by Ryk Brown
Captain Nash reached down and pressed a button on the control panel built into the podium. A massive view screen came to life behind and above him, on it, an exploded engineering plan of the Cobra Gunship.
“This is the Cobra class, fast-attack gunship,” he began. “They are based on the old scout class ships built on Earth more than twenty years ago. We chose this design because it is rugged, easy to build, and has decades of performance experience behind it. More importantly, all the engineering has already been worked out, and tested in battle, so there are no surprises awaiting us. All we needed to figure out was how to modify her to better suit her new mission profiles. Those profiles are to defend the Tannan system, to recon Jung controlled systems, to perform deep space detection patrols, and to conduct wolf-pack style attacks against larger ships.”
Captain Nash pressed the control button to change the image on the view screen. “The Cobra gunship will not be terribly fast, but she will be maneuverable. She will have a jump drive with a single-jump range of one light year, and will be able to jump repeatedly without recharging, giving her a theoretically unlimited jump range. In addition, her jump drive control systems will be more automated, allowing the use of preset jump distances, and automated series jumping, using a system of pre-determined way points. This will allow you to utilize the jump system more rapidly, since the jump navigation computer will only need to calculate the jump parameters necessary to get you to the nearest way point.”
Captain Nash paused for a moment, taking a drink of water to clear his throat. “The Cobra gunship will have advanced sensors of Takaran design, and will have an additional sensor module that can be swapped out according to mission profiles. She will be manned by a crew of six, whose positions shall be pilot, copilot, weapons systems, systems engineer, and two gunners. Her primary weapon will be four, independently powered, variable output, forward facing, mark three plasma torpedo cannons. At maximum output, these cannons can fire at a rate of once every ten seconds. At minimum output, they can fire once per second up to one hundred shots before reaching critical heat levels. The Cobra’s secondary weapons will be two, quad-barreled, mark two plasma cannon turrets. They will be mounted on either side amidships, and will be manually operated. They will be mounted in tunnels that allow the weapon to extend outward several meters, giving them overlapping fields of fire. In other words, a target would have to be pretty damned close to not be in their field of fire. And lastly, there are four, double-barreled, mark one plasma cannon turrets mounted on the main drive section, fore and aft, and port and starboard, on both the top and the bottom, for a total of eight turrets. These turrets are operated by the weapons systems officer on the action deck, and can be assigned to operate in zones as point-defense weapons.”
Captain Nash paused to take another breath before continuing. “In addition to all this firepower, the Cobra gunships are designed to use external hard-points to carry any number of external weapons systems, such as long and medium range intercept missiles, anti-ship missiles, and can even be used to deploy kinetic kill vehicles. In short, there is little that the Cobra Gunship will not be able to do. All you must do is learn how to operate her. Are there any questions?”
Captain Nash looked out across the room and sighed as a few dozen hands shot up.
* * *
After a quick dash across the meadow, Gerard and Naralena had been working their way up the rugged, steep terrain for several hours. The pace had been frantic, but steady, but it was wearing heavily on both of them.
“I need to rest,” Naralena begged.
“We are almost to the top,” Gerard urged. “Just a few more minutes. Once we reach the summit, we will be better able to assess our situation. Perhaps then we can afford to slow our pace a bit.”
Naralena groaned but continued up the trail behind him, nonetheless. The trees had begun to thin out twenty minutes ago and now they were becoming even more sparse as the ground became more rocky near the summit.
As promised, they stopped a few minutes later. Naralena immediately found the nearest large boulder on which to sit and rest, while Gerard scanned the valley behind them with a small pair of electronic binoculars that he carried in his pack.
“We may have been lucky,” he said as he continued his scan. “It appears they have not yet reached our cabin. As I suspected, the Jung only knew the origin of the signal was somewhere around the lake.”
“Maybe we should find somewhere to hide?” Naralena suggested. “The Alliance must know what area we are in. Perhaps they will come and search for us?”
“To do so would invite even more Jung patrols, as it would only verify what they already suspect,” Gerard explained. “That is why your people did not simply send in an evac ship when contact was first made. They did not know the proximity of the Jung to our location. Based on the short amount of time it took for them to respond, we must assume that they have more men in this area than we anticipated.”
“Couldn’t they have just flown in recently?” Naralena wondered.
“The Alliance managed to clear the skies of Jung ships prior to their withdrawal. I do not believe they have any ships left, at least not in this area.”
“What are we going to do, then?”
“We will make our way down the far side. There is a resort a few hours walk from here. Many of their guests are people such as us.”
“People running from the Jung?” Naralena wondered, finding it difficult to believe.
Gerard smiled. “Couples hiking the long trails between lakes. It is a common type of vacation this time of year, to hike from resort to resort. It is good exercise…cleanses the soul.”
“I think I’ve had enough exercise for one day,” she commented.
“We should be going,” Gerard said. “It will be dark in a few hours.”
“What about your men?” Naralena wondered as she reluctantly rose to her feet again.
“They know what to do. If we were able to get away, so should they… I hope.”
* * *
“It doesn’t look any different than a standard Falcon’s console,” Josh commented as he looked around the cockpit. He turned and looked at Deliza. “Are you sure it’s a ‘Super Falcon’ and not just a regular old ‘Falcon’? I heard they’re easily confused.”
“Are you going to take this seriously?” Deliza scolded, “or should I ask Loki to be my test pilot?”
“I’m just asking.”
“It looks the same because we haven’t changed anything…yet. We’re waiting until after the prototype has flown and the admiral approves.”
“Then, why am I here?”
“We’ve programmed the simulator with the Super Falcon’s performance specifications. It should give us a good idea of how it handles.”
“I’ve flown Falcons plenty,” Josh argued, “I know how they fly.”
“Super Falcons are different,” Deliza insisted. “We don’t want you to crash our only prototype, now do we?” she added as she stepped back down the access ladder and signaled the technician to close the simulator hood.
“Crash? Not a chance, princess,” he scoffed as the sim hood came down over the Falcon’s cockpit.
“Don’t call me princess,” she warned him through the crack as the hood closed and locked.
“Alright then,” Josh said as he adjusted his comm-set. “I just love how roomy it is in here when you’re not wearing a pressure suit. Hey, when you redesign the cockpit, can we make it a little roomier? That would be great.”
“You’ve already got the roomiest cockpit of any fighter,” Deliza replied over his comm-set. “In fact, you’re going to have less space, as we’re going to change it to a traditional cockpit instead of tandem.”
“What? It’s already cramped,” Josh objected.
“Don’t worry, you won’t be
wearing a pressure suit.”
“You mean I gotta rub elbows with Loki for twelve hours? You know how bad that guy smells by the end of a long mission?”
“I heard that,” Loki said.
“Loki! Hey! Glad you could make it!”
“Uh huh.”
“Why aren’t you in here with me, Lok?” Josh wondered.
“They needed someone to run the sim. I’ll do my tasks from here just like I was in the cockpit with you.”
“But it feels so lonely in here without you,” Josh joked. “Seriously, though. Tandem is better for long missions.”
“If we keep it tandem, then there won’t be enough room for a cabin,” Deliza told him.
“A cabin? We get a cabin?”
“With standing head room, no less,” Deliza added.
“What?” Josh pretended not to hear her, tapping his comm-set mic. “Did you say you want me to stand on my head?” he tapped the mic again. “I’m not sure this thing is working. Maybe we’d better abort?”
“Powering up your systems,” Loki announced as Josh’s console came to life. “We’ll start you off already in space.”
“I thought they weren’t changing anything about the space systems?”
“Your ship’s center of gravity will be different without the atmospheric drives and the lift fans,” Deliza explained.
“You’re yanking our lift fans?” Josh exclaimed in disbelief. “How the hell are we supposed land?”
“You’ve heard of runways?” Loki asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
“You ever land on a runway?” Josh retorted.
“Plenty of times.”
“Recently?”
“Well, not recently, but I made a few hundred of them in basic flight.”
“Congratulations, you are the new Super Falcon test pilot,” Josh announced.
“I thought your nickname was Hotdog?” Deliza said.
“Hotdog is my handle, princess, not my nickname…but, point taken.”
“You ready, Hotdog?” Loki asked.
“Let her rip, Stretch,” Josh said as he put his hands on the flight controls.
The simulator view screen that wrapped around the outside of the Falcon’s cockpit came to life, displaying a wrap-around view of space, complete with stars and the Earth below.
“Alright, why don’t you go ahead and put her through some basic maneuvers,” Loki recommended over his comm-set.
Josh pushed his control stick to the left, initiating a longitudinal roll. “Nose spirals a bit on roll.” He added more roll thrust, increasing the simulated roll rate. “Spiral increases with my roll rate. You want me to try and compensate?”
“Negative,” Loki replied. “The thruster placements are designed for a different CG. They’re reprogramming the thrust controllers now to adjust the strength of the thrust due to the offset center of gravity. Give them a minute.”
“Copy that.” Josh looked out his canopy, watching the simulated Earth circle around from left to right over and over again. “This is fun,” he commented as he continued to watch the Earth circle around him. “Good thing I don’t get motion-sickness.”
“Okay, I think they’ve got it now. Resetting,” Loki announced.
The wrap-around view screen reset, and again he was in simulated flight in Earth orbit, with the planet off his port side.
“Try that left roll again,” Loki instructed.
“Sure.” Josh touched his control stick, initiating another roll.
“How’s the spiral?” Loki asked.
“Not seeing it.”
“Neither are we. Try increasing your roll rate again.”
Josh added more thrust, causing the Earth to circle around him a bit faster. “Still not there.”
“A little more?”
“Let’s cut to the chase,” Josh insisted as he pulled the control stick all the way left and held it for several seconds.
“Josh!”
The Earth began racing around his cockpit at incredible speed. “Damn! This is wild! Attempting to recover.” Josh started applying counter thrust to slow his role. The speed of his rotation decreased slightly, but the spiraling effect returned, causing the Earth to appear lower relative to his nose with each revolution. “Spiral is back!” Josh exclaimed as he continued to fight with the controls. “Damn, this feels a lot more different than you might expect.”
“Josh, you’re picking up some lateral rotation as well,” Loki warned.
“Yeah, I noticed!” Josh exclaimed, frustration beginning to sneak in. The Earth outside started passing over him, at different locations each time, as his ship’s lateral rotation increased. “I might have spoken too soon about not getting motion sickness! I think I’m gonna blow!”
“You want me to reset?” Loki asked.
“Not yet, I think I can get it… If I… can… just… Oh shit!”
All rotation suddenly stopped, and his ship was again in level, simulated flight, in orbit above the Earth.
“What the hell?” Josh demanded. “I told you not to reset!”
“You said you were going to blow!” Loki defended.
“I was kidding, Lok!”
“Sorry. I was just thinking of the poor guys that were going to have to clean up that cockpit.”
“I never puke, you know that.”
“Can we get back to work, gentlemen?” Deliza asked.
“What would you like me to do next, princess?” Josh asked.
“What did I tell you about calling me princess?” Deliza replied, her voice seething.
“Sorry, boss. Won’t happen again. Promise.”
“Try pitching up and over,” Loki suggested.
“Pitching up,” Josh announced as he pulled back on the control stick, releasing it a split second later. He waited a moment, then added additional thrust to increase his rate of change. “Feels pretty much the same, no difference here.”
“Try the rotational thrusters,” Loki instructed.
“You got it,” Josh replied, twisting the control stick to the right for a moment.
“I meant after you stopped your pitch over.”
“You didn’t say that.”
“I didn’t think I had to. Any normal pilot would have figured that out.”
“Well, I’m not normal,” Josh replied.
“You got that right.”
“I’m better than normal.”
“You realize what you just said doesn’t make any sense?”
“It wouldn’t to a normal pilot,” Josh teased.
“Would you two stop!” Deliza scolded. “Honestly, you’re like an old married couple.”
“Listen, this would go a lot faster if you just let me wing-it for a few,” Josh suggested. “You can look at the data later, right?”
“Why not?” Deliza agreed. “I don’t know what ‘wing-it’ means, but by all means, feel free.”
Josh yanked his control stick over, gave it a twist, and then pushed it forward, bringing his space drive to full power at the same time. “Wing-it. To improvise, without plan or itinerary, usually by following one’s instincts,” he said as the Falcon came out of its turn and leveled off, diving toward the simulated Earth below.
“What the… Josh, is that you?” Loki wondered.
“I’ve been studying Earth expressions,” Josh explained, “trying to add some color to my witty banter.”
“You’ve got more than enough color, Josh.”
“What are you doing?” Deliza wondered.
“I’m going to jump her into the atmosphere and see how she flies without lift fans. You wanna dial me up a jump to Porto Santo’s runway? About ten clicks out and a couple hundred meters up?”
> “You’re moving way to fast to jump in,” Loki warned.
“Then make it a hundred kilometers out and a thousand meters up.”
“Very well.”
“Hey boss? Did your aeronautical engineers calculate new stall speeds for this thing, now that she doesn’t have lift fans and all?” Josh wondered.
“Yes, they did. Your velocity tape should indicate them correctly. They’ve only changed marginally from what they were for a fans-out emergency landing,” Deliza told him.
“Never really practiced that one much,” Josh admitted.
“Are you sure you don’t want to slow down just a little?” Loki wondered.
“Fine.” Josh twisted his stick hard to the left, pushing his nose around so that he was falling toward the planet tail first. He stopped his rotation and brought his main propulsion up to full power, waiting until his speed had reduced considerably. “Happy?”
“Well, you’re still jumping in at about mach twenty, but…”
“I’ll be fine,” Josh insisted as he brought his nose back around toward the planet. “It’s a simulation, remember?”
“The whole point of a ‘simulation’ is to ‘simulate’ real world scenarios that normal pilots would encounter…”
“Oh, here we go with the ‘normal’ again…”
“Enough!” Deliza interrupted impatiently. “Jump already.”
“Jumping,” Loki announced.
The canopy turned opaque as usual, which struck Josh as funny since there wasn’t actually a jump flash to block out. When it cleared a second later, his flight data display seemed all wrong. “What the hell?” Josh watched the displays as his ship descended through a simulated cloud. His attitude indicator was moving erratically, as if the ship couldn’t decide which way it wanted to point. “Uh, I think I’ve got a problem,” he announced as he fought to control his ship’s attitude. “My nose is oscillating all over the place, guys, and I’ve got like no control authority here.”