Gray Panthers: Earths Revenge (11 page)

Gray Panther Space Academy, Arizona

27 August 2128

The instrument panel before Shaw appeared dead, but by looking out through the ships canopy he could see he was able to maneuver, just not able to measure speed or distance. Sensors and communications were dead, he did not even know if his transponder was working or not. The last battle left him where he is now, not even knowing if they had won or lost the engagement. Only a single instrument light was still illuminated, located on the left panel indicating that battery power was available, the small indicator next to it that was supposed to give battery percentage was dark. He started to get light headed and wondered if he was losing air or was it just him hyperventilating. The stars directly above him started to go black and he finally realized there was a huge ship above him. The realization that it was an enemy ship was all he needed as he pointed his fighter at the enemy and tried to engage all engines while firing off all ordinances that he had left at nearly point blank range.

“Very heroic, Cadet Shaw. You inflicted minor damage on the enemy while destroying one of the few fighters we have in our arsenal. Anyone out there have a clue to what Tiny could have done to have a better engagement with the enemy ship?” None of the cadets at first wanted to answer the question until the instructor reminded then by answering the question they not only would show they knew the answer but hopefully let Tiny know what to do if he found himself in real life in a similar situation.

All hands shot up and the instructor looked to Zach Miller, at thirty six one of the oldest cadets in the flight, and seemed to be mildly retarded when he started at the academy. Any hints of problems were gone with the man and as usual, he gave the correct answer to the question.

“Sir, I would have stayed powered down until the ship was farther away. I would then hit the standby power switch that should have sent a chemical solution to the engines which would have started the emergency generator providing power for the flight deck controls and instrumentation so the ship could once again be under control to either attack the enemy or flee, while establishing contact with friendly forces.”

“Good answer, Zach. Cadet Engel, how should Tiny have known he had that ability.”

Both Mary and Matilda started to answer the question when the instructor realized his mistake. “Sorry about that, Matilda if you please?”

“Sir, the clue is that the only light visible on any panel is the battery light. By engaging standby power…”

“Very good Matilda, Zach has already covered that. On Monday we will have a review quiz covering all flight deck controls and indicators, courtesy of our hero. Tiny. Your flight is dismissed for the weekend standard rules apply if anyone wants additional sim time during the weekend.” Instructor Deavor allowed the flight to simply leave his classroom as he heard the others already ribbing the cadet good-naturedly, realizing he probably was responsible for “Tiny” getting the new call sign “Hero.” The entire flight had exceeded all expectations and was very close knit. It was the most eclectic group he had ever taught, he just could not figure out what it was that had the group bonding the way they had.

“Good job, Hero. A week from graduation and you miss one of the simplest questions there is,” Matt said to his friend.

“Aww come on Matt, I got that right every time in the book and during the tests, I just had a brain fart.”

“Yeah, a brain fart that would have you dead in real life, remember what’s in the book is in the flight deck. There’s a reason for everything they do here, we might not be able to figure it out, just go with it, and beat the man the next time he goes after you. One week to our wings! HU-AH!”

“HU-AH! Now let's get moving, it’s our last weekend here, I got us covered for the weekend.”

Instructor Bailey was waiting for the flight as they returned to the dormitory. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I hope no one has plans for the weekend as it seems the Grey Panthers have plans for each of you. Assemble your flight gear and pack your ditty bag for the weekend, you are all going on a little field trip. Five minutes, out front, now move it, move it, move it!” Completely taken by shock after enjoying the kid glove treatment since transitioning to fighter training, everyone was panicking to get their gear and get out front in the time allotted. Bailey simply watched and enjoyed the moment. An hour later Bailey observed the last of the flight disappeared into a shuttle and immediately launched.

The back of the shuttle was quiet as everyone stared at the view screen as the Earth faded away behind them as it appeared like a blue marble. The other view monitor showed their destination ahead of them as they approached the Arizona Space Ship Cornucopia. Everyone remembered back to not long ago when this was an enemy combatant and the Gray Panthers were trying to destroy it with everything they had. An opening appeared on the side of the ship as the shuttle headed for it. Activity could be seen as the ship's crew was going about their duties without any protective gear. It dawned on Matt that it must be a force field protecting those in the bay from the vacuum of space. The front of the shuttle seemed to sparkle as it entered the bays opening. Continuing on, it parked at the end of a row of fighters. The shuttle pilot walked past the cadets as he opened the rear hatch and signal for the cadets to follow him.

Once out in the bay the shuttle pilot told them someone would be along shortly and to feel free to look around. As one they immediately headed for the closest fighter. It was painted flat black with a tail number of 01 painted in dark red. The canopy rail had a name painted in red once up close they saw it said “Lt. Matt Andrews.” Matt’s heart skipped a beat when he saw his name and told the others to find their fighters. Dropping his bags he checked out the flight deck as he saw the instrumentation was the same as the simulator but the panels themselves were a mix of chipped paint and dented metal where the instruments were forced into place. While the simulator made everything look seamless it was obvious that the real thing was cobbled together. Reaching in, he ensured the safety pins for the flight deck were secure and was about to climb in when he heard someone coming up from behind.

“Excuse me sir, may I help you?” came across as a challenge and not a question. Matt turned and saw before him an obvious recycle, maybe 100 years old, white, six foot tall and bald, wearing a black flight suit with the arms tied around his waist, exposing an old, olive drab T-shirt saying Death From Above, with wings and a helicopter.

“I was just about to check out my ship, I’m Matt Andrews, and you are?

“I’m Sgt. Brewster, these are all my birds. If you want to collect the rest of your crew I will take you to your briefing.”

Matt turned towards the rest of the flight all lost ogling their ships, putting two fingers between his lips he blew, producing a loud tweeeee. The entire flight turned his way as he signaled, “join on me.”

Following the sergeant, the cadets continued onboard another larger ship, black with specks of rust. The companion way was too narrow to walk in pairs so all followed in single file until they reached the hangar deck that was empty except for a dozen gray metal folding chairs and a large display.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please take a seat, we do not stand much on formality here. I am Lt. Commander Kyle Johnson, you are onboard the Arizona Space Ship Beater. In another week you will graduate and receive your commissions. This will be your new home after graduation. I can’t tell you anything about the mission, except it will be exciting. I wanted to let you have this weekend to familiarize yourselves with your ships and give anyone who wanted a chance to bail the opportunity, we will not be able to carry any weak sisters. Room is tight and luxuries are non-existent. The only guarantee is that we will see action and you will get to fly all you want. I do not command a dry ship but if you are diminished when needed, I will personally space you myself. Your first sortie will be in an hour it will be a simple game of follow the leader as you check out your Darts, that’s the name we have given your ships. We will use that sortie to see what condition the Darts are in and how close the simulators were in their reproducing the capabilities of the Darts. We actually are not sure as you will be the first to fly them. Short Blade will escort you to your cabins on the Beater, then you have that time to relax until your sortie in 55 minutes. After the sortie, Short Blade will also give you a tour of the ship and it’s amenities. Short Blade, they are all yours. Please do not eat or hurt any of our intrepid flyers.” The flight looked at each other quizzically until they saw behind them the short six legged lion approach. He was wearing a black flight suit with Short Blade stenciled in red on the chest. He wore a utility belt with a holstered automatic on his right and a small sword on the other side that looked very formidable.

“Please follow me, ladies and gentlemen, and I will take you to your cabins.” Short Blade requested of the new members of his crew, taking in that most of them were tall and included female warriors, a new concept to him. Ten feet into the corridor he stopped and pointed to a hatchway on each side, next to it was a ladder to another hatchway above. It continued that way for forty feet with the hatchways every five feet. "You may all choose your own cabin, except for Lt. Andrews who will have the cabin closest to the hangar since he must be more easily accessible. You will all need to be by your Darts in 45 minutes. Captain McGuire will lead the sortie in his shuttle as you follow him through basic maneuvers.” Bowing at the waist Short Blade stepped backwards one step then did an about face and was gone.

Looking at the rest of the flight Matt smiled and said, “We now have forty two minutes. We will all meet here and go over our gear then when we get to our Darts we will help each other strap in until the last person, and then I will ask Capt McGuire to assist me if needed. Enjoy your free time.” Opening the hatchway Matt took in the cabin. The room was ten foot deep and four foot wide including a built-in shelf on one side that went the entire length of the cabin and two lockers with a desk on the opposite side. The room was so narrow he realized he would not even need a chair to use the desk. The ceiling was barely more than six feet high.

Everything in the room was gray except for the rolled mattress and bedding at the foot of the shelf. Matt just dropped his bag and went through his gear making sure it looked OK, then looked at his wrist computer to see he still had more than thirty minutes. Unrolling the mattress was a chore. Every time he flattened the bedding to put on a sheet it rolled up while he tried to put the sheets on it. Finally, he flipped it upside down in disgust and laid on top of it.

Nerves starting to get to him at the thought that he would soon be flying his dart. The excitement and anticipation took a back seat to doubt and second-guessing everything that had brought him to this point in time. A knock at the hatchway startled him as he opened the hatch only to find everyone else looking through their own hatchways to small bags. Picking up his bag, he found a copy of the Dash 1 manual for the Dart and an assortment of manuals on the Dart, a small data cube was on the bottom of the bag. Holding the cube next to his wrist computer, the computer declared the cube safe and asked if he wanted to copy the contents to the computer. Answering yes, it took almost a minute to download.
Damn that took a long time
, he thought to himself. “Computer lists for me everything that was just downloaded.”

“Files include interactive pre-flight checklist, interactive emergency checklist…”

“Computer halt, so basically I have an interactive Dart Dash 1?”

“That is correct. There are no other files other than those related to the Dart Dash 1.”

Matt pressed the comm button behind his ear, “Flight, this is Matt. Be sure to install the data cube to your computers, it's an interactive dash 1 for the Dart. Be sure to relax; we still have fifteen15 minutes.” Sitting back down on the mattress, Matt immediately jumped up reaching for the handle to the hatchway. He looked both ways and started on his way to find the head as the urge to piss only seemed to compound itself with each step. Reaching an intersection, he saw Mary walking towards him.

“Go twenty feet, turn right go ten feet and you can see almost everyone else, good luck!” Mary laughed as she continued on to her cabin.

Matt picked up speed and turned the corner to see five of his flight standing in the passageway. A small panic started to grip Matt as he raised his wrist to his mouth, “Computer, how many heads are on the Beater?”

“Information on the Beater has not yet been cleared for you until after assignment as part of the crew. You may request waiver based on need to know," the computer stated.

"Yes I have urgent need to know, where are the heads located on the Beater?” Matt asked anxiously

“Request for clearance is being processed. Please wait for authorization.”

Turning around Matt returned the way he came and headed for the bay figuring there had to be one near a work area. The bay was empty, even the chairs were gone. Walking along the bulkhead every hatchway was a disappointment. Turning once again he proceeded back to the head, but as he got to the cabin area everyone was already formed up waiting to go to the Darts. Resigned to his fate, Matt reached into his cabin and grabbed his flight gear. “Let’s go fly!” he said cheerily as he took one last look at the door to the head hoping he could connect to his hose in his Dart in time to avoid an accident.

The flight started towards the bay when Scott said, “Matt can I have a minute? This is important.” Matt waved the others on and asked, “What’s the problem Scotty?”