When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars) (9 page)

             
DeHart nodded
.“
Pass it out to SP. Recall to former position and hold
.
”

             
“Intel is going to be upset you did
n’
t get a scan
.
”

             
The commander sighed
.“
Right now
I’
d rather deal with a ghost than a little green goblin
.
”

*              *              *              *              *

              Cameron, George and Ensign McLane flew in a tight formation just to the rear of the unknown black fleet. Wolfpack had spread over a line of a thousand kilometers so as to appear less aggressive to the alien ships. Alie
n—
the word had sounded wrong in Camero
n’
s mouth the first time h
e’
d said it, but he was pressed to find a better description. H
e’
d never visited the colonies before; that trip was a bit out of his budget. Once, while serving as a skycap pilot over Europa, h
e’
d seen strange lights that seemed to chase his Sparrow around the small research station. But those were just vapor wraiths. This was a whole new ballgame.

             
The dark fighters appeared to have been built with the sole purpose of looking as scary as possible. A three-wing design gave the hull a distinct Y-shape, and the red splotches across the glossy black metal resembled animal markings or war paint. Radar and sensor array spikes popped out at odd angles across the body. Two gray barrels hung under the smaller wing
s—
the main cannon
s—
and fired rapid bursts of red energy at the far-off silver craft. Sound did
n’
t carry in the vacuum, but the resonation from each salvo echoed inside Ca
m’
s cockpit. George had commented that the engines did
n’
t seem particularly well-designed, leaking thermal energy in a red stream behind the vessel as it flew.

             
Up close the missile frigates no longer resembled perfect spheres. Made of six layers of rotating disks, the warships spewed out a steady barrage of heat seekers that locked onto targets and gave chase. The cruisers revealed a secret up close as well: the gargantuan barrel that protruded from the nose and seemed to run the length of the ship. Every few minutes the main gun would fire, rocking the entire ship as the breach dropped out the rear of the vessel to expel gasses. Flying this close to the giant vessels played havoc with Camero
n’
s nerves, but he focused on the mission.

             
Ensign McLane volunteered to be the one to scan the ship. His fighter was relatively old, but had recently received a new port engine. If the active radar caused the aliens to grow hostile, Cameron and George could hold the line while the younger pilot escaped. As the ensig
n’
s Phoenix closed with a solitary Y fighter, George pulled off to his flank to watch for other ships. They had
n’
t said a word in twenty minutes, save guidance on flight patterns. When they neared a slow group of alien craft, the silence finally broke.

             
“This is maybe the second dumbest thing yo
u’
ve ever gotten me into
,”
George said. He was sweating. His arms were stiff from holding the yoke so tight.

             
“Second
?”
Cameron looked off at a distant explosion. A silver fighter broke into thousands of pieces as a missile connected. He was lost in the image for a moment. There was
n’
t much debris left after the fireball, and no evidence of a pilot trying to punch out
.“
This is way worse than Angela Hershbach
.
”              

             
“Angela would have ruined my life, yo
u’
re just trying to kill me
.
”

             
“First of all
,”
Cameron began
.“
Angela was a catch. She had a robust figure, a smile that most members of the species would not find alarming and she could whittle with her feet. Plus you always wanted to grow a mustache, and she was clearly the best teacher
.
”

             
George jerked his ship to the side to avoid a fiery chunk of debris
.“
All good points, but she also smelled exactly like hydraulic fluid. Woman never spent a day in her life around heavy machinery, but every inch of that apartment reeked. I spent a full day digging through her stuff looking for an empty bottle of H12
.
”

             
Ensign McLane could
n’
t resist getting in
.“
You spent a day rooting around in some lad
y’
s apartment while she was out
?
”

             
“No, McLane
.”
Cameron suppressed a laugh
.“
That would have only been sad. George looked through her stuff while she slept on the bed
.
”

             
“Hibernated
,”
George shouted
.“
I
t’
s how her kind recovers after a session of passionate mating
.”
All three pilots laughed. George stole a glance off his starboard side and saw Cameron banging the glass of his canopy, tears streaming down his face
.“
And who was it who introduced me to that Sasquatch
?
”

             
Cameron was about to answer when his collision alert sounded. He looked around for a moment but could
n’
t see any source of danger in his flight path. He adjusted his height, dropping down two meters. Better to trust the sensors than to run into some unseen debris. His kinetic shielding would protect him from smaller fragments, not chunks of wrecked fighters
.“
I invited you to a party at a frien
d’
s apartment. Yo
u’
re the one who got blasted on coolers and ended up neck-deep in mistakes
.
”

             
The alien fighters had drawn far away from the main battle, performing some elaborate banking maneuver that seemed excessively slow and deliberate. It took a full thirty seconds before they were pointed in the right direction again. Cameron and his wingmen fell in behind, ready to complete their mission.

             
An alarm sounded across their comms. McLan
e’
s fighter jerked as the inexperienced pilot panicked for a moment. He regained control, but tripped the toggle on his stick and activated his laser lock. The Phoeni
x’
s active radar projected out and found the nearest object and began creating a firing solution. Laser locks were used when the target had no readable signature, such as an asteroid or chunk of debris or alien spacecraft that refused contact. The L-DAR, even more so than active radar, worked like a tracer round. It almost guaranteed a targeting solution, but drew a gigantic line back to the fighter for the enemy to follow with their own weaponry.

             
“McLane, you all right
?”
Camero
n’
s heart pounded in his chest, but he recognized the alarm as a distance warning rather than a threat detection. They had crossed beyond the range of their supporting vessels and the fighters warned that they should turn back
.“
W
e’
re working without a net, stay sharp
.
”

             
The radio squawked and a female voice came over the net
.“
This is
Valley Forge
. All SP fighters are recalled to position. All SP fighters are to return to Fleet position, time now
.
”

             
“Seriously
?”
Cameron stared at his radio, dumbfounded
.“
Why the hell did you send us out here then
?
”

             
George whistled
.“
Common sense wins out. Tha
t’
s ten bucks, McLane
.
”

             
“We did
n’
t have a bet going
,”
the ensign said.

             
George pulled alongside the ensig
n’
s fighter and shrugged
.“
I do
n’
t think tha
t’
s how it works, but I can understand your confusion. Tell you what,
I’
m a fair guy.
I’
ll settle for a beer
.
”

             
At once, all three fighter
s’
collision alarms sounded. Cameron looked across their formation, noticing both pilots react as well. Something pulled at his mind, a sudden thought racing through. He looked up and noticed they were flying alone. The alien ships had vanished.

             
“Contact rear! Disperse
!”
Cameron jerked his yoke to the right. Jets on the port side of the fighter fired off, propelling the craft away. One nozzle sputtered without effect, slowing the turn. A bolt of red energy grazed Ca
m’
s wing, digging a divot along the underside. A warbling note informed the pilot that his compressor valve was gone. Another two inches and it would have been the whole wing.

             
George and McLane dodged left and down, avoiding incoming fire as they separated from their wingman. Cameron looked over his shoulder and saw a trio of Y fighters bearing down from their six
o’
clock position. His stomach lurched. They were all on him
.“
Valley Forge
, this is Wolf one. Under fire, I say again, under fire from enemy fleet
.
”

-                           
V                            -

              For a moment, it was as if nothing had changed. The two sets of unknown ships continued their ponderous attack, unconcerned with the sudden sortie opening between the black Y fighters and the Terrans. The collective breath was held. As one, the battleships of the black armada turned to face the Terrans, diverting almost three quarters of their force to attack the formerly neutral party. Missiles shot out from the frigates, arcing quickly toward the battle groups. A wall of rockets and projectiles fired in response, and the humans went to war.

             
The Terran Fleet reacted with practiced precision. Anti-missile batteries filled the sky with flechette rounds to disrupt the incoming warheads. Squadrons of fighters and bombers scrambled from the launch hangars on
Midway
and Normandy and Terra, rushing out to join the battle. The
Valley Forge
and her escort of destroyers fired salvos of tungsten shell from their main gun
s—
six foot slugs of solid metal rocketing out of the barrels toward the enemy ships.

             
Two waves of fighters crashed together. Red bolts of energy tore into Terran fighters, scoring the hulls with black pockmarks. The humans returned fire, shooting superheated slag into the Y-shaped craft. Plumes of smoke and flame erupted as ships on all sides fell. Slowly, the Fleet pushed the aggressors back into their own battle line. Silver craft from the other side of the fight joined in, peppering the acorn-shaped cruisers with blistering bolts of plasma and salvos of glowing missiles. One alien destroyer took a hit center of the munition bay and exploded violently, sending a wave of concussive energy outward. The scooped hull split into pieces, each trailing debris.

             
From his position on the moon, Raymond watched what the chaotic frenzy of action. With so many ships moving in so many directions, it was hard to see any order. He recorded every second of the battle. It was the only way he knew to help. Every screen in the building flickered to life, each displaying a different angle.

             
Above him, the fight raged on.

*              *              *              *              *

              “Lock on target
.
”