Daniels shot the artificial girl a look that defied description. Alisa fought the urge to let out an exasperated sigh; it would take a lot longer before Daniels and Portland would finally accept Rin as a living being rather than a piece of computer equipment.
“That's correct, Flight Officer. You're free to spend your downtime training or engaging in recreational activities, but you are on duty. That means no alcohol.”
“Yes, ma'am.” Daniels stood up and saluted, but Alisa could tell he was sulking.
Daniels and Portland were certainly an odd couple. The two were thick as thieves, but they were incredibly different both physically and in general temperament. Portland was serious and taciturn, preferring to speak only as much as necessary. Daniels presented the image of the stereotypical ace pilot—brash, cocky and generally full of himself, but still managed to get the job done.
Delta Three was a thin, lanky man who stood a few inches taller than Alisa herself. In many ways his physique was similar to her own—slender and toned, but unlike Alisa he carried not an ounce of fat on his frame. Daniels possessed a head full of sandy-blond curls and sharp green eyes, with regular and even features. He was very attractive and, perhaps unfortunately, was fully aware of that fact.
Like Alisa, Daniels was an heir to a military family, one of middling rank. Like her, he had been tested at an early age for link capability and enlisted into the Fleet at the age of seventeen. Unlike Alisa, however, Daniels' scores were solidly in the average range, but his records showed that sheer tenacity and determination managed to surpass his marks and help him complete missions that would have otherwise been written off as failures.
The fact that Portland and Daniels had become friends was interesting. Alisa supposed the ancient aphorism of opposites attracting certainly applied. While Portland rarely said much to most people, he was positively chatty when with Daniels. It wasn't unusual for two pilots to form a strong bond such as theirs, but it was something Alisa herself had never experienced.
“Ma'am.” Portland's low voice pulled Alisa out of her thoughts. She looked up in surprise, noting that Daniels had already left. Her eyes scanned the ready room quickly; Lindy had relocated to one of the lounging couches across the way, engrossed in reading something on her tab. Rin was still standing in the same place, her eyes holding a dreamy, unfocused look as she devoted much of her processing power to tactical forecasting.
“Sorry, Flight Officer. What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to apologize, ma'am.”
“What for?”
“I did some checking up on you, off the record,” the pilot continued, his voice strong and clear. “I know I should have just asked you directly.”
“I thought you might have done something like that.” Alisa pursed her lips and stared hard at her subordinate. “Did this unauthorized investigation change your opinion of me, Flight Officer?”
“Yes, it did, but I don't understand, ma'am. Your scores are so high you're in the top five percentile of the entire Fleet. You're the youngest pilot to achieve command rank in recent memory—”
“And you're wondering why I was assigned to lead Delta.” Alisa's expression was completely unreadable. “The lowest-scored flight in the 703.”
He nodded. “Respectfully, ma'am.”
“Officially I was assigned to Delta in order to whip the lot of you into shape, raise up your scores and bring you more in-line with the rest of the 703.”
Portland's expression was dubious. “Excuse me, ma'am, but that sounds like bullshit.”
“No need to apologize, Officer. I agree completely that it is bullshit. Either High Command has something in mind they're not sharing with anyone, or…”
“Delta Four,” Portland murmured under his breath. Alisa's frown deepened and she glanced over at where Lindy was sitting. The woman was too busy reading to notice and too far away to hear what Portland said.
“I cannot confirm nor deny that, Officer.” Her scowl suggested that he should drop the subject, especially with Lindy in the same room.
“Yes, ma'am. I may look like a muscle-bound meathead, but my daddy didn't raise a fool. I know politics when I see them. Don't worry about me, Lead. I'll get the job done, no matter what.”
“Thank you for understanding, Officer. Relax a little while you have time.”
“Yes, ma'am.” Portland straightened into a parade-ground stance and saluting in one smooth, fluid motion. Alisa watched silently as the big man walked away, heading toward the door leading out of the ready room.
“That was really awkward,” Rin commented.
“It was. It means they're starting to accept me as their leader, though.”
“Portland and Lindy, anyway.”
“Daniels will take some more finesse, surely,” Alisa murmured. “I'm sure you noticed how he looked at you when you spoke to him.”
“I'm used to it.” Rin shrugged her slender shoulders as if it didn't matter. “The only way it'll ever stop is if I prove to them that I'm not really any different than they are.”
Alisa didn't respond. Rin's expression darkened a hair and Alisa braced herself for the inevitable.
They're never going to accept me if you keep me hidden away from them and you know it, Rin's voice echoed through her mind.
I don't want to discuss this now.
You can't keep avoiding the issue forever, Alisa. Rumors will keep flying around the both of us if you don't work to put them to rest. It's not something I can do without your active participation.
Alisa blinked and looked away. It was clear Rin wasn't going to let the issue drop this time. A nameless dread began to claw on the inside of her stomach, leaving her feeling hollow and cold.
Alisa, please—
I told you I don't want to talk about it. Alisa's mental snap had her eyes narrowing sharply. We've got more important things to worry about right now. Commander Isaacs will be calling for us any time now.
“We are going to talk about it later. Tonight. No objections,” Rin demanded aloud, not bothering to keep her voice down. Alisa felt a rush of sudden anger and embarrassment as Lindy looked up at the sound of Rin's raised voice.
“Rin, cut it out.”
“I will not cut it out,” Rin snapped. “I'm not fond of being treated like a piece of property. Especially by you.”
“I'm not treating you—”
Rin turned away angrily. “I'm going to go check on the Lancer. We have to be ready for when Commander Isaacs sends us out.”
Alisa said nothing as her partner stalked out of the ready room. She glanced over at Lindy, noticing the embarrassed woman had sunk deeper into the couch, blocking her face from Alisa's view with her tab.
Her mind whirling with emotions, most of them negative, Alisa sat back down at the ready room table and pulled up the tactical forecast Rin had copied to her tab. It would do her no good to dwell on the issue now, especially not when she was anticipating being deployed within the next few hours.
She could feel the neural link to Rin grow fuzzy and indistinct; Rin was actively blocking it to prevent emotions or thoughts from reaching her. There was nothing she could do about it right now, but Alisa wasn't a quitter.
We'll talk about it tonight, I promise, she sent with her thoughts. There was no response that could be put into words, but Alisa could have sworn she felt a softening of Rin's mood through the link.
[-]
The expected call came two hours later. Alisa looked up at the dagger-shaped form of her Lancer, the vessel's fresh coat of paint gleaming under the bright overhead lighting. She walked up the gangplank leading to the boarding catwalk overhead.
Ready to go? Alisa sent through the neural link.
All systems check out, Rin's voice came back in her mind. Alisa, unlike the other pilots in the wing, had modified her vessel's system access permissions to allow Rin more control over the vessel's systems than was standard. Rin's access was effectively unlimited, a choice most pilots in the Fleet wouldn't
have made, but Alisa considered it wise. If she were to be incapacitated again…
Alisa shook herself out of her dark thoughts and focused on the present. The mission was more important than her old memories. She entered a few commands into the catwalk console and the Lancer's command module slid upward. The solid, reinforced canopy retracted, revealing the heavy fighter's single seat.
“Let's get moving, Alisa,” Rin said, the small holo standing on its pedestal, her miniature hands placed on her hips impatiently. Alisa said nothing as she dropped into the command couch. The canopy slid downward over her, sealing her inside the command module as it descended back into the vessel's interior.
“Exterior seal activated. We've got a stable internal environment. All systems are green and we're ready to go.”
“Got it.” Alisa reached over and keyed her communications console to the Delta flight frequency, “Delta Flight, are we ready to sortie?”
“Delta Two, all systems checked out and ready,” Portland's bass voice came over the comm.
“Delta Three, ready and eager,” Daniels reported in. His tone suggested that he was not especially eager, however.
“Delta Four, standing by,” Lindy said.
“Infiltrator flight deck, this is Delta Lead,” Alisa said into the comm, keying the channel for wide-cast. “We're ready to sortie.”
“Acknowledged, Delta Lead,” the Infiltrator's deck officer said in a bored tone. “Try not to fall asleep out there.”
“Tell Commander Isaacs that I don't think this mission will be as easy as everyone seems to think,” Alisa told the deck officer, a note of concern creeping into her voice.
“Do you have any basis for that theory?”
“Just a gut feeling.”
“I'll tell him,” the deck officer replied. Alisa could sense exasperation in the man's voice, as if Alisa's concern was entirely misplaced and simply a waste of time. Fortunately she outranked him and he would comply with her order, regardless of whether he agreed with her assessment or not.
The Lancer shuddered slightly as the docking clamps disengaged, freeing the vessel from the cradle. The repulsion panels on the fighter's underside activated as Alisa tapped the stick slightly, angling the nose toward the fighter bay doors. The metal shutter seemed to shimmer oddly for a moment.
“Curtain barrier is active, doors opening now,” the deck officer's voice came over the comm. Alisa watched as the doors began to slowly open up, exposing the fighter bay to the void beyond. The curtain barrier maintained the internal atmospheric pressure, allowing the crew below to continue working while fighters were launched, but any shielded object would be able to pass through the barrier as if it weren't even there.
“Shields are active and charging; currently at ten percent,” Rin reported. “Burst banks are around 60 percent.”
Alisa opened the comm channel again. “Infiltrator flight deck, this is Delta Lead. Delta Flight is heading out now.”
“Copy that, Delta Lead.”
The starfighter moved slowly toward the wide-open fighter bay doors, its main thrust apertures still inactive. Carefully Alisa edged the fighter through the opening, using only the reaction control units and the repulsion panels for acceleration. The instant the Lancer passed through the barrier, Rin engaged the starfighter's primary drive and sent the fighter streaking out into the void.
The entire procedure took only about twelve seconds—far faster than the seven minute full evacuated launch procedure used before the curtain barrier technology gained widespread adoption.
“Delta Two has launched,” Rin reported a few seconds later. “Delta Three is navigating the flight deck and will be joining us shortly.”
“ETA for full deployment?”
Rin's projected image turned toward the tactical display. “Twenty seconds.”
“Delta Flight, form up on me,” Alisa ordered over Delta Flight's private communications channel. “Pattern sigma-37 on our way to nav point one.”
“Delta Three; acknowledged. Forming up in sigma-37.”
Alisa watched the tactical display panel as the three green “friendly” icons, each representing one of Delta Flight's Lancers, arranged themselves in a loose diamond shape with her vessel at the top vertex.
“What's the plan, Lead?” Daniels asked. Alisa's lips twitched slightly as she detected a note of impatience in the man's voice. He wanted to prove himself on the battlefield, she knew, especially after Lindy had been given kill credit for the Gray frigate during their last mission.
“Simple hit-and-fade on the Gray supply dump,” Alisa told him. “Nav points one, two and three are munitions storage. Nav point four is an unmanned helium-3 refueling station. We're here to destroy all of them.”
“Opposition?” Portland asked.
“Preliminary scouting of the Lethe system suggests that the Gray have only lightly defended this supply dump,” Alisa continued. “We're told to expect only half a wing of gunboats.”
“That's all?” Lindy wondered.
“Doesn't smell right, Lead,” Portland added.
“I agree. There's something not right about this system. Fortunately, Commander Isaacs agrees as well. He ordered Alpha Flight to sortie an hour ago. They should be destroying the system's comm relay right about… now.”
“So the defenders will be expecting us,” Portland said.
“They will,” Rin told the pilot. “They'll probably try to stand until they figure out how many of us there really are. Then they'll have one vessel jump to the nearest friendly outpost and request backup.”
“What's the plan, Lead?” Daniels inquired.
“Delta Two and Delta Three will be tasked with engaging the gunboats. Ensure that none of them makes it out of Lethe alive. Delta Four will take out the refueling station.”
“And you, Lead?”
“I'll be hanging back in case the Gray have an ace up their sleeve.” Alisa felt her voice grow colder and harder. “The longer I think about it, the more likely it seems.”
“We're coming up on the nav point now,” Rin cut in. “Everyone knows what to do, so let's get to it.”
Portland spoke up. “Delta Lead, mind if I have my operator link a real-time data feed to yours?”
“Go ahead.” Alisa nodded at Rin's holo. The volumetric projection of her partner nodded and a second later, Alisa's tactical data began streaming, unabridged, to Portland's AI operator.
“Linked up with Dragon, connection is solid,” Rin reported.
“We're ready.” Alisa tapped on her tactical display and triggered the countdown. “Begin the mission. We'll make our first move… and see how the Gray respond.”
[-]
Binary System: Deneb is available now on the Amazon Kindle Store!
about the author
Hi there! My name is Corinn Heathers, and I'm the author!
Most about-the-author blurbs are written in the third person, but I find it tiresome and dull to do so. So here it is, from the top: I'm a lesbian transgender woman, a fairly girly girl, a gigantic nerd who loves role-playing games, visual novels, the occasional anime or manga… oh, and I'm an author of speculative fiction based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
I love to write science fiction and fantasy, or science fantasy fiction, or science fiction masquerading as fantasy and everything in between. As you might have noticed, I write stories with predominately female and queer casts, often with mixed-race or otherwise non-white protagonists and supporting characters.
dimension fracture is the second book in my urban fantasy series Dawn of a New Astral Age. My other novel-length works include bound together and Binary System: Deneb. I've also published multiple short stories; two in anthologies published by Skipjack Publishing, as well as a guest author contribution to my fellow author and close friend K.J. Russell's debut dark fantasy tale, The Dusty Man.
Readers can connect with me through my Twitter account, @syn010110, or by following my Tumblr (syn010110.tumblr.com), though I'm not the most
active social-media butterfly. I also maintain a public email account that readers can use to contact me if they wish ([email protected]), which I check reasonably often.
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