Battleship Furiosa (11 page)

"Class act, as always, Billy."

She then looked over to Nate as
she pulled on her field blouse. As it moved down over her
head
, she sighed.

"It's serious
, though. He hasn't just requested us, or the Corsairs. He
wants everybody!"

Nate chuckled. "You don't
say."

Billy pulled on his pants and grabbed
Nate's shoulder.

"Okay, so when does he need us
there?"

"When?"
Matilda muttered.

She turned away, and the curtain
fell down behind her, but not before both heard her laughing to
herself. Billy looked to Nate who nodded at the curtain and on to
the compartment door.

"Try ten minutes ago. She's not
wrong. It's very serious."

Billy's expression changed, but
as usual it was little more than confusion. He may not have been
the brightest of the pilots in Knighthawk Squadron, but he was
certainly one of the most capable. What h
e lacked in knowledge, he more than made up for with his
dog fighting skills.

As they grabbed their last bits
of gear and made for the door, Nate smiled at Billy. He had many
faults, but unlike high-achievers like Rex, Billy could be relied
upon. In a dogfight, Rex was just as likely to quit his position to
chase an enemy, as he was to stay in formation. Billy, on the other
hand, would be there till the end. He would do as he was ordered to
the best of his ability.

"Let's see what this emergency is that
only we can fix!"

* * *

Nate and Billy moved quickly down the
passageway and towards the wide door that led inside. As was normal
now, a pair of Marine guards waited at each side of the door, both
in full armour and carrying their standard issue L56 carbines. As
Nate moved closer, he smiled to himself. Just a few months ago even
visiting a room like this would have been a treat, like seeing a
museum filled with fighters and bombers. Now everything had
changed, and he was entering this place as an equal, one of many
pilots on board the aged warship.

"Can you believe we're still here?"

Billy looked at him and shrugged.

"What, in the passageway?"

Nate laughed and shook his head.

"No, I mean here, on this ship and part
of a fighter squadron. Did you ever think it would be
possible?"

Billy shook his head immediately.

"No chance. I failed the entry
tests on my fourteenth birthday to join the military school. Why do
you think I ended up in the civilian academy instead, like
you?"

Nate's left eyebrow rose
whimsically.

"Good point."

They passed
the marines and entered the packed briefing room. The
lights were still bright as the two walked inside. There were even
more pilots pushing in from the main passageway. He kept on moving
and sat in the front row. More pilots continued to arrive, but it
took another minute before the first of the familiar faces of
Knighthawk Squadron arrived. First in was Rex, and he ignored
looking at Nate and headed for the rear of the room. Next came
Matilda and Cassandra, both of whom joined Nate and were clearly
not impressed by Rex's behaviour.

"What's going on, Nate?"
Cassandra asked, "I saw something about pilots
being selected for some kind of special mission."

"No idea. Maybe we're going
through the Rift and taking the fight to them."

Matilda shrugged.

"Doubtful. We are not embroiled
in a total war with the Star Empire, at least not yet. We're here
to maintain lines of communication to Makos in the Tenth Quadrant,
and to protect the route through to Helios Prime."

Nate's eyebrows rose as he
listened to her. Matilda had no more access to Alliance
intelligence than he did, and yet she seemed better informed than
he was. He looked ahead and wondered quite how dangerous Matilda
would be in a command position. She had taken the same information
as him and managed to understand and assess it in a matter of
minutes.

"They have not come through in
force, and we have not gone back to fight them. If you ask me, I'd
say this sector is nothing more than a stalemate
, and we've been pinned in position."

Her eyebrows rose as though she'd just
discovered some great secret.

"The real action is going on somewhere
else right now, and I bet that's why we're all in here."

Then Cassandra spoke, and this
time her tone seemed to have mellowed. For the last few days she'd
shown little but contempt for anything Nate had
to say. Now she blinked slowly and made sure he heard each
and every word.

"Why is he here? I thought he was
grounded?"

Nate looked over his shoulder
towards the back of the room. Rex was there and gave him a pleasant
nod as he sat down. Nate nodded back before spotting the smirk from
his old rival. He turned back to Cassandra.

"No idea. He's still on the Squadron
roll call, isn't he?"

Matilda piped up.

"True, he's still listed."

It took only a few more seconds,
and the door hissed shut. Commander Higgins marched out in front of
the assembled pilots. There were men and women of all ages, but one
thing they all shared was their role as pilots. Nate spotted
several familiar faces, including a handful from the broken and now
deactivated Thunder Squadron. Just thinking about them reminded him
how close his own unit was to reaching an unsustainable stage. Only
a few more casualties would be needed before they were considered
ineffective. Nate dreaded that day more than any other.

"Okay
,
then, we don't have much time," said a familiar voice.

Nick looked at Commander Higgins
and immediately recalled the first time they had worked together.
The man had been battered and
broken, and
yet he'd stayed with them, whipping them into shape so that they
could pilot the ship's drone fighters. Since the new crew had
arrived, they all saw a lot less of him, and that saddened Nate a
little.

"
Captain Cornwallis has tasked me with assembling a special
unit, and I believe we have the pilots needed in this very room. In
any case, I need pilots, good pilots for something special. This is
one of those occasions that doesn't happen twice, so listen
up."

A murmur of excitement spread
quickly through the group.
There was
nothing more exciting to the pilots than being given the chance to
participate in an exceptional or unusual mission.

"Each ship in the fleet is being
assessed for suitable pilots for an operation with the Byotai. This
includes both Alliance and renegade Byotai vessels that are now
sailing with us. Those selected will operate aboard a Byotai
vessel, and under their immediate command, but using our own
spacecraft for the duration of this mission."

He looked out
and lifted his hands before pointing them at the
group.

"Now, who of you has combat
experience flying alongside Byotai pilots?"

More than a dozen hands shot up,
including Nate’s. Some of the older pilots may have even fought
beside the small numbers of Byotai ships from the Biomech War. Back
then contingents under the command of General Makos had fought
alongside their Alliance and Helion brethren against the creatures
and machines of the enemy.

"Good, that's a start. And of
you, how many have operated in Byotai mixed squadrons?"

Every hand when down, apart from
one. All eyes turned to find Lieutenant Commander Holder with her
hand still raised.
She was by no means
the oldest of them all there, but she was the senior combat pilot
in the unit. Her hair transfixed Nate as she turned her
head.

"What?" Billy exclaimed.

Nate and Matilda turned to him
and attempted to silence him with nothing more than a stare. Nate
whispered as quietly as he could but couldn't quite tell if the
comment had been because she had her hand up, or because Nate had
been staring at her.

"Holder is supposed to have done
a tour on one of the Byotai ships a year or two ago. I think she's
considered a bit of a legend among their pilots."

Matilda heard him speak
and cocked her head to one side.

"Really? I'm surprised you know
that."

Nate cleared his throat and spoke
quickly, and a little too nervously. Matilda lowered her head a
fraction, but he could see her mocking expression. Just behind her
sat Cassandra, but her attention seemed to be focussed completely
on the Commander.

"I checked on her when we all
first met."

He
tried to sound innocent, but somehow managed to still make
it sound weird, and maybe a little creepy. Every word he uttered
gave the impression he was at best, completely enamoured by the
officer, and at worst, infatuated to a worrisome level. They looked
to the front where the Commander was still waiting. Nate's heart
felt heavy as he realised he would not be taking part. He had never
served with Byotai pilots in actual combat before, only in
simulation.

It's not fair. We've
got more experience than the rest
of these pilots put together.

It was bitterness talking to him,
but Nate was factually correct. Apart from the Lieutenant
Commander, not one of the other pilots had even piloted fighters in
simulated engagements on the same size as actual Byotai pilots.
Nate and his friends had fought in hundreds of simulated battles
alongside Byotai squadrons, and even working in the same units.
Nate could even remember with some bitterness the time they had all
worked together to control the weapon systems of an entire Byotai
frigate in simulated battle.

We know the people, and we know how to
work with them.

Without thinking, Nate lifted his right
hand, but the Commander shook his head.

"No questions."

As Nate lowered his hand, he
blinked slowly and grumbled to himself. He was so annoyed that he
almost missed the Commander's next words.

"Very well. And how about
combat simulation with Byotai units? Have any of
you operated with actual Byotai pilots in simulated engagements and
operations under their command?"

Nate couldn't believe what he'd
just heard. There were a small number of squadrons that had
exchange pilots with their allies in the Byotai
Empir
e, but that was a tiny number over
the last few years. Nate and his friends were something else.
Without checking on the others, Nate lifted his hand and joined
Lieutenant Commander Holder. Commander Higgins' eyes scanned the
room, and Nate looked back as he watched one hand after another
rise high. He counted them and then looked back at the
Lieutenant.

It's only us, and Holder.

He
could barely hide his excitement as the Commander nodded
slowly.

"Very
well. Everybody else, out...now!"

One or two
of Corsair Squadron grumbled, but the most surprised were
the other members of the Knighthawks. Ensign Hawkins and his
friends gave Nate a nod as they passed by until finally it was one
small group.

"So...this is it," said the
Commander,
"Put your hands
down."

With everybody else gone, Nate
could see who remained, and he was stunned. Apart from him and
Lieutenant Commander Holder, there was Billy, Rex, Matilda, and
Cassandra. They were what remained of the six pilots that had left
home months earlier, their task little more than a civilian
competition between the best simulator pilots of two races. Billy
lifted a hand, but the Commander shook his head.

"No, son, no time for questions.
You'll be fully briefed when we get to our destination. All you
need to know is that you need to hurry."

He then walked from the raised
platform and down to the same level as the pilots. With one hand he
waved them towards him, his expression now becoming impatient.
Lieutenant Commander Holder started to speak.

"Sir. This is the first I've heard
of..."

"I know. T
his is unexpected."

He then turned his attention to the
other pilots.

"Walk with me. Time it
limited."

The C
ommander made for the door, and they moved up to join him.
No sooner were they in the main passageway and he was explaining
their new role.

"Technicians and support crew are
already en route to the ship. You'll grab your gear and get to the
port hangar deck in ten minutes."

"But, Sir," said Nate, "Where are
we going?"

The Commander glanced back and
then looked ahead, his walking pace increasing by the second.
Anybody in their path quickly scattered, making room for the seven
personnel to move through.

"We're being temporarily assigned
to the Ironclads Squadron, aboard Furiosa."

A few seconds passed without a
sound. All of them were familiar with the name of the ship, though
none had seen the vessel up close yet. As the most significant
Byotai asset
, she was being kept well
away from the Rift.

"We?"
Matilda repeated.