Battlenaut Crucible

Chapter 5-2

When everyone was aboard and strapped in, Fong closed the gangway and jumped into the pilot seat. As his fingers danced over the control boards, thrusters on the shuttle's underside hummed. The transport rose, and the four struts that had cradled it folded in snug against the hull.

Through the forward viewport, Scott could see the hangar doors slide apart, opening onto a short, floodlit runway. Then, the engines roared, and the shuttle surged forward, bolting out of the hangar. It raced along the runway a few dozen meters, then suddenly swooped upward, charging into the starlit night sky.

As the shuttle climbed, the Diamondbacks talked quietly among themselves, but Scott wasn't paying attention. His eyes were locked on the viewport, literally staring into space, his mind swirling as he contemplated the adventure that lay ahead.

He'd seen a lot of action since the start of the war, had fought on battlefields from Yolanda to Antimony. He'd fought some formidable enemies, had some life-changing experiences. He wasn't even close to being a wet-behind-the-ears rookie anymore. But he was out of his element, and the weight on his shoulders was enormous. The stakes, if he should fail, were unimaginably high. In so many ways, he was heading off into the unknown, moving in a direction he would not have thought possible just a few days ago.

He wondered what Bern would think of all this--and the answer came to him instantly. She would tell him to quit obsessing and go do his damn job. She wouldn't even wish him luck because he wouldn't need it, because he was a Commonwealth Marine.

After a few minutes, Fong gestured at the viewport. "There it is." He glanced back at Scott and smiled. "What do you think?"

Scott didn't see a thing except stars and darkness. "Not sure." He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes, but nothing changed. "Where is it?"

"You'll see." Fong chuckled and touched controls on the board in front of him. "Let me just switch the lights on."

Suddenly, the outline of a huge, streamlined vessel appeared in the viewport, traced in bright white lights. The hull showed nothing but space and stars, a perfect continuation of its surroundings--but the lights shone on its contours, making it stand out. Without them, Scott was sure it would have still blended in with the starscape around it, completely invisible to his eyes.

"Presenting the CSS Sun Tzu." Fong chuckled and looked back at him again. "How about now?"

"Not bad." Scott smiled and nodded. "Nice stealth mode, by the way."

"It's all done with mirrors." Fong winked and turned back to his controls.

Scott was more impressed than he let on. He'd heard of such ships before but had never seen one. "Ghost ship, huh? You guys really are the elite." According to the rumor mill, the technology was very new and its use highly restricted due to its extreme energy consumption curve.

"It's no Red Battlenaut," said Trane, "but it gets the job done."

"Wasn't there an energy consumption issue?" said Scott.

"Not anymore," said Rexis. "Thanks to our new negative mass drive."

"Our ultra-top secret negative mass drive," added Perseid.

"Isn't everything ultra-top secret?" said Trane. "Including our bowel movements?"

As the Diamondbacks laughed, Scott took in the sleek lines of the Sun Tzu. It reminded him of an arrow, but with rounded, swooping curves instead of sharp angles and edges. Instead of a spiky arrowhead, it had a smoothly curving, conical tip dotted with windows. At the other end of its long shaft, it had a cluster of bulging engine pods instead of feathers. Each segment turned slowly--the nose, shaft, and engine block each rotating in opposite directions.

It looked graceful and delicate as it hung in the firmament ahead, though Scott didn't doubt its killing capabilities. It would have to be a lethal vessel to serve CORE's deadly purposes. It would have to live up to its namesake--the Old Earth author of The Art of War.

"She's a hell of a ship," said Fong.

"They say they christened her with the blood of a hundred Rightful fighters." Abby said it with the usual dark edge in her voice.

"That's a lie," snapped Perseid. "But she's done well by us so far. She's more than a ship." He looked at Scott and nodded. "You'll see."

Scott was already convinced. When he turned his gaze back to the viewport and saw the Sun Tzu's nose glint with strokes of reflected sunlight, a chill ran up his spine.

He hadn't even been aboard yet. How could he feel so much like he was coming home?