by L. E. Thomas
“Got a problem, Bear.”
“I see it. Hang on.”
Austin launched into evasive maneuvers, pulling back and rolling as laser fire filled the space around his canopy. He diverted what little shield power he had to his rear. A moment later, two lucky bolts vaporized his shields. Sparks flew from his canopy.
“Lost shields!”
“I got it!” Bear yelled. “I got it.”
Pulling back on his stick, Austin put his Trident into a long, sweeping loop and sent the stars spinning. The sparkling debris from their attack shot past his canopy.
“I need you to stop in three seconds,” Bear said, his voice straining. “Level out and head toward Team One’s coordinates.”
Austin heard it in his voice—Bear had a plan.
“You got it, Bear.”
Counting down, Austin gripped the stick. Two. One.
He pushed forward, leveling his Trident. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the bogey closing behind him. Laser bolts shot from the modified Trident. Two sizzled over his head. One clipped his wing. Austin rolled, bolts surrounding his fighter.
“Any day now, Bear!” he yelled.
The laser fire stopped, and Austin leveled out his fighter. Breathing heavily, he brought his Trident around to see the pieces of his pursuer sparkling in deep space. Bear’s Trident soared over the remains as the fires died in the vacuum of space.
“Not bad, eh?” Bear asked as he rolled his Trident.
Austin shook his head, picturing the goofy, arrogant smile on his friend’s face. “Yeah, man. Not bad at all.”
He switched to his long-range gamma wave. “Hound, Rock. We have an all clear up here. Repeat, we have an all clear.”
The whine of the Tridents powering down filled the air as Austin unscrewed his helmet. He opened the canopy. Starman Greg Earl hustled over with the wheeled ladder, bumping the steel structure against the fuselage.
“Thanks, man,” Austin said, unbuckling his restraints and standing in the cockpit. Sweat filled the inside of his flight suit. He rolled his neck around and felt his joints pop. “Been a while.”
“Since you been in a scrap?” Earl asked.
“No … well, I guess it has been. I was talking about the distance flight. Lots of sitting.”
“Wouldn’t know too much about that, sir. Been stationed here on Lola for quite some time now.”
“Oh?” Austin climbed down the ladder and jumped to the deck. “When are you due for R and R?”
“Going by local time standards I’d say I’m about a half a cycle.”
“Got any plans?”
Earl shrugged and rubbed his grease-covered fingers through his sandpaper stubble. “I’ve always wanted to see Oma, honestly. Just can’t afford it.”
Memories of the clear water filled Austin’s mind. “You wouldn’t regret it if you go. I’ll promise you that.”
Earl started work on the Trident, and Austin strolled away, keeping his eyes on the fighter as if it were his baby. The men on Lola did a great job taking care of the Tridents, but he still felt protective of his fighter.
“Lieutenant.”
Austin knew the voice. Spinning around, he saw Major Wilkos marching toward him in his black flight suit. Dropping his helmet to his side, Austin straightened to attention.
“Sir, yes, sir!”
Wilkos stopped in front of him. As they passed by, the other Star Runners glanced at Austin as if he were in trouble. The major stared at Austin until only the maintenance crew remained on the deck.
To Austin’s surprise, Wilkos smiled. “At ease and speak freely, Lieutenant. How are you holding up?”
“Doing just fine, sir.”
“Hell of a thing you did out there today.”
“Seemed like the thing to do at the time, sir.”
Wilkos studied him then stared into the distance for a moment. He turned back to Austin. “I haven’t seen many Star Runners your age perform in such a way. You stay cool under pressure. Takes years to get that kind of attitude and some never find it. We are going to need you in the days ahead.”
“Thank you, sir.” He thought a moment. “I had good teachers, sir.”
Their eyes met. Wilkos opened his mouth and closed it, looking away as he seemed to try to decide what to say.
“Makes all the difference,” he said, staring down at the deck. “They didn’t tell me a thing when I was assigned this job, Lieutenant. All they said was that the best Star Runners were being assigned to this squadron for covert operations. I wasn’t given much background on the individuals under my command. I was to assume they had been selected appropriately and proceed to carry out my job.”
“Yes, sir.” Austin attempted to hide his confusion, unsure where the major was going with this conversation.
“I, well, I …”
The major trailed off for a heartbeat. Wilkos cleared his throat, his body growing rigid.
“Lieutenant Stone,” he said, looking back at Austin with certainty once again in his expression. “I saw your age on the first day, and I thought Command had made a massive mistake. I figured there was no way a Star Runner of your age could have the skills required to be in an elite group of Star Runners, and your performance didn’t immediately change my perception.” He shook his head. “I was wrong, Lieutenant. Dead wrong. You improved over the months of training, and you left no doubt in my mind today. I’m proud to have you as one of the Scorpions. Keep up the good work. I need to go congratulate Bear as well. You both did great today.”
He marched off, his boots pounding the deck. Shaking his head, Austin watched him for a moment before going to the locker room.
“Up late?”
Austin looked up from his tablet full of diagrams depicting various flight maneuvers. Wearing a black track suit and her sweaty hair matted against her skull, Skylar stood at the end of the standard rec room of the Scorpions. A dark towel hung around her neck.
“Hey, Sky.” He gestured to the tablet in his lap and smiled. “I was just reading about how Star Runners should never use a curve to enter an area within one hundred MUs of hostiles.”
She shook her head. “That’s ironic.”
Pointing to the wireframe chair across from his couch, he smiled. “Care to join me?”
“Sure.” She glanced down at her outfit. “Not sure I smell too good to be around.”
He laughed. “We’ve been through a swamp together. I think we know each other well enough.”
Skylar shrugged and collapsed into the chair across from him. She propped her feet on the table between them and looked around. The rec room wasn’t much. A collection of a dozen wireframe chairs and circular black tables along with one rectangular coffee table next to the lone couch. No TV or vending machine, but Major Wilkos said it should be used as the place to wind down.
Austin closed the cover on his tablet. “Something’s on your mind. I can feel it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You adding telepathy to the list of Austin’s incredible powers?”
He blinked. “You didn’t know?”
For the first time since she arrived, Skylar smiled. “I couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d run it out.”
“Always a good idea.”
She tilted her head. “You haven’t talked much since we got back. I saw the major talking with you on the hangar deck. Everything okay?”
“Sure.” He eyed her. “Why?”
Taking a deep breath, she looked down at the towel around her neck. “I never told you what happened after we, uh, thought you died.”
Austin swallowed. “Rather not talk about it.”
“I know.” She looked at him. “But I need to speak about it.”
He looked up at the ceiling. “Okay.”
“I lost my temper.” She shook her head. “I said things to Captain Zyan I shouldn’t have. I always wanted to take it back, but … there wasn’t time.”
“I think I heard about this.”
“Not everything.” She pursed her
lips. “My whole world had been you for so long. I don’t want to embarrass you—I really don’t. But when I thought you died, I wanted to quit and never fly a Trident again. It bothered me that I had become so wrapped up in you. My world felt empty without you, hollow. I took it out on Ryker. I admit it. I did. And now I can never take it back.”
Austin rubbed his index finger and thumb together. “One thing I always knew about Ryker was that she was aware of people’s feelings a lot more than you would think. I’m sure she knew how you felt no matter what you said.”
She stood, allowing the towel to drop to the floor. With his eyes wide, he stared at her. Stepping toward him as if she walked through traps on the floor, she stopped in front of him.
“I don’t want to assume anything anymore.” She knelt down, her eyes locking with his own as she placed her hands on his knees. “I still love you. I love you more than anything. I love you more than my life. I know that might be weird for you to hear, but I need you to hear it.”
Raising up, she leaned over his body. Her lips lingered at his cheek. “I’m still here if … if you need me.”
Nodding, he gently guided her to sit on the couch next to him. Her lips parted as she looked at him, her eyes wide. “I know, Sky. I know.” He swallowed. “We’ve been here almost a year. What brought this up now?”
She smiled. “Everyone’s talking about what you did yesterday. As always, the infamous Rock has done something people want to talk about.”
“And this bothers you?”
Pursing her lips, she looked down at his hand and grabbed it. As she spoke, she slid her thumb over his skin. “I would never say this around others, but I’ve noticed something in your flying lately.”
“And?”
She looked at him, tightening her grip on his hand. “What you did out there yesterday was fantastic. No one’s going to deny that. But it was also dangerous. Careless, even. What if you had misjudged your mark? What if you hadn’t recovered from the curve and ended up in front of those fighters?”
He shrugged. “Would have been an interesting day.”
“No.” She shook her head. “It would have been tragic. I would have lost two of my best friends. You could have gone in with the rest of us.”
“I saw an opening, and I took it.” He shook his head. “What we do is all about taking risks. If I hadn’t done that, we might have lost a Star Runner today, or more. I wasn’t going to give them a chance to shoot back. I’ll never lose another friend if I can help it.”
“That’s what worries me.”
“What?”
She sighed. “I think you’re willing to die—maybe you even want to—to save your friends.” She met his eyes. “Do you want to die?”
He swallowed. “Of course not.”
“Is it revenge?”
He looked away, staring at the floor. Thinking of Ryker and her exploding Trident, he swallowed through his constricting throat. She’d died for him, placing her fighter between him and the missiles. If there had been an official report, it would have read that she had died to save the Wraith. But he knew it had been for him. She gave her all to save him, and there would be no recognition, no awards. The mission had been so secret her file would say she died in a training accident.
His stomach burned like battery acid with the thought.
“Does it matter?” he said, his voice dry.
She placed her fingers under his chin and pulled his face toward her. “I’m not going to lose you again, and I’m definitely not going to lose you because you threw your life away. I won’t allow it.” Her eyes flickered to his mouth. “I don’t know what our future holds, and I don’t care. But I know I’m not going to sit back and wish I said these things to you. Okay?”
Austin nodded. “Got it.”
Squeezing his shoulder, she stood. “I’m going to hit the shower.”
He leaned back on the couch. “I appreciate what you said. Seriously, I’m not trying to go out in a blaze of glory or anything like that. I just, well, I … never mind. I’ll be okay. I promise.”
She eyed him for a moment and shrugged. “Okay.”
She turned on her heel and walked to the corridor. Turning around, she grinned and leaned against the doorway. “One more thing, Austin.”
“Sure.”
Shaking her head, she pointed at him. “What you did out there was pretty amazing.”
He smiled and offered a half-hearted salute. “Thanks.”
CHAPTER SIX
“Well, that looks familiar,” Skylar said.
Standing next to Bear and Skylar in a line of Scorpions, Austin Stone smiled as he gazed through the energy shield protecting the hangar deck from the void beyond. “Sure does.”
Coming into the orbit of the Scorpions’ Nest and looming like a dagger, floated the Parazonium-class carrier Torch. Austin felt he was looking at the Formidable.
“Looks like home,” Skylar said.
Austin glanced at her. In the past months, the idea of “home” had been coming up on a regular basis. What was “home” now? Sometimes, he thought of his mother and their life in his childhood house back in Marietta, Georgia. That was probably nothing more than ashes now—courtesy of the mercenaries hired by the Tyral Pirates in their attempt to conquer Earth. More often than not, he thought of being with Ryker, which was another version of a home he’d never experience again.
With Mom on the other side of the galaxy in the middle of her new life, he didn’t know where he considered home.
Watching Bear and Skylar looking at the incoming carrier, he couldn’t resist smiling. His friends had become his home. While everything else had swirled into the torrent of life’s changes, the people he spent time with and loved had been the only constant.
“Attention!”
The Scorpions snapped to attention, their black boots hitting the deck hard and echoing. Captain Manami Senza marched in front of them, her fiery red hair tied behind her head. Her eyes swept the line, searching as she always did during roll call for imperfections in their dark uniforms. During the first months of training, a Star Runner would be forced to run when commanding officers noticed a smudge on their boots or a wrinkle in their uniforms. But Senza found fewer infractions as time went on. Soon, the Scorpions passed inspection without any required running.
Today, however, Senza seemed to be looking closer. She marched up and down the line twice, her eyes lingering on each of the fifteen Scorpions. Austin swallowed as her eyes bored into him. He kept his eyes forward, remaining still as a statue. After a moment, she moved on.
Satisfied, she squared off and faced them with her hands clasped behind her back. “The Scorpions are yours, Major Wilkos.”
With his boots echoing through the hangar deck, Wilkos strolled in front of the squadron. The major’s scalp was visible through the thin layer of hair, looking as if he’d received a haircut in the last hour. He squared off in front of the squadron.
“At ease, Scorpions,” he said, his voice booming. A thin smile appeared under his mustache. “I’ve been waiting for this day. The day we get to leave our Nest and head into the stars. It reminds me of my last assignment as Captain of the Seventh Tarnex. We were stationed at the corner of Legion Space with the Zahlian Empire on one side and a particularly aggressive sector of the Fringe on the other.”
Shaking his head, he paced in front of the squadron. “I had good men with me on that tour, truly talented Star Runners. I led them to defend the outpost on Tavoy Four against all manner of trash coming in from the Fringe. Saw some honorable Star Runners fall on that tour as well.” He stared at the deck for a long moment. “As good as they were, I swear on my honor as a Legion Star Runner that the squadron you stand with is made up of the best in the galaxy. If you stay sharp and stay focused, there is nothing in the universe you cannot defeat together. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Excellent.” He nodded. “Commander Reau of the Torch has been expecting us. He has instructed his
crew not to interact with any members of our squadron for the next two days as he transports us to our next assignment. We will receive the same treatment on his ship as would any Serpents. You are not to fraternize with the crew of the Torch in any way, shape, or form. I trust you all to obey this simple command. This is for your safety and your continuing status as black ops Star Runners. Any violations of this directive will be dealt with swiftly. Once we reach our next assignment, we will receive our permanent Tridents for the Scorpion squadron.” He cleared his throat. “Any questions?”
“Sir?” Osvaldo “Bull Shark” Wronski raised his hand from the far end of the line. “If I may ask, what is our assignment?”
Wilkos nodded. “We are being assigned to a remote world in Quadrant Seven to assess our readiness and conduct exercises in our new Tridents. A reduced squadron—the Fifty-Fourth Tizona—is already land-based on this world and we will be in their zone of operations while we complete our readiness assessment. Any other questions? No?” He snapped at Senza, “Load the shuttle and get them onboard.”
Senza took one step forward. “You heard the major—move!”
The shuttle came to rest on the Torch’s hangar bay. Red lights shifted to white, signaling it was safe for the crew to enter. The shuttle ramp lowered and a collection of familiar smells—oil, fuel, and sweat—shot into the vessel. Austin smiled, remembering his first time in the landing bay on Tarton’s Junction when he first saw a Trident up close.
“Everybody out!” Senza yelled.
In one movement, the Scorpions adjusted their duffle bags around their backs and marched down the ramp. Maintenance crews scattered throughout the hangar bay seemed to stop at the same time and stare. Austin saw one woman standing on the back of a Trident, tools still in her hand, gazing in their direction with her jaw hanging open. Two Star Runners wearing Tizona blue stood near the nose of the Trident, their eyes also on the newcomers.
Now I know why Wilkos made his speech, Austin thought. It’s our first time out in the fleet, and he wants us to look good.
The Scorpions clicked their heels and came to a stop in five lines of three each. Austin believed a drill sergeant could have used a tape measure to check the distances between their shoulders. They stood in perfect formation, just as Wilkos had drilled into their heads during the first months in the Scorpions’ Nest.