by D F Capps
Sean’s thoughts returned to Charlie. I’ve got no way to contact him. All he said was he would know when I needed to see him. What a strange kid.
Chapter 28
Diane woke and quickly sat up in her bed. She looked at the clock: 1:48 a.m. She dressed in a hurry, left her room, and walked down the hall to Ryan’s room to knock quietly on his door. As she was about to give up, he opened the door, still half asleep.
“What?”
“I’ve got something I have to try in the simulator. You coming?”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
She put her hands on her hips. “No.”
He closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. “Okay, okay. Just give me a few seconds.”
“Meet you there.” Diane rushed through the hall, down the stairs, and into their simulator room. She flipped on the lights, powered up the equipment, climbed into the pilot seat, and strapped in. Ryan entered the room, hopped into the RIO seat, and fastened his harness.
“Okay, what are we doing?” he asked.
He activated the simulator program and turned on the screens.
“Something came to me in a dream. I just want to try it out before I forget what it was.”
Ryan stopped and tilted his head.
“A dream? You woke me up in the middle of the night for a dream?”
She breathed out quickly. “Hey, most of our best inventions have come from dreams.”
Ryan shook his head. “Unbelievable.” He sighed, then said, “Okay. Let’s try it.”
“This is going to be rough, so hang on tight.”
The simulator started at normal speed. Diane turned off the weapon lock system, pushed the thruster to forty percent thrust, and banked into the valley. As soon as she saw the scout saucer she started firing at it in alternating mode, one shot every half second. She started jerking the control stick randomly to each side, forward and back. The simulator banged violently in response, side to side and up and down. The scout saucer lifted off the ground and fired its light beam at them. It missed for the first time ever. She kept jerking the controls as her intuition guided her and continued firing at the scout saucer, as it bolted up into the sky. She pushed the thrust to sixty percent and flew straight at it. The next light beam from the scout saucer hit them and the simulator screens went dark.
“You stopped jerking,” Ryan said.
“It’s jinking, not jerking.” Jinking is what you do with the controls, she thought.
“Whatever. It was working, so keep doing it. You ready to go again?”
She took a deep breath. “Yep.”
Ryan started the simulator and the screens came on again. She pushed to forty percent thrust and flew into the valley. Again, as soon as she saw the scout saucer she began firing and jinking the control stick. The saucer lifted off the ground and fired at them, missing with every shot. This time as the saucer shot up, she continued jinking the control stick and accelerated to sixty percent thrust. The scout saucer was going even faster, so she pushed the thrust to seventy percent. The jinking became even more violent, slamming them against the side restraints of the simulator and bouncing them roughly in their seats. She switched from alternating fire to using both particle beam cannons together. The scout saucer was still accelerating away from them into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, so she pushed the thrust to eighty percent while continuing to fire. The light beams from the saucer continued to miss them.
One of her particle beam cannon shots connected with the scout saucer, causing it to tip to the side and start a slow arc back down to the earth. She continued the jinking and let her intuition guide her finger on the trigger. The particle beam cannon hit the scout saucer a second time, sending it into a tight spin. No light flashes came from the damaged saucer as it fell to the earth below. Diane decreased the amount of thrust and jinking and followed the saucer down. With the smoother flight she was able to aim more accurately, hitting the scout saucer three more times with both cannons. Smoke streamed from the damaged saucer as it plunged into the denser air below. She slowed her speed and watched as the scout saucer eventually crashed into the side of a mountain.
Ryan powered down the simulator, released his harness, and jumped from his seat. “Oh my God!” he shouted. “You did it! First kill!”
He was dancing around, waving his arms, acting as if he had just scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl. She shook her head. Guys! she thought.
She released her harness and slowly climbed out of her seat. “It worked,” she said, her heart still pounding in her ears. Dizzy and disoriented, she leaned against the side of the simulator.
“So what was in your dream?” Ryan couldn’t contain his enthusiasm.
“Every time the saucer fired at us, it was a direct hit. They never missed. Their aiming system had to lock onto us for every shot. Their firing lock is faster than ours, but it still takes time. Jinking our flight path alters where we are when their weapon fires, so they miss. They can’t compensate for rapid random movements.”
She glanced up. Admiral Hollis stood in the doorway, mouth open, staring at her.
“Sir, how long . . . ?”
“Long enough.” The expression on his face was pure excitement. “This is the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for. I’ve got to call the president.” He turned and raced down the hall. “And congratulations!” he shouted from the stairway.
* * *
Diane couldn’t sleep. She slowly paced a semicircle around her bed, her heart still pounding. It’s just a simulation, she reminded herself. A real life encounter could be entirely different. The disorientation remained and she still felt dizzy. Why do I feel like crap?
A soft knock on the door drew her attention. She opened it, thinking Ryan would be there. Instead, Dr. Cowen stood there, looking her over closely.
“You feel up to talking?” he asked. She stepped back and motioned him in. “I assume you heard.”
“Hollis. He’s concerned about how you’re doing.”
She held on to the doorknob as a wave of nausea swept over her.
“I’m okay. I just feel a bit strange is all.”
Dr. Cowen nodded. He pulled a small light from his pocket, shined it in each of her eyes, moved it away and then back at her eyes again. “Hollis described what you went through in the simulator. The human body isn’t designed to take that kind of shock. The jolting must have been severe.”
“It was.” She took a deep breath, trying to stabilize the growing nausea. “So why was Ryan able to stand that? It didn’t seem to affect him like it did me.”
Dr. Cowen shook his head. “Actually, I just came from Ryan’s room. He’s throwing up with a severe migraine headache.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Swell. Not much of a breakthrough if it makes everyone sick.”
Dr. Cowen listened to her heart with his stethoscope.
“Well, it is. Do you know what it took to develop the flight suit you wore in your Super Hornet?”
He wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her arm.
“I just know it was custom-made and skin-tight.”
He pumped the cuff bulb and applied the stethoscope to the inside of her elbow.
“That was to keep your internal organs and bones in place and minimize the G forces on your body. Decades of refinement went into the design of that suit. We didn’t know what we would encounter in the new fighter craft, but just assumed the simulator wouldn’t cause any damage to anybody.”
He watched the gage as she felt her pulse pushing through under the pressure of the cuff.
“We just never imagined someone would do what you did. The jarring forces overwhelm the nervous system, causing dizziness, disorientation, painful joints, severe headaches, and nausea. Frankly, I’m amazed you’re still upright.”
So was she. “So it’s of no real use to us, is it?”
“No, no, no,” Dr. Cowen said as he recorded her stats. “These are solvable problems. We alrea
dy know how to fix them. Hollis is on the phone right now with Ceti Research. They’re adding shock absorbers and padding to the sides, top, and bottom of the seats. Now that we know what we’re dealing with, we can complete the design of the new flight suits. This is the breakthrough we needed—don’t you ever doubt that for a second. We just need to adapt the fighter craft, that’s all.”
She started feeling nauseated again and ran for the bathroom, retching into the toilet.
“It’s okay,” Dr. Cowen said softly. “It’ll pass. I gave Ryan some meds to help him cope and get some rest. I have some for you, too.”
She nodded as he handed her two small yellow tablets and filled a glass with water. She swallowed them and moved slowly over to her bed.
“Sleep as long as you can. You and Ryan are off duty until further notice.”
* * *
She woke at 10:14 a.m. feeling exhausted. The disorientation was gone along with the dizziness. Her joints ached, though they hadn’t before. Diane took a long hot shower and dressed. She slowly walked down the hall to the cafeteria, moving to the side to avoid moving construction vehicles. She didn’t expect anybody to be there at this hour, but all the other officers, except Ryan and Hollis, were sitting at the long table. When she entered the room they all stood and saluted.
“Guys, you shouldn’t be doing that.” She didn’t expect their recognition.
“Honors for first kill,” Clay Obers said.
She shook her head. “It was just in the simulator. It could be a computer glitch. The whole thing may not work in real life.”
She sensed someone behind her again and turned to see who it was.
“It’s not a glitch,” Hollis said, walking into the room. “First thing I checked. I sent the data from your simulator flight to Ceti Research. They’re incorporating your ‘jinking’ into the control system.”
“Sir, I—” This was embarrassing for her.
“In your honor, we’re adding a new control switch to the fighter console, labeled JINK. You’re getting credit for this breakthrough whether you want it or not, Lieutenant. I suggest you get used to it.”
Clay smiled. “I like it. Jink Zadanski. Has a ring to it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Come on guys, it’s not that big a deal.”
“It is to me,” Ryan said from the doorway. “And I like the call sign, Jink Zadanski.”
“As I said,” Hollis added. “Get used to it, Lieutenant.”
She closed her eyes. “Jink!” She couldn’t think of a worse call sign.
“So how much thrust?” Obers asked.
It’s always about thrust with him. Doesn’t he think about anything else? “When I finally shot the scout saucer?”
He nodded and stepped a little closer to her. “Yeah, how much?”
Okay, hot shot, you wanted to know, she thought. Try this on for size: “Eighty percent.”
Obers staggered back momentarily. “Eighty?”
“Holy cow,” Simmons said.
Ryan nodded, “It was eighty percent, all right.”
Finally got to him, she thought. “It’s less disorienting when you get away from the ground,” Diane said. “And it helps when you’re chasing a scout saucer that’s trying to get away.”
She smiled at his discomfort.
“Still,” Obers said, “it puts a whole new meaning to high speed chase.”
“It does,” Hollis agreed. “In the meantime, it’s going to take two or three days to make all the modifications to the simulators, so you have some down time. I suggest you get some rest, because when we get back to it, I expect a hundred hours a week of simulator time. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” they replied together.
As Hollis turned away, Diane interrupted. “Sir?” she asked. “Can the simulators be cross-connected? What I mean is, can we fly the simulators in a coordinated attack and be able to see each other, like real life?”
Hollis grinned at her. “Technically, yes, we just hadn’t gotten that far before. I’m putting you in charge of coordinating attack strategy, Lieutenant. Make it happen.”
“Yes, sir.”
* * *
By late afternoon crews from Ceti Research were arriving with their equipment. Diane stood in the doorway and watched them remove the screens, seats, and controls from the simulators. Then they began cutting away portions of the metal frame.
She wondered if Theo might make an appearance again at Peregrine Base. She hoped he would.
“Jink?” Ryan spoke from behind her. “You’re needed upstairs for flight suit fitting.”
She cringed; irritated that everyone had shifted so quickly to calling her ‘Jink.’ There wasn’t anything she could do about it now. She was stuck with it.
“It’s getting real, isn’t it?” Diane said. Nervousness filled her chest. Would the jinking work in real life? Was she going to be able to extract her revenge on the Zeta Greys? Would she finally get justice for her brother’s death?
“Yep,” Ryan said. “From this point on, it’s about combat readiness. In the end, we win or we die. This training and practice will be the deciding factor. If we do it right, we win. Otherwise . . . ?”
* * *
After dinner Diane wandered down to the simulator rooms, hoping that Theo would be there. She slowly worked her way down the wide hall, zigzagging so she could check in every room. She sighed as she looked into the last room. He wasn’t here. She turned abruptly to leave and collided with someone in the hallway.
“I’m sorry,” Theo said. “I guess I should have made more noise—or something.”
She tried to steady herself by reaching for the wall. He reached out and held her arm for support. She grabbed on to him and looked up into his eyes.
“You’re here,” she said.
He nodded. “I wanted to meet you. What you came up with is amazing.”
She glanced away, feeling a bit self-conscious.
“When I asked where you were, everyone kept calling you ‘Jink.’ ”
Her face flushed and her shoulders slumped. “Please don’t call me that.”
He smiled at her and waited.
“Diane,” she said softly.
He nodded. “Diane. I like that. I’m—”
“Theo,” she said, “I know.” She blushed again. “Everybody knows your name.”
Now he was blushing. “I guess they do. I just—I mean . . . ”
They began chuckling together.
“So, coffee?” he asked.
She smiled and nodded.
They sat in the cafeteria, slowly sipping their coffee.
“You’re different than I thought you’d be,” Theo said.
Diane found that amusing. “Really?”
“You know,” he glanced around, “with the nature of this unit. I kind of expected everyone to be hardened macho warriors, that sort of thing.”
She smiled. “And now?”
“You’re more like a real person.” He seemed excited about that.
I am a real person, she thought. The expression on her face must have startled him.
“That’s not what I meant.” His face was red again. “I’m really messing this up, aren’t I?”
For being such a brilliant person, he was certainly stumbling for words around her. She tried to think of a clever comeback—something to put him more at ease. Her mind wasn’t cooperating much, either. She was drawn to him in a way she hadn’t experienced before. Strong physical urges that surprised her with their intensity. That’s when she realized he was struggling with the same kind of feelings himself.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I’m feeling it, too.”
He smiled and relaxed a bit. “So: brilliant, beautiful, and intuitive. How could it get any better than this?”
She laughed. “I was thinking the same thing.”
He looked puzzled. “That I’m beautiful?”
She shook her head. “Okay, handsome. Is that better?”
He nodded.
/> “In a beautiful person kind of way,” she added, a sly grin on her lips.
Now he was embarrassed again.
“Look, I . . . I really like you,” he said. “With our jobs and the upcoming war, we may not have many opportunities to get to know each other in the usual way. I don’t want to waste any chances we may have.”
Bold, but practical, she thought. What’s not to like about him?
She glanced at her cup, then back at him. “I really like you, too. It’s just that there’s no privacy here at all. Peregrine Base is under constant surveillance.”
He nodded. “Ceti Research is like that, too. But, because of my position, I do have some privacy there. Maybe I could arrange for you to visit, if you would like that?”
She grinned. “I would like that.”
Chapter 29
Diane and Ryan stood examining the simulator as the work crew carried the remaining equipment out of the small room. After three days of twenty-four-hour work crews climbing all over them, the simulators were finally back together. Short shock absorbers surrounded the inner frame of the two-seat control section. Stiff foam padding had been added above, below, and all around the control seats, form-fitted to each occupant.
“It looks like half a cocoon,” Diane said. She pushed on the new foam padding. It was a little stiff, but it did give. She smiled and nodded. This was going to work. Her mind drifted back to Theo, wondering when she would get to see him again.
“So how are we supposed to see out of the side window?” Ryan asked. “The foam comes around the sides up to our face-shields.”
Diane leaned into the simulator and smiled. “The part where our helmet fits is mounted on some sort of a swivel system. The padding will move with us, protecting our head and neck, see?”
Ryan reached in and moved the head restraint system. “Clever.”
“Now all we need are our flight suits and we can get back to work.”
Jed Collier poked his head through the doorway. “Hollis wants everyone up in the conference room.”