Star Runners: Mission Wraith (#3) (35 page)

The hangar doors suddenly opened. Red and yellow lights flashed throughout the room. The remaining gas and smoke shot up through the crack as the doors parted. He saw the bright blue Claria sky and the mass of the orbiting spaceport beyond.
 

The guards screamed, turning to face a control board on the far side of the room. Austin followed their gaze. He saw Val crouching behind the control board, a small pistol in her hand. She gave Austin a thumbs up, pointing toward the hangar doors. Austin looked at her and smiled.
 

She nodded, standing up over the control board and firing wildly at the guards. A blue surge of electricity sizzled through the room, catching all of the computers on fire. The raging fires spread, igniting the facility and transforming the hangar into an inferno. In another minute, the complex would be nothing but a smoldering pile of rubble, erasing the
Wraith
project on Claria from existence.
 

Austin tilted the fighter back, bringing the nose to face the hangar doors. He looked to the left, saw a crumpled body near the burning control boards.
 

Val
.
 

His gaze fixated on her body riddled with laser burns. The flames spread, catching hold of her lab coat as everything in the room caught fire.

Thank you, Val.
 

He focused forward, saw the doors had opened far enough for the fighter to squeeze through. He buried the throttle, the thrust slamming him back into his seat. The cockpit rattled loudly, so much he thought something was wrong, but then realized the
Wraith
was simply that powerful. The building passed by him swiftly. The fighter exited the structure, screaming hard for altitude.

Austin shot a glance to the right, saw the tall buildings of Zone Ninety fading away. The HUD burned red, signifying two inbound surface-to-air missiles. Out of reflex, he started to activate two countermeasures.
 

Wait a minute.

He stared down at a black lever on his left, opposite the throttle. This had to be the shroud. It wasn’t in the Interceptor cockpit he had trained on in the simulators. Ignoring the fact he might be making a terrible mistake, he pulled back on the lever.
 

The canopy shimmered, similar to how it did when he activated the shroud on his Trident. The HUD transitioned to green. Another emerald border surrounded the HUD, apparently signifying the shroud was active. A timer ticked down from forty in the lower right corner of the square. It seemed to tick down once every couple seconds.

Good enough, he thought. That’ll give me enough time to get out of here.
 

He rolled the fighter through the upper atmosphere, amazed at the climbing ability.
 

Above him, the spaceport launched an entire wing of Interceptors. He veered away from the Interceptors, skipping across the atmosphere. Punching in his numerical coordinates, he allowed the navigation computer to calculate the best course.
 

“Unidentified pilot in stolen Zahlian equipment, please respond,” a voice came through on his gamma wave.

Austin snorted. Right, he thought, and give you a signal to track? Forget it.

He checked his fuel and frowned. Not much, but enough to get him to his refueling waypoint.
 

The
Wraith
dashed for deep space, the Interceptors behind him underestimating the speed of the fighter and setting up a blockade of the planet. A larger vessel, what Austin believed to be the ARC Major Braddock had mentioned as being a new capital ship of the Zahlian Empire, broke off from the spaceport and settled into high orbit. A massive cannon protruded from the bow of the black ship. Like the
Wraith
, the ARC had an organic look to the design. A smooth hull design led aft to the engines, the hull coming to a point at the stern. A wide viewport stretched atop the engines in what Austin assumed was the bridge.
 

“Unidentified pilot,” the voice crackled into his ear piece. “This is the Zahlian ARC
Dauntless
, flagship of Sector Regent Tulin. You are at this moment bound by law and ordered to return the stolen spacecraft to Claria. Do so now, and your life will be spared.”
 

Austin smiled, pulling back on the throttle to conserve fuel. They tried a different tactic, he thought. Someone must have realized offering to kill him quickly was not the best incentive.
 

As the computer calculated, he allowed a moment of quiet satisfaction to wash over him. He thought of the number of people who struggled and died to make this happen. The mission had been a success.
 

He bolted toward deep space, leaning back into the cockpit as he stretched his legs. Nothing but the sound of the engines and the constant whine of the electronics.
 

The inside of the cockpit was flawless. No clumsy buttons or switches interrupted the smooth as glass dashboard. The control board shined like volcanic glass; all of the flight operations appeared on a digital screen similar to his flight tablet. Only the stick and the throttle was tangible.
 

He looked up, the stars welcoming him. He thought of Nubern and the initial recruitment meeting he had with the man, wondered if Nubern ever thought Austin would be here now in Zahlian territory on a mission so secret he had to “die” to go on it.

The computer pinged, finishing its calculations.
 

He had never traveled with a Lutimite Drive before, only knew they traveled at faster-than-light speeds and didn’t open a wormhole like the curvature drive.
 

Tightening his harness, he settled into the cockpit.
 

As he learned in simulation training, he killed the primary engines and deactivated the shroud. He knew he was now visible to the naked eye, but he was too far away for it to matter. He pressed the red glowing symbol on his navigation computer and three blue circles appeared on the HUD.
 

Then two.
 

Hang on, he thought, interlocking his hands over his lap.
 

Then one.
 

The stars themselves seem to rattle and vibrate. The ship grew quiet, then a light brighter and more intense than anything he had ever seen filled the canopy. A brief, violent force slapped him.
 

The stars zipped by his ship like fireflies. A rainbow of colors washed over him as the
Wraith
passed light speed. The intensity of the colorful collage left him entranced. He stared into the blur, the radiant glow enveloping the canopy. The beautiful sight left him in awe, the realization coming to him that he currently traveled faster than light.
 

He raised his visor and rubbed his eyes. He felt like he hadn’t slept in days.
 

His shoulder flashed with pain, the laser burn flaring. He winced, trying to push the pain out of his mind.

He exhaled, wondering if the refueling tug would be at this remote moon when he arrived.
 

*****

The same three blue symbols appeared on his HUD when he had nearly reached his position. The symbols disappeared one at a time, counting down until the Lutimite Drive would drop him back into standard space.
 

Two.
 

One.
 

The stars dropped back to normal, the deceleration moving his head forward slightly. He shook away the fatigue and surveyed his surroundings. Dead ahead, a small blue moon orbited an orange fireball of a planet. He checked his navigation computer and saw he was right on top of his destination. The
Wraith
had done its job well.
 

But the scope was empty, devoid of any other ships in the entire star system. He ran a sweep again. Seeing nothing, he initiated a diagnostic of the entire spacecraft.
 

The Legion tug was supposed to meet him here and refuel him for the rest of his journey to rendezvous at his final waypoint on the Legion-Zahl border. He exhaled, the feeling of isolation falling over him.
 

Perhaps he was early? Or what if the tug had been delayed for some reason?

The diagnostic completed its work, showing the
Wraith
operated normally. So far, Austin couldn’t help but be impressed with the spacecraft that had allowed him to slip through a Zahlian blockade. He glanced at his fuel.
 

Almost empty.

Unfortunately, the
Wraith
did need fuel to operate the Lutimite Drive. Without it, he would be unable to use the shroud or fly faster-than-light. He would be like any other fighter, and would be unable to defend himself. In nine hours and twenty-eight minutes, the Lutimite Drive would be depleted, and he would be dead in the water—and that was if he only operated under minimum power.

Come on. Where are you?

His shoulder burned from the laser wound received before he boarded the
Wraith
. He reached under the seat and found a maroon steel box. He opened the box, saw a syringe, two small bottles, and a black cylinder like a spray paint can. It must be a first aid kit. At least, he hoped it was. He had seen nurses on board the
Formidable
use a similar cylinder to spray on wounds to aid the healing process.
 

He took a deep breath.
Here goes
.
 

Holding his breath, he braced for the inevitable sting. He pressed the top of the can. A white haze shot onto his wound. The smell of alcohol filled the cockpit. The liquid sizzled on his wound, the pain shooting through his body for an instant. The soreness faded into a mild discomfort. After another moment, he slid his fingertips across the wound and felt the tender skin.
 

He sighed. Now that he addressed the wound, he checked his sensors again and saw he was still alone. He leaned back in the seat and took a deep breath.
   

Twenty minutes passed like twenty days, each second dragging by as he repeatedly checked the sensors. He brought the
Wraith
into the orbit of the remote moon, deactivating all nonessential systems including the shroud. Resting his head against the canopy, he banked the fighter and gazed down at the planet. The blues and greens swirled together under a collage of a forming dark storm. His eyelids grew heavy as he waited, his mind drifting to another place and another time.
 

He gazed into the clouds below, his eyes closing to slits.
 

The sensors pinged, ripping him from the near sleep state. He jolted forward, tension filling his body.
 

A ship had curved into the area, popping up on his scope between the gas giant and the moon. The fact it curved into the area brought him a brief sense of relief. Only Legion vessels used the curvature drive, the Zahlian forces preferring the Lutimite Drive. He checked for a transponder but found the incoming vessel was silent.
 

His fingers flew across the digital control board, and the
Wraith
came back to life, electronics humming, and the engines whining. Using his maneuvering thrusters, he brought the fighter around to face the incoming ship. The gamma wave hissed and popped.
 

“Lone Wolf, this is Chow Hall. Please respond.”

Austin exhaled. “Chow Hall, this is Lone Wolf. Nice of you to show up.”

The pilot paused. “There was a delay back home, but all is well. Are you ready for refuel?”

Austin looked at his digital gauges. “You have no idea.”

“All right, stay where you are in high orbit. We’re coming to you. Refueling should take a few minutes.”

“Copy,” he said. “I’ll await your instructions.”

“Copy. We are inbound.”

The tug was about the size of four Tridents. Blocks composed the hull. Two twin turrets sat atop the vessel, pointing in opposite directions as a silent sentry of the depths of space. A sole tube stretched out from the front of the vessel, like a lonely tentacle reaching out for him.
 

Austin glanced at his power levels. Even with the systems turned down, the energy was still draining from the spacecraft. Guess the
Wraith
wasn’t built for economy, he thought, but it was a prototype. He knew the engineers were in the process of improving the fighter when Val destroyed the complex. Or he hoped she had been successful.

If the Zahl Empire could mass produce fighters like this, the Tridents wouldn’t be able to compete. The only defense the
Formidable
had been able to raise was firing a disruptor to scramble all the sensors within the system. Disruptors could be focused on something the size of a planet, like the Legion had done to protect Earth during the Battle of Atlantis. Larger disruptors affecting an entire star system took up a great deal of power, rendering the carrier nearly useless until the power levels recharged.
 

Firing the disruptors changed everything about an engagement, making dogfights much more like what Austin had read of World War Two back on Earth and the epic battles in the Pacific when carrier task forces launched scout planes and relied on the eyes of their pilots rather than satellite technology. If the Legion engineers were able to reverse-engineer the
Wraith
, space warfare would forever be changed. It would no longer be solely about who had the better technology. It would be about the talent and fighting spirit of men and women on both sides.