by L. E. Thomas
“I need to speak with the commander of this ship,” he said before convulsing into a fit of spasms and gurgling coughs. “Please.”
“Lie still,” the nearest nurse said, placing her hand on his head. “It’ll be okay. Please try to relax.”
“It’s not going to be okay,” the Star Runner said, his head moving to each side. “There's no stopping it. They’re gonna come from the dark—kill us all! Tell your commander we must leave!”
“Bring a sedative!” the nurse barked.
Austin swallowed, the scene in front of him unfolding like another horrid nightmare.
“What’s going on here?” a deep voice boomed from behind them.
The three of them spun around to see Major Braddock looming in the entryway, his eyes blazing.
“We came to see the rescued Star Runner,” Ryker said before anyone else could answer.
Braddock took one step into the room. “And who granted you permission to do that?”
Ryker hesitated.
“I did,” Austin said without thinking. “Since we discovered the escape pod, I didn’t see the harm in—”
“Enough!” Braddock snapped, turning to face Austin. “I want you all to get out of that flight gear right now, shower up and report for your debriefing at 1600.”
Braddock moved past them all and stared through the window.
Star Runners packed into the briefing room. The pilots from all three squadrons on board the Formidable buzzed with quiet conversations. All the seats in the briefing room quickly filled. The remaining Star Runners stood at the back with tablets in hand.
Austin took an aisle seat on the right side of the room. Bear sat to his right with Curly at his side. She grinned her captivating smile and turned her attention to her tablet. Bear looked at him, bouncing his eyebrows twice.
Austin smiled and shook his head.
Bear grumbled something Austin couldn’t understand as he pulled out his tablet.
“All right,” Braddock said in a stern, powerful voice that echoed off the steel walls of the room, silencing the conversations. “That’s enough. There’ll be time for socializing later.”
The room’s lights faded to a soft glow.
“I know a lot of you have been wondering about the Star Runner we brought aboard yesterday,” Braddock said. “With the insane rumors we have been hearing about this pilot, Commander Horace thought it prudent for me to hold this briefing with all the Star Runners on board to give you the facts.
“The Star Runner we brought aboard, Ren Callapen, call sign Dipper, was the sole survivor assigned to the science station, Ramelle. He was brought aboard yesterday and has received treatment for his injuries. The other three Star Runners stationed there were killed.” Braddock paused, his eyes moving around the room. “After the Tridents were incapacitated, a team of well-trained professionals boarded the station and hacked into the Legion computers. We don’t know how much information they were able to gather from the station, but we have to assume they were able to steal all the information including the roster and manifest of the Formidable since we have been linked with the station since arriving in this quadrant.”
He placed his hands on his hips. “With the information about the Formidable now out in the open, all communication off this ship is to be halted immediately while we are in this quadrant. We have to assume detailed information on the Star Runners, the crew and the ships on board is now in unfriendly hands. This includes our patrol patterns and flight schedules. In other words, they have detailed knowledge about every one of you and could still be monitoring signals onboard this ship. We are currently accessing all systems to ensure our security on this ship has not been breached, but this will take time.”
Braddock sighed, staring at the floor. “This force was able to cut through the Trident umbrella protecting the science station because … because the Zahl is in possession of a ship we cannot pick up on sensors. A ship command is calling the Wraith.”
The room seemed to rustle all at once, the Star Runners turning and whispering to one another.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Braddock snapped. “I want you to listen and listen good. This Wraith ship is no spirit or ghost rising from the dead to terrorize this area of space. It’s just a ship, no more no less.”
He activated the hologram display, and a cyan image hovered over the briefing room. “What I’m about to show you is classified. This is not to be discussed outside of this room with anyone—including the enlisted men on board. Please pay attention—Legion agents died to bring us this video.”
The cyan image flickered and moved. The recording showed a radiantly lit room, sterile, with white walls stretching high above the floor littered with electronics. Wires and scopes covered the view as the camera shook. The image persistently flashed, and it took Austin a moment to realize the bursts were blinks. They were seeing an image taken from a person’s eyes!
His eyes widened as he watched this person walk through the technical work area. Other people dressed in black lab coats passed by the view, nodding at the person making the recording. The view lingered on a line of computers displaying a series of algorithms in a green font. The screens shimmered, changing to display a schematic of a space fighter.
Austin’s gaze narrowed on the schematic.
A Zahl Interceptor, he thought.
No, wait a minute. There was something different about the fighter. He had seen the images of the interceptor in his studies. It had a distinct horseshoe shape culminating in two sharp points on either side of the cockpit. This fighter had the same shape with a peculiar surface covered in tiny bumps like a toad’s back.
The image moved away from the screens. A woman with a charming expression passed to the left, and the view shifted to follow her for a moment as she strolled up to the screens. She studied the information, her eyes focusing on the images.
The view turned around, passed through another line of workstations and into an open area of the room. In the center of the room, sat the modified Zahl Interceptor they had just seen on the computer screens. The image paused.
“There we have it,” Braddock said. “The Wraith. The latest weapon developed by Sector Regent Knox Tulin. We can only expect this ship has been developed to start a war.”
Austin swallowed.
Tulin.
If the intelligence briefing Austin had been given when he first arrived on the Formidable could be trusted, Tulin was the man responsible for everything Austin had suffered since he began his service in the Legion. From the initial Tyral Pirate attacks and Josh’s capture to the Battle of Atlantis and the attempt to take over Earth, it had been Tulin behind all of it. And now the man had a fighter that could allegedly destroy four Tridents without being seen.
“Major Braddock,” Ryker said, raising her hand from the front row. “Do we know the exact specifications of this … Wraith?”
Braddock sighed. “Exact? No. Even though we have been told by one of our Star Runners and the dark world vessel commander that this ship is invisible, we find it very unlikely the Zahl Empire has gained the technology to create a vessel that can attack while shrouded. The energy output required to fire while maintaining a shroud is difficult to comprehend.”
“What about projectile weapons?” Tarnex Captain Doug Lord asked from the rear of the room. “Could they use projectiles and still fire while shrouded?”
“Possibly,” Braddock said with a nod. “It’s one of the theories we have been delivered. The other is that the Wraith is a stealth ship, invisible to all sensors and immune to stunners. If this is the case, the only weakness would be missiles armed with heat seekers rather than our standard lock. This means dog fighting this monster would be eyes only—no scopes.”
The room shifted again as the Star Runners looked around. This time, however, there were no conversations. Only silence.
“We will be patrolling this area until the Ramelle can be resupplied,” Braddock said. “There are no other available carriers
and command believes it is worth the risk. I want you all spending double sim time until further notice—but I want it done without your sensors. We’re doing this old school, people, like in the days when Star Runners had to actually use their eyes and gamma waves in a scrap. We’ve become too dependent on our technology. We’ve become lazy. I want us talking out there to each other, watching each other’s back. Understood?”
The Star Runners nodded and leaned forward in unison.
“Those who have a standard flight briefing can stay,” Braddock said, scooping up his tablet from the table and shifting the lights back on in the room. “The rest of you are dismissed.”
The room came to life. Bear leaned over, shaking his head.
“Was that supposed to make us feel better?”
Austin shrugged. “I suppose so.”
Bear snorted. “I think I liked the idea of a spirit ship better.”
“You staying?” Curly asked, peeking over Bear’s broad shoulder.
“I am,” Austin said with a nod. “I’m flying patrol this morning.”
“Be careful,” Bear said, his face full of mischief. “I hear there’s a ghost ship out there looking for you.”
*****
Something watched him from the blackness.
He felt it in every movement, every course correction.
The Wraith was out there.
Looping into the final leg of his patrol, Austin eased back into the seat and noticed the sweat in his flight suit. He surveyed his sensors for the countless time in the past two hours. Nothing again. Besides, it wouldn’t matter since the Wraith was invisible and impervious to the stunner.
Other patrols had been sent off in different directions in the space around Ramelle. The Formidable orbited the science station in an apparent effort not to provide a stationary target for the mysterious ship. The destruction of the four Tridents and recovery of one Star Runner had changed everything. Life on the carrier ceased to be full of wonder and awe. A silent fear replaced the camaraderie on board. Whether or not the Star Runners would speak about it to one another, a feeling of dread hung over the ship like a deadly gas. Knowing the Wraith was out there, and the Formidable was alone in the darkness of deep space along the border, caused a feeling of isolation Austin hadn’t experienced on the carrier since he arrived. He had heard about the solitary months of patrol on the Legion carrier, even thought he was ready for the life. Now, he wasn’t so sure.
The sound of the Star Runner’s screams from sick bay filled his mind again.
He shook away the thought. Austin had seen enough wounded men and women since he graduated flight school. The nightmares were an apparent side effect. When he closed his eyes, he saw the cots lining the freighter on Atlantis. He felt Josh’s terror seeping through his quarters following the battle. Captivity and torture had crushed his best friend.
The scope pinged, ripping him back to the present.
Focus, he thought. You don’t need to be caught sleeping out here.
Sketch pulled in close off his starboard wing. They patrolled in radio silence, communicating only through the text of the Whisper. Although he had known Martin “Sketch” Bolin since the early days of flight school, Austin had never flown alone with him. Martin always exuded a silent confidence, and Austin was surprised to find his presence a comfort on this lonely patrol.
The final leg was just as uneventful as the first. A stray memory clicked of Lieutenant Bean warning him of life on a carrier in the depths of space when they met on Austin’s first flight home before the Battle of Atlantis. Of course, everyone had said that and Austin still wanted to come.
He closed on the Formidable and passed the perimeter line.
“Nest, Rock,” he transmitted. “Lining up for our approach.”
“This is Nest,” the message came back through a hiss of static and pops. “Approach pattern being transmitted now. Welcome home.”
“Copy.” Austin glanced over his shoulder, saw the familiar shape of the Trident. “You with me, Sketch?”
“Lead the way, Rock.”
“You got it.”
Austin led the Trident through the sensor beacons flashing on his HUD. The Formidable soon dominated his view as he approached the aft section of the ship. The engines burned blue. Two Tridents shot out of the launch tubes. Austin glanced at his sensors, saw Gan and Bear had started on their patrol.
“Good hunting, guys,” he said under his breath without transmitting. “Be careful.”
He brought the Trident into the carrier’s bay. Sketch followed behind him in a smooth formation. Both fighters nestled to a stop on the hangar deck. Austin rolled his head around and closed his eyes. His muscles were stiff from the hours of patrol, and the inside of his flight suit felt slippery with perspiration. Opening his eyes, he watched the hangar doors slowly close.
The crews appeared once the atmosphere had normalized within the hangar, rushing toward the spacecraft. Austin cracked open the canopy, the hydraulics hissings as he did so. The crew pushed a ladder toward the edge of his fighter as Austin stood in the cockpit and stretched. To his right, Sketch gave a thumbs up from his cockpit. Austin returned the gesture and climbed down the ladder, his joints popping with each step.
After nodding to the crew now swarming over the parked Tridents, Austin ducked into the Star Runners’ locker room. Even with all of the technology surrounding him every day, the musty smell of the room gave off the same odor of sweat and well-worn, unwashed socks as the locker room in his high school. He slipped out of his flight suit, showered and put on his Tizona one-piece uniform.
“Crazy out there, huh?”
Austin glanced at Martin, who dressed several lockers down the line. “Not much going on today.”
“True, but knowing that thing’s out there … and this Tulin guy.”
Austin shrugged. “This Tulin has been able to orchestrate an alliance with pirates and indirectly lead an attack on my home world. He’s probably the one who hacked the science station and stole files on all of us.”
Martin paused, his large brown eyes studying Austin for a moment. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“What’s that?”
“I heard your family was attacked before you made it back to Atlantis.”
Austin exhaled slowly. “Yeah. We all made it.”
“Still, must have been hard.”
“It has been.” Austin chewed on his bottom lip. “Hey man, have you heard anything about the ship’s counselor?”
Martin frowned. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Austin shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Just curious.”
“Oh. I’m sure they could help with, well, anything you need.”
Austin grabbed his tablet and shut his locker. He thought of Tulin, of Dax Rodon, of the creeping feeling he had been out of control of his life over the past year. “I’m just ready to start hitting back, you know?”
Sketch grinned. “I hear ya.”
The lights flickered and shifted from a cool white to blood red. The high-pitched pinging of the Formidable being placed on alert status filled the air.
“Drill?” Sketch asked, yelling over the noise.
“Doubt it. Come on!”
Austin hurried toward the Star Runners’ ready room adjacent to the lockers. The cold blue room filled with Star Runners, some off duty while others wore flight suits, crowding around the holographic board in the center of the room. The board glowed. Two seconds later, the image of the Formidable appeared about the size of a pen at one end of the board.
“What’s going on?” Brenda “Hyena” Foster of Tizona asked as she pressed against Austin’s shoulder, trying hard for a view of the board.
Austin gritted his teeth. Hyena had been one of the quiet members of Tizona, so quiet Austin had never had a full conversation with her and had only seen her called on a few times in class. In the past month, however, she had shown more personality, and her cold, shy exterior had started to thaw.
“The ship status has been placed on alert,” he said.
The Star Runners pressing around the board parted to make way for Captain Lo Talad of the Lobera Squadron. His close-set black eyes focused on the holographic board.
“Everyone quiet,” he said, his voice calm and confident. “Fish, activate the gamma wave.”
“Copy,” said Lieutenant Kason “Fish” Tark.
Other than the replacements fresh out of the academy, the rest of the Twelfth Lobera on board the Formidable had been through two full tours together and were starting on their third. Captain Talad had led them all. As a result, the veteran Lobera Star Runners showed Talad a measure of respect Austin found contagious.
The speakers around the holographic board hissed. The voices sizzled through the crackling transmission.
“They’re right on me, Bear!” Gan’s voice screeched. “I can’t see them!”
Austin’s stomach dropped. He heard the fear in Gan’s voice. The holographic board shifted away from the carrier and centered on two Tridents at the edge of their range. Nothing else appeared on the hologram.
“Cut back, Toad!” Bear snapped. “I can’t get a shot!”
“My rear shields are gone!”
“Cut back! He’s too fast!” Bear yelled. “I’ve lost him! Pull back, Toad! Pull back!”
The two Tridents banked and looped, spinning through space. Still, they were the only two signals in the area. Whatever was attacking them couldn’t be picked up on the sensors. Austin swallowed, forcing acid back down into his gut.
“I can’t! I—”
Gan’s Trident disappeared from the hologram.
“No,” Austin whispered.
“Damn it!” Bear yelled, unleashing unnatural fury into the microphone. “Nest, Bear. We’ve got a problem. Need all available support ASAP.”
“Bear, Nest. Launching alert fighters now. Head back immediately.”
Curly pressed through the crowd of Star Runners and nestled up against Austin, her blue eyes wide. She folded her arms across her chest as if she hugged herself, her chin trembling. Austin draped his arm on her shoulder, squeezing softly. He tried to ignore the thought of Gan being killed and hoped an escape pod beacon would appear on the screen.