Chapter 6

I woke up to the sound of my U-link going off. I reached over to the desk and retrieved it. There were two messages.

“To lieutenant Admen: The recruits under your command are to be granted flight status in light of recent events, and due to the need for additional pilots.” and “To all current members of 3^rd squadron: Squadron reorganization is taking place today and you will be grounded during the proceedings. You will not be running recon or CAP.” I set my link down and rolled over, deciding to sleep in a bit since they didn’t need me. They were ready, I knew they were ready. But they were still my kids, I couldn’t help but worry about them. Amazing how fast they went from annoyances to bear cubs for me. I growled and stood back up. There was no way I was going back to sleep now. I got dressed and squeezed out of the room. Might as well eat something.

The mess was emptier than usual. Recon and CAP were already out, I guessed. Spin-Out had just finished eating, but he kicked out a chair for me anyway.

“So, you’re back with us, am I right?” he said.

“Just about. Rookies earned their stripes.” I sat down and took a bite/swig. “Plain old oatmeal. I’ve sure as hell had worse.”

“Lucky. I got sardines,” he said, pushing his empty tray away in disgust.

“We’ll probably get a couple of ‘em in 3^rd squadron.”

“If we’re still in third.” That was a depressing thought.

“So, what are you gonna do today?” I asked.

“I need to win my money back. Gonna go see if there’s a card game or anything going on in the rec room. You?”

“No plans yet. We’re expecting the rest of B fleet today, right?”

“Yeah, should be here at some point.”

“I kinda want to see how that goes. Maybe I’ll drop by the CIC. You seen Axel?”

“Nope, might still be asleep.” I thought vaguely of looking on flight deck two or the observation deck, but decided against it. The communications officer piped in.

“Attention all hands, destroyer ASV Ravenscourt is on approach.” I downed what was left of my morning paste and stood up.

“I’ll see you later. Good luck with that card game,” I said, and left for the CIC.

The commander had his eyes fixed to the strategy board when I walked in, watching a soft blue hologram of the Ravenscourt slowly drifting towards the Atlantis. He had a mic in one ear and a cup of coffee in his hand.

“Alright Donny, tell ‘em to form up off our bow on the port side,” he said to the communications officer.

“Aye sir.” I heard him relay the message. The commander glanced up and I quickly saluted.

“Sir.”

“At ease. What brings you up here lieutenant?”

“Just wanted to see how things were going, sir.”

He shrugged and took a sip of coffee. “Suit yourself.”

“Not bothering any water am I?”

“No, in fact you’re the second curious pilot here.” I glanced around and spotted Naya on the other side of the strategy board, barely visible through the hologram of the surrounding area. She ducked down lower so we could see each other.

“Morning,” she said.

“Great minds think alike.”

“So it would seem.” The Ravenscourt had formed up and another ship had come into range.

“Attention all hands, carrier ASV Miramar is entering the area.” The commander watched its approach.

“Tell ‘em starboard side by the stern,” he said.

“Yes sir. Also, I have your line to command,” the communications officer said. The commander hit a button on his head set and walked away to take the call. I glanced back at the strategy board. We were floating in the middle of dead space, nothing for over a thousand Klicks in all directions.

“When are we making our move?” I asked Naya.

“48 hours. Once the other ships are here we distribute supplies and wait for the order from command.”

“They want us to synchronize, mix them up so they don’t know where to send reinforcements.”

“Exactly.”

The commander walked back to the board. “All right, everything’s copacetic and the other fleets are almost assembled.”

“What is the plan?” I said. Personal data couldn’t leave the ship while we were out of dock, he wouldn’t have to worry about it leaking.

“If you don’t mind us asking,” Naya added.

The commander took another drink. “’Course not. Gonna tell all the pilots eventually, might as well start with you two.” He changed the strategy board to display the entire system. “Our objective is this area here.” He pointed to a small cluster of asteroids. “A few ore rich belts and a single Vow type station that we believe hasn’t been attacked, but it’s sure as hell not safe to go near it yet. That station’s got all the supplies and fuel we need to sustain part of the 34^th.” He pointed out an area halfway between the station and an ore giant. “This is where we think the enemy force is concentrated. We don’t know how many exactly, but given the limited space and recon drones that have turned up blank it can’t be more than ten ships, and we have the element of surprise. Not more than one ACP among them.”

I thought for a moment. “With some luck we can do it.” It still made me uneasy to know that we were most likely outnumbered.

“Our plan is to cool the whole ship down, all nonessential power off and jump in as close as we can get, the other ships with us, and use momentum to drift into gun range. Once we’re close enough to smell ‘em, power it back up, dump the magazines as fast as possible.”

“It’s good, but it’s leaving a lot to chance,” I said.

“We don’t need to wipe them out, just scare ‘em, get them to bug out of the system for a day or two. The instant we get the all clear, a third of the 34^th fleet jumps to preset coordinates and starts clearing this system out. If we get desperate, we can run. We’ll have dealt some damage and that’ll be enough to convince them to leave and repair,” the commander said.

“And the counter-attack begins,” Naya said. The missing destroyer and cruiser entered the area in rapid succession and the commander went off to coordinate them. I sidled over to Naya and stared at the strategy board.

“What do you think?”

She took a deep breath and looked at the board as well, stone faced. “…We’ll get it done. One way or the other.”

I looked at her and held out my hand. “You keep my ass alive and I’ll keep your ass alive. Deal?”

She gave me a searching look, a sly smirk, and shook my hand. “Deal.” Right then and there I made a promise to myself. This attack wasn’t killing me, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to kill her. A shrill noise from one of the consoles on the opposite side of the room made me turn.

“Commander? We’ve got a problem.” The man operating it said. At once the commander was next to him and looking down at the console, face full of iron.

“What’s up?”

“Contact, single unknown vessel, too big to be a fighter, way too small to be a ship.” Oh no.

“Guardian,” the commander growled, looking disdainfully at the console. A Conjunction three man attack craft, heavily armored, heavily armed and equipped with missile jamming technology. “How far out?”

“300 Klicks and closing, we should get the flak guns ready,” the officer said.

“No, it isn’t going to attack us. It’s alone, that means recon.”

“Then why’s it coming after us?”

“It wants to get a good look at us first and then jump out and warn every Conjunction ship in the system,” Naya said.

“The lieutenant is right. How long until it enters gun range?”

“At current velocity five minutes.”

“It’s not gonna get that close, it’s gonna hang around just outside our attack range and take all the pretty pictures it wants,” I said.

“Redirect the CAP to intercept,” the commander said moving to the communications officer. Naya and I locked eyes in a second.

“CAP is only two wings, T’s and C’s,” I said.

“They’ve only got guns, we’re saving all our missiles for the op,” she said.

“Against a Guardian? It’ll bug out before they tag it more than a few times.”

“Time for that zero g test?”

“I believe so.” We both took off and I stopped at the door. “Commander! We can stop that thing, no time for questions just trust me!” Before he could respond we were gone.

As we raced down passageways the condition red alarm started blaring. The hallways turned into an impossible to navigate maze of motion and people. I barely managed to keep track of where I was going, let alone keep up with Naya.

“Condition red, say again, condition red. Launch alert fighters, all pilots to the flight deck, load all guns on the starboard side…” I tuned it out, all that mattered was getting onto the space front as quickly as possible. If we didn’t kill that thing we were all in it deep.

We reached the flight deck and separated. My fighter was repaired and refueled, but no one was prepping it yet. I skidded to a halt and stopped a deckhand. He was a kid, barely old enough to enlist, even as a mechanic.

“I need to be in the air yesterday!”

“Sir, it’s first come first served and we’ve already got enough for a first wave! We have to…” I took him by the shoulders and shouted above the din from the rest of the flight deck.

“I don’t care, my wing’s got the only weapon that might stop that thing! Get lieutenant Zakera in the air as well, that’s an order!” He looked stunned for a second before speaking.

“Y-yes sir! I’m on it!” I pulled on my pressure suit and vaulted into my fighter. The kid tossed me my helmet and flight package. I was in a trance; I stopped thinking and let my body do the work. Helmet on, flight package in, communications, weapons, thrusters, OTACS. The instant I had communications working I opened a line to the Deck Master.

“DM, it’s Leo. I know you’re already set but my wingman and I need to get the hell out there!”

“I can’t do that lieutenant, we’ve got…”

“DM, you know that CAP can’t do jack against a Guardian! My wing has prototype rounds loaded, we’re the only ones that have a chance!”

“I’ve never heard of these rounds lieutenant, I can’t just…” With a small burst of static someone else joined the line.

“This is commander Jackson, get Sigma wing in the air. Acknowledge.” There was a pause.

“Acknowledged. Lieutenant Zakera, are you set?”

“Check, get me the hell out of here.”

“Okay Jet, we do this your way. Loaders en route, stand by.” He left the channel and the kid flashed me the thumbs up, I was ready. I closed the canopy and double checked my systems. Nothing wrong.

“We don’t exactly have the ammo for a drawn out fight,” Naya said.

“I know. One, maybe two good bursts.”

“So let’s not miss.”

“You’ve got the bigger bullets. I’ll try to hit its weapons and keep it busy, you go for the kill,” I said.

“Got it. Don’t get shot down.”

“Don’t let it kill me.” There was a thud as a loader locked onto me and dragged me towards the nearest tube. I spotted Naya being loaded into a tube not that far down the line. My eyes narrowed and my pulse sped up. The loader unlocked and the tube closed behind me. I just kept telling myself what to do. Simple quick moves, confuse it, don’t die. Don’t die. The tube opened and I watched a piece of scrap metal get sucked out into the reaches of space. I could feel the pneumatics starting to hum and I gently placed my foot against the thruster pedal.

“Jet, go no-go for catshot.”

“Go.”

“Launch in five, four, three, two, one, clear!” I pressed my foot down; the tube turned into a blur of light and my body was pressed back against my seat. In an instant it was over and I was out. I gunned the engines and Naya formed up behind me. There was really nothing out here, total emptiness. It was strange to think that this was what made up the vast majority of the universe.

“Got the target, dead ahead, just out of Atlantis’s gun range,” Naya said.

“Okay. Axel, back off a bit, make sure it spots me first.” She backed off just enough to make me more of a threat. I could see it now, only an outline. 180 degree rotating turrets on both sides and thick armor plating made out of an odd onyx colored metal. It hadn’t spotted me yet, still busy eyeballing the fleet. I lined up a shot and aimed for the turret closest to me. I was getting closer, I had a lock. “Let’s see if these things work!” I fired a solid volley and then flew straight over it.

“Good effect on target, one turret disabled!” Naya said. A burst of fire emanated from its other turret and barely missed me. I rolled around and gunned the engine, feeling the stream of projectiles follow me.

“Try to focus on that side, I’m gonna keep this thing busy!” I flew out of the turrets range and flipped over again, trying to get another shot. This thing was smarter than that. Almost at once it rotated and faced the operational turret towards me. Naya spun wildly to stay out of its range.

“Watch it! Keep that thing away from me!”

“I’m…trying! Bastard’s rotating with me!” If I slowed down to line up a shot it would kill me. I just kept going, trying to outrace the stream of fire, going around in an endless loop.

“Damn it! I can’t get a shot if this thing keeps moving! I’m gonna get out of range and try another approach angle!” she said.

“Do it!” She flew off and I quickly lost track of her, I had to keep my mind on staying alive. It stopped and switched directions, trying to use my momentum against me. I flipped over and gunned the engines hard. The sudden switch almost made me sick, but I stayed ahead of the Guardian.

“Lieutenant, this is CAP leader, callsign Hard Armor. Looks like you’re in it deep.” I could’ve hugged the guy.

“Good to hear from you sir! Yeah, I could use a little distraction!”

“Our rounds aren’t gonna do shit against that thing, Jet.”

“Mine will, just get this thing offa me!”

“Understood. CAP, get in close and buzz ‘em. Weapons hold, say again, weapons hold, if that thing thinks we have the same rounds Jet does, it’ll hunt for us first.” They came in hard and fast, narrowly missing the Guardian. The stream of fire stopped and it re-oriented haphazardly, trying to track them.

“Axel, bring it back in and aim for whatever looks important!” I pulled out of my loop and came for the turret from the stern. The instant it was in my crosshair I unloaded. The rounds streaked through space, invisible in the darkness and tore through the turret. I felt the vibrations change and watched a few stray standards fly from my guns.

“Turret’s gone but I’m empty! Axel, take this thing down!”

“Coming in at your six Jet, watch the fireworks.” I spun around just in time. She flew by slowly; unloading every single round she could and letting out a howl of rage. The Guardian was dented, punctured and then torn apart. Finally, a few standards from Naya bounced off its armor and she passed it by.

“I’m out! How’s it look?” I looked at the lump of metal now drifting off at an odd angle and felt the knot in my chest loosen a bit.

“Like someone tried making abstract art with a sledgehammer. Good kill,” I said, relief in my voice.

“*pant* Good. Good…That was way too close,” she said, her voice starting to relax.

“Copy that. CAP, nice work, target destroyed.”

“Happy to help, Jet. We’re gonna go finish our sweep, good shooting both of you. Hard Armor out.” I opened a line to Atlantis.

“Sigma wing to Atlantis, target destroyed, awaiting orders.”

“This is commander Jackson. Sigma wing is to come home double time. I want to see you both in the CIC. Acknowledge?”

“Acknowledged. Sigma wing comin’ home.” I cut the line and headed back towards the landing hanger.

“You get the feeling he’s a bit miffed?” she asked.

“Just a bit, yeah.”

“Could be the stress.”

“Just follow the age old guidelines of getting away with something.”

“What would those be?”

“Keep a straight face, look right at him and act like you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Heh, right.”

We landed without event and returned to the CIC, walking on air and nervous at the same time. The commander had his eyes back on the strategy board. He noticed us and straightened up, we braced for the blow.

“How the hell did you two kill that thing?”

“We’ve been experimenting with ways to improvise armor piercing rounds with the forge on flight deck two in our off hours…sir,” I said.

“Mhm. Well, I’d call that a successful test then. How did you do it?”

“Athenium rounds, extracted from scrap fighters with heat and then sharpened into a point,” Naya said. He looked pensive. The background noise of the CIC suddenly seemed very loud. His eyes glided back and forth between us a few times. He turned to face colonel Edwards, who had been sitting engaged in a conversation with one of the specialists.

“Colonel, I want the arms master and all off duty personnel that know what a bullet is on flight deck two, and raid the scrap heaps, anything with Athenium in it.”

“Yes sir.”

He turned back to face us. “You produced enough rounds for one kill in how long?”

“A week or so, sir,” I said.

“Let’s see how many we can make with a team. There will be more Guardians. Good work you two.” We both relaxed and cracked a pair of matching grins.

“Thank you, sir,” I said.

“Right, now I’ve got good news and bad news. A ship that small has a limited jump range. The ASV Ninevah was in the area and launched a recon drone towards its most likely origin point.” He turned to the strategy board. “Have a look at what it found.” There were five ships total, this was the force that we were going to attack. “Good news is that there are only five of them.”

“And they aren’t where we thought they were,” Naya said.

“Yes, they were planning on letting us jump in and find nothing, then hitting us from the rear, they had scouts waiting to identify us and then warn this fleet. Our surprise attack turns into a slaughter.”

“How long do you think it will be until they notice their recon Guardian is missing?” Naya asked.

“Too long. They’ll know we’re onto them and reposition, the whole thing turns into a game of cat and mouse,” the commander said.

“Okay…so, what do we do?” Naya asked. There was silence as we all dove into thought. I racked my mind for something, anything that we might be able to do to catch them off guard. What did we know for sure? We knew the enemy’s current position, they would soon be able to guess ours, and that they would reposition once they realized their Guardian wasn’t coming back. We couldn’t just attack them now. Supplies were still being distributed and the squads were in total disarray. We just weren’t ready.

“Hold up a second…” I said, an idea striking me. “The Conjunction have never been one to play it safe, they won’t reposition, they’ll come straight here.”

“They’ll try to jump right in the middle of us,” Naya said.

“And wind up caught with their pants down,” I added. The commander caught my eye and raised an eyebrow. “Okay. The Conjunction will jump here, they’ll be looking to fight us if we haven’t managed to jump away or they’ll be looking to take ground and send out more recon fighters to try and find us again. Either way, we can count on them being within 500 Klicks of our current position.”

“So what’s stopping us from leaving them a little surprise?” The commander said, finishing my thought.

“For their own protection they’ll keep a tight formation when they jump, just in case we really are still here, but that means that they’re all clustered together. Commander, what can you give me?”

The commander’s eyes lit up like bonfires. “We don’t have any full sized ones still in stock, and I’m damn sure the other ships don’t either, but we do have one mini-nuke on board.” He examined the five ships on the strategy board and thought for a moment. “Drone showed that they have decently thick armor, but at close range…” He dragged the ships around for a moment. “The command ship is almost certainly this ACP here; it’ll be dead center…” Eventually he had predicted all of their positions. “Okay, we detonate the nuke within 10 Klicks of here and we can kill two escort ships before they even realize what’s happened. That can buy us a fighting chance,” he said.

“Wait a minute…I think I know how we can stop all of them,” Naya said.

“What’s your thinking, lieutenant?” the commander asked, stepping aside.

“You’re right, the blast wave from that location will kill two, maybe three of them. But with respect sir, there’s something you’re overlooking. What’s the byproduct of any nuclear explosion?”

“An electromagnetic pulse. If we place the warhead in the right place we can create one that’ll freeze the entire enemy fleet,” he said, proudly repositioning the nuke and simulating the effect.

“The pulse will only shut off their systems for a few seconds, but it will cause a complete and total reboot. That means engines, navigation, weapons, fighters, everything,” Naya said.

“How long before they recover enough to fight back?” I asked.

“I’d estimate ten minutes, fifteen if we’re lucky,” the commander said.

“With a coordinated strike by our fleet, that’s more than enough time to cripple them. If we’re lucky, it’ll be enough time to wipe them out,” I said.

“The next problem’s the delivery system. We need to get this nuke into the center of their fleet without setting off their sensors. That means we can’t launch it normally,” Naya said.

“Maybe a recon drone? If we flew it from here we might be able to use it to move the nuke. We launch it, jump out, fly it into the center and jump back in,” The colonel suggested; he’d finished dispensing orders and had been listening for a short while.

“That’s a start. See what you can do. I’ll send the drone and the nuke to flight deck two. Remember, we’ve only got one shot, make it count.”

“Yes sir,” we both said.

He looked at the board for a moment before turning back to us. “That Guardian was equipped to check more than one area, probably set up for a long patrol.”

“How long have we got before it’s declared overdue? Best guess?” I asked.

He thought for a moment. “Fifteen hours or so.”

“Then we need to get started,” I said.

“You’re absolutely right. Get going, we’ve got work to do.” He turned back to the communications officer. “Donny, tell the rest of the fleet to start moving the supplies, double time it. I want a line to command and then I want this plan dispatched to the rest of A, B and C fleet. Mission launches in 14 hours. If they show up early, we’ll be ready. I want the entire fleet on condition yellow until further notice. Move it!”

Those were some of the most intense hours of my life. I was back on flight deck two, this time not just with Naya, but with every other pilot, mechanic, gunner, janitor and anyone else that could be spared. Most were cranking out armor piercers as fast as possible. With just one forge our output was limited, but assembly line tactics and the looming threat of a time limit works wonders. In a matter of a few hours we had produced full loads for at least four fighters. The scout drone project was another story.

It was a jury-rigger’s worst nightmare. The colonel’s idea had been to launch the drone and then jump out, but we were having trouble launching the drone with the added weight of the bomb. We thought of just pushing it out the airlock and then flying it to the target area, but there was a problem with that as well. The nuke’s detonator interfered with the remote flight systems just enough to foul us up. We would have to arm the bomb when it reached the target area. And flying it after jumping away? Not even close to possible even with the shortest distance jump Atlantis could manage.

No one wanted to mention the painfully obvious. We could attach the nuke to a manned craft and have them arm and launch it. It would be suicidal. The mini nuke we had was meant to be launched by F-class Falcons not our air superiority birds. Again there was the issue of the launch, if the bomb slid loose it could detonate and not only kill the pilot, but wound the ship pretty badly as well. Once the pilot was out, there was the issue of deploying the bomb. The pilot would kill the engines and drift slowly towards the target area to avoid detection. Once in range, they would deploy the bomb and punch it for home. We could either let it drift, or actually fire its thrusters. If we let it drift, there was a good chance the pilot would die in the escape attempt, either from the blast wave, or from being spotted. It would be safer if we fired the missile, the pilot wouldn’t have to get as close to the Conjunction fleet and could punch it for home much earlier. Even then, there was more than a small chance that either the blast wave or the fleet would end up killing them.

So we carried on with trying to get the drone to work, idea after idea, each more hopeless and desperate than the last. Every now and then someone would leave, off to get some rack time so they could actually function during the fight. Slowly people drained away, the rounds were moved off to be loaded in every fighter possible. But the drone problem was still unsolved. After eight straight hours Naya and I were the only ones still left on deck. The drone was still incomplete.

I had my head buried in the drone, desperately trying to find a way to make its thrusters stronger, and Naya had just finished the last welds on a mounting system the crew had assembled from spare landing claw parts. She dragged it over and set it down.

“Okay, the bomb won’t slide loose…I think,” she said, wiping sweat from her forehead. “If these damn things can catch a Falcon they’ll hold on to a drone. Any luck?” I drew my head out of the drone and gave her a dejected look.

“No, I’ve got nothing.” I plopped down and rested my back against the stupid drone.

“So…” She sat down next to me. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know.” There was a terrible knot building in my chest, the hollow empty ache of failure.

“Then we go to plan B. We mount this thing to a fighter and…”

“Mhhn, no,” I grumbled before I even knew what she was saying. But I did know, she was going to volunteer. I wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Leo I don’t see another way to do this,” she said matter-of-factly. I smiled and laughed shortly. “What’s so funny?” she asked.

I turned to look at her. “I think that’s the first time you’ve ever called me by my name Naya.”

She smiled back. “Do this for long enough you forget there’s a person underneath the soldier.” She stood up. “C’mon, let’s get a beer. We’ll think better with booze in us.”

“Actually, we won’t, that’s kind of the point of booze.” She pulled me to my feet and thumped me on the back.

“Either way, you look like you could use it.” I wasn’t going to argue with that, so I let her steer me to the bar.

A few other pilots were relaxing before the fight, taking care not to get drunk. A few tossed greetings in our direction and we acknowledged them with half a wave. We pulled up seats and each took a bottle.

“Nothing on tap?” I asked. The bartender shook his head.

“Sorry, need to restock.” If we ever get the chance, I thought grimly. Naya sensed my thoughts and gently elbowed me to take a drink. I took a long pull. I turned my eyes to the TV and half watched some of a game. The match was Matelion against Triton, a bit more interesting than the last game. I spotted Spin-Out with his eyes glued to the screen a few seats away. Clearly he had money on this game. It was tied and about to go into overtime.

Naya tapped me on the shoulder. “Okay…how do we fix this thing?” I stayed silent and pretended I didn’t hear her. “Talk to me…what do we do?”

I bit my lip and faced her. “You know what we have to do. I just don’t want to do it.”

“You think I do? It’s the only way anyone comes out of this in one piece and the pilot’s got better odds than you think.” She wasn’t angry or accusatory, just firm. “It’s risk one pilot or risk everything.”

“I know. We could die every time we get in the cockpit, it’s just that this time the odds are worse.”

“We can do it, you know we can.” I looked away. She took another drink and then tapped my shoulder. “Oy. Why did you stop me earlier?”

I was silent for a while before I answered. “Because you were going to volunteer.”

“So what? Someone has to do it and I’m a damn good pilot. You don’t think I can pull it off?”

“No, I think you could.”

“So why did you stop me?” I looked hard at the wall. She leaned in closer and lowered her voice. “You’re afraid of losing another wingman, aren’t you?”

I finally looked back at her. There were a dozen excuses I could have given, but for whatever reason that time I told the truth. “Yeah…but you’re not just another wingman. Not to me.” Sound and color were meaningless, the whole room might as well have been empty. All that mattered was this one moment and her eyes staring into mine. She blinked and studied me. I realized what I’d said, considered trying to cover it or change it, but decided I was too deep in. I looked back at her and nodded, I’d meant what I said. Her expression broke into her usual smirk, she leaned in closer and her lips parted like she was going to say something.

Sound came back into existence as the rest of the room all gathered around the TV and cheered. Matelion had scored in overtime. Spin-Out was going ape shit. Apparently he’d just won a good deal of his money back. The sound faded and that left me sitting there with Naya. For a while neither one of us looked at each other, but neither of us made to move away either.

“I…” She started to say. I wish I knew how she’d planned to end that sentence. A second after she started to speak a bottle smashed. The whole room went deadly silent. There was someone behind me. I turned around to face Tail-Burn, second empty bottle in one hand, his other curled into a fist. My mind jumped into action, only six of the people in the rec room were armed, including Naya and myself. If they went for their guns he might overreact and attack. This had to be done carefully.

“Leonard,” he growled.

“Eugene,” I said evenly. “What can I do for you captain?”

He laughed drunkenly. “It’s lieutenant now, that damn fight got me demoted.” He turned his arm and displayed his newly rebranded badge.

“Sorry to hear that. How can I help?”

“You can help by giving me back my rank and my dignity if it isn’t too much trouble,” he said, every syllable full of drunken rage. Usually vodka slowed you down, but it had only made his blood boil.

“Not sure how I’d restore your rank, and I think your dignity left the building before you ever met me.” He broke the bottle off on a table, I didn’t flinch.

“Just like you, Admen. Big tough Admen, genius on the battlefield, nightmare to the enemy, a model solider.” His eyes flicked to Naya.

“Leave her out of this. Only warning,” I said.

“The knight in shining armor rushes to her aid?” he said, his words slurred.

“No, the knight in shining armor tries to save the drunken ass hat from a world of hurt,” Naya said, moving her hands into a low ready position. Tail-Burn laughed. Naya stood up and centered herself lower to the ground. “Touch me and I’ll drop you.”

He made a lunge in her direction. Big mistake. A second later there was a sickening *CRACK!* and Tail-Burn doubled over in pain, clutching his sensitive area. I almost felt sorry for him when I thought about how all pilots wore steel-toed boots. He fell flat on his face, dropped the bottle, and started to snore in a very unattractive way.

A collective murmur of approval, visceral grunts and a few cries of “yeah!” went up from the crowd. Naya tapped the toe of her boot on the ground and cracked her neck, pronouncing herself satisfied before looking back to me and gesturing to our table. We both sat down and nervously shifted around in our seats.

“Nice kick,” I finally said.

“Thanks. Considering what little I know about his methods of picking up women, I don’t think he’ll need those anytime in the future.”

I smiled and just looked at her, tracing the patterns in her skin. “Thanks.” I said after a while.

“For what?”

“For just…being here,” I said, somewhat lamely.

After a few seconds of silence neither of us could help but laugh. The kind of raw uncontrolled laugh that comes with an adrenaline rush, stress, powerful emotion and a little bit of beer. Naya recovered first. “That may have been the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Y…Yeah, guess it was.”

“Give it some time, I’m sure you can come up with something dumber.” I studied her, trying to figure out what she was thinking. She was still smiling even though she was done laughing. “So…the drone problem…and the related dying problem. Any more thoughts?” she asked. I shook my head. “I don’t think there’s a perfect way out of this, Leo. You can’t fix everything, sometimes you have to just go.”

I stared into space for a while, thinking. “Okay, I’ve got an idea that isn’t going to get either one of us killed. I’ll handle this, you should go get some rest,” I said.

“There’s no way I’m leaving you alone on this.”

“You’re gonna be a wreck tomorrow if you don’t get some sleep. I’ve got this.”

“You’ll be a wreck too if you try to set up this big idea alone.”

“I’m not doing it solo, and we made a deal. I’m keeping your ass alive.”

“And I’m trying to keep yours.”

Our eyes met and I stood up. “Get some rest, and trust me.”

She took a deep breath before answering. “All right. You die out there, I’ll kill you.” I laughed and walked away, my mind turned back to the task of the mini-nuke.

The commander had his head buried in reports on the supplies and status of the fleet when I walked into the CIC.

“Sir.”

He looked up from his notes. “Lieutenant. How goes the bomb? The rest of the fleet is almost ready for action. You ought to get some rest.”

“Yes, sir, but I need something to get done first.”

“What’s up?”

“The scout drone’s a no-go, but I have a backup plan.”

The commander gave me a knowing look. “How risky?”

“Damn near suicidal, but it’s this or the whole thing goes sideways.”

“…Okay, what do you need?” I told him what I had in mind and he cleared it. He clearly didn’t like it, but he knew that we had no choice.

“Get a conscious engineer down to flight deck two, haul that mounting device and the nuke over, and start modifying it,” I said.

“It’s done. Now find your rack and climb into it, that’s an order.”

“Yes sir.” I really was going to be a wreck if I didn’t get some rest.

I lay down in my bed and stared up at darkness, trying to block out the noise from outside. Shapes and colors swirled around in front of me as my mind filled in the space it couldn’t interpret. I could still hear Naya’s words, echoing inside my head like a broken record over and over. Sometimes you just go. She was right. I finally fell into an uneasy sleep, dreading the coming day.