by L. E. Thomas
Getting a bearing on the location of the six Tizona Tridents, Austin changed course and headed away from the convoy. The Tridents flew in an inverted “V” formation, skipping across the atmosphere over the eastern hemisphere of Omeya. The terminator line swept across the planet’s surface as the morning light would soon fall onto Gen’s Folly and Fortson Base. Squinting, Austin saw the position lights of Jameson’s six Tridents twinkling like pulsars in the distance.
Their position dropped to five hundred MUs. Remembering Captain Jameson’s call sign, Austin keyed for a transmission on numerous frequencies simultaneously.
“Slug, this is Rock. Are you having comm difficulty?” When no answer came, he repeated the transmission and added, “Please respond. Over.”
The space between the Tizona Tridents magnified, the “V” arching out over the planet. They hovered at the edge of the atmosphere. Austin frowned, watching as the fighters moved farther apart.
“Rock to all Tizona Tridents in Sector Four over Omeya,” he said, clenching his teeth. “If you are having difficulty with your comm or cannot respond, please send a light pulse signal. Do you copy?”
A shiver crept down his neck. He shuddered. The Tizona Tridents continued spreading out as he bore down on their leader, nearly encircling him.
“Rock, Spinner,” Senza said, her voice crackling at the long distance. “We are beginning our descent to the base. Any luck?”
He shook his head. “I don’t understand—”
The wailing sound piercing through his cockpit shocked him. A missile warning? With his eyes bulging, he looked down at his sensors. Three missiles inbound.
Dive!
Slapping the throttle forward, he plunged into the atmosphere. The shields buckled, surrounding the ship with fire. The force of the maneuver pressed against his skull, weighing on his body until the edge of his vision went dark like staring through a tunnel.
Come on, stay awake.
His earpiece screeched into a scrambled mess. He diverted all shield power to the front, rolling the Trident as it shot like a meteor toward the surface. Glancing at his readout, he dropped chaff and hoped for the best. The missiles lost whatever meager lock they had obtained in the blind shot, spinning harmlessly into the atmosphere. Where had they come from?
Blinking away the blurriness in his eyes, he stared at his readout. He almost wished he hadn’t.
The six Tizona Tridents had formed up behind him, swarming on his tail like sharks on a blood trail. Flashes surrounded his fighter like lightning. Even through the disruption of the atmosphere, Jameson was coming.
Adrenaline shot through his body. Austin shook his head. They’re trying to kill me.
Clenching his teeth, he stabilized his rear shields and brought his Trident through the atmosphere. The fighter descended through thick clouds, passing through the early morning light. A bead of sweat trickled down the center of his back.
Legion Star Runners were trying to kill him. Why?
Not now, he thought. Don’t think about it. Concentrate on surviving. Stay fr—
Laser fire splattered into his rear shields. He jerked his head back, saw a Trident right on his six. Not a modified Trident IV like his, but a standard Trident. That’s it, he thought. Chase this!
Diving directly toward the planet, he sent the Trident into a stomach-churning drop. The clouds disappeared around the ship, revealing the barren and scarred plains of Omeya stretching beneath him. The altitude signal popped on his HUD, dropping fast.
Five hundred MUs. Three hundred.
The ground’s details came clear. He saw a mining crew scurrying across the surface. Laser bolts ignited the air as he rolled the Trident, the missed fire crashing into the world’s surface and sending massive clouds of dirt into the air.
One hundred MUs.
Now!
He pulled back on the stick with all his strength. His Trident IV negotiated the maneuver, sweeping a mere three hundred feet from the ground. Gravity forced his head down, and he struggled to keep his helmet up enough to look forward. Two Tizona Tridents disappeared from his sensors. He glanced back, saw two clouds of fire and smoke mushrooming into the air and dirt sweeping away from the force of his engines. But one Trident stayed close on his six, the laser fire eliminating his remaining rear shields.
Shifting remaining shield power to the rear, he gave the engine all the energy he could muster. The ground shot past him in a blur, like a swirl of paint. He banked right, then left. The pursuing Trident stayed on him. The safety harness dug into his shoulders as the Trident zipped across the surface. There had to be something he could do.
The gamma wave! He had turned it to a different frequency when he was trying to contact Jameson.
Switching back to the Scorpions’ frequency with his free hand, he clenched his teeth when he saw a hill approaching. He pulled up, the Trident sweeping over the ridge. His pursuer stayed right on him, spitting laser fire around the Trident. Pushing forward on the stick, he brought his fighter down to hug the surface.
“Spinner!” he yelled, grunting as he rolled the fighter and sent the world end over end. “Spinner! Rock! Need a little help!”
“Rock!” Senza yelled. “What are you doing?”
“Fleeing!”
“Marauders?”
Austin banked left and pulled up, sending his Trident into a horizontal loop. He grunted, his teeth piercing his bottom lip and spilling blood on his chin. “No! Jameson!” he yelled, unable to say more.
A pause. “Copy! We are inbound!”
Nodding, Austin leveled out and increased his altitude. Ahead, he saw the flat plains split like an immense wound had cut into the planet’s surface. A canyon. If he could—
Laser fire blasted his rear shields, sending sparks shooting up from the control board and off his helmet. The shields were gone. He looked back, saw the Trident still on his tail.
“Enough of this!” he yelled, taking all his energy from the lasers and pouring them into the engines. “Come and get me!”
Even at these supersonic speeds, the Trident lurched forward as the additional power fed into the engines. He rolled and banked, making his fighter an impossible target. But the Trident stayed on his six. It had to be Jameson.
All right, old man. Follow me now.
Pushing down on the stick, he bore down on the canyon ahead. Feigning as if he was headed into the canyon, Austin allowed his fighter to dip. Jameson took the bait, diving into the canyon and firing wildly. His laser fire exploded rocks and dirt, missing Austin’s wings by inches.
Now!
Using the maneuverability of the Trident IV to his advantage, Austin pulled out of his dive and shot into the sky. The fighter launched into a quick loop, the morning sunlight spinning around his cockpit. He leveled out the loop, shaking his head and blinking away the effects of the maneuver.
It worked.
The enemy Trident shot forward in the canyon, directly in front of his crosshairs.
He dumb-fired his two remaining missiles. The target pulled up, the first missile sailing beneath its wing. The other smashed into its left engine, sending the Trident into a flat spin toward the plain. The fighter crashed into the dirt, sending a flurry of rocks and debris into the air.
“Splash one!” he yelled. “Spinner, Rock. I have taken out one … one bandit.”
Gasping for air, he increased his altitude and circled the crash site below. The Trident had broken in two pieces, littering the barren landscape with metal and smoking pieces of fuel. The smashed canopy suddenly opened.
“Rock,” Senza said, “we have met the remaining rogue Tridents. They suddenly crashed into the ground when we engaged. I … I don’t understand.”
“I copy, Spinner. I have eyes on Jameson. Looks like he survived the crash.”
“Stay on him.”
A whoosh of static shot into his ear. “Rock, this is Hound inbound above your position. SITREP.”
“Hound, I have eyes on—wait!”
> Austin watched as Jameson, his flight suit charred and burnt, stumbled from his cockpit and fell to his knees. He reached toward the heavens, his mouth opened in a scream Austin couldn’t hear. Placing his hands on his face as if he was trying to gouge out his eyes, Jameson shook his head back and forth. A violent surge ripped through his body, and his muscles went still. His arms dropped lifelessly to the side. The man toppled over into the dirt like a freshly cut tree and remained still.
“Rock, report!” Wilkos yelled.
“Sir, I think we need to get down there.”
Wilkos grumbled. “Permission to land granted. I’ll be there in three minutes.”
Fires crackled on the dry surface. Black smoke rolled along the flat land. A charred scar etched along the Trident’s path of descent. The smell of burning fuel filled his nose as Austin unscrewed his helmet and exited his fighter.
He pulled out his sidearm and gripped the laser pistol hard.
A distant explosion jolted him. He recoiled instinctively, remembering the last time he had been in a firefight with the Serpents. But the sound came from far away. Craning his neck, he scanned the horizon and saw four towers of smoke lifting into the morning sky.
What happened?
Carefully inching his way through the remains of the Trident, he kept his gun pointed down. He looked up, saw the glint of metallic objects descending toward him. Wilkos was on his way. Austin inched through the crash site.
He halted.
The crumpled nose of the Trident was unmistakable. The canopy was nothing more than shattered pieces. Raising his pistol, he moved to the far side of the cockpit.
Austin swallowed.
Jameson was lying on his face. Dirt caked his flight suit, now torn and ripped. Dark red blood, almost like oil, seeped from his ears and formed puddles in the dirt.
“Captain?” he whispered, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat. “Jameson?”
Stepping forward, Austin nudged Jameson’s shoulder with his boot. The man remained still.
Keeping his gun focused on the man’s head, he used his free hand to turn Jameson over on his back.
Austin recoiled, the gun shaking in his hand. Holstering his weapon, he knelt down on one knee. Regardless of how he felt about the man, Captain Jameson was still a Star Runner. His stomach turned, and he closed his eyes.
The Tridents landed around him, the powerful engines shattering the silence. Wilkos sprinted toward him with his gun in hand. Several other Scorpions ran behind him, their eyes on the dead captain.
“What happened?” he asked, his eyes falling to Jameson. “Is that … oh, my.”
Austin nodded. “This is how I found him.”
Wilkos offered a hand, helping Austin to his feet. “What happened out there?”
Austin shook his head. “They attacked me. I did what I could. I just fled. They just … attacked. I …”
He wanted to say more, but the words didn’t come.
Wilkos squeezed his shoulder. “You did well, Rock.”
Austin’s heart pounded, the events of the past couple hours rushing through his mind. He stared at the horizon, his mouth hanging open. Bear stepped in front of him, but Austin’s vision blurred.
“You okay, man?” Bear asked, pointing to Austin’s face. “You’re bleeding all over.”
Bringing his hand to his chin, Austin saw blood on his fingertips. He remembered biting his lip during his evasive maneuvers, but his entire body felt like a truck hit him. “I don’t … know. I feel terrible.”
Bear turned. “We need a medical Karda here, Major.”
Wilkos kneeled down next to Jameson. “We need one for more reasons than Rock.”
“Sir?” Bear asked, tilting his head to the side.
“This man didn’t die from the crash,” Wilkos said, his voice monotone. “Something in his brain exploded.”
Bear’s expression faded. “Say what?”
Wilkos slid his hands over Jameson’s eyes, closing them, and stood, his gaze fixed on the captain. “Yeah, we need to have this man examined ASAP.”
CHAPTER TEN
“So that’s the situation right now,” Major Wilkos said from the front of the briefing room at Fortson Base. He crossed his arms over his chest. “We need to go over our patrol patterns.”
Skylar raised her hand. “Major, how long until a replacement squadron will arrive?”
Wilkos shrugged. “For a place as far out as Omeya? Difficult to say. We should be out of here in a week or so.”
“Will they let us know what happened to the Fifty-Fourth?”
The major sighed.
“Listen,” he said, his tone switching from authoritative to that of a concerned parent, “I know the events of this week have been strange, and that’s probably putting it lightly. You all have become a tight group. I feel it, and I appreciate that fact.” He pointed toward Austin. “Our Rock here survived an attack by six talented Star Runners, and we have no answers as to why it happened. I have heard of men stationed on these remote outposts going crazy when they’ve been out here too long. But, as you all know, this feels different.”
Skylar, her hand still raised, cleared her throat. “But you said all six of the Star Runners died from brain injuries, correct?”
Wilkos pursed his lips. “Initial examinations show their brains had suffered a type of internal combustion … almost like a bomb went off. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s nothing local, right?” Skylar asked, her eyes flicking around the room. “Nothing we can catch?”
For the first time in the morning briefing, Wilkos grinned. “I think we can rule out a local virus.”
Skylar’s jaw dropped, a hurt expression on her face. “What?” She shrugged. “It’s possible.”
As the Scorpions released a nervous chuckle, Wilkos raised his hand. “All right, knock it off! With the Fifty-Fourth out of action, we will need to be here to defend Omeya for the foreseeable future. So get ready for some long, boring patrols for the next couple days. I think we all deserve it.”
Bear slapped Austin’s shoulder. “Do you ever actually have any boring assignments?”
Austin winced at Bear’s contact, his body still sore from the encounter. “Brother, I long for non-eventful.”
Laughing, Bear leaned back in his seat and opened his tablet.
“Let’s go over today’s patrol,” Wilkos said, activating the hologram and launching into a briefing.
The flat landscape stretched into infinity. Daylight had begun to creep over the horizon, painting the sky in a warm, pink hue. As sweat poured down his face and dripped off the end of his nose, Austin cast a sideways glance at Skylar. Her hair swayed as she ran, and her skin appeared flawless with no sign of sweat. Turning to face forward, Austin continued giving the impression he could keep up with her without a struggle, but he knew better. If she wanted, Skylar could leave him in the dust.
But she never did. Ever since their days of running at the academy, she stayed by his side.
They rounded the sole rock formation within sight of Gen’s Folly, a towering stack of boulders stretching into the sky. The locals called it Painter’s Rock, and they said it was about six miles from town. Skylar had said it was a perfect distance for their physical training, and she had invited all of the Scorpions. Austin was the only Star Runner who showed up.
He didn’t mind. Following the peculiar attack of the rogue Fifty-Four Tizona Squadron, Austin had lost himself in running with Skylar every morning just as he had back at the academy. The exercise was something he didn’t enjoy, but it became addicting once he fell into the rhythm. Nothing else cleared his mind the way a jog with Skylar did, and few things were harder than trying to keep up with the track star from Florida.
As they settled into the home stretch, he allowed his mind to wander. He’d sent Mom a message earlier that week, checking in regarding her progress on the medical frigate operating along the Fringe. They had not spoken live in quite some time, rely
ing on the mostly consistent long-range communications. She wanted to coordinate their next leave and reunite on Earth. He wasn’t sure about that idea since they no longer had a house there, thanks to the efforts of the Phantoms. Besides, the thought of driving around Marietta, Georgia on Earth seemed, well, odd. He thought he would feel out of place, but at least he could visit with Josh.
He grimaced. The thought of Josh, beaten and broken on Atlantis, flashed in his mind.
“This was supposed to be a game,” he had said, his will collapsing.
Josh’s voice echoed in his head. Austin hadn’t known it when it was happening, but it would be the last time he would see his childhood friend for a long time. Nothing had turned out the way either of them had hoped. When he first saw Josh on Tarton’s Junction, he thought they would be flying Tridents together and taking down pirates. It was all supposed to be fun.
Fun, it seemed, had been an illusion. Austin’s mind drifted. Many things had been that way.
“Race you!” Skylar yelled, interrupting his thoughts.
Austin blinked. Up ahead, the lights of the hangar beamed over the plain. Skylar sprinted forward, displaying a surge of incredible energy. Her track shoes kicked up a cloud of dust, and the black tracksuit nearly disappeared in the dawn light.
Tapping into whatever energy he could muster, Austin increased speed and tried to close the gap. He smiled, watching her sprint across the flat terrain and listening to her shoes tap against the soft, dry surface of Omeya.
A sparkling light flickered in the sky above the hangar. Austin squinted and stared as he ran. It looked like an incoming ship passing through the atmosphere. As he continued running, he kept his eyes on the heavens and watched the vessel scratch a white line across the immaculate sky like chalk on a clear blackboard.
He jogged the final steps, coming to a stop a dozen yards from Skylar.
“You give up on me?” she asked, stretching against the side of the hangar.
“Course not,” he said, his eyes still skyward. “There’s a ship coming in.”
“Right,” she snorted. “Still can’t admit when I’ve beaten you, huh?”