Beep... beep... beep...
Kenny looked all over the cockpit. It was some kind of warning indicator but all the instruments registered normal.
Beep... beep... beep...
Kenny opened his eyes and hit the off button on his alarm clock. He rolled over in his narrow bed and pulled a headphones off his head. Soft murmuring were still coming out of the tiny speakers.
"I hate sleep-learning," he muttered.
His quarters were more Utilitarian than Etheric. Bare walls, a basic desk with a chair and sturdy dresser made up his environment. Only the books suggested something beyond a normal military base: "Sailing the Etheric Ocean", "The White Ship", "Etheric Engines and their Maintenance" and "Celestial Navigation".
Although spartan in decor, the converted military base had decent plumbing. He showered and donned the bright orange flight suit. Someone said that the bright color was picked to warn people about a possible explosion hazard. His fellow Etherites would not deny it.
Debra waiting for him when he exited his room.
"Ann says she'll meet you at breakfast," she said, looking amused. "How's your shoulder?"
"Fine." He frowned and rubbed the sore spot. "I just wish someone had warned me about Joshua."
"The best way to learn about a Ragabash is to experience one," Debra laughed as they walked down the underground corridor. "Boy, you got lewd, screwed...
"...and tattooed, yes," Kenny remarked. "One more painful reminder of my duel. Any more Garou rituals you'd like to impose on me?"
"Oh Gaia, no. A successful vision quest was all that we really wanted. Josh giving you an Honoring of a Battle Wound!" She laughed again, "What a hoot! We don't give rituals to non-Garou."
"Now you tell me."
They found Ann in the mess, munching on a bagel and reviewing some notes.
He sat next to her with his toast and juice.
"Big day."
"Yes. Should be fun."
"You look a little tired."
"So do you."
"I hate sleep learning."
In the half dozen tables people tended to clustered by affiliation or by the work they did. Seven Glass Walker Garou took care of the weapons systems, and had added several unique items to the projects. Three Hollowers in brooding black read quietly while eating their eggs. They weren't _exactly quality control but they often found flaws everyone else missed. A stray Verbana sat with a Theurge with whom she shared medical duties. Two Virtual Adepts who were presently playing virtual chess kept the simulators in top shape. A single Celestial Chorister sat alone, going over reports. Somehow, that quiet man kept the whole enterprise on track.
And in the far corner two marooned Void Engineers looked nervously at their odd allies.
And were overwhelmed by seventeen Etherites.
Frank came down and sat down carrying a big stack of pancakes. "Morning everyone!" the Euthanatos announced cheerfully. "Everybody ready to rock-n-roll?"
"Missiles all ready?" Kenny looked at Frank and Debra.
They both nodded. Frank looked especially pleased. Euthanatos magic and Etherite technology had produced the DeathStrike missiles. Frank was eager to see them deployed.
"Good. One more stop after breakfast."
Breakfast completed, the two Etherites, the Garou, and the Death mage went down another hall into the medical center. Several regen tanks were ready; one was occupied. Through the glass a slender man floated in a light green solution.
Kenny switched on a speaker. "Morning, Frederick. How are you?"
Within the tank the man smiled. The speaker crackled as electrodes pasted on his head translated thought waves to speech. "Just swimmingly."
Kenny nodded. "Sorry you couldn't be up for this."
"Next week for sure."
"Any last bits of advice?" Kenny asked.
"Don't go looking for trouble."
"I don't plan to. I'll fill you in when I get back," Kenny promised.
"I'm going to hold you to that." Frederick moved in the tank. "Or I'm going to take these brand new legs of mine and kick your ass."
Kenny chuckled. "You'll have to catch me first."
The foursome left Medical and mounted the stairs up to the hanger. On the runway, a small flight crew was making last-minute adjustments to Kenny's jet.
He looked up at the craft. The A-10 'Warthog' wasn't a delicate, streamlined ship. With its big bubble cockpit in front, stubby wings in the middle and oversized engines in the rear, it didn't look a sleek modern jet. It looked even less so now that it was loaded with eight Luftgaia missiles and two DeathStrike missiles; it looked aerodynamically dirty and cumbersome.
And damned dangerous to anything that sat in its way. This warthog had impressive tusks.
Kenny snugged himself into the cockpit. The confusion of readouts, gauges and dials had been simplified to make it easier for the pilot. For test purposes the jet had been crammed with data collection devices, but for the pilot the plane had been stripped down to engines, wings, and guns.
He was nervous. He'd done hours of simulator training. He'd been in the trainer with Anne. He'd done several short jaunts into the Ether with the craft sans the armament. The time for baby steps was over. For the first time he was taking it up fully loaded and armed. If he crashed now the explosion was going to be impressive.
He put on his padded helmet and swung the attached microphone to his lips. "XE-3 to tower. Can you read me?"
"We read you XE-3," came the voice through his headphone. "Telemetry active. Ready when you are."
"Good. Staffleleader? Are your men ready?"
"Yes sir!" the main Luftgaia missile responded.
Kenny nodded in satisfaction. The Garou/Etheric missiles possessed enough intelligence to detect and seek out Wyrm creatures. Through some quirk in Glass Walker programming the self-guided missiles tended to speak in a clipped German accent. When Kenny asked about it the programmer made a cryptic remark about 'getting the spirit of the Get' into the missiles. Wisely, Kenny let the matter drop and got used to the accent.
Anne put the bubble helmet over him as he completed his flight check. Kenny insisted on the double helmet to go with the flexi-flight suit in case he had to eject beyond the atmosphere. She knocked on it and waved before she closed up the cockpit.
"XE-3 this is tower. Ground crews are clear. You're ready for flight."
"Thank you, tower. Engines on."
Behind him came the whine and roar as the twin engines came to life. He rolled smoothly down the runway, his palms sweaty as the airplane picked up speed. He nosed it up slightly and became airborne.
He was grinning from ear to ear. Leaving the ground always left him elated.
"Kenny, this is Anne," came from his headphones.
"My, aren't we informal now?" He banked the jet around.
"How's she feel?"
"A little sluggish. Those missiles are causing a bit of drag. But it's quite close to the simulator experience. Kudos to our VA's."
"Sir! I protest! We are designed to be aerodynamically sound..."
"Staffleleader, SHUT UP." Why did they have to make these damn missiles so talkative?
He took the jet through some basic maneuver as telemetry radioed back information to the base. "Okay Kenny," Anne said tensely, "Looking good. Time to do some real work."
"Preparing for Etheric insertion," Kenny said. He flipped some switches and the whole frame hummed. "On my mark. Three... two... one... Clear Ether!"
For a moment the horizon stretched and colors played before his eyes. He stiffened as the jolt from crossing the Gauntlet hit him. "Ouch."
Static hissed in his ear. "Tower, are you there?" he called out.
"Tower here," Anne's voice cut through the noise. "I heard that ouch. You okay?"
"Yeah. And I hate that breakup when I make the jump," he replied.
"Relax. You're online and lookin' fine. How's she handling?"
"Shall I do a few loops and find out?" he dryly quipped.
"Not fully loaded. Push her up to 350 and proceed to target area."
Kenny increased thrust and flew towards an old dump site located 100 km away. The money to clean it had dried up and there it sat, waiting for the political climate to change. In the meantime, Wyrm creatures of various sizes and strengths either congregated or were born there. The local Garou said that something very large had appeared recently. Within 15 minutes he was in sight of the place.
"Holy moly... Anne! Are you getting a visual from the nose camera?"
"We see it. We got you on closed circuit TV and half the base is watching. Slow and circle so we can get a look with the side cameras."
Dropping the speed of the A-10, he circled the turgid mass. Its skin shined a sickening green. It pulsed and rippled along the ground - an unholy maggot on unholy ground.
The plane shuddered. "Whoa! Tower, we got turbulence!"
"Sir! Sir! Sir! Enemy spotted! We must be released!"
"Cancel that - we have over-eager weapons. Request permission to fire."
"You're cleared to fire two... wait," There was buzz of voices just out of hearing range. "Better make that four missiles."
Kenny flipped a lever. "Missiles Five, Six, Seven and Eight prepare for action."
"Thank you, sir!" the missiles chorused.
"Let's see how smart you guys really are," he said as he continued to circle. "Three... two... one..."
"FOR GAIA!"
"Fire!"
The four missiles flew away with a whoosh. They quickly looped around and turned straight at the bulging Wyrm creature. The combination of Garou gifts and high explosives ripped the monstrosity apart.
"Tower to XE-3, telemetry looks good. Nice shooting. We got a celebration going here."
"Save some bubbly for me," Kenny said, relieved that the creature was gone.
"Will do, Kenny. Go to Phase Two."
"Roger that," Kenny grinned. With maximum thrust applied he pointed the nose skyward and ascended into the stratosphere. He kept an eye on the engine readings. They were starting to slow as the air thinned.
"Engaging Ramscoops."
At the press of a button the cowling from each engine extended out and opened like a flower. It gave him a few extra kilometers skyward before they began to sputter out again. He shut the gasoline off and let the turbines spin free for a moment.
"Switching to Etheric drive."
The plane jolted forward as the engines re-ignited. The burn took him to an altitude of 150 kilometers. Now the jet acted as a space craft. His control stick now controlled the airplane's rudder, elevator and ailerons and control jets too. He let the turbines spin free and maneuvered into orbit.
"Tower to XE-3. How's she doing?"
"Sweet." He looked at the Earth below him. "Wish you were here."
"Hope to be soon," Anne replied.
"We could modify the trainer," he suggested. "Or do you prefer something with a bench seat?"
"Are you propositioning me?" Anne quipped.
He reddened slightly. "Yeah, right. On an open channel."
"Well I know you wouldn't. But I might."
I'll bet you would, he thought.
"Let's go to Phase 3."
Hot damn. "Program loaded. Firing engines."
The engines came alive and the acceleration shoved him into his seat. "Ack. We got to work on the inertial dampers."
"Roger that. ETA lunar orbit, 15 minutes."
The ride to the moon was uneventful. He dialed up the frequency the Void Engineers gave him. "Darkside Base this is Experimental Ethership 3 please come in."
Silence.
He tried again without success.
Kenny sighed. "Tower, are those Void Engineers with you?"
"Hanging on our every word."
"Maybe we should have them talk... "
"EXPERIMENTAL ETHERSHIP 3 PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF."
Kenny hit the volume control. His ears hurt from the audio onslaught. "Another thing we have to work on," he muttered.
"Darkside Base this is Experimental Ethership 3. I'm Kenneth Davidson, Son of Ether. My base... "
"IS THAT KENNETH WITH TWO N'S?"
"That's correct, Darkside. Now, at my base..."
"IS THAT ETHERSHIP DULY LICENSED UNDER ETHERIC AEROSPACE ASSOCIATION RULES?"
"Ah, yes," Kenny said patiently. "It's licensed as per EAA rules under *experimental*. Now if I could..."
"I'LL NEED TO KNOW YOUR SHIP'S ETHERITE AEROSPACE ASSOCIATION REGISTRATION NUMBER."
"Fine. XE-3/A-10WH," Kenny replied. "Now, about..."
"ARE YOU DULY LICENSED TO FLY THAT ETHERSHIP?"
Kenny rolled his eyes. "I won't be *here* if I wasn't! May I talk..."
"I NEED YOUR LICENSE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER FOR PROPER IDENTIFICATION."
"I left it in my other pants." Kenny gritted his teeth. "Now may I PLEASE speak to a superior off..."
"I CANNOT AUTHORIZE FURTHER COMMUNICATION WITHOUT..."
The link went dead for a few moments. When it returned someone else was on the line.
"Sorry, Experimental Ethership 3," a voice crackled into Kenny's earpiece. "We got some damn rookie on the boards."
Kenny let out a sigh of relief. "I understand, Darkside. We found two of your people: Dan Areggo and Grant Russell."
"Are they okay? We lost contact with their vessel over a month ago. We assumed they were captured when it crashed."
"We found them before the Black Hats did," Kenny relayed. "I have a radio link, you want to talk to them?"
After a short discussion a pickup was arranged and Kenny started on his way back.
As he neared Earth orbit he got an idea.
"Tower, this is XE-3. Could you feed me the coordinates of that Etheric disturbance that Edmunds ran into? I'd like to do a fly-by."
"Good idea. It's not far off. Just be careful."
"Okay, I should be in position shortly." He applied a little thrust and came near to the area. "Nothing visual and the scope is clear."
Bip! Bip!
"Scratch that, scope has something at 2 o'clock..."
The craft shook.
"Sir! Sir!" the Luftgaia missiles shouted. "Enemy ahead!"
Kenny looked up. His eyes widened in terror.
"Bloody hell!"
He jammed the stick to the side and hit the engines. It was just a glance... but he knew he would have nightmares for weeks afterward.
"KENNY! Are you all right?"
"Something is in hot pursuit!" he shouted. He glanced at the scope and for once did not complain about the lack of rearview mirrors. "And it's ugly! And it's big!"
"Release the rest of your Garou missiles!"
"Don't need to tell me twice," Kenny said. "Staffleleader! Take your men into battle!"
"Thank you, sir! FOR GAIA!"
He released the four remaining Luftgaia missiles and watched them on the scope. They looped around and slammed into the abomination.
"Oh shit! It's still there!"
"Kenny, readings tells us that it's badly wounded. Turn the plane around and use the DeathStrike missiles."
"I can't turn around - it'll catch me!"
"Kenny," Anne said firmly. "You're in space. Use the computer if you have too."
He slapped the front of his helmet in lieu of his forehead. "Right. Closing up engines."
He flipped some switches and the cowling in front collapsed sealing the front of the engine while the rear of the engine was closed off by another set of shields.
Kenny programmed the computer and took a breath. "Just like in the simulator. It'll work just fine."
He hit the enter key and kept his eyes on the scope.
Maneuvering jets turned the jet around 180 degrees. The energy of his last burn kept him going forward but now the jet's nose was pointed right at the creature. He didn't look up to check his aim but trusted to the DeathStrike's guidance systems.
He released them. "Eat Euthanatos mojo," he muttered savagely.
The two missiles appeared as two tiny dots that hurtled towards the mass chasing him. He waited until the two tiny dots connected before activating the nose cannon and laser.
Light like a scythe came from the Warthog. "Die, you infernal monster!" Kenny screamed as he pumped a few hundred rounds from the 30mm cannon into it just for good measure.
"Ease up Kenny!" Anne's voice came to his ears. "Instruments shows it's dissipating. And you're getting low on energy. Come on home."
He raised a hand and wished he could wipe the sweat from his brow. "Home. Yeah. Good idea."
After flipping the plane around again, he opened up the engine ports. "Velocity match check okay," he announced. "Firing retro-rockets."
"Velocity match looks good, XE-3," Anne replied. "Re-entry looks good. You're in the pipe. Five by five."
The jet started to glow. "I'm picking up a little ionization."
"Got it. Let it glide until she cools off."
He turned to gently spiral in. At 5,000 meters he restarted the engines. They roared back to life giving him more control.
"Clear Ether!"
Another jolt brought him back to Prime.
The celebration was revving up as he landed.
"Shower first, then party," Kenny said as he avoided the jubilant ground crew. Only when he was in the shower did he let go a spasm of terror.
There was a bang on the door. "Kenny? Kenny!" Anne called out.
"I s-said I w-wanted a s-shower!" he stammered as he shouted.
He soaped up and stuck his face in the hot water. After a few minutes he calmed down and stepped out of the shower.
"You should lock your doors," Anne said dryly as she threw a towel at him.
"Can't a man have some privacy?"
"I'll be in the other room," Anne called as she left the bathroom.
Along with the towel, she left him a dry pair of pants. A few moments later he stepped out, rubbing his hair dry.
"Okay, what the fuck was that thing up there?" he asked.
"The data suggests a twisted hole in the Ether. It was like a trap door spider. Interesting thing. It was in a geosynchronous orbit above a Pentex complex," Anne said.
She offered him a mug. "Brought coffee while you're in the shower."
He took the heavy ceramic mug and drank. No styrofoam cups were allowed while the Garou were around.
"The detectors aren't up to snuff. I should have had more warning."
"So should've Edmund."
The sat in silence for a moment to honor the dead man.
"Well, aside from a few kinks the flight data looks good," Anne said.
"Data be damned. There's a lot of work - a *lot* of work that needs to be done. I could suggest half a dozen..."
"After the party. You're a hero."
"Hell." He threw the towel on the floor. "I'm a coward. Look at my hands." He extended his hands palm upward. "I'm shaking like a leaf."
"You ought to be down with the screaming meamies! The video was bad enough; I can't imagine what it was like in person. So come on, forget it! We won that encounter! This Warthog of ours is going to kick ass and you helped. So come on, Frodo. Come celebrate."
"Don't call..." he looked at her smiling face. "Oh hell. Okay. Just don't call me Frodo."