Chapter 31
The next day was a worrisome one. A rested but obviously still-angry Diana had departed, shooting out of the hangar like one of those sparrows darting to another branch. That had been hours ago though, with no word. Tycho couldn't check up on any of them, either, since he was supposed to be out there with them right now.
At least Noah was able to keep him updated. According to the AI, the squadron, or all three of them actually, was skimming the edge of Cain's airspace now. Diana was in charge of only one for now. Adam was coordinating from the ground, as his own scores weren't good enough to merit a seat in one of the planes yet. Neither were Argent's, apparently.
She'd railed about that a few days back. "I saw him in that dogfight yesterday," she'd said angrily. "He knows what he's doing—they both do! They just scored badly, on purpose I guess, so that they can stay out of danger."
"Well, they are the President and Senator," Tycho had reminded her patiently. "They're pretty important to New Eden. They probably felt that it was better for them to stay on the ground, out of the fighting."
"We need every pilot we can get! They're just afraid of fighting."
He knew how they felt. Back when Noah had been offline, he'd been afraid that a bunch of kids—maybe even he—would die because of it. He wouldn't admit it to her, but he felt that same fear when he thought about Cain. One advantage of giving up his identity for her to use, was that he wasn't taking any risks. Other than her maybe throwing a wrench at him from time to time. "Can you blame them?"
She'd shaken her head at that. "No, I can't. But still, isn't a President supposed to lead by example? Or a Chief Justice for that matter? By staying behind, they're saying that they're less expendable than we are. More important than we are. And by letting them, we're saying we're ok with that!"
She wasn't wrong, he'd had to admit, now that he'd had some time to think about it. Still, her opinions had gone unvoiced to the others as far as he knew. There was no way to prove that Adam and John had scored low on purpose, either. Adam had been very popular in pilot training, as the President who fought alongside his people. Tycho had heard some of the conversations with his own headset, so he could whisper advice to Diana when she needed it to impersonate him. By staying behind now, Adam was proving his desire to fight had been a lie.
Come to think of it, how many American presidents back on Earth had risked anything more than their reputations? Even when Nixon had gone to China, there had been little chance of an armed conflict. Both sides had the ability to utterly bombard the other into oblivion, so Mao Zedong had no real incentive to harm him.
Even a murderer and adulterer like King David had had to actually fight to gain and maintain his kingdom. Shouldn't New Eden's President be held to at least that standard?
It was one of those political and philosophical questions that Bez, Argent and Simon had used to toss around to each other in late nights at Harmony. Now, Tycho was wishing he'd paid more attention to them at the time. Back then, he'd just wished they'd go to sleep and let him use his telescope in peace.
The afternoon crawled on infinitesimally slowly, and then an indicator started beeping in the simulator. The proximity alarm! He ran over to it and pulled up the visual feed. Then he smiled.
The Havoc was descending even now, through the opening pad door. To save power, the lift wasn't extended up to the surface. Tycho was glad he wasn't actually out there in the tunnel right now. Not just because he wouldn't be able to breathe, but because of all the dirt and grit the Havoc's VTOL engines were kicking up.
Diana had picked the name within minutes of seeing it, and Tycho had reluctantly agreed. It wasn't totally out of character for him, so the other pilots would probably believe he'd come up with it himself. He suspected that Diana had worked with Noah on the design of the plane itself at some point. She'd had a lot of private conversations with him just after they'd been brought here. Besides, there was something about the sleek, angular design of it that spoke to her input.
The light next to the reinforced door turned green, indicating that the air on the other side had been replaced, and Tycho heaved against it to push it open. By the time he was done, she was already unstrapped and jumping down the side of the plane. Astoundingly, the first thing she did was run over to him and wrap him up in a big hug, laughing as she did so.
She let go after just a second. "That was so badass! Being up there, feeling the controls. She handles beautifully—so much better than anything in the simulator!"
"I'm... glad," he said after getting over his surprise. "How did things go?"
"I tell you Tycho, it was like I was actually outside the plane! Flying the Havoc... it's like I took the power from the old shuttle, and the maneuverability from the Wren, jammed them together and then turned them both up to an 11! God, I am so pumped right now! You were right to make me sleep. If I hadn't, I might have had a heart attack up there or something!"
"I'm still glad. How did things go, though? With the mission itself I mean."
That got her attention. "Oh, that. Yeah, it was rough. Cain's drones are no joke. They're fast and tough, and all over the place. Still, we got in and out of his territory, shooting the whole way, and we didn't lose anyone. Most of us took damage, though; even me. Poor girl," she patted the edge of the Havoc, her eyes tracing the bullet holes on this side of the plane. "Noah said he's got maintenance drones on the way here now. He should be able to patch her up in a day or so. Then we go right back out."
"Any injuries? To you, or any of the others?"
Diana shook her head. "I'm fine. I think Bez hit his head when he did a tight turn—he wasn't very clear-sounding when we were flying back. Noah said he's got Hippo on the way to check him out."
He gestured to the apartment, and she gave a quick summary as they closed the inner door again. Apparently they'd been outnumbered at least six to one, but each of Cain's drones had been much less powerful than the NE-1s they were facing. New Eden One, the model had been designated unofficially. Tycho had heard rumors that Noah was building a more heavily armored fighter-bomber NE-2 model, which could handle armored ground positions. Planes like the Havoc were strictly meant for intercepting other fast flyers.
Tycho had already made dinner, but he heated it up for them, as Diana continued her long-winded extolling of the plane and the mission. It made the meal a slower one, but he noted with appreciation that she was extolling the virtues of her fellow pilots as well. Apparently Torin was proving to be almost as good as her, and had been voted into the position of squad leader as well. He'd shot down more than anyone in his group, second only to 'Tycho himself', as Diana reported cynically. Clearly, having to hide her identity was starting to grate on her, now that she had a taste of celebrity to go with her skills.
-.-
The next few weeks shaped up about as expected, as far as Diana was concerned. She led a dozen more missions, sometimes with the whole wing of NE-1s, and sometimes with just her group of eighteen. They were all getting much more comfortable behind the stick, even to the point of competing with each other for drone kills during the last two missions.
Their sorties hadn't been without cost, though. Cain had immediately realized his drones were inferior, despite their mass numbers, and had altered their construction slightly. The newer models had explosives mounted into their frames, turning them into not just search-and-destroy machines, but also flying bombs. Two pilots had been killed in the first encounter with them, as drones collided with their jets and detonated. They were Alan, one of the owners of Argent's old greenhouse, and an aspiring philosopher trainee who went by the name Aris.
Then Cain had set up an ambush, on the route that some of the pilots took on the way from their hidden habitats. How he had known they would be there, with their jamming technology, was still a mystery. Only one pilot, a youth called Isaac, had been killed in that hit, though two others had been injured.
Noah's long-range scouts had reported that Cain was expanding his mining operations, too. For every one of Cain's drones that Diana and her people shot down, he was building three more. He couldn't beat them head-to-head, but he could swarm them, given enough time and resources. On the President's orders, Diana was being sent out on material raids now. Her most common objective in recent days was to locate Cain's mining operations and destroy them wherever they were. To that end, Noah had just completed the first NE-2. It was much larger than the Havoc, and had a crew of four: a pilot, a navigator, and two gunners. It was also equipped with long-range missiles. According to Noah, once they found wherever Cain had hidden his core drives, it would be an NE-2 that would put him down. Smaller fighters just didn't have the firepower to get through his armor.
Every night before going to sleep, or day, depending on when they were called out, Diana recited a list to herself. A list of names, of people killed by Cain.
Fifty-five people, most of them children, had died when Harmony's dome had been breached. It was sixty now, with the three dead pilots, and Simon and Steve added to the mix. Diana couldn't actually hate Cain for killing them—he wasn't a real person after all—but she couldn't forget them, either. She couldn't let herself forget them.
She wasn't the only one who participated in this grim recitation ritual, either. Rumor had it most of the pilots did the same, and that Adam had arranged the construction of a memorial stone in some undisclosed location. Like in Arlington back on Earth, and countless other American war memorials, the names of the fallen would be carved into them. Strangely, Diana had heard that names of the victims from Harmony would be on it, as well as Simon and Steve. It made sense that they should be honored, but they hadn't been soldiers. Maybe the 'President' thought that sixty names made for a better memorial than just three, she'd considered angrily.
It had been two days now since she'd been called on to fly out again. That was longer than usual, and Diana was getting worried. When the call came that morning, it came in a surprising way.
For one thing, it was a video call. She and Tycho shared a concerned look, but she nodded at him and stepped to the side. Noah's technology might be able to fake a voice, but faking a face was a lot harder. He could do it with enough time, or in a recording, but for a live conference like this, they'd need Tycho's help. She'd even had to wear extensive headgear in the cockpit, so no one would notice her features if they got too close. Tycho waited until she was out of the camera's view, and then accepted the call. He immediately stiffened. "Mr. President. This is a surprise."
"I'm sure it is," Adam said quickly, "but we don't have time for anything formal here. It looks like Cain's finally slipped up. We might have a way of tracking him. Not his core drives, unfortunately, but Noah thinks he's located Cain's primary drone construction bay."
Tycho let out a low whistle, and Diana knew how he felt. Cain was essentially a swarm of locusts: eating voraciously and growing in numbers as a result. They'd only been able to locate his food sources and destroy them, proverbially speaking, so far. If Noah really had found his manufacturing location, they might be able to hit Cain right in the gut for a change. She carefully moved around the camera's angle of sight, and positioned herself behind it. From there, she could give Tycho visual cues if he needed them.
"How do we know this isn't another ambush?" Tycho asked, smartly. She'd told him about the pilot killed in the surprise attack, and he'd asked the same question she would have.
"Noah did some calculations. He's ninety-eight point something percent certain that it's not," Adam assured him. "Basically, a batch of Cain's new drones are emitting radioactive particles for some reason. Noah thinks it has to do with some substance that was accidentally dug up along with the metals he uses to make them. It was refined into the frame of the drones, and as a result more than fifty of them are all emitting low levels of this exotic radiation. We should be able to use a modified Geiger counter to narrow down where they came from, and that includes where they were built. The half-life is pretty short, though. In two days, the trail will be too faint to follow."
That seemed valid, on its face, but Diana wasn't sure. An AI as advanced as Cain should be able to detect radiation sources; he even used some radioactive material in his power generators. Still, he wasn't as advanced as Noah. It was possible he'd missed this, or that the radiation was a type he couldn't detect.
Tycho seemed to be thinking on the same lines. "Given the importance of this intel, will the whole wing be sent in?"
Adam shook his head. "It's bound to be heavily defended. I'm authorizing a diversionary attack, by Torin and his squad, about fifteen minutes before you get to the manufacturing facility. God willing, he'll draw most of the drones away from the place, so you can go in with the Archangel and pulverize it."
Diana grimaced. The Archangel was the name Adam had given to the NE-2, but she hadn't told Tycho that. He adapted quickly, and nodded. "Understood, sir. When should we head out, and where should we rendezvous before heading in?"
"I'm transmitting the details of the mission to you now. Brief your pilots on what to expect, but keep in mind, we don't know that much about what goes on behind enemy lines. Cain might have surprises set up anywhere on the way, or at the facility itself. I'll be relying on your instincts to deal with whatever he has planned."
"You can count on me, sir," Tycho said fervently, and Diana felt her lip twist. He was putting on a good show, to be sure.
She couldn't see Adam's face, but he'd probably put on that politician's smile he'd started to use so often. "I know I can, Tycho. Godspeed." The video call cut off.
Tycho took a deep breath and stood up a little shakily. "Not my best work, I'll admit. Still, I don't think he has any suspicions."
"He's too busy writing his victory speech," Diana said bitterly. "I heard the tone in his voice. If Noah's right about that radiation trail, and we are able to blow up the drone manufacturing place, there's nothing stopping Cain from just building another. It would be an important victory, sure, but it won't end the war, not by a long shot."
Tycho let out a sigh. "You know, I never really let myself think of it as a war, until just now. We're fighting a machine, not some terrorist group or foreign power. But... it is a war, isn't it? Here we sit, strategizing and planning against an intelligent opponent who is doing the same against us. People have died; on a small scale, true, but big compared to our population. It's a shame, really. One of the whole reasons the Faith sent us out here in the first place, was to build a society that had no need for conflict or war."
"They never could have predicted this," Diana said grudgingly. As much as she disliked them for setting stupid, restrictive customs in place, they weren't at fault for Cain's actions. "They never would have programmed him to do something like this, so he must be malfunctioning. I almost wish he were human, so I could hate him. But this would be like hating Fangie for chewing on a shoe, wouldn't it?"
Her roommate gave a slow smile. "I wonder whatever happened to that dog. Did he die in Harmony when it was attacked?"
"No, last I heard he was being looked after at one of the evacuation sites. Probably one where kids were sent to."
"That's a relief. I always liked Fangie."
They sat down to dinner, looking over copies of the mission files together. Noah's scans had been thorough, and he claimed he would have the target location by tomorrow morning. Adam had seemed a little more cautious, but had outlined what they knew of the defenses in the general vicinity. She made some alterations to his plan, to account for her actual field experience. Tycho looked surprised when she did it, but he didn't object. "It's not the first time I've blurred the line a little on our exalted President's instructions," she said anyway. "He might be our Commander-in-Chief, but he's not an actual commander. I am. Hell, you're closer to being one than he is. No offense."
He looked slightly hurt. "A little taken, but you're probably right. He's not the one out there risking life and limb to protect humanity. In that way, we're no different. I'm not helping, either."
Diana grabbed his wrist. "Hey. You are helping in your own way. You've made a big sacrifice for the cause, even though no one will ever know. Not everyone is meant to be a fighter, but as long as we're all accepted and treated equally, that doesn't matter. You're just as valuable to the cause as I am."
At that, Tycho's face contorted. "We both know that's not true." He stood abruptly, pushing his chair away. "I'm... going upstairs to get some air. I'll be back in a bit."
As he retreated towards the airlock/ladder tube, Diana cursed herself under her breath. She'd meant what she'd said, but she could have put it in a better way. Somewhere along the way, she'd started to take his silent assistance for granted. She'd forgotten how much this must be paining him, pretending to be someone he wasn't. He might be a humble person, but it wasn't like he didn't have an ego at all!
Shaking her head, she tried to focus on the mission. Maybe if they were successful tomorrow, she could get out of Tycho's hair. Maybe that might repair their relationship eventually. And maybe Noah could clone a few unicorns for them to ride while they were at it.
-.-
The next morning it was as if her words had never been spoken. They got up as usual, ate breakfast and then parted ways as she took off. Trying not to think about her mistake was pointless, as the only other thing she could focus on was this highly dangerous mission. Still, she flipped between them like some kind of glutton for punishment, on her way out to the engagement zone.
She met up with another wing and a half—over fifty pilots all told, flying in slow formation over one of the fields to the southwest. Torin and his group weren't there of course; they had their own mission on the other side of Cain's airspace. She ran through the checklist quickly, asking various leads to report in on the status of the planes in their individual groups. There was some damage across most of them, but one after another, the leads reported what Noah had told her on the way here: everyone was ready to go. Even Jimmy, piloting the bulkier NE-2 Archangel, was in position with his navigator and his gunners.
Collectively, the whole group turned as one and sped off into Cain's territory.
Torin should be starting his diversionary attack now, on a large mining operation about three hundred kilometers to the west. If Noah's calculations and Adam's instincts were right, Cain should be redirecting a large number of drones out there right now to deal with him. At their top speed, it would take maybe fifteen minutes before they realized their mistake and did a one-eighty.
The manufacturing facility was wedged into a narrow canyon between two mountains, and any of the mountains in this chain could be hiding Cain's core drives. He'd built his drone production there on purpose no doubt, to frustrate any attacking forces by making them come in through a bottleneck. Fortunately the NE-1s had ways around that problem. It was why she'd insisted on VTOL capabilities in the first place. Just as they reached the canyon, the formation split evenly down the middle. The starboard group funneled into the canyon behind her, while Bez led the rest up above. Their job would be to target any drones coming in from the east or west, and neutralize them before they could get into the canyon and stop the attack.
It was her job to clear the way over the facility in one pass, so Jimmy could show up behind them and turn this place into a fine powder.
A flashing indicator was her only warning, and it lasted barely a second. "Incoming!" She called out over the squad's channel, and did a tight maneuver, corkscrewing to port. Just as she did, she caught a glimpse of hidden panels in the canyon walls opening up, and drones pouring out of them.
She pulled herself out of the spin and tried to orient herself towards the flood of drones, opening up blindly with both guns and rockets. She was rewarded with four or five hits before the drones themselves split up, spreading out to make a less obvious target. "Looks like they didn't take the bait, people. We're still on though. Bez, get in here, now. We'll need the help."
Bez acknowledged, but he wasn't the only one on the airwaves. Diana couldn't hear the other words through the jamming, so she killed her forward momentum and spun in the air. Off in the distance, she could see more hidden panels opening, with more drones pouring out of them. These were much closer to the canyon's entrance... and they weren't flying towards her squadron. They were after the Archangel.
Diana did some quick calculations. The drones had caught them by surprise, but she'd expected to see a great many more of them. This wasn't an ambush, then. Just a clever hidden defense on Cain's part. They still had a chance of achieving their objective here.
The poor Archangel was already under siege, though. Jimmy was rotating it fast, trying to give his gunners as wide a field as possible, but his plane was just too slow to evade them all! Already, portions of the rear group were breaking off, going back to help them.
That was a waste of effort. The Archangel could take a lot more punishment than most people assumed. She opened her mouth to order them to stay on target, but something slammed into the Havoc from the starboard side, jerking her against the harness and forcing the breath out of her lungs. The field of view in front of her spun as the plane lost altitude. Another impact slammed into her from behind. It must have been drones detonating. This close in, Cain must have known that his drones didn't stand much chance, so he was suiciding them against his enemies. In the distance, at least two indicators of her fellow pilots winked out as their planes exploded.
After a few seconds, Diana was able to re-orient the Havoc. Fighting nausea at the sudden spin, she glanced at the diagnostic board. The damage was bad. Her primary drive was out, as were her rocket guidance systems. She still had guns though, so she opened up on the other approaching drones as they dove in.
Her plight had been noticed from above. Bez called out Tycho's name over the airwaves, and his elite four dove into the canyon after her. Behind him, Massimo organized strafing runs of the facility. They might not be able to do as much damage as the Archangel, but they could still cause some consternation.
Bez and the others formed a square around her, blanketing the area in protective fire. This close, the jamming had little to no effect on their comms. "You ok, Tycho?"
"Been better," she admitted grimly. "My main drive is out. Without it, I won't be able to go anywhere fast. I'm on VTOL only for now."
"Punch out," he advised. "I'll grab your ejector seat, and fly you out of here myself."
"Negative," she responded automatically. Not only would that reveal who she really was, it would be counterproductive. Swarms of drones were probably already on the way. Cain would have recalled them the moment he detected the squadron approaching. "Get out of here, all of you. I'll go ballistic at the facility, and then eject."
"I can't just leave you here!"
"You can, and you will," she insisted, trying to get even more sternness through the voice disguiser. "There's a chance I can get out of here on foot, and even if I can't, I've taught you all I know. It's your job to continue the fight, Bez. Now get out of here while you still can!"
Sure enough, the sensor board lit up with new signals. Hundreds of drones were approaching fast from the west. Bez hesitated just a few seconds longer, and then his elite four boosted as one, returning to the others. The whole squadron formed up as the drone reinforcements approached, and then sped southwards, escorting the Archangel out of the battle. With some relief, Diana noticed that the incoming drones weren't pursuing them. They poured into the canyon instead.
"Sorry, baby," she patted the ceiling of the Havoc, and goosed the directional thrusters.
They didn't respond. Diana tried several times with no success, and then grunted. So much for steering the Havoc right into the facility. There was only one thing to do, now. Bracing herself, Diana reached up and pulled the emergency shut-off lever.
Power through the Havoc died instantly, and she dropped like a rock. Fortunately the ejector seat was cushioned, and she didn't have far down to go. Still, the impact was tremendous, and Diana felt like her spine had been compacted by at least a few centimeters.
Groaning, Diana reached over and undid her harness. Drones flew by in large numbers, but hopefully they wouldn't notice her. There was a huge amount of wreckage in the canyon already, and without any active power signatures, hopefully they'd just think she was one of the casualties. Straining back, she opened up the emergency lever and pulled it. Hydraulics moved into position, operable without any power, and blew the front canopy open.
Diana held her breath long enough to reach into the field kit and retrieve a breather. After affixing it to her face, she looked around and tried to get her bearings.
She'd crashed less than a kilometer from the edge of the manufacturing facility. The drones were flying around it, scanning for any further intruders, but it didn't look like she and her team had done much damage. The Archangel hadn't even gotten off a shot at it!
Diana climbed out of the cockpit up onto the roof of the plane. Carefully, she pried open one of the panels and reached in to undo some of the wiring. If she did this wrong, it would light up her crash site like a Christmas tree, and she'd soon have a lot of company.
With another few minutes of constant strain, she was able to disconnect her precious cargo and stow it in her pack. Just in time, it seemed. The drones had apparently finished their initial survey of the facility, and were now spreading out to search the surrounding area.
She needed to find cover, and quickly. They'd see her for sure if she tried to sneak into the facility on foot, but maybe if she could climb to the top of the canyon, she might be able to do her job from up there. The nearest side was to the east. She only had two spare canisters for her breather, so just under three hours of oxygen. It would be tight, even if she wasn't seen and shot on the way up.
Two drones did a flyby of the Havoc, and Diana hid underneath it, barely daring to breathe. The moment they had passed, she jumped to her feet and sprinted towards the canyon wall. Hoping against hope that no drones could see her mad dash, she skidded to a stop next to a large boulder.
So it went for the next half hour or so. Between drone patrols, she moved quickly between areas of cover, making fairly good time towards the canyon's entrance. Climbing the sheer cliffs from the inside would be suicide; she doubted even an experienced and equipped rock-climber could do that. If she could reach the canyon wall, though, it would make getting out of it a lot easier and safer.
She noticed a cave entrance on the east edge of the canyon wall. It was too far away from the facility to be of easy use by the drones, and too close to the ground for their safety. However, there was a light inside it that was blinking in a regular pattern. A remote sensor, probably, left by Cain to watch for any infiltration on foot. It would be best to stay clear of it.
There was something strange about the pattern, though. Something familiar. Then she got it: an SOS!
Torn by indecision, she waited behind one of the larger boulders. Cain would be familiar with SOS signals, and he wouldn't hesitate to use them to lure his enemies into a trap. But then, she hadn't been the only pilot to crash in this canyon. They were supposed to be picked up by other pilots and flown out, but there hadn’t been much time to do that. If any of the others had survived and made it into the cave, they could be signaling her!
In the end it was a matter of practicality that made her choose. If Cain was going to lure people into a trap, it would be on a larger scale than just one pilot on foot. Especially since the air was unbreathable, and any ground forces would be at a severe disadvantage because of it.
Whoever was sending that signal was watching her, too. As she approached the light moved, wavering slightly and then turning off. Diana climbed the lip of the cave, grateful that it was so cold at this altitude, or she'd be sweating up a small river inside her helmet and breather.
The figure inside was definitely human, with a breather of his own, but he was not a pilot. He was wearing a scruffy black beard and ragged clothes, not a helmet or pilot's uniform. As he stepped into the light, Diana felt as if time had just frozen for her.
It was Simon!
