A Line in the Sand

by Ryk Brown

  As he prepared to leave his cabin, a knock sounded at his door. Upon opening it, he found Dylan on the other side. “Come to get me for the final jump to Nor-Patri?”

  “Not exactly,” Dylan replied.

  “What’s up?” Nathan asked, sensing the young man’s pensive mood.

  “Can I speak with you a moment?” Dylan asked, looking to his right to confirm no one was within earshot.

  “Sure,” Nathan replied, stepping aside to let him into his cramped little cabin. The XKs, though far from small, did not offer much in the way of crew accommodations. Jessica often joked that the cabins on the Voss were smaller than the bathrooms in their quarters on the Aurora. It was an exaggeration, of course, but not by much.

  “Something bothering you?” Nathan asked as he closed the door.

  Dylan took a breath, obviously uncomfortable with whatever he was about to say.

  “You’re worried that you’re not up to the task of filling Loki’s shoes,” Nathan surmised.

  Dylan stared at him, shocked. “How did you know?”

  Nathan laughed. “I’ve been there. Believe me, I know how you feel.”

  “I honestly believed that I could do this,” Dylan explained. “I mean, I’m great in all the simulations.”

  “No matter how realistic a simulation is, it’s still just a simulation,” Nathan told him.

  “It was real enough for you,” Dylan pointed out.

  “The first time, yes,” Nathan agreed. “But that’s because I didn’t even know such a realistic simulation was possible.”

  “So knowing that it’s a simulation makes you act differently?”

  “Very much so. In the second sim, the one for the challenge, I took risks that I would not normally take, simply because I knew that it was a simulation.”

  “And because the stakes were so high,” Dylan added.

  “That too.”

  “Tekans believe that simulations are everything. That they are the key to intensive training, education, and preparation. Without them, our civilization would not be anywhere near as advanced as we are.”

  “Did you ever wonder if maybe your dependence on simulations, at least in some disciplines, might be holding you back?”

  “I don’t see how.”

  “The fact that you’re standing here now is a perfect example,” Nathan explained. “Would you have taken this assignment had you not honed your skills and built up your confidence in the sims?”

  “Probably,” Dylan admitted.

  Nathan smiled. “At least you’re honest.”

  “It’s just that…I find myself hesitating. I mean, I know what to do, I’m just uncertain. I feel like I have to think about everything twice before doing it. In the sims, I just did it.”

  “Again, you didn’t fear the consequences, because you knew they weren’t real.”

  Dylan thought for a moment, then made another admission. “Don’t tell anyone, but I always turn the simulated pain settings down to zero.”

  “Seems like that would compound the problem,” Nathan told him. “Maybe you should try turning it back up?”

  “I’m afraid to,” Dylan admitted. “I don’t think I’m cut out for this kind of assignment.”

  “I don’t know,” Nathan replied. “I think you’re doing pretty well so far.”

  “Really?”

  “There’s room for improvement, but considering your age and your lack of actual experience, you’re doing just fine.”

  “Then how come Josh is always on me?”

  “That’s just Josh,” Nathan explained. “He did the same thing to Loki, even though Loki was just as good a pilot as Josh; even better, in some ways.”

  “I don’t see how that’s possible,” Dylan insisted. “Josh is an amazing pilot. Just don’t tell him I said so.”

  “Yes, he is; and no, I won’t,” Nathan agreed. “His head is big enough as it is.”

  Dylan sighed, obviously still bothered by something.

  “There’s something else?”

  “I don’t think I’m the right guy to fly a Lightning,” Dylan stated after a few seconds. “I think I’m too dependent on AIs. P-Seventy-Twos are much more manual…and…”

  “And?”

  “And they’re so small.”

  “Small?”

  “It feels like there’s nothing between you and space.”

  “There’s not much more between you and space right now,” Nathan told him.

  “I don’t know, it’s just different. I feel apprehensive in the Lightning sims. And that’s in the sim. Can you imagine how I’d feel in the real thing?”

  Nathan sighed. “It would have been nice to know this before we departed.”

  “I’m sorry about that, Captain. The last thing I want is to let you down. I just thought I could handle it.” Dylan hung his head down in shame. “I guess I was wrong.”

  “You’re not wrong, Dylan,” Nathan insisted. “In fact, you’re admitting your own shortcomings, and that’s good. It would have been better to hear about it earlier, yes, but better late than never.”

  “What are you going to do with me?” Dylan wondered.

  “Do you feel comfortable flying the Voss?” Nathan asked.

  “For the most part, yes,” Dylan replied. “I’m not sure about it when things get…you know…”

  “Dangerous?”

  “I get really scared.”

  “I’d be worried if you didn’t,” Nathan told him.

  “Do you get scared?”

  “Every single time,” Nathan admitted.

  “Really?” Dylan couldn’t believe it. “You sure don’t seem scared.”

  “Fear keeps you honest,” Nathan explained. “Fear keeps you from doing stupid things.”

  “But how do you keep it from making you hesitate?”

  “You just do,” Nathan told him. “I wish I could give you some magic answer, but that’s the truth of it. You just do. Maybe it comes with time and experience, or maybe one is born with that ability. Hell, maybe it’s both. You just have to not let your fear control you. Recognize it; respect it; but continue on in spite of it.”

  “I’ll try,” Dylan agreed. “But when all this is over, I think I’d like to go back to AI coding. Who knows? Maybe I can come up with a simulation to help the user overcome their fears.”

  “Maybe,” Nathan agreed. “In the meantime, we’ll keep you on the Voss. I don’t see us needing the Lightnings this trip, but if we do, Josh and I will fly them, and you can stay at the helm.”

  “I’d appreciate that,” Dylan thanked, relief obvious in his voice.

  “Now let’s go say hello to the Jung, shall we?”

  Dylan rolled his eyes. “I was feeling better until you said that.”

  * * *

  Nathan and Dylan came up the stair ladder onto the Voss’s command deck, moving forward past Jessica, who was sitting at the auxiliary station, her feet on the console as usual.

  “How are we looking?” Nathan asked Josh.

  “We were charged an hour ago,” Josh replied. “We were just waiting for you.”

  “I told you to wake me when we were charged.”

  Josh pointed at Jessica.

  “You needed your sleep,” Jessica insisted.

  Nathan just shook his head. “We all set?”

  “Jump is plotted and loaded,” Josh assured him. “All we have to do is push the little button, and bam, it’s Hello, Jung!”

  “Hopefully without the bam part,” Dylan commented as he took his seat at the copilot’s station.

  “Should we man the guns?” Jessica asked.

  “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt,” Nathan agreed. “But no one fires unless ordered.”

  “Hey, guys!” Jessica called out, her head leaning back a bit as
if she were speaking toward the overhead speaker of the intercom. “Everyone man your guns but hold fire until ordered. We’re about to jump to Nor-Patri.”

  “On our way,” Kit replied over the intercom.

  “What about shields?” Dylan wondered.

  “Are they still set to automatically power up if attacked?” Nathan asked.

  “Yes. I even programmed the AI to first raise only the shield toward the threat. That way, it can bring it up faster.”

  “What about the rest of the shields?” Josh asked.

  “The rest of them still need a direct command to be raised,” Dylan explained. “Unless, of course, attacks increase or come from multiple directions.” Dylan looked at Nathan. “That is what you wanted, right?”

  “It is,” Nathan confirmed. “Well done.”

  Vladimir ascended the stair ladder, with Marcus coming up behind him. “I don’t want to miss this,” Vladimir stated.

  “I would be just fine missing this,” Marcus grumbled. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he questioned Nathan. “Remember, these people hate you.”

  “I know,” Nathan assured him.

  “I mean really hate you,” Marcus continued. “Like you’re the devil or something.”

  “I know,” Nathan repeated.

  “Like, willing to start a Tonba-Hon-Venar over you just bein’ alive…hate you.”

  “Marcus,” Nathan said, becoming annoyed.

  “Just sayin’.”

  Dylan leaned toward Josh. “What’s a Tonba-Hon-Venar?” he whispered.

  “You don’t want to know, trust me.”

  Jessica pulled her feet down off the console and turned toward it, checking her displays. “All six main guns are manned,” she stated. “Should they power up?”

  “Not yet,” Nathan insisted. “We need to look as non-threatening as possible.”

  “You’re gonna jump into the Jung home system, unannounced, and hope they don’t blow us out of the sky?” Marcus wondered. “Well that’s just plain stupid.”

  “They’re not going to blow us out of the sky, Marcus,” Nathan insisted. “If anything, they’re going to try to disable us so they can capture a jump-enabled ship.”

  “Oh, that’s so much better,” Marcus grumbled. “Cuz we all know how accurate Jung weapons are.”

  “I’m with Marcus,” Josh commented.

  “Let’s not forget that the Jung do not have jump technology,” Nathan reminded them. “We’ll be facing conventional ships and weaponry, so we should be able to evade them fairly easily.”

  “Famous last words,” Marcus muttered as he took a seat at the auxiliary station next to Jessica.

  “You people are making me nervous,” Dylan admitted.

  “We’ll be fine,” Nathan assured him.

  “Is that why you wanted to be fully charged when we jump in?” Josh commented.

  “Just make sure you always have an escape jump loaded and ready.”

  “No kidding,” Josh muttered under his breath.

  Nathan took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. The last time he had been in the Jung home system, he had been executed. His instincts warned him to stay as far away from the Jung as possible, but those instincts also told him that the Jung were their only hope at defeating the Dusahn. Furthermore, as long as the Jung remained an enemy of Earth, the birthplace of all humanity would remain in peril.

  Again, fate had led him into the serpent’s lair, and again, he had no choice but to enter.

  “Jump us in,” Nathan instructed calmly.

  Josh, too, took a deep breath as he activated the jump sequencer. “Jumping in three……two……one……”

  The jump flash washed over the Voss’s command deck, translating through her windows and illuminating her interior for an instant. As expected, the stars shifted slightly. The distance they had jumped was only fifty light years, and the stars in the background were quite distant. The change was nearly imperceptible, but Nathan always noticed it, no matter how minute it was.

  “Jump complete,” Josh reported. “We are now in the Patoray system. There’s a phrase I never thought I’d say.”

  “Set course for Nor-Patri,” Nathan instructed. “Maintain current speed.”

  “At our current speed, it’ll take us days to get there,” Josh pointed out.

  “I’m aware,” Nathan assured him.

  “Okay,” Josh replied, entering the new course.

  “You’re not seriously going to spend days cruising in, are you?” Dylan wondered.

  “Don’t worry,” Nathan assured him. “They may not have jump drives, but they can use their linear FTL systems well. They’ll be intercepting us shortly.”

  “Then…shouldn’t we take some sort of evasive action now?”

  “We want them to know we are here,” Nathan reminded him.

  “Don’t forget that the Jung are at war,” Jessica reminded.

  Nathan just shot her a look.

  “Just sayin’,” she defended, hands up.

  Nathan flipped down the comm-panel, setting their array to transmit on all channels and frequencies.

  “What are you doing?” Jessica inquired.

  “Saying hello,” Nathan explained.

  “What kind of message?”

  “Attention Jung Empire. This is the Karuzari Alliance ship Dalen Voss. We mean you no harm. We only wish to speak with your leaders. We are requesting permission to approach your world for the purposes of two-way communication. We eagerly await your response.”

  “It will be hours before anyone hears that message,” Vladimir said.

  “Assuming that no one closer hears it first,” Nathan replied.

  Dylan looked at his sensor display. “I’m not detecting anyone.”

  “That doesn’t mean they’re not there,” Nathan said. “It just means we can’t see them yet.”

  “Right.”

  “You get used to it,” Josh assured Dylan.

  “The last time we jumped into this system, we were met with about thirty missiles,” Jessica stated. “And rather quickly, I might add.”

  “Galiardi’s attacks may have weakened their defenses,” Nathan suggested, still not seeing any contacts on the sensor display.

  “Or they just don’t see us as a threat,” Marcus said.

  “More likely they want us to come further in so they can capture us,” Nathan surmised.

  “Maybe we should jump in and see,” Jessica suggested.

  “That doesn’t sound like a good idea,” Dylan insisted.

  “If it’s a trap, I’d rather find out now than waste a few days coasting across the Patoray system,” Jessica stated.

  “She’s right,” Nathan decided.

  “She is?” Marcus asked in disbelief.

  “What do you think their defense perimeter is?” Nathan asked Jessica.

  Jessica thought for a moment. “We took out a lot of their ships last time around. And Galiardi has likely taken out quite a few since then; they can’t have that many left.”

  “And those they do have left are likely spread all over the empire,” Nathan surmised.

  “Unless they immediately began moving them in to protect Nor-Patri,” Jessica pointed out.

  “Even if they did, some of them would take years to get back,” Vladimir commented.

  “If they recalled them,” Nathan argued.

  “Why wouldn’t they?” Jessica asked.

  Nathan sighed. “The Tonba-Hon-Venar.”

  “They cancelled that when you surrendered,” Jessica reminded him.

  “We can’t be certain of that,” Nathan replied. “It would take years to move enough ships into place to guarantee a victorious assault on Earth.”

  “They’d never get close enough,” Jessica argued. “Galiardi�
��s sensor nets and patrols would detect them.”

  “If they massed enough ships on the border and then charged in all at once, enough of them would get through to reach Earth. And all it takes is one ship carrying a big enough antimatter weapon,” Nathan explained.

  “Then why didn’t they do that the first time?” Jessica challenged.

  “Because they didn’t want to destroy Earth, they wanted to remove us from it,” Nathan explained. “Unfortunately, that changed when we attacked Nor-Patri.”

  “Then why did you attack it?” Dylan wondered.

  “In retrospect, it may have been a mistake,” Nathan admitted.

  “It wasn’t a mistake,” Jessica disagreed, “not after Tanna.”

  “No use in debating old history at this point,” Nathan decided. “What do you think?”

  “If they’re low on ships, they’ll stay within a few million kilometers of Nor-Patri. Even that’s a stretch to cover, especially against jump KKVs.”

  “What’s a jump KKV?” Dylan wondered.

  “I’m betting they’re not even trying,” Nathan postulated, ignoring Dylan.

  “You think they sent everything toward Earth?” Jessica realized.

  “Gospadee,” Vladimir exclaimed under his breath.

  “I’m sure they have a handful of ships protecting Nor-Patri,” Nathan said. “But like you said, it’s nearly impossible to defend against jump KKVs. Especially ones carrying antimatter warheads.”

  “What’s a KKV?” Dylan repeated.

  “Even a handful of ships is enough reason to stay the hell away from that planet,” Marcus muttered.

  “We didn’t jump nine hundred light years to turn back now,” Nathan insisted.

  “Josh, plot a jump into high orbit above Nor-Patri.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Josh,” Nathan urged.

  “Just checkin’,” Josh assured him, entering the destination into the jump navigation computer.

  “Will someone please tell me what a KKV is?” Dylan begged.

  “Kinetic kill vehicle,” Nathan explained.

  “It’s like a jump missile but bigger,” Jessica added.

  “It’s a heavy-mass weapon,” Nathan continued. “Once launched, it’s accelerated to relativistic velocities, then jumped to its target. Its kinetic energy alone is enough to destroy just about any ship.”