Fourth Vector Ch. 29

"I think it might get worse until it gets addressed," said Dustin. "But I'll do that with the men from Tyrol. I just thought it was important to confirm my thoughts with you."

Greg reached out his hand. "You don't know how much I appreciate that. I've known your quality for a long time. You've never disappointed me."

Dustin reached out and took his hand. He cocked a grin. "Well, I wish I could say the same."Greg tossed Dustin's hand away and laughed. "Son of a bitch."

The two men continued to laugh and talk for another five minutes before Dustin made his excuse to leave for the airfield.

With that chat behind him, Dustin felt measurably better. Things between him and Greg had been a little strained ever since the last news about the rebellion. It felt great to clear the air between them and reaffirm the same loyalties, especially given all the turmoil ahead of them.

It would certainly help morale as well. After his flight today, Dustin made a mental note to talk to some of the other Tyrolean men about his thoughts. He hoped it would go a long way toward easing all the stress that had developed after hearing the news from home.

For now though, it was time to take to the skies. Dustin arrived at the airfield just as the sun was rising. There hadn't been much needed to get it back in order after the Swabian retreat. They'd never used it as an airfield from what Dustin could tell, but the buildings had been used to house their soldiers.

Once those buildings had been rehabilitated to serve the airfield, it became the main home for the allied air force once again.

It was in the main hangar that Dustin found the Carinthian engineer/pilot, Dante, who had been his flying partner for the last few weeks. What was ironic about being flying partners is that it was Dante who taught Dustin how to fly many months ago. Long after Dustin ceased needing a more experienced pilot to fly with him, the two would do their own solo flights over the city.

All that had changed when the Swabians began shooting back at them during their own flights. It was determined that if the Swabians were going to be flying armed, they would have a better chance flying in pairs for safety.

For that reason, the two old partners teamed up once again.

At this current moment, Dante was cleaning a portion of the wing of his aircraft when Dustin came strolling up behind him.

"You know, you really should wash that plane down every once in a while," said Dustin with some good-natured ribbing. "It's looking a little dirty, you know?"

Dante rolled his eyes. "That's what happens when you actually take it up in the air every now and then. It starts to get dirty."

"Oh, I just like to hose mine down at night when we come in," said Dustin with a grin. "The only place I like a dirty girl is in the bedroom."

Even Dante cracked a grin on that one. "Yeah, I may have heard that about you a time or two."

"How's the bird looking? Ready for our flight today?"

"This bird is doing just fine," said Dante as he ran his hand along the fuselage. "But I was thinking about taking the other craft up today."

Dustin raised an eyebrow. "The other one? You mean the mono wing?"

"I prefer to call it a monoplane truthfully," said Dante with a grin. "It just sounds like it fits a little better."

"Whatever you want to call it," replied Dustin. "But you're sure about this? We're actually going up on patrol. There might be Swabians up there that are armed, and that's not even bringing up the fact you've only flown this monoplane a small handful of times."

"She can fly, I assure you," promised Dante. "And if we never test her out, we'll never know how she really handles when it counts. That's why I want to take her up today."

By this time, the two men had walked the short distance over to where Dante's monoplane was stored. He removed the protective cover over it to review the craft in all her glory. Her body was colored in a brilliant yellow color on the topside while the color underneath remained all white in accordance to the colors on the Carinthian flag. On the tail of the plane was the emblem of Queen Reina, a white horse in the middle of a jump while on a red background. It was capped with the crown of the queen, a perfect symbol to demonstrate ownership of such a fine airplane.

The fact of the matter was that no matter how beautiful she was, she still inspired a little fear in Dustin. He knew that she could fly but seeing just the single wing coming out from the fuselage on both sides made him nervous. The plus side to all of it was the view—Dante had a better all-around view from the cockpit as they flew with the absence of the upper wing.

"It might take a while before you get me into one of these," said Dustin as he watched Dante start his preflight checklist.

"Good for me as there's only one of them currently," quipped Dante. "And you're definitely not stealing mine."

"Hell, I don't need yours," said Dustin. "I'll take my girl up any day of the week before I take up this thing." Dustin gestured behind him where his biplane was currently waiting. She was a magnificent craft but she wasn't as brightly painted as Dante's was. Dustin's biplane was painted gray in all areas except the tail, where the flag of Java was painted, alongside a slightly larger version of the old flag of Tyrol.

She may not have been the prettiest craft in existence but there were none more reliable.

"So do me a favor before I complete my checklist," said Dante after a few moments. "Will you go grab my gun cases?"

Dustin nodded. "Coming right up. Hang tight."

Dustin hustled over to the ammunition locker and unlocked it with the key he'd been given. He had to make two trips before he returned with the two wooden contraptions and the two NT-12s to be used per craft.

"What do you think?" asked Dustin as he attached one of the boxes to the left side of Dante's wing. "Think you can handle this much firepower?"

"Better than you can I bet," retorted Dante.

They would have to see. So far, no one had gotten a chance to test out the wooden boxes/NT-12 combination in battle with the Swabians. The premise was simple enough—the boxes attached to the wing and gave the pilot a way to shoot out from the craft. So far, they had to be attached to the wing because that was the only place for them. There was no way to mount them directly in front of the pilot for fear of shooting holes in the propellers and it wasn't safe to expect the pilot to operate them manually in the cockpit.

For that reason, Dustin's boxes were invented. They provided a measure of safety while giving the pilot access to a greater amount of firepower. At this moment, Dustin was still working on two separate modifications for the boxes—one would allow him to carry two NT-12s on each wing while the other would allow him to fire within the cockpit without extending his hands out.

All that mattered now was testing out the concept on some live flying Swabians.

It took all of five minutes to get both wooden boxes attached to Dante's wings as well as the NT-12s in place. Each firearm was positioned and locked into the box a certain way, mostly through testing that Dustin had done to make sure they fired dead ahead and even. Once Dante's plane was done, Dustin repeated the same task with his own plane, and after filling them up with fuel, they were ready to take to the runway.

"I'll see you up there," said Dante as he put on his flying helmet. "And remember, if we see any Swabians, go into attack positions."

"You got it, see you up there," replied Dustin.

The two men climbed into the cockpit and brought the engines to life. They rolled from the hangar to the end of the runway, where Dante was the first to take off, followed by Dustin shortly after.

For Dustin, there was no feeling like getting airborne. He enjoyed the wind in his face and feeling the entire craft lose that last little bit of contact with the ground, giving him the sensation of weightlessness. It was a feeling that never got old no matter how many hundreds of times he'd experienced it to this point.

Once they were off the ground, both men cut out over the city. Dante took the lead position just like he said he would while Dustin anchored himself just off Dante's wing. Through some trial and error, it had been determined to be a good position for two planes in flight. While Dante looked out the front of their formation, Dustin kept a watch on Dante's back and their rear to protect them from any threats.

The flight started out pretty routine. They made two sweeps of the city, seeing nothing of interest at the current time. That part was to be expected. With all the Swabians out of the city, the only lines they were flying over were their own. It wasn't until the completion of the second sweep that the two men turned south to fly over what were now Swabian lines once again.

This section of the outskirts of the city was known to both of them. It had been where the Swabians started their last attack before they occupied portions of the city, so Dustin had some familiarity with their positions.

Even though it was familiar, there was something over there that quickly caught their attention.

Dustin first became aware there was a problem when he noticed Dante rock his wings back and forth in a subtle manner. That was their prearranged signal in case one of them had to get the attention of the other. Dustin looked over to find Dante looking back at him. He was pointing to a spot on the horizon until he brought his hand back around and flashed two fingers twice.

The meaning made Dustin's eyes go wide. That particular signal meant that Dante could see two enemy planes a short distance away.

Dustin scanned the horizon where Dante had pointed and found them. The enemy planes were flying perpendicular to their current path and looking to be heading toward Daban.

Dustin looked back over at Dante and brought his finger across his throat. Dante nodded, no doubt sharing the same sentiment.

The gesture meant they were to go after them and see how the guns performed. It would be their first opportunity to test out the gun platforms, and Dustin really wanted to see how his little invention worked.

The two men increased airspeed as they looked to catch up to the Swabians. The Swabians were flying slightly lower than them and didn't seem to notice their approach until they were almost on top of their planes.

That's when they figured out they were now prey and the two separated. Dustin gestured that he was going to go after the one on the left while Dante performed the same task with the other Swabian on the right. Dustin dove after his prey as they headed on a more northerly course.

The worst thing about the chase was that the Swabian seemed to figure out that he was in danger right from the start. He began to make a series of wild turns and sharp banks to try to get Dustin off his tale. Of course, every time he made a banking turn, he just managed to shorten the distance between himself and Dustin, which allowed Dustin to begin to align himself with the Swabian craft.

At this point in the chase, they were nearing the city. The Swabian made a spectacular dive toward the harbor, flying only about two hundred feet off the ground in an effort to get Dustin off his tail. He would have been successful if there was any other flyer behind him. But with Dustin probably being the most aggressive flyer on the allied side, he was able to follow without too much trouble.

"Come on, you son of a bitch," said Dustin as he reached over to the gun platform. "Just stay still. Stay still for two seconds."

As the Swabian pulled out of the turn, he suddenly turned around and fired off with a pistol. The shots went wild with none of them coming close to hitting the plane, but it showed Dustin just how tense the entire situation was.

One of them was bound to lose their life in this encounter. Dustin was determined it wasn't going to be him.

Thankfully, the Swabian's wild shots meant that he took his focus off steering the aircraft. When he was done firing, he had to bank a wide left turn that put his craft directly in Dustin's sights. Dustin squeezed the trigger and felt the NT-12 go to life.

He didn't quit firing until he saw the puff of smoke. It was tiny but it came directly from the Swabian's engine.

What happened next was a completely undramatic ending. The Swabian plane lurched forward until the nose was pointed directly at the ground. Dustin looked over as he passed by, seeing the pilot slumped forward in the seat, no longer part of the world of the living.

The plane crashed into the street directly below them, causing another bit of smoke as the engine exploded upon landing. Dustin circled back around and cut his airspeed to look at the wreckage below, which was now being gawked at by numerous Picard civilians.

Having realized what he'd done, Dustin reached up to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He didn't even realize how tightly he'd been gripping the controls but he took several long sighs of relief.

I just shot him out of the sky.

Despite knowing what he'd done, it still took him a long time to believe what had just occurred. In a way, he knew it would always come to this since that first time he'd been shot at while on patrol. It was obvious that this would keep escalating until someone was shot down.

He was just glad it wasn't him.

He'd gotten the other guy before he could get Dustin.

It took some time to find Dante but he finally found him on the other side of the city. Dustin pulled in alongside the Carinthian and looked over to him. Dante could only shake his head, no doubt meaning that the Swabian had gotten away.

In return, Dustin flashed a single finger and then swept it across his neck. He hoped that meaning was clear that his Swabian was no longer alive.

They weren't in the air for that much longer. Fuel was running low and the decision was made to land. The aircraft taxied to the hanger, and once the power to the engine was cut, Dustin hopped out of the cockpit and rushed over to Dante.

"I got him," said an excited Dustin. "I shot him down. I took him down right in the city. The boxes work!"

Dante gave him a wide-eyed stare. "You're being serious? I figured something happened to your Swabian but you actually shot him down?"

Dustin nodded. "The boxes worked! I was able to line up right behind him and take him down. It took some finesse to close the distance and get him in my sights, but once I squeezed off on the NT-12, he came down like a bag of sand."

"How remarkable," said Dante as looked back at his aircraft at the gun placement. "I wasn't sure if these would actually work!"

"Hell yeah, they do," said Dustin with a chuckle. "What about yours? What happened to him?"

Dante shook his head. "He dove on me. About as soon as he did it, he started a sharp turn too. I couldn't dive as fast so he put some distance between us and he managed to get away."

"Still though, he'll figure out soon that he'll be the only one returning today," said Dustin. "This is big, Dante! So what if the Swabians have airplanes too? Now that we know we can shoot them down, we have a way to deal with them."

"And we can use these gun boxes to make it happen," said Dante.

"I will admit one thing though," said Dustin. "If I'd emptied my magazine, I would have had a hard time getting a new one in. It also wasn't that easy to reach over to shoot it while flying. That tells me I need to keep working on my design to make it better!"

Dante started to laugh. He put his arm around Dustin's shoulder. "My friend, you should do that. But we need to celebrate first. I think you've started a new chapter in aerial warfare today!"

Dustin grinned. "I can drink to that!"

*****

Abigail stared out across the horizon from the bridge of theDestiny, scanning for any sight of activity on the open ocean. It was late in the day, and the afternoon sun was already starting to set beyond the western rim. The rays of the sun glittered off the calm waters of the southern sea but there remained no other traces of life out here.

It had been like that ever since they left Daban a week ago. The task force (minus theCenturion) was only about ten nautical miles offshore as they attempted the circuit of Picardy. It was only this morning that they reached the extreme southern point of the island and began a more northwesterly course to reach the other side.

Despite the occasional trader, there was no sign of activity out here. The war in Picardy must have scared off most of the traffic through the sea lane, and there was a calmness that she found a little unnerving.

There had been no traces of Jack so far, and that was despite using the Galician, Lindsay Kolbeck, as their pathfinder, the only person in the task force that was capable of feeling the bond with Jack. It was hoped that as they attempted the circuit around the island, they could figure out where Jack was taken by seeing where the pull of the bond was strongest. Abigail suspected that wouldn't occur until they were closer to Swabia. So far, that had held true.

Abigail wasn't sure what to make of the blonde Galician woman at first. It would have been all too easy to expect a clone of Kat but Lindsay made it clear that she was quite different from the get-go. She was more worldly than Kat and her sense of humor could be quite crass when she wanted to be. It endeared her to the crew easily, and Abigail found herself actually enjoying the woman's company.

For now though, with the sun starting to set, Abigail retired below deck to the room she usually shared with Jack and Kat. The bed felt too empty without them, so she spent as much time at her desk as she could. It was close to nine that evening when she resolved to get some sleep that there was a knock at the door.

Abigail growled. She walked over to answer it, figuring it was Brittany, her deputy. She was surprised to see Lindsay's face when the door opened.

"Oh, Lindsay, I'm sorry," said Abigail. "I thought you might be my deputy."

Lindsay shook her head. "No, I'm sorry for bugging you at this late hour but I was hoping you might have a minute?"

Abigail opened the door wider. "Sure, come in."

Lindsay entered the room but didn't sit down right away. It wasn't hard to tell that she was on edge about something in particular, but Abigail guessed that was the reason for her visit. She moved back to her desk and sat down, gesturing for Lindsay to do the same.

"What's on your mind? You look a little tense right now."

Lindsay nodded eagerly. "You can say that. I wanted you to know that I can feel it. The bond. It's strengthening right now."

Abigail leaned forward, her interest building quickly. "You're sure about this?"

Another nod. "I am. It's taken me a while to adjust to feeling this sensation and what it means but it's become more intense. It reminds me of how it was in those days in Daban before Jack arrived. There was nothing there, a dullness that I'd gotten used to. Now, it's awake again."

"Does it give you any indication on how far away he is?"

Lindsay shrugged. "I'm not sure. But when I felt it at this strength the last time, he was still a good week out. It gets stronger as he gets closer so my feeling is that we're finally going in the right direction but he's still a good distance away."

Abigail looked over at the map on the wall, the original map of the Vector that Heron had given Jack. "I don't think it's a coincidence that we're getting closer to Swabia either. I'd reckon this feeling of yours will keep getting stronger as we sail along the bottom portion of Picardy. If we're right about Swabia, it will be the strongest on the southwestern corner of the island, the closest that Picardy gets to Swabia."