Star Runners (31 page)

The first wave had come and gone without incident. Austin didn't get a chance to speak with them in the hangar, but the excitement on their faces was evident as they punched each other's shoulders. He wanted to ask them about plotting a distance curve and orbiting another planet, but he would find out soon enough.

The Trident passed the digital red line on the HUD.

"We've passed the marker," he said.

"Good," Nubern said from the trainer's seat. "Go ahead and signal back to the nest."

"Roger." Austin keyed for the external gamma wave. "Tower, this is Rock leading Beta Wave. We are ready to open a curve."

"Reading you loud and clear, Rock," a female voice responded. "You are clear for a curve."

Austin warned the Beta Wave by sending a text transmission, following the mission directive for radio silence, and fed his coordinates into the curvature drive. A slight vibration buzzed the cockpit as the drive warmed. As it did so, the responses from his squadron popped up on the screen.

He shook his head.
My squadron.

Don't think about it. Don't think about anything but the mission. Who cares if you're in charge? Just do the job.

He sighed. That's easier said than done.

The drive shifted from red to yellow and then, after a minute, to green.

He typed a quick message to his squadron and pulled back on the yellow lever to the left of his stick. The wings on his Trident glowed a bright white, the space before him wavering like a pond ringed with ripples. The blackness of space and the stars beyond disappeared, replaced by a void with no texture or description. A flurry of lights similar to a lightning storm surrounding the void, but the center remained calm.

He took a deep breath and, knowing the other five fighters proceeded on his move, eased forward on the throttle. Easy does it now. The fighters moved forward toward the curve. Almost there. Three MUs, two point seven five, two, one.

The fighter passed into the curve. His stomach dropped. Space glowed purple and blue, lines of starlight whisked by like a highway photograph exposed too long. After a moment they were through, the curve closing behind them.

Austin blinked and checked his coordinates. They were exactly on target.

"Well done," Nubern said in a deep, soft voice. "Check your sensors and send the message."

"Yes, sir." Austin sent the message and the other five fighters sounded off. "Beta Wave, proceed to three-oh-two."

The fighters acknowledged and they moved into the Flin Six's orbit on the dark side of the planet.

"May I ask you something, sir?" Austin asked as the fighters fell into orbit.

"Of course."

"Have you carried out the Expiration Protocol for Razor?"

Nubern made a sound like he cleared his throat. "This is really not the time, Rock, but yes. Your friend's family will be made aware of the situation in two days."

"What will they be told?"

"Lost at sea."

Austin gazed at the stars. "That sounds good, sir."

"Back to the mission, Rock. Send a status update, check your formation and do a sensor sweep."

Austin acknowledged. He sent a long range wave to Tarton's Junction, signifying they had arrived at Flin Six. The formation looked good, all fighters in position.

And the sensors -

What was that? He tapped the sensor screen and ran another sweep. His rear sensors displayed a flurry of activity, almost like a wash of signals rather than the nothing that was supposed to be out there. To his right, the brown and tan planetary body of Flin Six loomed as the terminator line swept from night to day. To his rear, however, the same wash of signals bled across his sensor, like someone had run a paint brush across the screen.

"Captain, are you reading that on the rear sensors or is something wrong with my readout?"

"Checking." After a moment, he grumbled, "Never seen anything quite like that before. What is it?"

"You're asking me?"

"No. We might have to break radio silence. Before you do that, send a message to the others and have them report their rear sensor response."

Austin did as he was instructed. The responses came back quickly.

Something strange.
No signal at all
What is that?
Nothing but a blur of activity.
Negative on the sensor sweep.

Austin leaned back in his seat. "Captain?"

"We must be getting some kind of interference. I'm breaking radio silence." He keyed for the gamma wave. "Pilots, this is Talon. Since we are running a little blind on our six, call it a day."

"I would be so disappointed if you did that."

The voice invading their gamma waves was deep and confident.

"Who was that, sir?" Austin asked, still on the intercom.

"I don't know." Nubern stretched to get a view behind them. "Scorpion, check our six."

"Roger."

"There is no reason. We have you in our sights," the menacing voice came back. "Make a move and you will be destroyed."

Austin's eyes widened. "What should I do?"

Nubern hesitated. "Captain Braddock is the ranking officer. Protocol calls for you to defer to him."

Austin keyed for the gamma wave. "Captain Braddock, I am deferring to you."

"Yes, yes," the same voice cut through. "Get the child off the radio."

A moment passed, Austin's fingers rested lightly on the stick.

"This is Captain Braddock. Who is this?"

"Well, Captain Braddock of the Tizona Squadron, welcome to our conversation. My name is Dax Rodon."

Ice water ran through Austin’s veins. The Tyral Pirate leader here, at Flin Six. The man responsible for Josh's death.

"I should have you arrested," Braddock said through what sounded to be a clinched jaw. "What gives you the right to think you can detain Legion fighters?"

"This," Rodon said.

The colorful haze on the sensor vanished, replaced by a series of signals. Austin did a quick count; ten fighters to their rear. His breathing quickened.

"Stay focused," Nubern hissed in his ear on the intercom.

Braddock made a sound like groaning. "What do you want Rodon?"

"Last month you destroyed three of my fighters. For that, and interest, we will take your six fighters down to Flin Six. You will park and leave your fighters for retrieval by my men. Do this now and without incident, and I will let you and your pilots live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today."

Rodon made a clicking sound with his tongue. "You shouldn't have sent a second training mission, Braddock, but you know this don't you? Pay me and you will not be sorry. Make your decision."

The gamma wave crackled in Austin's ear piece, but Braddock did not respond. The seconds stretched, each heartbeat dragging. The HUD flashed a message from Braddock:

Rock - prepare a curve immediately.

Austin stared at Braddock's message for a moment, unsure what to do, frozen with his hands on the stick.

"I'll do it, Rock," Nubern said on the intercom.

"Bad idea, Braddock," Rodon hissed, his tone laced with arrogance and spite.

The sensors flashed and a projectile emerged behind them, moving fast and heading directly for Rolling and Etti.

Without thinking, Austin keyed for the gamma wave. "Evasive! Now!"

It was too late. The torpedo smashed into the Trident carrying Rolling and Etti. The fighter burst into a ball of fire. The flames fizzled and burning wreckage twirled into Austin's wing. Because they had just passed through the curve, all of their shields had been down. Metal smashed against metal, the wreckage of Rolling and Etti's fighter crashed into their wing.

"Check for a pod beacon."

"There's none," Nubern said. "Evade, now!"

Austin glanced down at the sensor, saw several more incoming torpedoes. His sensors wailed in his ears as he yanked back on the stick. As he did so, Nubern barked commands at the other fighters.

The sky flashed with a blue light, and Austin's head thrust forward. His helmet smacked the controls hard enough to see spots. He shook his head and saw the controls, his vision blurred, a crack running down the right side of his helmet. Their Trident spun away from the others, twirling on its axis toward Flin Six, the stars revolved wildly in front of him.

Dimly, he heard Scorpion's voice on the gamma wave. "This is Scorpion. I'm taking over. Snake, Bullethead, attack!"

"What about Rock?" Skylar asked, fear in her voice.

"Forget it, Cheetah, open a curve! Now!"

"But -"

"Do it!"

The sounds of battle faded. Weariness threatened to overtake him as the stars spun around the cockpit. Austin shook his head again, trying to clear his vision. The dashboard flickered and went dim only to come back.

"Captain, our sensors are, uh, are doing something." He shook his head again. "Captain, something's wrong."

He heard nothing but the frantic chatter on the gamma wave as the Tizona fighters clashed with Rodon and his pirate thugs.

"Captain Nubern?" When still no answer came, Austin unbuckled his seat belt enough to twist his back to stare back into the trainer canopy. "Captain!"

Nubern head was slumped forward, the back of his helmet scratched and jagged. Austin spun around, his eyes wide and frantically searching the controls. The stars spun around his cockpit as the Trident tumbled toward Flin Six, the brown planetary body filling his view. He strapped himself back into the cockpit and tried to slow his breathing.

Focus.

His sensors moved out of order in complete chaos, the screens flickering and losing power only to fire back. The pirate torpedo must have actually been a stunner; a projectile designed to fire an electro magnetic pulse to fry the circuit boards of anything within range. If it hadn't been a stunner, he'd probably be dead.

The planet now filled his canopy, the proximity alarms wailing as his Trident neared the atmosphere.

Focus.

His hands flew across the controls as he switched all power into his shields and thrusters. Within two seconds, the fighter's spin lessened. Ignoring the alarms, Austin grabbed the stick and within another two seconds stopped the spin. He used the inertia of his spin to fall into orbit and go full throttle. He skipped across the atmosphere, the wings on his fighter glowing red before he yanked back on the stick and soared away from the planet.

Breathing heavily, he allowed a smile and a quick glance at his rear sensors to watch Flin Six rapidly falling behind him. He turned his attention back to the fight. He had been gone too long. He did a quick check of his sensors. Scorpion and Snake took on eight pirates in a ball of laser fire. Two pirates had been destroyed in his absence, but he didn't know where the other trainer and escort went, and decided not to think about it. He knew what had happened to Etti and Rolling.

He tapped the side of his helmet. "Scorpion, do you read me?"

"Rock?" She sounded a frantic mix of relief and desperation. "Where have you been?"

"I'm inbound. Be there in twenty seconds."

"Hurry."

Austin shifted all the power into his engines and tried to close the gap. As he neared, he saw the chaotic ball of combat up ahead, streaks of blue and red burning through the darkness like lethal fireflies. The trainer didn't have any ordinance, only the lasers.

He thought of Etti, her red curls bouncing on her shoulders, and Rolling, the first commander he had known from Earth.

He closed to laser range and pulled in behind a pirate trailing Scorpion. Squeezing the trigger, he unloaded a full charge into the rear of the unsuspecting pilot. The trainer's guns spit red, showering the Tyral fighter with a deadly amount of energy. The pirate broke off the attack, trying to loop around behind, but Austin was faster. The final laser bolts hit the cockpit directly, incinerating both metal and flesh.

The cockpit shuddered as the shields repulsed debris from his kill.

One down, his first kill.

His blood burned like lava in his veins. His first kill. He killed a person, possibly the person responsible for Josh’s death. The surge of energy pulsed through him as he searched his surroundings. There!

"Scorpion, two on your tail. I'm coming."

"Make it fast!" she snapped. "Can't get Rodon."

Austin saw the pirate leader's fighter twirling and rolling as Scorpion offered a relentless pursuit. Austin maneuvered behind the two pursuing pirates. He locked the closest fighter into his targeting computer and fired twice, his energy banks still not full.

The bolts zipped wide. He missed.

The two pursuing Scorpion now knew he was there, and the one he wasn't targeting broke off the pursuit, spinning downward and out of sight. Fighting the urge, Austin stayed on the fighter trailing Scorpion. He rolled and pressed hard, trying to get in closer to allow his lasers to burn into his target.

His ear piece wailed. Someone was trying to target him!