arms.
“Still no contacts,” Lieutenant Commander Koko replied.
Cameron was losing her patience. “What’s his position now?”
“He’s now leaving the planned engagement area,” the lieutenant commander answered.
“Gunyoki Race Control has launched rescue ships,” the comms officer reported.
“Helm, set a course toward Nathan, and accelerate, but keep your rate at normal levels. I want us to look like we’re just heading toward our captain, just in case the Rakuen’s have trouble rescuing him.”
“Won’t the Rakuens object?” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar wondered.
“Probably,” Cameron agreed. “But it will look suspicious if we don’t appear concerned.”
“Intercept course loaded,” Lieutenant Dinev reported. “Accelerating at normal rates.”
“Where the hell are they?” Cameron wondered.
“Maybe the Captain’s wrong?” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar said.
“I’d be lying, if I said the thought had not occurred to me,” Cameron replied. “We’ll have a hell of a lot of explaining to do, if he is.”
“What the hell is going on?” Josh wondered.
Loki did not reply. He just looked at Josh, concerned.
“This waiting is killing me!” Josh exclaimed.
“At least you aren’t back here, babysitting a pair of antimatter warheads,” Marcus grumbled.
“What are you complaining about?” Josh asked. “If one of those things go, we’re all fucked.” He looked at Loki. “Something is wrong, I can feel it.”
“Forgive me, if I don’t put a whole lot of faith in your feelings,” Loki replied.
“Well, that’s just mean, Lok.”
Nathan was well beyond the planned engagement area, and was beginning to wonder if they had been wrong about Yokimah. It was possible that all he wanted was to win the bet, and if he had someone in the race inspector’s office, his plan would probably have worked. If that were the case, they had just handed Yokimah his victory, and Nathan had lost one of their biggest assets, the Ranni shuttle plant.
Nathan’s doubts were washed away by a sudden flash of blue-white light in the distance. For a split-second, he wondered if it was the Aurora, coming to his rescue after deciding the plan had failed. But the color and shape of the flash was off.
That’s when he noticed the hauntingly familiar silhouette coming toward him. A ship he had not seen in seven years, and one that still haunted his dreams.
It was a Jung battleship.
Nathan played dumb. “Approaching ship, this is Gunyoki Seven Five. I am dead stick, bingo power. Can you offer assistance?”
There was no response.
“Any time now, Cam,” Nathan said, resisting the urge to power up, and make a run for it, as the black and red battleship continued to close on him.
Makani’s sensor display lit up, warning him of an approaching warship; one that was larger than anything he had ever seen. “Race Control, Gunyoki Two Four. I have sensor contact with an unidentified warship that has just jumped in near Gunyoki Seven Five. Recommend alert one. Repeat, alert one. Scramble all available Gunyoki fighters, and send word to Rakuen Gunyoki Command.”
“Gunyoki Two Four, Race Control. Are you sure?”
“You are speaking to a Gunyoki Master,” Makani replied, his irritation evident. “Activate the alert, or you will taste my blade as it steals your last breath from your lungs.”
“Yes, sir,” the controller replied in earnest.
“That’s what I thought,” Makani said to himself as he changed to the secure private frequency. “Six Seven, Two Four. Are you there Vol?”
“I am here, Makani,” Vol replied. “As are twenty-six of our friends. The alert has just been activated. We should be launching any second. Is the contact confirmed?”
“It is,” Makani replied. “And it is much bigger than I had imagined.” Makani watched his sensor display as more contacts appeared. “And they brought friends, as well.”
“Then we will introduce them to the blade of the Gunyoki!”
“Contact!” Lieutenant Commander Kono announced. “Jung battleship just jumped in. Benta class.”
Kaylah turned to look over her shoulder at Captain Taylor. “It’s the same one we exchanged fire with back in the Sol sector, sir.”
“Why am I not surprised,” Cameron said. “Sound general quarters. Lieutenant, plot an intercept course. Prepare to jump in and engage the target. Tactical! We’ll be firing full spreads of plasma torpedoes. Max yields, triplets. We’ll fire until the tubes are melting.”
“Recon drone just signaled,” the comms officer reported. “It stealth-jumped away.”
“Send the comm-drone and alert the Strikers,” Cameron added.
“More contacts, Captain!” Lieutenant Commander Kono warned. “Considerably smaller. Looks like Dusahn gunboats. They’re closing on the captain’s position, awfully fast, sir.”
“It’s up to the Seiiki now,” Cameron said. “Raise shields, charge all weapons, and stand by to attack on my command.”
“Attention all Gunyoki! Report when ready to launch!” the nervous voice of the controller announced over Vol Kaguchi’s comms.
“Control, Gunyoki Six Seven. Check your panel! You have twenty-seven ships ready to launch, you fool!”
“Already?”
“Yes!” Vol yelled. “Now open the doors and release manual control to all Gunyoki, so that we can do our jobs and protect Rakuen!”
“Yes, sir!”
“I am en route to your position!” Makani told Nathan over the secure channel.
“Keep your distance!” Nathan yelled. “That’s an order!”
“You forget that I am not under your command.”
“Back off on your power, Makani!” Nathan insisted. “And do it gradually! If the Dusahn realize you’re purposely slowing, they’ll become suspicious and take evasive action. You must trust me on this!”
“They are less than one hundred kilometers from your position, Nathan!” Makani warned. “They will be on you in less than a minute!”
“Believe me! I know!”
“Recon drone! Just jumped in!” Loki announced.
“Get ready for release, Pops!” Josh warned.
“Receiving targeting data,” Loki added.
“Believe me, kid, I’m fucking ready!” Marcus assured them.
“New course! Two five seven, twenty down. Accelerate to launch velocity.”
“Two five seven, twenty down,” Josh replied, entering the n
ew course into the auto-flight system. As much as he hated not hand-flying, the precision required for a successful jump-weapon intercept was beyond the capability of a human pilot, and he knew it. “Max power!” Josh announced. “Turning to new heading, now.”
“Twenty seconds to deployment point,” Loki warned.
“I’ve already got the fuckers on the ramp,” Marcus replied. “Say the word, and I’ll give’m the boot!”
“Ten seconds!”
“We are at planned release velocity,” Josh reported. “On intercept course! Right down the magenta line, baby!”
“Marcus! Release!” Loki barked.
“Releasing!” Marcus replied. “Weapons are free!”
“Thrusting down and forward,” Josh announced. This part, he was able to do manually, as the weapons were now on their final intercept trajectory.
Loki watched as the two mini jump missiles began to drift back and away from the Seiiki’s aft cargo ramp, which was currently locked, level with the cargo bay’s deck.
Josh added more thrust, increasing their rate of separation.
“You’re clear to turn away,” Loki urged.
Josh wasted no time pulling the Seiiki into a smooth left turn, giving the weapons a clear path to their target, more than two light years away.
“Target line is clear,” Loki announced. “Launching weapons.”
The press of a button, and two seconds later, both jump missiles accelerated past them to their right, quickly moving ahead of them and out of sight, eventually disappearing behind two flashes of blue-white light.
