Starfighter Command

by Grace Goodwin

  “What?” Alarms filled the small cabin, and the ship’s emergency power system took over, shutting down my station completely and funneling all emergency power to Kass’s flight controls. My flight suit responded to the ship’s ping, my helmet rising to cover my head.

  The control panel in front of me jumped and rattled, forcing my gloved hands to lift.

  “I can’t get my hands on the controls.”

  “Hold on!”

  A screeching like nothing I’d ever heard filled the cockpit. Two heartbeats after my helmet locked in place, the panel above my head was torn off by passing debris and the atmosphere was sucked out of the cockpit. “Kass? You okay?”

  “I’m fine. But someone put a bomb on this ship. And we both know who.”

  I looked up, out of where the ceiling of the cockpit should have been, and saw nothing but empty space. And stars. Spinning stars.

  “We’re spinning.”

  “We are.” Kass’s voice was calm but stressed. “Just like the training mission on Gamma 479 where we lost a wing.”

  Right. We’d been through this before. Breathe. “You got this?”

  I wasn’t on my couch in front of my TV. We were in space. This crash was actually going to hurt, if we survived at all.

  “I’ll get us on the ground, but we’re going to have to hack the moon base’s system from the inside. That bomb took out our long-range comms.”

  And our ability to fly. My ability to do my job.

  “Great.” I braced myself in the copilot’s seat and moved it back into position next to Kass. I had to tell him now. Had to. Just in case. “I’m sorry, Kass. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

  He flicked his gaze to me. “You believe me now?”

  “Yes. I do.” I took a deep breath and said the words I could never take back. “I love you, Kassius Remeas. I love you.”

  His eyes flared, his jaw clenched. “You tell me now?”

  I couldn’t help the sly smile. “Yeah, so don’t get us killed. Okay?”

  He chuckled. “Copy that, bonded one.”

  Even now, tense and scared and nervous, that voice grounded me.

  Kass fought the ship for control as the oddly beautiful moon grew larger and larger on his screen. I thought we were going to make it, I really did, until the cannons mounted on the moon base suddenly came to life and pointed straight at us.

  “Oh shit. Kass?”

  “Incoming! Brace!” he shouted.

  Bright light shot from the cannons, and Kass somehow, by luck or skill or divine intervention, managed to take the Phantom low enough to the ground that the weapons’ fire blasted overhead like strobe lights above the open top of the ship.

  The rattling inside my head was painful as Kass turned the Phantom onto her side for a rough landing. We hit rock. Hard.

  Heavy bolts held my chair in place as equipment was ripped from beneath my fingers and hurtled away from the ship.

  “Fuck! Hold on!” Kass needn’t have bothered yelling the order. I was already holding on to the thick straps that crossed my chest, the only thing I could reach. My feet dangled before me, open space all that I could see as our ship bounced on the rough surface and finally slid to a halt. The Phantom was on her side, my half of the ship open, almost completely gone.

  “Mia?” Before I’d registered the stop, Kass was reaching for me with fumbling fingers. He released the harness and pulled me out of the seat and into his arms. “Are you hurt?”

  I took stock. Rattled? Yes. Hurt? “No. I’m fine.” I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed for long seconds as I fought to control my frantic breathing. “What… what just happened?”

  “The bomb blew our stealth actions and comms. The moon base’s defense system saw us coming and shot us down.”

  I was shaking. So I wasn’t bleeding, but I was rattled. Big-time. “You really think Sponder planted a bomb on our ship?”

  Kass shook his head. “It’s the only explanation.”

  I rested against his chest, gave myself permission to breathe for at least a minute. “Why would he do that? You weren’t even on the ship. You were locked up in the brig.”

  “You were not,” he countered, his voice grim. “The only way he can truly hurt me, Mia, is by hurting you. He knows that.”

  “That’s crazy. And not true.” I’d told him I loved him, and he had not said it back. Yes, he’d been busy trying to save our lives at the time, but still, a woman had needs.

  “It is, my Mia. Without you, I’m nothing. I have no home, no family. I have the fleet and I have you. Ask me which one matters more.”

  Damn it, I took the bait. “Which one matters more?”

  His eyes met mine. Held. “You, love. I love you, too.”

  Ahhh. Everything inside me melted, and I allowed the feeling to flood me. I deserved this moment. We both did. “I wish I could take this helmet off and kiss you.”

  Kass squeezed me tightly. “When we get these suits off, I’m going to do a lot more than kiss you.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  “I don’t lie, remember.”

  By tacit agreement, we turned to inspect our options for an exit from the wreckage.

  “We can crawl through there.” I pointed to a particularly large hole near the rear of the ship.

  “Yes.” Kass reached behind me and pulled a portable mission kit from a large cabinet that, luckily, was still in one piece. Inside the case would be the equipment we would need to hack into the base’s automated system, sync with it, and shut it down.

  I wasn’t used to doing this away from a computer, but I could do an on-site job. I’d just never imagined doing it on a moon.

  Kass took my hand and helped pull me through the opening to stand on the moon’s hard surface. It was like walking on top of a cast-iron skillet, except red, not black.

  I stomped my boot and regretted it as the reactionary force sent me into a jump high enough that I could have kicked Kass in the chest without trying. I landed with a soft thud. Awesome. “This moon is hard as a rock.”

  “It is a rock.”

  That made me smile as the ship was struck by laser cannon fire. The weapon was mounted on the base. We ducked and ran low to the ground as the base’s automated system continued to fire on what was left of our beautiful ship. The abandoned moon base looked like a giant leech from the ground, too. Oblong and segmented like a worm, the ends tapered toward the moon’s surface, perhaps even tunneling below.

  “Why is this base so ugly?”

  “The Velerion engineers were not concerned with aesthetics. The shell-like structure can be retracted in sections as needed, and the curved armor is more effective against random space debris. A straight wall would take more damage. With this, much of the impact forces can be partially redirected.”

  We were halfway to the nearest segmented piece of curved wall when our ship exploded. Must have been the fuel tanks. Nothing left but a shell. A burned, crispy shell. “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, Phantom. You were a good ship,” I said. Now we were stuck on the moon.

  “We’ll get another one,” Kass said, pulling me along behind him.

  “I’m calling the next one Bad Bitch so no one will fuck with her.”

  I heard Kass’s smile in his voice. “That is a horrible name for a ship. You named the Phantom. I think I should name the next one.”

  We ran into the side of the base and leaned against the smooth wall to catch our breaths. “Oh yeah? And what would you name her?” I checked my oxygen readings and closed my eyes in relief when they read normal. The suits had complex life support systems built into the lining, as well as all kinds of data I didn’t understand moving across the visor. I was not a biochemist. In the game, these space suits would keep the player alive for several days with complex recycling technology. I had to hope that was actually true in real life as well. And I wasn’t going to ask. If that was not the case, I did not want to know.

  “I was thinking I would name her after
your favorite thing in the universe.” Kass turned toward the wall and withdrew a small cutting torch from somewhere. He was a space Boy Scout. He had a hole big enough to crawl through about half-done when I surrendered to curiosity, despite my better judgment, and decided to take the bait.

  “We can’t name our new ship Kassius.”

  He laughed but kept focused on his task. “I knew you loved me.”

  So, he was funny and cavalier and charming, and totally distracting me from the thought that we were going to die on this stupid moon. “All right, I’ll bite. What is my favorite thing in the universe?”

  Finished cutting, he kicked a hole in the wall, and the thick piece he’d cut clattered to rest inside the dark interior of the base.

  “Justice.”

  11

  Kass

  * * *

  I turned off the laser torch and capped it before shoving the handheld device back into its holster at my hip. Mia stood with her back braced against the base wall when I kicked in the outer shell to grant us access.

  She’d said I was her favorite thing in the universe.

  “Justice. I like it.” Mia held her pistol at the ready, watching my back. There was no need. At least, not yet. The base was unmanned and automated, but the explosion on our ship would have alerted the Dark Fleet’s security network to our presence. As long as we didn’t stand in front of a laser cannon and beg the thing to shoot us, we should be fine. The base’s defenses were made to take down ships, not individuals on foot.

  Still, that was dated information. No one from Velerion had set foot on this moon since the Dark Fleet had attacked Xenon and turned the colonists into factory slaves. We hadn’t planned on setting foot on it either, but plans changed.

  I swung the equipment bag’s strap off my shoulder and settled the heavy bulk just inside the opening I’d cut. Stepping in first to make sure there were no hidden weapons within, I motioned for Mia to join me inside. As she took my hand and stepped over the remains of the lower wall, I worked on setting up the portable comm unit. “We need to let Jennix know we’re not dead.”

  “Good idea.”

  Once set up, I activated the comm unit, even though I was probably painting a target on our backs if the Dark Fleet scanned the area. “Group Five Leader, this is MCS One; come in.”

  “This is Group Five Leader. Go ahead.”

  “We lost the Phantom, but the mission is on target. We are inside the base.”

  “Thank Vega.” I couldn’t miss the relief in her voice. “Notify us when you are ready for retrieval. I will alert Group Two. We will monitor the force field from here.”

  “Copy that.”

  “And Starfighters?”

  I stilled inside. The general had called me a Starfighter, despite the fact that I was supposed to be rotting in a prison cell right now. She was on our side. Once I told her everything, I had no doubt she would help me take down Sponder.

  “Yes, General?”

  “We’re all glad we haven’t lost you. Stay alert and stay safe.”

  “Copy that. MCS One out.”

  That done, I crouched down and helped Mia set out the rest of our equipment on the smooth, cold floor. Everything inside the base was the same matte black as the exterior. Dull. Boring. The base looked like a dark cancerous blight from space, if one knew where to look.

  Mia sat with her back to the wall and our hacking equipment splayed out across her lap. I took the communication and sensors and set up my small operations center. Once the scanners were finished, I breathed a sigh of relief. We were alone, at least at the moment. If Queen Raya had soldiers stationed inside, they weren’t being picked up by our scanners.

  “All clear?” she asked, most likely thinking the same thing.

  “So far. How long do you need?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never done this before.”

  She cleared her throat, and I looked at her. “What is it?”

  “Why didn’t you tell the general about Sponder?”

  “Over the open comm channel? No. I don’t want him to have a chance to run.”

  “Okay.” She was distracted, her gaze already darting at lightning speed from screen to screen on her display, her fingers racing over the controls.

  “Besides, we’ve got more important things to deal with. Tell me the moment you break through, or…” My voice trailed off, but I didn’t need to finish the thought.

  “Or there will be nothing left of us by the time anyone shows up to give us a ride?”

  “Exactly.”

  One of my scanners beeped, and I glanced down. “Oh fuck.”

  Mia’s hands never stopped moving as she settled into her task. “What is it?”

  I debated not telling her the truth for all of ten seconds until she stopped and looked at me. Really looked.

  “Kass?”

  Fuck. Even through the shielded visor her brown eyes were beautiful. How could I tell her we were about to die?

  Mia tilted her head, her gaze narrowing. “Kass, tell me what the hell is happening. Right now.”

  I sighed. I loved this woman, could keep nothing from her. “The base’s automated system just sent an alert to Xandrax.”

  “Queen Raya’s planet? What does that mean?”

  “Four minutes for the signal to get there. Two or three minutes for them to decide to blow this place to pieces. Four minutes for the order to come back.”

  Her eyes widened as she did the math. “So, we’re either off this rock or dead in the next ten minutes?”

  “At the most.”

  “Scheisse.”

  Our gazes met, held. “What do you want to do? I can call in for a ride now. Get us out of here.”

  Mia didn’t move as she considered our options. “Do it, but I’m not leaving until we do our job. If we don’t take down the shield generator on this base, the entire mission will fail. All those people down there will still be under Raya’s control and the IPBMs will still be a threat. I can’t live with that.”

  “Mia, I can’t live without you.” I couldn’t accept this fate for us. Wouldn’t. “I’m calling it in, letting them know we need to lift off in six minutes. If you aren’t finished, I will throw you over my shoulder and carry you onto that shuttle.”

  “Six minutes is an eternity.”

  “Stop talking and get to work. Six minutes.”

  Mia lowered her head and focused on the task of breaking into the moon base’s operational system as I set a timer sequence in my visor. Worst-case scenario, we’d have to run at eight minutes and put as much distance between us and the base as possible, hope the bomb or missile Queen Raya sent to destroy this place was small, and pray the shuttle pilot Group Two sent to retrieve us was good. Really fucking good.

  I waited. Impatiently. I trusted my pair bond to do her job. Yet, fuck… the clock was ticking. Two minutes, twenty-seven seconds of silence.

  “I’m in.” Mia’s words made my heart speed its pace. Just a little. “Time?”

  “Two twenty-seven.”

  “Okay. I’ve got this.”

  A minute passed.

  Another.

  “Mia?”

  “Don’t talk to me.”

  Fuck.

  I couldn’t remain silent. “We just hit five minutes.”

  “The encryption code is like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

  “Ninety seconds and we’re out of here.”

  “No. I’m almost there. I have an idea. It’s a long shot, but—”

  “Eighty. Seventy-nine. Seventy-eight.”

  “Stop talking.”

  “Mia. I will drag your ass out of here.”

  “Not yet.”

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. My scanners flashed bright warning lights. It was what I feared: a bioflare warhead was headed for our location. Bad news? The weapon would turn anything organic into a pile of ash, but the base would remain intact, the shielding on, the Dark Fleet protected. The good news was we had just over a minute longer
than I’d estimated. “Incoming.”

  “Call for that ride,” she said.

  Thank fuck. I stood and activated my comms. “Group Five Leader, this is MCS One requesting emergency evac.”

  “MCS One, this is command. We are tracking a bioflare heading in your direction. Impact in two minutes.” General Jennix’s voice sounded concerned but not surprised to discover Queen Raya was willing to sacrifice any men she had on this moon base in order to take us out.

  “Yes, General. We are aware. We’re in. We’ll have the shield down in—” I glanced at Mia.

  “Now.”

  “Now, General. The shield should be deactivating now.”

  “Excellent.”

  “Requesting emergency evac at this location.” I shared my location data with the Velerion fleet as Mia rose to stand next to me.

  “Copy that. Passing you to Group Two. I notified them of your situation. They should have a shuttle standing by.”

  Team Two was the shuttle teams under the command of Captain Sponder. How ironic that the asshole who’d tried to kill us was going to have to save our lives. One of the shuttles had to be close enough to swoop down and pick us up. That had been part of the plan, a contingency in case anything had gone wrong. A last resort option in case Mia got into trouble. I was supposed to be in the brig right now, but Mia was a Starfighter MCS. An asset that General Jennix would find nearly impossible to replace. We’d learned the value of our Starfighter teams the hard way, when we’d lost them in Queen Raya’s sneak attack.

  “This is Group Two. Go ahead.”

  “This is Starfighter MCS Phantom requesting emergency evac. We have ninety seconds to impact.”

  I expected a quick, efficient response. Instead I heard a monotone voice I recognized all too well, Captain Sponder. “Starfighter MCS Remeas?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “This is Team Two Leader. When we lost contact with the Phantom, the moon base shuttle team was reassigned to medical evac. I do not have a ship in place to reach you in time, Phantom. Estimated arrival of nearest shuttle team is seven minutes. Bioflare impact would take out any approaching shuttles. I can’t send a team in. It’s too dangerous.”