by Ryk Brown
“I wouldn’t test him if I were you.”
Kata looked at Commander Telles again. “Can we at least warn people?”
“Not without tipping our hand to the Jung,” Jessica said.
“What?” Kata asked.
“Revealing our plan,” Jessica explained.
“Can’t we just tell them to take cover, that it’s too dangerous outside. Go underground, or something like that? You don’t have to tell them how or why, not even when. Just find someplace safe and hide.”
Telles shrugged.
“I don’t know,” Jessica said. “I think I may have broken some of your stuff.” Jessica pointed at the electronics cabinet lying on its side, covered with scorch marks from Jung weapons fire.
“All we need is one camera,” Kata explained. “Even a portable field camera will do. Then we upload it and transmit on a loop, just like we did with yours.”
Jessica looked at Telles. “What do you think?”
“As long as no details are revealed.”
“I think she’d be a better choice,” Jessica said, looking t Kata. “After all, my Cetian isn’t that great.”
“She’s right,” Kata said. “The people know me. They trust me. We’re the highest-rated news service in the system.”
Commander Telles did not look pleased. “Very well, but I warn you. Attempt to deceive me, or in any way warn the Jung of our intentions, and you will die.”
She watched as Telles walked away, barking orders at some of his men.
“Where did you find that guy?” Kata asked.
“Deep freeze,” Jessica said, “or so I’m told.”
The interceptor’s canopy went from opaque gray to clear, revealing the evening sky over Cetia again.
“Left ten and down twenty,” Loki instructed.
“Taking it down to the streets,” Josh replied as he brought the Falcon slightly left and dropped their nose to descend.
“Convoy, two kilometers ahead. Count four vehicles.”
“I’ve got cannons, you’ve got the turret?” Josh assumed.
“Works for me.”
“I’ll set them up, and you knock them off.”
The Falcon dove down between the buildings, lining up with the wide boulevard.
“One kilometer, five seconds,” Loki announced.
Energy weapons fire from a turret on top of one of the vehicles began firing, sending red streaks of energy toward them.
“Are you kidding me?” Josh said as he squeezed the trigger on his control stick. Bursts of red-orange plasma shot out of the Falcon’s wing-mounted cannons, slamming into the street in front of the approaching convoy. The street exploded, sending chunks of asphalt in all directions and forcing the convoy to come to a screeching halt.
Loki drew a circle with his finger on the target display, encompassing all five elements in the convoy, then locked the turret onto the group. “Targets locked, turret is tracking.” He pressed the auto-fire button. “Firing.”
The turret began sending a steady barrage of energy bolts into the targets, adjusting its track to compensate for the interceptor’s movement, while switching between each element of the convoy to put an equal number of hits on each one. It continued tracking as the Falcon flew overhead, finally ceasing fire as soon as they passed and the turret no longer had a clear line of fire.
Loki switched to the rear targeting cameras and zoomed in. “Target destroyed.”
“Next target?” Josh asked.
“Are you kidding?” Loki asked, looking at the threat display. There were at least fifty icons representing Jung fighters on his display, at various locations and altitudes. “Take your pick.”
“What’s nearest?”
Loki looked at the display again. “There’s a four-group element about one hundred kilometers to the west, at seven thousand. Course indicates they’re headed this way.”
“Are they headed for Telles?”
“How am I supposed to tell at that range?”
“Anything local?”
“Two Jung combat shuttles, two two zero, five kilometers, at two hundred meters,” Loki replied. “How about we take them with missiles, then jump out to engage the fighters?”
“Sounds good,” Josh replied. “Turning to two two zero.”
“Locking missiles on targets,” Loki replied. “Opening bay doors. Good locks. Firing.”
Two missiles fell from the Falcon’s belly, their engines igniting a second later.
Josh glanced outside as the two missiles streaked away. “Good launch. New heading?”
“One five seven, up four.”
“One five seven, up four,” Josh replied, turning back to the right and pitching up.
“Jumping in five seconds,” Loki said.
“Jump, shoot, jump, then jump back again?”
“That’s the plan,” Loki replied as the canopy turned opaque again. Loki watched his threat display repaint, all the icons suddenly shifting to new positions as they came out of the jump and the canopy turned clear again. “Targets, dead ahead, four kilometers and closing fast, slightly below. Pitch down and take them from above.”
“Pitching down to attack,” Josh replied.
“Two kilometers,” Loki warned. “Two are peeling off to our right, the lead two still on course. One kilometer.”
“You take the two peeling off, and I’ll take the two in front,” Josh said, squeezing the cannon trigger again.
Red-orange balls of plasma left the wing cannons again, streaking across the sky and slamming into the first Jung fighter. The second fighter rolled to his right and dove, evading the incoming fire.
“Got one,” Josh announced.
“Got two,” Loki replied.
“Can you tag him with a chaser?”
“I can sure try,” Loki replied as he opened their bay doors again. “Target locked. Arming chaser. Launching.”
Another missile dropped out of the bay. Its engine lit up, and the missile immediately dove and turned to the left, executing a quick U-turn to pursue the evading Jung fighter.
“Come to three zero five and down five,” Loki instructed.
“Three zero five, down five,” Josh replied.
“Jumper Nine, Falcon Four, immediate threats cleared. On cover in ten seconds.”
“What are you trying to do, jinx us?” Josh asked.
“Falcon Four, Jumper Nine. Copy that. Extrication in two.”
Loki watched as the icon representing the fleeing Jung fighter flashed several times then disappeared from his display. “Love those chasers,” he said as he checked their course and pitch angles, and then pressed the jump button.
Naralena continued to flip from one feed to another in her room. She stopped suddenly when she recognized the newscaster as the same one who had been on the air when Jessica had taken control of the studio.
“…learned that the invading forces claim to be liberators from Earth…”
“Oh, my God,” she exclaimed, noticing the condition of the anchor desk and the set wall behind her.
“…are not infected with the bio-digital plague, and claim that the plague died out on their world more than nine hundred years ago. They call themselves the Alliance, and are composed of several different worlds from all over the Sol sector and far beyond. They have no desire to rule our system or any other. They promise to return control of our worlds to us after they have removed all Jung forces from our system. The Alliance is urging all Cetians to take shelter, preferably underground if possible, until the conflict is over. Do not engage the Alliance, not even to help them, as they cannot distinguish friend from foe. Anyone carrying a weapon will be killed without delay, so please, do not arm yourselves. Stay hidden, stay out of the way, and stay safe. Again, this reporter has learned that the invading forces claim to be liberators from…”
“Get the lieutenant out!” Ensign Latfee yelled at the approaching rescue team. He turned to Sergeant Torwell. “You two carry Davies. I’ll stay with the lieuten
ant until they get him out!”
“Yes, sir!” Sergeant Torwell replied. He looked at Ellis as they bent over and picked up the body of their dead door gunner. “You two friends?” he asked.
“I just met the guy last week,” Ellis replied.
Two more men ran up to them. “We can take him, guys,” they offered.
“We’ve got him,” Sergeant Torwell insisted. They began walking quickly toward the troop shuttle that had just landed nearby.
Commander Telles, Jessica, Gerard, and the surviving members of the studio staff came out the front of the broadcast building, followed by Master Sergeant Jahal and the other two members of Commander Telles’s team. They moved quickly down the path and to the waiting shuttle.
Jessica stopped as they approached the shuttle. “What about them?” she asked Telles.
“What about them?”
“We’re extricating them as well, right?”
“Why?”
“We can’t just leave them here. This place is a fucking war zone.”
Kata looked at one of her colleagues who was carrying a porta-cam. He turned it on and tucked it under his arm as if casually carrying it, while aiming it at Jessica and the commander.
Commander Telles immediately noticed the camera, but paid it little attention. “The entire planet is a war zone right now, and I do not have the resources to ferry them about.”
“Where is this shuttle going?”
“Back to Porto Santo.”
“Not the Aurora?” Jessica asked.
“The Aurora is engaged with the battleships,” Telles explained. “I doubt we could catch her in one place long enough to land.”
“Where is Porto Santo?” Kata wondered.
“Earth,” Jessica replied.
“Well, take us there.”
“What?”
“I can report your side of the story,” Kata suggested, “tell my people what’s really going on out there, what the Jung really are.”
Both Jessica and Telles looked at her with skepticism.
“Look, if the Jung are really what you say they are, then prove it. Show us!”
“What’s in it for you?” Jessica asked.
“Only the biggest story since the plague!”
Jessica looked at Telles.
“The idea has merit,” Telles admitted. He looked at Kata. “I cannot promise you anything, Miss Dun. I cannot even promise that any of you will ever be able to return to your world, should you choose to come with us now.”
“Deal,” Kata replied. She turned and looked at the others.
“I’ve got a family,” the man holding the porta-cam under his arm said.
“So do I,” the next man said.
“I don’t. I’ll go,” the third man announced. He stepped up and took the camera from the first man, making no attempt to hide the fact that it was on and recording from anyone.
“Great!” Kata replied. She turned back to Jessica and Telles. “Just Karl and I.” She looked back at the man. “It’s Karl, right?”
“It’s Karahl, actually.”
“Right.” She turned back to Jessica. “Just Karahl and I.”
“Great,” Jessica said. “What about Naralena?” Jessica asked Telles.
“I have her coordinates,” the commander replied. “I will see that she is extricated as well.”
“She is quite safe where she is,” Gerard insisted. “My people will take good care of her.”
“I will retrieve her in short order, you have my word,” Telles promised.
“Tango zulu, remember?”
“I remember,” Telles insisted.
Jessica turned and headed for the shuttle, with Kata, Karahl, and Gerard and his wounded comrade following close behind, working their way around and up the back boarding ramp. Kata paused for a moment, halfway up the ramp, looking back at Commander Telles. “He’s not going with us?” she asked.
“Nope, I guess not,” Jessica replied.
Karahl pointed the camera at Sergeant Torwell as he and Ellis carried the body of Corporal Davies up the ramp, followed a moment later by Ensign Latfee and two rescue men carrying the injured Lieutenant Kainan.
“Where is he going, then?” Kata asked as the commander walked away with his master sergeant.
“Well, he is in command of all Alliance ground forces in this sector, so I guess he’s going to command them,” Jessica replied.
Kata watched the commander walk away. “Hmm. He looked so young.” She turned and followed Jessica and Karahl up the ramp.
The troop shuttle ramp began to raise, and the shuttle spun up its four massive engines to full power, rising slowly off the deck. The ship began to rotate to port as it climbed up above the buildings, then began to ease into forward flight as soon as it was clear.
“How long will it take us to get to Earth?” Kata asked.
“Five or ten minutes, maybe,” Jessica replied.
Kata laughed. “No, really.”
“Really.”
“KKVs should launch in two minutes,” Luis reported from the Aurora’s tactical station.
“Climbing starboard turn, Mister Chiles,” Nathan ordered. “Bring us back around for another attack run.”
“Climbing right turn, aye,” the helmsman replied.
“We’ll come in high this time. Increase your speed three percent. We have to keep their weapons operators guessing. As soon as you’re set for the jump, bring our nose around and down so that we’re ready to fire as soon as we come out of the jump.”
“End point?” the navigator asked.
“We should vary that as well,” Nathan replied. “We’ll come out on the second battleship this time. Above and abeam her stern.” Nathan turned to his sensor operator. “Mister Navashee, how long would you say it takes their big guns to lock on a track?”
“Ten seconds, maybe,” Mister Navashee answered. “Depends on how far off target they are when they change tracks.”
“Then let’s be sure we jump out within eight seconds, maximum,” Nathan continued.
“We can reduce the number of potential guns on us by always keeping one target between us and the other target,” Luis suggested.
“Won’t work,” Nathan replied. “It narrows our attack corridor too much, makes it easier for their guns to reacquire. Besides, we can’t really jump in under the lower target if she’s launching shuttles or fighters. Too much risk of collision, which would do just as much damage as a direct hit by their rail guns. We have to hit them from as many different angles as possible, making completely random changes to attack angles, speed, jump points, and time in the fire zone.”
“That’s going to make it awfully difficult to target the same shield section each time,” Luis warned.
“Better than getting shot to hell.”
“Why not just play it safe and stand clear, maybe take a few shots from a distance?”
“If we don’t press the attack as hard as we can, they’ll know that we’re setting up for another KKV attack. We have to make them think that we’re desperate… that attacking them this way is our only option. Just keep as many of the shots as possible on the same shield sections. Our job here is to bluff them into a false sense of superiority, not take them out on our own.”
“One minute to launch,” Luis announced.
“Turn complete,” the helmsman reported. “Bringing our nose over.”
“Jump plotted and ready,” Mister Riley reported.
“How long will it take the KKVs to reach their targets once launched?” Nathan asked.
“They’re launching from pretty close in, so about forty seconds,” Luis replied. “Thirty seconds to launch.”
“As soon as the KKVs launch, execute the jump,” Nathan instructed.
Mister Riley glanced at the time displays on the main view screen, noting the time to impact. “Recalculating jump.”
“Fifteen seconds to launch.”
“Our escape jump from the attack run will be fifteen light
seconds in range.” Nathan added.
“Aye, sir,” Mister Riley reported as he finished recalculating their next attack jump. “Attack jump plotted and ready.”
“Five seconds to launch,” Luis continued.
“Escape jump reset to fifteen light seconds.”
“Three…”
“Attack attitude established,” Mister Chiles reported.
“…all forward tubes and cannons ready to fire.”
“Jumping,” Mister Riley reported.
Nathan closed his eyes momentarily as the jump flash translated in subdued fashion through the main view screen, bathing the bridge in additional blue-white light.
“Jump complete.”
“Tubes are on target! Firing all forward tubes and cannons!” Luis announced.
The bridge began to flash repeatedly with red-orange light as sixteen balls of highly charged plasma streaked from the sides of the main view screen inward, each of them disappearing in the distance at the center of the screen only a split second after they were fired.
“All torpedoes away!” Luis reported.
“Jumping,” Mister Riley announced.
“Time?” Nathan inquired.
“Ten seconds in the fire zone,” Mister Navashee replied.
“We’ve got to do better than that,” Nathan urged.
“Twenty seconds to KKV impact.”
“Come about with a descending turn to port,” Nathan ordered. “We’ll target the same ship again, but from below.”
“Descending turn to port, aye,” Mister Chiles replied.
“Ten seconds to impact,” Luis continued.
“Captain!” Mister Navashee exclaimed. “The lead battleship is changing course!”
“What?” Nathan stood suddenly.
“She’s turning to port!”
“Five seconds.”
“How much?”
“Three degrees! No, five!”
“What about the second…”
“Impact in three…”
“Second battleship is holding course!”
“…Two…”
“Wait! Second battleship is turning!”
“…One…”
“Two degrees… to starboard!”
“…Impact!” Luis announced.