A Line in the Sand

by Ryk Brown

  On his next revolution, he spotted the drone passing beneath the wreckage of his ship. A moment later, there was a flash of blue-white light, and everything was gone. He could no longer see anything but the distant stars surrounding him. But other than the stars, there was no light anywhere. The only reason he could see his own gloved hands was because of the light spilling out from his helmet.

  “Tomi?” the lieutenant called over his helmet comms. “Riko?” When there was no response, he felt incredibly alone. “Guys? If you copy me, check in.”

  “I’m here, Jas,” Tomi finally replied.

  “Oh, thank God,” Jasser exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief. “Riko, you out there, buddy?”

  “What a fucking ride that was!” Riko answered.

  Jasser smiled. Their situation was still dire, but at least they were all still alive. “Tomi, please tell me you got that drone away.”

  “I got positive confirmation that it launched just before we ejected,” Tomi assured him.

  “Riko, did you see the comm-drone jump?”

  “Sorry, LT,” Riko replied. “I lost sensors just after we lost aft shields.”

  “I’m sure it got away,” Tomi insisted. “That drone only had one gun, and it was firing at us at regular intervals. It had to get away.”

  “What do we do now, LT?” Riko wondered.

  “We wait, and we pray that Tomi’s right.”

  “New contact!” Kaylah announced. “Comm-drone.”

  “Drone ID shows it’s from the Falcon,” Ensign Keller reported from the Aurora’s comm-station. “Receiving message… They found it! Course and speed data included!”

  “Aurora, can you predict the positions of the other three drones based on the Falcon’s target track data?”

  “Calculating,” the Aurora’s AI replied.

  “There’s more,” Ensign Keller added. “They declared a Mayday, sir!”

  “Launch the SAR Reaper,” Cameron ordered as the projected drone positions and course plots appeared on the main view screen. “And send these course plots to all four Nighthawk attack groups.”

  “Aye, sir,” the comms officer acknowledged.

  Lieutenant Yuati studied the new drone position predictions, doing the calculations in his head. “Based on those positions, we have five minutes before impact.”

  “Four minutes and twenty-eight seconds,” Aurora corrected.

  “At least we have a chance now,” Cameron stated, finally returning to her command chair.

  “That’s fifteen light years away!” the pilot of Red Two exclaimed.

  “Those are the orders,” Talisha replied.

  “How the hell could we have been that far off?”

  “The actions of the Dusahn AIs are not following predictable logic patterns,” Talisha’s AI stated. “Their decisions seem more human than AI, which would indicate that the Dusahn automation systems are not truly artificial intelligence at all.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Red Two’s pilot wondered.

  “I think she just called us stupid,” Talisha laughed as she prepared to jump to the new search grid.

  “I believe I was calling the Dusahn AIs…stupid,” Leta corrected.

  “Les, you and I will jump to the left side of the grid. Munro and Roddi will jump to the right side. We’ll get a wider scan that way.”

  “Copy that,” Munro acknowledged.

  “If anyone makes contact, don’t wait for the others. Put a pair of shield busters into it. We’ll have two minutes to bring down its shields before it jumps again.”

  “Incoming message,” Ensign Keller announced from the Aurora’s communications station. “Green Leader reports contact…and a confirmed kill!”

  “Yes,” Cameron said, more to herself than anyone else. “Did they confirm destruction of the antimatter warhead?”

  “Yes, sir,” the comms officer replied. “Lieutenant Cruthers reports that the antimatter detonation nearly took them out as well.”

  “It sounds like they got lucky,” Lieutenant Yuati opined.

  “Hunting antimatter weapons is a dangerous business,” Cameron said. “Luck is sometimes all you have.”

  “I never did congratulate you on guessing the location of the drones, Captain,” the lieutenant said.

  “It’s too soon for congratulations, Lieutenant. There are still three more to go.”

  “I have a contact!” Les called from Red Two. “Edge of sensor range; old light. Looks like a jump flash.”

  “I’ve got it as well,” Talisha confirmed. “What do you think, Leta?”

  “Ninety seconds old,” her AI replied. “Based on known decay rate, I estimate that the drone executed a ten-light-year jump. Recommend you jump ahead twenty light years to intercept as it comes out of its next jump. Anticipate ten-degree change in heading.”

  “Listen up,” Talisha called to her group. “We jump twenty. We go ten to port, Munro and Roddi go ten to starboard. Jump in ten.”

  “Got it, Leader,” Munro acknowledged.

  “Lead pops busters, wing pops killers,” Talisha added as she turned ten degrees to port. “Jumping in three……two……one……”

  The stars shifted slightly, her fighter jumping ahead twenty light years. She immediately flipped over, pointing her nose aft, arming her missile launch systems. “You with me, Les?”

  “I’ve got two killers hot on the rails.”

  “You launch five seconds after I do,” Talisha reminded her wingman.

  “My finger is on the button.”

  A moment later, the contact alert light on her sensor display lit up.

  “Contact,” her AI reported. “Drone at one seven five, ten up relative. Range four hundred thousand kilometers and closing. Target is initiating a turn to starboard and pitching downward.”

  “Locking two busters on target,” Talisha announced as she prepared to launch. “Good locks! Launching two!” She pressed the launch button, sending two missiles streaking forward. A split second after they launched, both weapons disappeared behind small, blue-white flashes of light. “Two busters away!”

  “Red Two, launching two!” her wingman reported. “Two killers away!”

  Talisha glanced to her left, just as the missiles launched by her wingman jumped away. “Jumping ahead three hundred and ninety thousand klicks,” she reported as she dialed up a new jump range and activated her jump drive.

  “New range to target; ten thousand kilometers and closing rapidly,” Leta reported. “Target has lost forward shields.”

  “What about the kill shots?” Talisha inquired.

  “I’m detecting damage to one of the drone’s propulsion modules. I’m also picking up debris from a missile detonation one hundred meters ahead of the target.”

  “Leader to Red Group!” Talisha called. “They’ve got point-defenses! I repeat; the drone has point-defenses!”

  An energy bolt suddenly slammed into her forward shields, rocking her fighter.

  “Forward shields down to forty percent,” Leta warned. “One more direct hit and forward shields will fail.”

  “Evasive!” Talisha called out. “Going port!” she added as she rolled into a hard left turn. Another bolt of energy streaked past her.

  “I’m hit!” her wingman cried out.

  “Going hot with two killers!” Talisha reported. “Les, evade!”

  “I’m trying!”

  “Target is continuing to fire,” Leta warned.

  Talisha killed her main propulsion and swung her nose to starboard, going into a sideways slide to bring her nose onto the target. “Red Leader, launching two!” she reported as she pressed the launch button again. “Two killers away!”

  Another bolt of energy streaked to her right. She turned her head to follow it, just as it broke through her wingman’s shiel
ds and cut through his port side. “LES!” she cried out as her wingman’s ship exploded. “Two is down!” she yelled over comms.

  “Roddi is gone!” Munro reported over comms from Red Three.

  “Missile impact,” Leta announced. “Target has lost another drive module.”

  “Munzi!” Leta called over comms. “Form up on me! We’ll jump ahead and attack at the next intercept point!” After a moment, she called out again. “Munzi, do you copy?”

  “I have lost contact with Red Three,” Leta reported. “The only contact I have is the drone, which is attempting to target us.”

  “Did he jump?”

  “Negative,” Leta replied. “I am detecting debris at his last known location.”

  “Son of a bitch!” Talisha exclaimed as she pressed her jump button to get away. “Leta! Pop a comm-drone to the Aurora. Lost three; target damaged but still operational. Continuing pursuit. Include tracking data and warn them that the drones have point-defenses and a stern gun.”

  “Blue reports a kill!” Ensign Keller reported from the Aurora’s comm-station.

  “Two down, two to go,” Lieutenant Yuati commented.

  “And they’re two jumps from terminal,” Cameron added. She glanced up at the drone track displayed in a window on the lower right side of the Aurora’s wrap-around view screen. Luckily, their orbit had them on the same side of SilTek as the inbound drones. “Ensign Keller, take us to a higher altitude. At one minute before the drones make their terminal jump, we’ll yaw to port twenty-five degrees and roll forty-five to starboard to bring more weapons to bear. Lieutenant Yuati, at that point, we’ll start laying down a flak field with the main rail guns.”

  “Depth of field?” the lieutenant wondered.

  “Split the range between us and the drones’ expected arrival point into five layers, with a flak field between each layer. One gun for each layer.”

  “If we restrict our roll to forty degrees, I can get both starboard ventral rail guns in action. That will allow us to increase the density of at least two of the flak fields.”

  “Good thinking,” Cameron agreed. “We’ll use them on the two flak fields closest to us. That will help thicken the field a bit. And if those drones make it that far, we’re going to need every bit of flak we can create.”

  “By that logic, would it not make more sense to use fewer fields?” the lieutenant wondered. “Perhaps two, or even one?”

  “We can’t be certain about their arrival points,” Cameron explained. “Make sure each layer is offset from the others. The less empty space there is between the drones and SilTek, the better the chance of intercept.”

  “New contact!” Kaylah announced from the sensor station. “Comm-drone…Red Group!”

  “Incoming message,” Ensign Keller added. “From Red Leader. Drone Four is damaged; no forward shields. Red Group has lost three, but is continuing pursuit.”

  “Damn,” Cameron cursed under her breath. “Launch another SAR Reaper and send them to Red’s last engagement grid. The Nighthawks’ AIs may have saved them.”

  “According to the telemetry included in the last communication, Red Leader has no missiles left,” Lieutenant Yuati advised.

  “There’s more, sir,” the comms officer continued. “The drones have point-defenses and a stern energy cannon.”

  “That qualifies them as gunships instead of drones,” Lieutenant Yuati surmised.

  “Gunships with antimatter warheads strapped to their bows,” Cameron added.

  Talisha came out of her jump, arriving in the next grid where she expected the drone to conduct its brief recharge layover. She quickly flipped her ship over, then jammed her throttle to full power.

  “Based on your aggressive deceleration attempt, I must assume that you plan on jumping inside the drone’s shields,” Leta surmised.

  “We’ve got no missiles left,” Talisha replied. “You got a better idea?”

  “Two of the drone’s drive modules have been damaged and are unusable. I recommend that you concentrate on the remaining modules, preferably the one with the highest charge, since it will be the next one used to jump.”

  “The next jump is the last one,” Talisha reminded her AI. “The drone will be terminal after that.”

  “I am aware of that,” Leta assured her pilot. “However, it may buy us some extra time. If we are lucky, we may be able to take out both drives.”

  The use of the word lucky made Talisha nervous. AIs didn’t believe in luck, just statistical probabilities. “Just how lucky will we need to be?”

  “You do not want to know,” Leta assured her.

  “Gold reports a kill!” Ensign Keller reported from the Aurora’s comm-station.

  Cameron said nothing, preferring not to get too excited. There was still one more drone headed their way. While a single drone couldn’t destroy SilTek, it could kill millions and cripple the Karuzari Alliance to the point of being unable to keep the Dusahn Empire contained, which may have been their intention from the start.

  Cameron glanced at the intercept clock on the view screen. “Time to execute your maneuver, Mister Tala,” she instructed. “Lieutenant Yuati, prepare to lay down flak fields. We need to stop that last drone.”

  “Now that we know the exact approach trajectory of the last drone, I recommend we narrow our intercept fields so that we can increase their density, thereby improving our chances of intercept.”

  “Good idea, Lieutenant,” Cameron agreed. “And the moment the drone appears, turn all guns onto it. Don’t wait for me to give the order.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Contact,” Talisha’s AI reported. “Two one five; fifteen up relative; range five hundred twenty-five thousand kilometers. Aspect change; target turning to port and pitching up. I suspect that it is lining up for its terminal jump.”

  “How much time do we have?” Talisha asked as she prepared to jump in to attack the drone.

  “Scans show that they will have enough energy for terminal jump in forty-eight seconds,” Leta reported.

  “Then we’d better work quickly,” Talisha said as she ended her deceleration burn and flipped the ship back over.

  “We’re going to pass through the drone’s shields right at the edge of the penetration envelope,” Leta warned.

  “Can’t be helped. No time left.” Talisha pressed the jump button on her flight control stick. Her fighter decelerated further with a sudden jolt, as if they had hit water. The projection canopy flickered a moment, then came back to life as warning lights flashed and alarms sounded.

  “Forward and port shields are down to twenty percent,” Leta warned.

  “Target their shield emitters, Leta, and open fire!” Talisha instructed her AI as she twisted her flight control stick to the left to bring her nose around toward the drone. “We’re inside their damned shields!”

  Her Nighthawk fighter’s nose swung around, and Talisha pressed and held her firing button, opening up with the plasma cannons in her ship’s twin noses. As her fighter yawed about, her first few volleys glanced off the drone’s port upper drive module, causing little to no damage. But as she came around and her firing angle became less oblique, the damage inflicted with each energy impact became more pronounced. Within seconds, her bolts of energy were tearing open the drone’s drive module, sending debris flying.

  “The drone’s AI has shut down the upper port drive module to prevent an explosion,” Leta reported.

  The ship rocked violently as weapons fire from three different point-defense cannons found their shields, lighting them up.

  “Target has lost starboard shields,” Leta reported as the ship rocked. “Our port shields are down to fifteen percent; forward shields at ten percent. Estimate shield failure in fifteen seconds.”

  Talisha ceased firing as she rolled her ship over and immediately translated upward, tryi
ng to slip under the drone to target its remaining drive section. Again she swung her nose back onto the target, pitching slightly to get her nose cannons lined up.

  “Drone is powering up for a jump,” Leta warned.

  “Already?” Talisha exclaimed.

  “The drone’s jump fields only extend one point five meters from its surface,” Leta warned.

  “Fuck!” Talisha exclaimed, her options dwindling and her time about to run out. Blue-white light began spilling out from the drone’s jump emitters. Talisha flipped her ship back over so that her topside was toward the drone, jammed her throttles forward, and pitched up toward the drone…hard.

  “Collision alert,” Leta warned.

  “Don’t you dare take control!” Talisha ordered as the blue-white light covering the drone flashed just as her fighter slammed into the underside of the drone’s last functioning drive module.

  Talisha felt her restraints digging into her shoulders as she was thrown to one side. Her canopy flickered several times, turning permanently clear just as her forward console also began to flicker. More warning alarms sounded, and critical failure lights began flashing.

  “We have partially jumped, along with the drone,” Leta announced. “We are now on terminal intercept for SilTek and approaching a flak field created by the Aurora.”

  “Start an overload on the reactor and get us the fuck out of here!” Talisha ordered.

  “Initiating immediate reactor overload,” Leta acknowledged. “Critical failure in twelve seconds.”

  Talisha closed her eyes and grabbed the side rails of the cockpit. A split second later, the small doors along the outside of the cockpit opened, and the clamps holding the module in place released.