Surf

Bari, she told herself. No matter how big they are, they aren't going to make any sound when they move. Pay more attention.

The passage of the creature had left a small gap, and she could just see the edges of the third ship behind them. She got the cannon up, took the shot, and missed. Swearing, she checked the heat load again?a little over forty percent now, starting to get warm. The ship banked, disappeared behind a cluster of Rooan, and briefly reappeared farther up than she had expected. Ship's moving in an evasive pattern. “Can you see him?” she asked.

[No… yes. He's banked low again, circling around.]

“Thanks,” Bari said. She lined up the sights on a gap ahead, and smiled when the ship appeared. Another flash, and then there was just one.

Don't run home yet, she thought at it, I need you.

She ejected the power cartridge from the cannon and let go of both pieces, where they drifted along with the herd. The cartridge would cool off quickly in open space. Unencumbered, she looked around the herd to get a sense of their positions, stood up straight, and launched herself up and forward toward the bright yellow?orange underside of the ancient Rooan who had nearly knocked her down moments ago. A quick squeeze of one hand sent enough thrust from her pack to carry her forward, and she reached the big creature and got a grip on its craggy, pitted underside, oscillating from yellow to orange and back again under her gloves. Two more jumps brought her forward.

“Where's my last fighter, Omi?”

[I still can't see it. Turquoise?]

<It's directly ahead. The herd is moving around it. You've almost caught up to him.>

If only Cardin knew how thoroughly his Rooan?camouflage would be tested, she thought. The problem was, Cardin had only designed it to stand up to the scrutiny of dumb animals; as aggressive as Aurora's fighters were, “dumb” they were not.

She moved hand over hand along the side of her Rooan until she was up near the pointed front, then flipped her faceshield to infrared. Even then the enemy fighter wasn't immediately obvious. It was only as one of the Rooan directly ahead of her swung slightly out of line to avoid something that she spotted it. He's playing the same trick I am, shedding his heat load to avoid detection while looking for his enemy. If she wasn't wearing her Dzenni suit, she was sure she'd be lit up like a nova on his screens.

She had maybe a minute before he was close enough to the Turd to spot it for the fake it was. She smiled and reached into her pack. Not a problem.

As her Rooan ride neared the ship, she kicked off and tumbled, silently, across the intervening space as the Auroran unwittingly headed toward a rendezvous. Her timing was perfect; she reached out one hand and touched the side of the ship just aft of the pilot's view, a silhouette in faint light just visible inside. With her other hand she slapped an EMP mine onto the hull. Then she pushed off again, breaking physical contact with the fighter as the mine flashed once, twice, and the ship went truly dead.

The herd continued to move around her, the Turd slipping silently past along with them. She squeezed her fist and moved forward to where she could grab onto the dead fighter again. Taking the second mine out of her pack, she placed it next to the first. This one she didn't back away from, and she could feel the thrum even through the multilayered hull as the pressure?wave grenade activated.

The airlock had to be operated manually, of course.

The pilot was floating unconscious near the inside door, an energy pistol dangling from one hand. He'd known someone was coming for him the moment the EMP mine went off. Her mag boots kept her upright as she cycled the lock closed behind her and took his gun. Slipping off his helmet — damn, he's young — she peeled back the collar of his uniform with its own, less intricate starburst embroidery and slapped a sleep patch on him as well. Then she dragged him to the back, found the single- occupant escape pod, stuffed him in, and melted the lock.

Climbing into the pilot's seat, she buckled herself down and rebooted the systems. As the helm tried to bring itself back to life, she tapped her suit mic. “I'm in,” she said. “How far behind am I?”

[You've almost dropped out behind the herd,] Omi replied. [I see three more ships on intercept from the outpost on max burn, about six minutes out.]

The helm was flashing a long, thin red line. Bari slipped on the pilot's helmet, then carefully ran her left forearm over the bar. For a long second she was afraid it wouldn't work, that the chip under her skin was too old or obsolete, but the bar flashed green at last even as the rest of the console came back online.

“The ship's mine. Light up the decoy can,” she said.

[Done,] he replied, just as a faint flare appeared on the screen of her own console, on the far side of the herd. From a distance, it would not be distinguishable from an imperfectly?dampened engine signature. Close up, it wouldn't matter.

Four ships down, counting this one, she thought, and three more on the way. Outpost One had, by her best estimates, twenty?six combat ships at the moment?a recent border skirmish with Glaszerstrom had cost them three others. The remaining pilots would be off?shift, but were probably now being roused and told to stand by. And at least half of those would be too drunk to fly. Or so she hoped. It was the largest of Aurora's outposts, a cornerstone of its defense.

She plugged a line from her headset directly into the ship's comm net. “Can you pick up traffic?”

[The signal is weak from here and it's heavily encrypted.]

“So that's a 'no'?”

[No, that's a “give me a minute or two.”]

<The herd is nervous,>Turquoise added.

“As long as they don't scatter, we're okay.” Bari had engaged the craft's engines on minimum thrust and moved further into the herd, the ever- shifting rainbow of a Rooan's belly above her like the landing lights of an insane, upside?down, psychedelic runway. Cardin's translating machine would have choked on this much incoming data. She was surprised to realize she felt a tiny pang of guilt for having so thoroughly derailed his project. If the man hadn't been such a puckered?up old assvalve, she might have considered leaving a few of his data?collectors on.

[Got it. You want a live feed?]

“Absolutely.”

…an ambush? See it now, on the far side of the stupid squids… Can't believe anyone got the drop on Mejef and Beck. Kirbenz, though… Is that Tonker, hiding in the middle? Tonker, is that you?

“Modulate my voice to middle?young adult human male, Auroran accent, add ten percent static when you encrypt,” she said.

[Ready.]

“Shut up, you idiots! Maintain silence,” she said, and heard it go over the comm network after a moment's delay passing through Omi. It didn't sound like her at all. Good.

The three incoming ships fell silent, and pulled more tightly together as they came in. They're going for point?to?point, she realized. Direct light?based comms wouldn't be able to be intercepted by any normal tech. It also meant they wouldn't bother to encrypt it.

Luckily for me, I have some abnormal tech indeed, she thought.

<They are discussing the best approach, through or around the herd, and whether to stay in formation or come from multiple directions,>Turquoise provided.

That meant they most likely believed her to be Tonker, among other things. “I'm going to need an exit.”

[Passing it on.]

cThey've split their approach,>Turquoise said.<I'm working on nudging the herd a little so you can come out behind one and above a second. The third will pass in front of the herd, so you will have to find your own strategy for that one.>

“Got it. Thanks,” Bari said. She watched as the Auroran fighters split just as predicted, and moments later saw a small shift in the herd nearby: Turquoise's handiwork. “I'm glad I brought you along.”

[He's laughing,] Omi said.

She edged her stolen craft toward the growing gap, and emerged just after one of the three Aurorans