Countdown by John Walker (feel good fiction books txt) 📗

“I can’t believe that didn’t explode,” Dora said.

“Oh, it’s not that easy. I mean, the crash needed to rupture the ether chamber. Then the reactor had to be jarred in such a way that would make it go up. The reason ships generally blow up is because people are shooting at them. Beam weapons are specially designed to mess with all those things. I read a paper…”

“That’s enough,” Dora interrupted. “I appreciate the lesson but we don’t have the time right now.” She smirked nevertheless. “You’re kind of wasted as a general tech. You’ve got a lot going on in that head of yours.”

“You gotta start somewhere.” Ronnie paused. “I did a scan of that ship. Two life forms aboard.”

“They survived.” Dora hummed. “Shocking… and impressive. Good for them.”

“Should we let the others know?”

“We’re comm silent until they contact us,” Dora reminded her. “That means we stay put until we’re needed.”

“Is this what it’s always like for you? As a marine pilot?”

“Most of the time,” Dora said. “Lots of hurry up and wait.”

“Isn’t that frustrating?”

“Sometimes… like now. I’d love to be helping but we can’t exactly provide aerial overwatch when they’re in a building.”

“And the automated…” Ronnie stopped. “Oh snap. Their turrets are down. Someone knocked out the generators in the compound. Like… shut off completely. Or blew up I suppose. Either is possible.” She frowned. “Though I’d say that if they destroyed them, then we probably would’ve seen a big flash…”

“Settle down.” Dora chuckled. “You’re nervous about this fight, huh?”

“I am a bit. Yeah. Do you think we’ll find Rita?”

“I hope so. Or this trip will have been a waste of time.” Zem pulled them together for the outing. The smaller crew allowed them to be nimble, but scans showed they were against an overwhelming number of soldiers. “Did you see what happened to the vehicle approaching the front of the complex?”

“Yeah,” Ronnie said, “it got blown away. Bunch of the people made it inside. Some didn’t. Really nasty. How’d you miss it? You’ve been staring at that scanner like it’s going to run away.”

“I’ve been watching the skies,” Dora said. “Specifically to see if anyone is coming our way. I don’t want to be caught unaware while we’re holding position.”

“Ohhh… I like the way you think.”

I just bet. The comm buzzed, making Dora stiffen. I don’t think that’s Zem. The message came through a different channel, the general Confed line. He was using a private one… something we secured earlier. For a brief moment, she felt a surge of hope that maybe some aid arrived.

“This is Lieutenant Collins of The Bounty… who is this?”

“It’s Rita. Wherever you are, get yourself ready to go. If you see a ship launch from the compound, take it down immediately. Be sure you’re jamming all enemy comm activity. I’ll talk to you soon.” The line went dead.

“Hello? Hello?” Dora sighed. “Okay then. I guess we’ve got our orders. Go ahead and initiate that jam.” She hit the maneuvering thrusters to lift off, heading back toward the facility. Ronnie held on tight. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t like being up here when we’re flying near the surface.” Ronnie shrugged. “Freaks me out.”

“You’d rather be down in Engineering where you can’t see if we’re going to crash?”

“I did until you said that.” Ronnie scowled. “Come on!”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ve got…” Dora paused as the scanner started beeping. A ship was about to take off from one of the pads. Might as well prevent it from even going there. She hit the afterburners while bringing the turrets online. “You… might want to direct your attention to the terminal over there.”

“Yeah…” Ronnie turned away. “I think you’re right.”

Time to target showed less than a minute. Dora hadn’t anticipated coming in so fast. She figured she’d have a little more time when Zem called. But if she wanted to prevent that fighter from getting off the ground, they had to break the sound barrier. More importantly, they’d likely give away their position to the ship in orbit.

I hope Rita’s got a plan for that part.

The compound loomed ahead. The shuttle’s thrusters turned red as they powered up. Rita hit the targeting computer, zeroing in on the engines themselves. They discharged as she flew directly over, strafing the thing. Pulling up, she looped around, tilting sideways so she could get a good look at it.

Ronnie groaned, holding her seat tightly with her eyes closed. The enemy ship had been disabled. Smoke poured from the thrusters. The hull had been perforated, cut down but the reactor remained stable. Another couple hits would destroy the thing but there was no point in shooting again.

They weren’t going anywhere.

A second shuttle burst from the pad. This one must’ve been operated by a real pilot. They engaged their shields right away, popping off a couple shots in Dora’s direction. She leveled out, slowing down to let them close in. As they did, she targeted them with both the top and bottom turrets, opening fire.

Her target evaded the first volley, pulling up. The top turret followed them, chewing into their bottom. Their shields couldn’t withstand the onslaught and they dropped in seconds. Flipping over, the top shields bought them a few more moments but they had to fly inverted. Dora pulled up sharply, giving both turrets a clean line of fire.

As both weapons ripped through the bow, the enemy ship began a rapid descent. It slammed into the ground a moment later just a hundred yards from the outer wall of the compound. Dora spun around, providing a patrolling overwatch of the area. Okay, my parts done. What’s next, Rita?

Hopefully, the woman had a plan. That starship in orbit will take notice of all these shots fired soon enough.

***

Torrence laid into the forces that