Gunship

by J. J. Snow

  Tiny walked back over by the door. Ty’s face was tight with concentration as he processed everything he had just been told. His fear was still there, but not of her, she was not his enemy. Finally, he looked back up at her again.

  “So I got my ass handed to me by a Gaiden. I can live with that.” He looked at her intently. “I think you’d better start from the beginning, though, and get me up to speed. I have a feeling that I’ve missed out on a lot since being captured.”

  Ty pulled his blanket tighter around his shoulders as Tiny, still keeping her distance, began to recount their visit with Commander Zain, the rescue, Welch and Crazy Ray, escaping from the station, and finally how Seth had flown in to save them all from the fleet. She rushed through the part where Duv attacked her and focused on Welch’s plan and the coming war. When she finished, Ty sat quietly. After a while, he stirred and pulled himself to his feet, slowly making his way back to the bed. Once he was settled, Tiny came back over and sat in the chair again. He reached for her hand. She paused and then gave it to him, watching him to see if it was a trick.

  “There was a time that I would’ve killed you, just for telling me what you are. And I would’ve been wrong. But all I knew came from one bad experience on a battlefield. The Captain’s right. You’ve done a lot for us all and especially for me, even after what I did to you. You have my trust.”

  Tiny looked at him, stunned by his words. Trust. Hope. Did he know how much that meant? She felt like she had to do something to show him, so he would understand. She stood and tucked the blanket around him as he watched her. She was deliberating, he could see the struggle on her face as she worked, but he didn’t understand it. She picked up her eyes as he squeezed her hand, silently asking her what she was thinking. A glimpse of fear, nervousness, flashed and was gone.

  “They called me Tiny because I was the littlest ever to be trained,” she said hesitantly as Ty watched her face. “My real name is Airi.”

  Ty understood the gravity of the situation by how she spoke. She sat again, waiting to see what he would do. He was the first person she had ever told her real name to. At last, he spoke.

  “It’s a real pretty name. My friends call me Joby.”

  She nodded once. There was no more need for words. They sat together in silence, their fingers entwined, each wondering what all of this meant, but for the moment just content to have another soul nearby who understood.

  —————

  Reilly kept herself busy, barely sleeping as she helped Chang and Marek get equipment ready or sat with Duv on the bridge or walked with Ty. The flashes had gotten worse and then slowly improved, like they always did. Tiny tried to give her a tranq once, but Reilly refused it, saying that she had enough going on now that it wasn’t a problem. They all knew she would crash, probably when they landed. If she was lucky, she’d stay out for most of their time on Roen. So they let her pretend she was fooling them while they made sure they had all of the duties divided up for a quick turn, to spare her the pain of a long stay.

  The rest of the trip was quiet as everyone focused on what needed to get done. Duv announced they were almost at their destination as the gunship slowed and jumped into orbit. He looked around and immediately called Reilly up to the bridge.

  “Something’s up,” Duv noted as Tiny pulled up the shields. Nado took up position on their right flank as they moved towards the planet’s surface.

  “Duv, are you seeing this? Any idea what’s going on?” Nado’s voice came across comms as he and Trace took in the view.

  A sizeable number of vessels were holding in orbit above the planet. Reilly leaned over the back of Duv’s seat, taking in the view, as Chang and Marek joined them.

  “What is it?” Marek asked as he looked around. Transports, freighters, several fighters, and gunships all clustered together as they approached.

  “I don’t know,” she mused, taking it all in. “Let’s play it safe, though, and get you two on the guns just in case. Tiny?”

  “There is at least one Tether ship down there.” Tiny slid her screen to Duv’s and pointed out the faint signature hidden in the noise. “My guess is he’s a leave-behind in case we came back, but that doesn’t make sense; Marek was able to get all but a few items finished while we were in dock at Raptor Base. There was no reason for us to come back. This fuel run is just a fluke, not planned.” Her fingers flew across the keys, manipulating the data as she tried to figure out what was going on.

  “Yes, there was a reason.” Reilly looked over at Duv. “Holly. They must have found out about her.”

  Duv looked angry. “I told her we’d be back once the Docs helped Skeeter so we could finish the refit. But she didn’t know when or if we were coming back. I haven’t spoken to her since we left. There isn’t anything to tie her directly to me.”

  “Actually, there is,” Tiny said quietly. She pulled up another screen, revealing Duv’s posts, written to Holly.

  “That’s not possible, I didn’t even know she had an address!” He looked at the posts, confused and a bit embarrassed. The system showed that all of them had been delivered.

  “Seth did,” Tiny said. “It looks like he found your posts and then set up an anonymous delivery for you. His way of trying to keep you in touch with someone you care about. That way she could hear from you but wouldn’t be able to tell anyone where you were. I recognize his signature on the programming.” Tiny pointed to two small blocks of code that stood out among the rest. In her mind, it also meant Seth had known he would be leaving and was worried about Duv being alone.

  “Trace,” Reilly called out on the comms, “looks like we might have a receiving party on planet. I want them to think we don’t know they are there. Land as planned, but let’s get fueled up first before resupply. And make sure your folks are ready for a fight.”

  “Roger. Did I mention how much I love this planet?” Trace’s sarcasm was evident. “We’ll take lead into the docks just in case it’s an ambush.”

  “Copy all,” Reilly replied. “Our guns are hot and we’ve got your back.”

  The two gunships dropped into the atmosphere fast and shot for the docks. In a matter of minutes, they set down side by side in the shipyard and deployed their remote defenses.

  “We’re secure,” Tiny announced as Duv set the ship’s systems to standby. She set the electronic warfare system to sweep the area every five minutes and turned on the passive detection system in case anyone decided to try to sneak on board.

  “I’ll take first shift in the cargo bay with Chang so Marek can get us fueled up,” Tiny said as she started down the hall after them.

  “Make sure Ty doesn’t overdo it!” Reilly hollered after Tiny. She knew the scout sniper too well. He was probably already set up in the bay and hoping for someone to shoot at after his medical vacation.

  “Captain, I’ve got a message coming in to you.” Duv hit the comms link and brought up the vid on the holo-display. “Looks like Shep!”

  Sure enough, the old barkeep was shooting them a grin back. “Twice in one year—I’d better mark this on the calendar! Heard you all just got in—do you need rooms?”

  Reilly leaned in with a grim smile. “Not this trip, Shep, thanks. But maybe you can tell us what’s going on with all the company overhead? It’s like a damn armada up there.”

  Shep sobered at once. “Actually, I was hoping you might be able to tell us something. People started showing up maybe three weeks ago, just after you left, telling strange stories. They’re saying the aliens are attacking again. We heard rumor that whole planets may have been destroyed. Anyway, since this is an old ISU outpost, they think they will be safe here. Any word you can share would be appreciated. People are starting to get fearful.”

  Reilly paused, considering what she should tell him. Finally, she decided on the truth, because as bizarre as it was, people needed to know what was happening. Shep took it all in stride. He had been a ground pounder back in his day, and wa
r was nothing new. He looked tired when she finished saying her piece.

  “So I need to ask,” Shep said hesitantly, “do we need to start arming up? And how do we tell the real ISUs from the implanted ones this Welch controls?”

  “I wish I had better answers, Shep, but as far as I know, they look like us, could even be people we know from the teams, but they’re programmed for Welch and his new government. Getting set up now might not be a bad idea. We don’t know what other planets he might target, and I wouldn’t guess this one, but it could happen.”

  “Thanks for filling me in, Captain. I knew if anyone would give it to me straight it’d be you. Damn, but I get tired of fighting all the time! We’ll give them hell if they come for us, though.”

  “Spread the word, then,” Reilly advised. “Anyone who wants to fight with us is welcome, but they’ll need to be ready to go. We’re not staying long, and let them know they need their own transport. I’ve had bad experiences here recently with passengers and I’m not looking to take on any more anytime soon. But tell them they’d better be ready for a long battle. We’re not looking at a quick win with this one.”

  Shep nodded. “I’ll let them know. We have an encrypted system for folks to check in on. I can send a message out that way. And here, too—we’ll do it the old-fashioned way: word of mouth. Keep your head down, Captain!”

  “You too, Shep. And thanks. Campbell out.” Reilly turned off the screen and rubbed her face.

  “You sure you meant to do that, Captain?” Duv asked curiously.

  “Do what?” Reilly looked over at him.

  “Well, unless I’m mistaken, you just set out to raise your own fleet of irregulars,” Duv noted smugly.

  “Did I?” Reilly grinned back. “Huh. Guess we’ll see what happens.”

  —————

  The Captain had called it. Tiny could hear Ty’s footsteps pacing at the back of the bay before she saw him. He had already set up a shooting spot that had good visibility and good cover. If she hadn’t heard him, she wouldn’t have known he was there. She walked up on him, but he still caught her at five paces out. Not enough to save his life if she was intent on killing him, which she wasn’t, but good enough for dealing with the average threat.

  “Captain says not to overdo it,” Tiny noted as Ty made a face, “and as your doctor I’m repeating that order. I don’t want all my hard work messed up because you push it and pass out back here.”

  “I’m not going to be doing any passing out, I promise,” Ty said, looking through his scope, “too much activity out there for me to do that. Besides, I’m hoping one of those Tethers I missed will show up and give me a second chance to get even.”

  Tiny laughed. “If he does, you’d better shoot fast.” She pulled her own battle rifle from her back. “Loser has to clean weapons and rack ammo for a week.”

  “You’re on!” Ty said as he pulled his scope in and began enthusiastically scanning the crowd.

  —————

  The Tether had registered the entrance of the two gunships as soon as they broke into the atmosphere. Now he tracked them as they put down in the docks. The signature of one matched the new ship Campbell had purchased. He sent a message via handheld to the rest of his team, then headed to the docks to visually confirm the target. Even before he was able to see the ships, his handheld registered the perimeter security field. He checked it, seeing it was a current ISU military-grade system. That made him pause. Campbell wasn’t ISU anymore, and while her ship should be fairly capable, it was unlikely that she had been able to acquire a current ISU system. He would need to send in someone who would be able to get eyes on, discreetly, without being noticed. The Tether sent a quick message. In a matter of minutes, the implant would be en route to check out the ship, easily blending in with the locals. She knew what to look for. He turned and headed back to his ship, casually moving back into the crowd, but not fast enough. Two men peeled off from the docks and minutes later were shadowing the Tether as he moved through the town and back towards the desert and his ship.

  —————

  Marek and Chang got the refueling done quickly. Trace’s crew got to work alongside them, and together they had finished the task in forty-five minutes. Resupply trucks began to arrive, dropping off crates of medical supplies, spare parts, food, and people. Lee Roy showed up first, grinning like an old dog that had just snagged a steak without getting caught. Marek took him around, showing him the work he had done and backfilling the old codger on their most recent exploits. Lee Roy’s eye glinted as Marek recounted his role in Ty’s rescue.

  “That’s my boy! Always knew you’d do good in this line of work!” He handed him a crate off of his TORR that clinked like it had a few bottles of something good stashed inside and took off with a wave, promising to stop by later to see if they could go for dinner.

  “Aw hell!” Tiny looked up to see Ty ambling away towards the common room. She looked back at the bay and noticed a buxom blonde looking around imperiously.

  “Can I help you?”

  The blonde looked at Tiny briefly, deciding she wasn’t a threat. Tiny smiled at the woman’s lousy assessment. The blonde flashed a snotty, tight-lipped smirk in response.

  “I’m here to see Joby Ty. Is he around?” The blonde looked put out. Tiny tried to hide her grin.

  “Um, yeah, I think he is, this way. He hasn’t been feeling real well lately, kind of got shot up a bit.” Tiny went up the catwalk, with the blonde following a bit more slowly now.

  “Shot up? Well, is it bad? He wasn’t, like, mutilated or anything, was he?” Suddenly the blonde looked like she was thinking twice about her visit.

  “Oh no, not too bad at all, he didn’t lose any fingers or anything like that.” Tiny walked into the common room to see Ty pretending to be asleep on the sofa, his back turned towards the center of the room. She rolled her eyes at his ridiculous attempt to play possum.

  “I think he’s asleep, but you’re welcome to go over and see him if you want.”

  The blonde drew herself up and walked over as if she was getting ready to lay into Ty. He muttered something in his fake sleep and rolled so his face was turned more towards the light.

  “You didn’t tell me his face was all messed up! Ugh! That’s just horrible!” The blonde tore out of the room while Tiny looked perplexed.

  She walked over to Ty. His face looked like it had been cut and healed in multiple places, but whoever had done the healing had managed to mangle the job badly. She leaned over and poked at the strange-looking scars. Ty opened one eye and looked at her.

  “Is she gone?” He sat up while Tiny continued to poke at his face. It was sticky.

  “What did you do to yourself?” she asked.

  “Rubber cement; Chang always keeps some of it around for working with explosives. If you rub it on your face and then pinch the skin together, it looks like someone threw you through a plate-glass window. Makes for some pretty realistic scars, huh?” He grinned his wicked grin at her.

  “Only if you don’t know what you’re looking at. You are a very bad man, Joby Ty. If you weren’t getting over a head injury, I’d smack you right now for making me look like a hack. That woman will find out that I’m your doctor, and then no one will want me to treat them!” Tiny gave him a stern, offended look as he grinned even harder and began pulling the rubbed cement off of his face. She turned to walk away, but Ty pulled her back.

  “Maybe that’s my plan!” He grinned at her again, his face still half-lopsided and stuck together. “That way I don’t have to worry about other patients taking up your time or how to sneak you into my room!”

  Tiny rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t be a Gaiden if I couldn’t manage to sneak into your room.”

  “So you’ll do it, then? You never gave me an answer.” Ty waited, still grinning, but Tiny could see his anxiety under it all.

  “Yes, I’ll stay with you until things get better,” she said quietl
y, then she shot him a fierce look. “But no more fake injuries or I’ll give you a few real ones to worry about!”

  Ty watched her walk off as she headed back to the bay. He was already starting to sleep better and the nightmares were tapering off, thanks to her. He was glad of it, except that was the only excuse he had to keep her staying with him. Once the nightmares were gone, she would be too. He shrugged off the thought, balling up the last of the rubber cement and launching it into a bowl on the table, then followed her back downstairs. He’d worry about that bridge when he came to it.

  —————

  Quite a few people showed at the docks to see the crew for both Reilly and Trace’s ships. Several were looking for jobs or information. Some were looking to sell items. Most were just looking for news. The crews shared what they could. Finally, as the sun began to set, they buttoned up their birds for the night and got ready to turn in.

  Reilly joined the others in the common room for some cards after chow. She still hadn’t slept, and it was evident that she was overdue. Tiny threatened again to restrict her to quarters until Reilly promised she would sleep the following night before they left for the beacon.

  “Armistice Day celebration tomorrow,” Marek commented, chewing on some jerky Lee Roy had given him in his crate. “Sounds like big doings downtown.”

  Ty grunted and tossed his hand down. “I fold. I’ve been to Armistice Day before. It’s not all that.”

  Chang raised them. “The celebration is nice. I’ve been a few times. Shep always does some kind of flaming pudding at the bar. Last time it was in the shape of an alien warship.”

  Reilly nodded and matched his raise. “So what I’m hearing is that you all would like a night out before we leave. Even if there is at least one Tether planetside and we could be getting ready for a repeat of Ty’s abduction?”