Hawk Seven (Flight of the Hawk)

by Little, Robert

  We dropped the rear hatch and walked down onto the deck, where we were met by our flight lead. We saluted crisply, very conscious that we were wearing the same clothes we’d put on five days ago. Commander Midori said, “I notice you’re two birds short, I hope you have a good explanation for their absence.”

  His eyes showed a slight crinkle, so I replied in kind, “Yes sir, we did in fact lose them. Unfortunately one managed to get stuck in the side of our new friend’s mother ship.” Commander Midori asked, “Unfortunately?” I nodded my head, “Yes sir, it was a little unfortunate, as it was armed and managed to blow a, um small hole in their ship. We wanted to apologize but they weren’t willing to listen, and in fact they seem to have absolutely no sense of humor. Four of their fighters tried hailing us but when we answered they just went to pieces, and in fact they sent eight missiles along but none of them managed to get close enough to say hello.” Elian leaned forward slightly and said, “Um, Robert, you were never very good at math. The number was six, rather than four.”

  By this time a considerable crowd had gathered, including quite a lot of brass. Everyone burst into laughter and Commander Midori smiled, “That was a very interesting report, Lieutenant Padilla. I hope you can fill in the details in a somewhat more professional manner?” I gave him my best ‘yes sir, ten pounds sir’ answer, and turned my head slightly toward Master Chief Kana.

  He stepped forward and handed a chip with our flight record to the Commander. He nodded his head to the chief with a smile and said, “Go get cleaned up, for our sakes if for no other reason.” This elicited more laughter.

  He continued when it died down, “I’ll want all four of you in my quarters in thirty minutes. Dismissed.” We saluted and began walking towards the distant hanger entrance. It was a long walk, but walking felt nice after being cramped up for so long. A number of the technicians were already swarming in, over and under the very beautiful Hawk, their work inhibited a bit by all the tourists.

  I stopped for a moment and looked back at the craft. Just over a week ago I had been a Dash 6 newby, and proud of my status as a fighter pilot. Now, as I looked at the much larger Hawk, I suddenly realized that somewhere in the void between our fleet and the enemy, I had ceased to identify myself with the fighter I had trained in and flown so many months. I now had a ship that could kill the enemy, and it felt incredibly good.

  I dropped off my things in my quarters and went for a quick shower. I dressed in a fresh uniform and stopped to pick up a cup of coffee on the way to the meeting. I met up with Elian, who was walking with the much better smelling Etech4 Carolyn.

  She smiled nicely at me. It looked as if Elian was rather more interested in his crewmate than was strictly necessary, but Elian always liked to put his heart into any venture he was assigned, and Carolyn seemed to have become an assignment of his, whether or not she knew about it. I grinned to myself, and made a mental note to speak to my eager partner at the first opportunity. She was enlisted, and she worked on the same ship as he did.

  We met the chief in the passageway outside the commander’s office and he opened the hatch for us with a grin. Inside, the commander ushered us into his tiny office. There were four chairs shoehorned around his desk and he pointed to them.

  Once we were settled he asked, “OK, I’ve seen the highlights of your mission and it looks to have gone quite well. I’d like to hear your comments – all of you – starting with you, lieutenant” He was looking at me, so I began, “We followed the course laid out for us, which placed us right in the path of the enemy, so please give your analysts a pat on the back. It was closer to us than expected, but still well out of detection range. It proved fairly easy to penetrate their outer perimeter, which consisted of a single shell of fighters. Inside that, and quite close to their mother ship was a second shell, this one consisting of what we’re calling destroyers, although they mass quite a bit more than our own.”

  The commander interrupted me and asked, “Why have you identified them as destroyers?”

  I said, “Sir, while they mass quite a bit more than our destroyers, the enemy seems to be using them in the same way we use our destroyers. Our sensors detected three different types, the largest massing a bit less than our cruisers, but we have very little information on what those differences might signify, save for the fact that at least one of them has the ability to shoot missiles.”

  He nodded his head and I continued with my report, “We circled around to the opposite side of the mother ship with little trouble, although we had to change course several times to avoid traffic. One thing that Etech Kwan noticed, sir, is that their perimeter fighters were out at least fifteen hours before getting relieved. We have no idea why that is. She also noticed and recorded quite a bit of radio transmissions, very, very high multiple frequencies, and although she spent quite a long time trying to decipher them she didn’t have the equipment for it. That said, she believes that they do not use a digital system. Sir, Etech Kwan came very highly recommended to us, and I believe that with more sophisticated equipment she could have learned a great deal more for us than she was able to with the Hawks primitive communication systems. I request that before we go back out we upgrade both our communication equipment and our sensors. Meanwhile I hope that our fleet analysts can learn something from her sensor readings.”

  I paused to take a sip of coffee and continued, “After circling to the far side, we spotted an opportunity to drop the two Mark 65s and did so. We programmed them to run inside the outer shell to approximately one hundred eighty degrees separation from each other before heading in, approaching from different headings. The enemy became aware of one of the missiles as it neared the target, although we don’t know how.”

  The commander interrupted me again and asked, “What do you mean, ‘became aware’?”

  “Sir, their destroyers began accelerating towards the general vicinity of the missile and fighters began launching from the mother ship. The thing is, they knew something was there, but they didn’t know exactly where. As soon as they began firing their energy weapons, the missile went to max accel towards the mother ship. At that time, they were better able to pinpoint its position, and ultimately, they destroyed it just short of the target.”

  “We believe that it is possible that its presence was detected via its burst transmission back to us. The second missile impacted on the far side and we saw evidence of atmosphere loss, so it did some damage, but sir, that ship must have massed at least twenty mega tons. After the missile hit, they launched something on the order of sixty additional fighters of three different types, judging by their energy emissions, and that does not include the approximately sixty they already had keeping station on the ship. We saw no sign of it being crippled or incapacitated in any measurable way. We think, however, that four Hawks acting in concert should be able to heavily damage or destroy it.”

  I wound down and the commander looked over at Carolyn. She said, “Sir, I have very little to add to Lieutenant Padilla’s report, except to mention that I’m certain that they communicate at ultra high frequencies. I noticed, additionally, that their craft, both fighters and destroyers, emitted fairly low amounts of IR radiation at low levels of acceleration, but they heat up quickly once they go to high levels of acceleration. We discovered what appeared to be a large destroyer or light cruiser after we evaded their outer screen – well, we didn’t actually evade them, we destroyed them – and at that time it launched four slow missiles. These seemed to be just as hard to destroy as their fighters, and at least one of them took a direct hit from our lasers without any apparent damage. They’re slow, but very tough, and they pack a huge weapon. I would not want one of those ships inside one or even two million kilometers of us, sir. Lieutenants Padilla and Turner estimate that one missile could take one of our cruisers out.”

  The commander nodded his head and turned to the chief. Chief Kana said, “Sir, our engines ran well for the entire mission, with one exception: one of the fusion bottles began
fluctuating shortly before we launched the missiles. When we accelerated away from their ship it ran well, but after we slowed to evade them it began fluctuating again. I recommend that it be replaced before we head out again. I would also like to check our control circuitry, as the problem may not be with the bottle. Finally, I’d like to have as many anti-fighter missiles as we can carry the next time we go out. I hope, sir that we are getting the opportunity to go back?”

  Commander Midori raised his eyebrows minutely at the chief and asked, “Why the missiles?” The chief said, “We found we can kill their fighters and missiles with our lasers, and stop their missiles with our mag shields, but we could have used some long-ranged anti-fighter missiles as well. What would be perfect would be some miniature Mark 65’s that could lurk around silently and only go active when they get up close to a fighter. I read about a new missile that matches that need, the ER-15. If we have any aboard, sir, we could use them next time to assault their outer and/or inner perimeter and clear away any intervening fighters or destroyers.”

  The Commander finally looked at Elian. He said, “Sir, I have nothing additional to report, other than to say that we want to go back out and finish off that monster mother of a ship. Oh, Robert mentioned something that has puzzled us: he noted that during their assault on our fleet, they responded almost immediately to our use of missiles. After we attacked their ship, however, they seemed slow to react, and then it was dumb. My guess, and that is all it is, is that they do not have large capital missiles, and just didn’t know how to respond. One additional possibility is that we are facing more than one incursion. That would explain the differences in emissions we’ve noted, as well as battle tactics and training. Oh. Their position and heading seems to indicate that they have just recently entered the void”

  The commander looked at Elian for a moment and then included us all in a general question, “Concerning what Lieutenant Turner has just said, do any of you have any additional comments?” After looking around his tiny compartment at each of us, his eyes came to rest on me again. I said, “Sir, we analyzed all our sensor data as well as our own perceptions on the return flight, and there are a number of questions this mission has raised: we don’t know how they found us, but it seems clear we transmitted our presence from a great distance. Until we discover how they can locate us, we are operating at a severe, perhaps fatal disadvantage. They emit extremely high communication frequencies that seem not to be digital in nature, and perhaps they’re far more advanced in that particular area of technology than we are. Their missiles are generations behind ours, but in general their mother ship, their fighters and their missiles are very hard to destroy. I’d love to install even larger lasers on the Hawk, for instance. As to their response when we attacked them, it puzzles me, as does the fact that their perimeter fighters remained on station for fifteen hours after we arrived on scene. If we are correct and they have some method of locating us, that might explain why they initially knew how to find us, why their fighters were on station for such a lengthy period of time, and why they knew generally where the capital missile was. I – we all – hope that your people can come up with answers to these questions, sir.”

  Something one of us said spurred another thought and I quickly spoke, “Sir, one thing that ties all those coincidences together is the fact that they all include gravity drive systems.”

  Commander Midori looked quickly around at each of us, inviting further responses, then said, “Thank you for a mission performed extremely well. This has gone a long way toward answering some of the many questions we have about them, as well as raising new ones, which are as we speak being worked on, I assure you. You are ordered to get a good meal and you have forty-eight hours in which to catch up on your sleep. We’ve got some additional goodies to install on your Hawk and you will definitely get another shot at finishing off that ship of theirs. Oh, and a full report of your mission has already been dispatched to every ship in our fleet. The knowledge that we have managed to put a dent in their mother ship should go a long way toward restoring some badly shaken morale. Dismissed.”

  We stood and left his office. It was so small that if anyone had tried to salute, one or two others would have gotten a black eye. In the passageway, we were met by an enlisted man, who said, “Please follow me, sirs.” We looked at each other and turned to follow him. I heard the chief mutter something and I almost laughed. I asked him, “Chief Kana, did you say something concerning this enlisted man’s ability to differentiate, as it were, between enlisted and officers?” He started to reply, but merely grinned.

  The orderly led us to the officer’s mess and opened the hatch for us to pass through. Inside, we found one table with four place settings. This was highly unusual – Carolyn and the chief were enlisted. I said, “Chief, it appears that you have been demoted.” Carolyn giggled and the chief glared at me before he snorted good-naturedly.

  There were two mess attendants standing ready to pull out our chairs, and we grinned at each other as we were seated. We were handed snowy white cloth napkins that we deposited in our laps. Stewards came out with covered trays and began serving us what proved to be an excellent meal. After we were finished, the mess doors opened and the space rapidly filled up with what appeared to be every fighter jock, navigator and pilot on the ship. The room became extremely noisy and we found ourselves surrounded by some very happy and intensely curious pilots. We heard a lot of jokes about The Hulk, but this time around they were both raucous and good-natured and we joined in the laughter. The Hawk had just added another chapter to its storied career, and it wasn’t finished yet. Not by a long shot, something it was now good at.

  We left the mess hall very late, but very happy. I wandered down to the flight deck and discovered that I was not the only one. Elian was there ahead of me, talking to the chief as they looked up at the immense pair of Mark 65’s already mounted on what passed for wings. The small internal weapons bay was open and inside we could see two rotary racks of small missiles. They were, in fact, the ER-15’s the chief had asked about. We had twelve of them, and inside the ship several technicians were in the process of upgrading our weapons instrumentation. We could also see that one fusion bottle had already been replaced with a new one from stores. They were anxious to get rid of us.

  Our Hawk seemed ready to go. We, however, were not. I waved casually to Carolyn and the chief and walked tiredly to my quarters, where I fell into bed. I slept for twelve hours and after eating a quick meal, I returned for another long nap.

  I awoke four hours later feeling considerably refreshed. I commed Elian and his pad took a message. Either he was still asleep or in the head.

  I went by the chief’s cubicle and found him talking very quietly to two very nervous enlisted men. I had learned that when the chief grew quiet, it was time to listen very, very attentively. He seemed to be talking to them about a particular piece of maintenance work they had apparently not performed to his exacting standards. His manner of speech was impressive. He didn’t raise his voice, he didn’t swear, he simply talked to them like they were little, errant children. It was all I could do not to smile, but then, I wasn't the focus of his very intense concentration.

  They were ushered out of his office, and left hurriedly. I had heard of Chief Kana’s lectures but this was the first opportunity for me to witness one. I was impressed by his grasp of the language, his literacy and his elocution. I was immensely happy not to have been on the receiving end of his, um, disappointment.

  He turned to me and smiled grimly, “Those two signed off on a piece of maintenance that was not done particularly well. They knew better. They know that they can kill a pilot quicker than our newfound enemy, and they knew better than to do shoddy work. I will not forget this, and they know it. I hope they remember, because I’ll make them gather the effects of any pilot that gets killed due to their error.”

  We walked to the flight deck and found the once again fragrant Etech4 Carolyn engaged in a conversation with Elian
. He couldn’t answer my com, but he found time to talk to her. I grinned at him and he grinned back, understanding full well what I was thinking.

  We walked around the Hawk and noted that several small antennas had been attached to the hull. We walked up inside and went into the flight compartment. Commander Midori walked up into the ship as we sat, going over the changes that had been made. He waved to us and pulled out a folding seat from the bulkhead. He said, “Well, you just can’t seem to stay away from your Hulk, can you?” He grinned, taking any possible sting out of his words.

  He continued, “We’ve added a host of improvements while you lazed away the hours in your comfortable bunks. Our tech wizards have been attempting to decipher that radio noise you so kindly recorded for us. They seem to believe that these beings do not use radio in any way, shape or form we do. They seem to think that what you were listening to was in fact their speech. They do not use a base ten system, they come from a world that is heavier than sol, their sun is not a G type. We know little else. Oh, they are more sensitive to higher bands of light, and less to the lower bands, such as infrared. We are coming around to the conclusion that we did in fact radiate our position to them inadvertently, and we are working now on discovering just exactly how, and how to fix that. It seems that there is every reason to believe that those fighters were up so long because they knew something was near them. We don’t know yet how they knew, or why, if they knew, they didn’t know where you were. I can’t tell you how we have come to believe this.” He grinned wryly and added, “A whole hell of a lot of ‘I don’t knows’.”