Frontiers Saga 12: Rise of the Alliance (2 page)

“Maybe, but we did a lot of damage with that one ship,” Josh reminded his friend.

“That’s my point, Josh. Imagine what the captain can do with sixteen of them.”

“You’re right,” Josh admitted with a chuckle. “I hadn’t even thought of that.” Josh turned back toward Loki. “Let’s go check them out.” Josh took off on a brisk stride toward the line of black interceptors, slowing to appear more nonchalant as he neared the first one. Its cockpit was open and empty. Its crew, being the first to board, had already disembarked. The same was true with the next two ships in line. Each of them had obvious scarring from their recent encounter with the Jung battle platform. They also had some rather odd-looking configurations on some of their weapons ports and control surfaces.

“What the hell is this?” Marcus wondered, having followed them over. “This ain’t the right gauge for a hinge. It’ll never hold up down in the atmosphere.”

“We weren’t planning on taking them down to the surface,” one of the pilots explained, “at least not if we could avoid it.”

“That ain’t no excuse for sloppy…”

“We had to get the first twenty up rather quickly, I’m afraid,” the pilot defended. “I suspect more than a few shortcuts were taken to get them out the door.”

“The
first
twenty?” Loki wondered. “There are more coming?”

“I believe so,” the pilot answered. “I’m not quite sure when, or how many. At least another twenty, I’d guess.” The pilot stepped closer, extending his hand. “Thain, Busby Thain. Friends call me ‘Busy’.”

“Josh Hayes,” Josh said, shaking the pilot’s hand as he continued staring at the row of interceptors.

“Loki Sheehan,” Loki answered. “This is Marcus Taggart.”

“Nice to meet you, Senior Chief,” the pilot answered.

“Likewise, Lieutenant,” Marcus answered as he also shook the lieutenant’s hand. “You from Corinair?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Corinari?”

“Six years now,” the lieutenant answered. “Least ways, I was. Not sure what we are now, to be honest.”

“I’m just glad you all showed up.”

“Sorry to come so late,” the lieutenant said. “We were under the impression that trouble wasn’t expected for at least another month.”

“Yeah, things changed,” Marcus said. “Happens a lot around here.”

Busy turned toward Josh, who was crawling up the boarding ladder to the nearest ship. “You like spacecraft?”

“We used to fly a Falcon just like these,” Loki told him.

“Still say ours was better,” Josh insisted as he came back down the ladder.

“Falcon?” The lieutenant suddenly realized who he was speaking with. “Josh and Loki. You’re the guys they told us about.”

“What?” Josh said, his interest suddenly peaked.

“You heard of them?” Marcus asked, more surprised than anyone. “Oh, crap.”

“No, you guys are famous back home. At least to other flight crews. Hell, they even had us studying some of your maneuvers. The waterfall? That was amazing! Did you really do that?”

“We really did that,” Loki answered, wishing the memory of the event could stay buried deep within his subconscious.

“Unbelievable. Most pilots would have ejected.”

“Can’t eject when you’re carrying a jump drive in Jung territory,” Josh said with obvious swagger.

“I guess not,” the lieutenant admitted. “Still, it would be a hard instinct for a Corinari pilot to overcome, especially after they drilled it into your head during training.”

“Yeah, well, ain’t nothing ever been drilled into that boy’s head,” Marcus told the lieutenant.

“
Senior Chief!
” a deckhand called out from the distance.

“Chaos calls,” Marcus said as he turned to leave.

“So, we’re famous back in the PC?” Josh asked, feeling more cocky and arrogant than usual.

“I don’t know about the entire Pentaurus cluster, but everyone on Corinair who flies has heard about you two. I’ve got to say, it’s an honor to meet you both. I’d love to hear about some of your flights some time.”

Loki closed his eyes and shook his head. “No, you wouldn’t.”

“Sure!” Josh said. “What would you like to hear about?”

“Oh, man,” Loki mumbled, shaking his head.

* * *

“Congratulations, Captain,” Lieutenant Telles said from the en
trance to the captain’s ready room. “Your victory, although surprising, was well earned through the use of sound tactics.”

“We were victorious because twenty Falcons arrived just in time to save our butts,” Nathan said.

The lieutenant moved deeper into the ready room as he spoke. “Only because of your actions in the Darvano system, and your subsequent defeat of the Ta’Akar Empire. Without those victories, this one most certainly would not have been possible.”

“Perhaps,” Nathan admitted, not completely believing the lieutenant.

“A great leader always makes his decisions based on the greater goal, not the individual battle. You were prepared to let your world die in order to continue fighting for people you might never meet, but who need you to stand and protect them nonetheless.”

Nathan looked at the lieutenant. “Are you sure I wasn’t just afraid that we would lose, that we would all die and the Earth would die with us?”

“There is nothing wrong with fear, Captain,” Lieutenant Telles explained as he took a seat across from Nathan. “Fear increases adrenaline levels, sharpens our wit, energizes our muscles, quickens our heart and respiratory rates. Fear prepares us; keeps us alive,
if
we control it.
That
is what you did this day. Not only when you were willing to walk away from the battle, but when you destroyed that battle platform with perhaps thousands of Jung still on board.”

Nathan stared at Lieutenant Telles in disbelief.

The lieutenant squinted his eyes, unsure of the cause of the captain’s confusion. “Is something wrong?”

“This is the first time you sat down in this room,” Nathan explained, an eyebrow raised and a grin forming on his face. “I stopped inviting you to sit long ago, and now…”

“I can stand, if you prefer?”

“No, no, no, it’s quite all right. I actually prefer that you sit. I’m just a little stunned, that’s all.”

“Perhaps I am becoming accustomed to the less than formal command style that exists aboard this vessel.”

“That’s good.”

“Still, it is a shame that we were not able to utilize the resources of that platform. They were surely significant.”

“The risk was too great,” Nathan said. “It is far less complicated this way.”

“Then you do not feel any remorse for taking their lives.”

“They attacked us, Lieutenant… without provocation and in the end without mercy. They have killed millions of my people, and decimated my world. They got what they deserved.”

Lieutenant Telles cocked his head to one side. “Vengeance, Captain?”

“Perhaps.”

“A dangerous emotion, to be sure.”

“Perhaps,” Nathan admitted. “Perhaps it is much like fear,” he added, “a tool… effective when used properly.”

“Perhaps,” the lieutenant agreed.

“Captain?” Major Prechitt called from the entrance.

“Major,” Nathan answered as both he and Lieutenant Telles stood.

“Captain, Lieutenant, I’d like to present Major Galen McCullum of the Corinari, leader of the flight of four zero twos. Major, Captain Nathan Scott of the Earth Defense Force, and Lieutenant Lucius Telles of the Ghatazhak.”

“A pleasure to meet you sir,” Major McCullum said as he shook the captain’s hand. He turned to Lieutenant Telles to greet him as well. “Lieutenant, I must say, I never expected to be shaking the hand of a Ghatazhak. From what I have heard, I am honored to meet you as well.”

“The honor is mine, sir,” Lieutenant Telles answered.

“I cannot tell you how happy we all are to see you, Major,” Nathan exclaimed as he sat down again. “Please, gentlemen, sit.”

“I’m not sure you want us to, Captain,” Major McCullum said. “I’ve been in that cockpit for nearly three days.”

Nathan gestured for him to sit. “Please, get comfortable. I want to hear all about it. What is going on back in the Pentaurus cluster, on Corinair and Takara? What assistance is the Alliance able to send? I assume that the Data Ark cores arrived safely?”

“I’m afraid that I don’t have such answers for you, Captain. My men and I were only recently hired by Commander Dumar to pilot the first batch of four zero twos back to Earth. To be honest, we hadn’t expected to arrive in the middle of a fight, especially against a ship of such enormity.”

“Yes, the Jung seem to like extremely large vessels,” Nathan said.

“We were under the assumption that the Jung reinforcements were still a month or two away,” the major explained.

“Yes,” Nathan said, “that’s what we thought when we sent word back to Takara. A lot has happened since then, and we have realized that much of our intelligence about the Jung was incorrect.”

“Perhaps we can be of help. Our ships are quite well equipped for reconnaissance work.”

“Rest assured, Major, we will utilize them.” Nathan cocked his head in thought. “You said the first group. Are there more Falcons coming?”

“Ah yes, Falcons. I have heard of this Earth creature. An appropriate name for the four zero two. Indeed, Captain. Commander Dumar has acquired nearly one hundred of them, in various stages of disrepair. He believes he can get at least another twenty of them working in short order. The rest will require more extensive repairs that require the fabrication of, in some cases, entire sections of the fuselage. Rest assured, however, that he and his crews are working on them with all due haste.”

“What else might we expect in the way of assistance?” Nathan asked.

“I’m afraid that I don’t know all the details to that, either,” the major confessed. “However, I was instructed to give you this,” he added as he pulled a small, metallic case out of his flight suit pocket. “Each of us was given one of them and instructed to turn it over to you upon our arrival. I am told to instruct you to view the file in private so that you can decide for yourself what information should be shared with your subordinates.”

“Have any of you seen what is on the file?” Nathan wondered.

“No, sir,” the major assured him. “For security reasons, Prince Casimir had the containers keyed to your bio-signature. If anyone else tries to open any of the containers, the contents will disintegrate in seconds.”

“I can’t wait,” Nathan said as he took the container from the major.

“Captain,” Major Prechitt began, “might I suggest that we create a second air wing, one for the Falcons, and put Major McCullum in charge of that wing.”

“Are you comfortable with that?” Nathan asked Major Prechitt.

“I’ve known the major for many years, Captain. We have served together on several occasions, and I have the utmost confidence in his abilities.”

“And you, Major?” Nathan asked, this time looking at Major McCullum.

“That would be fine, sir. However, there is the matter of what entity myself and my men are to be attached. We all gave up our commissions in the Corinari in order to join Commander Dumar’s expedition. Technically, I have no rank over the other pilots in my flight.”

“Yet they still followed your command in battle,” Nathan commented.

“Which is why I chose him to lead the new air wing, assuming you approve of its formation,” Major Prechitt added.

“Of course, of course,” Nathan agreed. “I’d be happy to have you command the Falcon air wing, Major McCullum.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“As to your rank, for now, you and your men will be attached to the Aurora, as members of my crew. We’re still working on what military entity we are going to be from this point forward. A few technicalities in Earth law to straighten out yet. However, for expediency’s sake, I suggest that you and your men retain whatever ranks you had as members of the Corinari, at least until we decide what to do.”

“That would suit us fine, sir,” Major McCullum agreed. “We can start the reconnaissance flights as soon as you like.”

“It might be best if you and your men took a day off, Major,” Nathan suggested. “You did just finish a three-day flight. Better you get some rest, get acclimated to your new surroundings, get settled into your new quarters. Besides, I’d like to start with a thorough sweep of our own system before I send your ships out on interstellar recon.”

“As you wish, sir.”

“Come,” Major Prechitt said to Major McCullum. “I’ll show you around.”

“It was a pleasure meeting you both,” Major McCullum said as they turned to exit.

“The pleasure was mine,” Nathan answered.

“Hey, what was it that your flight instructor used to call you?” Major Prechitt asked Major McCullum as they headed for the exit.

“Why?”

“You need a call sign.”

“What’s a call sign?” Major McCullum wondered.

“Old Earth pilot tradition,” Major Prechitt explained as they disappeared through the hatch.

“I expect you will want to view that file without delay,” Lieutenant Telles said as he turned to exit as well. “I’ll let the good sergeant know that you do not wish to be disturbed.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant.” Nathan sat down as the lieutenant pulled the hatch closed behind him. He looked at the container in his hand. It was slightly scuffed, and had body oils and fingerprints on the shiny silver case. The case was rectangular, a little less in length than his palm and fingers. He pressed the release, and the case opened. Inside was another device about the size and shape of his thumb. At one end it had what looked like a holo-emitter similar to the ones in the conference table in the Aurora’s command briefing room. He looked inside the case again. There was a small note that read, ‘place on floor and activate.’ Nathan followed the instructions, coming out from behind his desk and placing the device on the floor in the middle of his ready room. He pressed the one and only button on the device and stepped back. Seconds later, the image of Prince Casimir of Takara appeared before him, full size and looking every bit as real as the men who had just stood in that same spot moments ago. However, he was not moving.

Nathan examined the image for several seconds, fighting the urge to pass his hand through it. He waited for several seconds, looking right and left, wondering when the image was going to speak. “Are you going to say something?”