Read Online Frontier: Book One - The Space Cadets by Laurence Moroney - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Laurence Moroney
Ads: Link
analyzing the light spectrum coming
into the ship. Anything in the infrared band was hot, and again the
computer was smart enough to filter out stationary objects. If she
flew to a new position, and cut out all heat emission, or as much
of it as possible, and held her ship as still as possible, she
could be invisible to their scanners. It was impossible to come to
a full stop without firing her thrusters heavily and generating
lots of heat.
She would have to be gentle on
them, trying to keep her ship ’ s external
temperature as low as possible. She hatched a plan to hit her
thrusters gently in order to get her moving on a trajectory slowly.
Any incoming bullets fired at her old position moved relatively
slowly compared to lasers, so she would likely be out of their way
before they reached her. Any ships using lasers would show up as
red hot, so she could evade them before the laser could do too much
damage. She would glide silently and pick off ships one by
one.
She figured she ’ d be close to invisible on their scanners, but she
couldn ’ t fool anybody ’ s eyes. If they looked in the right direction at the
right time they ’ d still see
her.
By now more than
three quarters of her classmates were ‘ dead ’ , their ships towed back to the
hangar in shame. She counted the ships on her scanners, and they
were all present, flying around at high speed, dog-fighting each
other. Nobody else was drifting like her, trying to be invisible,
and they were all so busy that none of them
noticed.
One ship,
corkscrewing up and away from a pursuing fighter started getting
close to her. She held her nerve, wondering if her stealth tactic
was working. Sure enough, he didn ’ t see her and turned his ship,
heading back down towards the melee below. She opened up with her
lasers, lighting him up, and displaying as a ‘ kill ’ instantly.
She had given away her position,
so, quickly, she turned and thrusted away. Some of the surviving
fighters, including Soo-Kyung ’ s, began to
see what was happening, and flew away from where Aisha ’ s laser had come from.
As they were so intent on each
other, Aisha realized that she could get away quite safely, and
they didn ’ t have the eyeballs to seek her
out. That might change when it became one-on-one.
Soo-Kyung must have been looking,
for she flew her ship about half the distance from the hangar to
where Aisha had shot from. She stopped, gently rotating her ship.
Aisha could almost feel her friend ’ s deep
brown eyes searching for her.
Another fighter saw Soo-Kyung, and
she made for an easy target. It accelerated towards her, opening up
with its bullets. But Soo-Kyung was too fast, and she pushed her
attitude jets, spinning her ship to the side, and watching the
other one overshoot. She opened up with her guns, and ‘ killed ’ him
instantly.
But it was clear that she was
hunting Aisha now. Aisha realized that her best chance was to stick
with the plan. Silently drifting, watching with her eyes as well as
her heat sensors she saw Soo-Kyung slowly pick off the other
fighters. She ’ d lure them in and kill
them, or she ’ d wait until two of them were
focused on each other, and she ’ d kill them
both.
Like a lioness, Aisha ’ s roommate slowly made her way to the top of the
pecking order. Soo-Kyung was as smart as she was lethal. And she
knew that Aisha had retreated to a position of safety. It was
likely that she knew as much about the ship by now that Aisha did,
but how could she go into stealth the way Aisha had?
There were only three other
fighters left, now. Aisha watched as Soo-Kyung lured one of them to
chase her, right into the path of the third. It did her dirty work
for her, and now it was just Soo-Kyung, Aisha and that third. It
was piloted by a Brazilian kid that everybody called
Ronaldo.
She watched as Ronaldo turned and
chased Soo-Kyung ’ s ship. After the earlier
chase, when Soo-Kyung had lured the fighter towards Ronaldo, she
had shot off as fast as
into the ship. Anything in the infrared band was hot, and again the
computer was smart enough to filter out stationary objects. If she
flew to a new position, and cut out all heat emission, or as much
of it as possible, and held her ship as still as possible, she
could be invisible to their scanners. It was impossible to come to
a full stop without firing her thrusters heavily and generating
lots of heat.
She would have to be gentle on
them, trying to keep her ship ’ s external
temperature as low as possible. She hatched a plan to hit her
thrusters gently in order to get her moving on a trajectory slowly.
Any incoming bullets fired at her old position moved relatively
slowly compared to lasers, so she would likely be out of their way
before they reached her. Any ships using lasers would show up as
red hot, so she could evade them before the laser could do too much
damage. She would glide silently and pick off ships one by
one.
She figured she ’ d be close to invisible on their scanners, but she
couldn ’ t fool anybody ’ s eyes. If they looked in the right direction at the
right time they ’ d still see
her.
By now more than
three quarters of her classmates were ‘ dead ’ , their ships towed back to the
hangar in shame. She counted the ships on her scanners, and they
were all present, flying around at high speed, dog-fighting each
other. Nobody else was drifting like her, trying to be invisible,
and they were all so busy that none of them
noticed.
One ship,
corkscrewing up and away from a pursuing fighter started getting
close to her. She held her nerve, wondering if her stealth tactic
was working. Sure enough, he didn ’ t see her and turned his ship,
heading back down towards the melee below. She opened up with her
lasers, lighting him up, and displaying as a ‘ kill ’ instantly.
She had given away her position,
so, quickly, she turned and thrusted away. Some of the surviving
fighters, including Soo-Kyung ’ s, began to
see what was happening, and flew away from where Aisha ’ s laser had come from.
As they were so intent on each
other, Aisha realized that she could get away quite safely, and
they didn ’ t have the eyeballs to seek her
out. That might change when it became one-on-one.
Soo-Kyung must have been looking,
for she flew her ship about half the distance from the hangar to
where Aisha had shot from. She stopped, gently rotating her ship.
Aisha could almost feel her friend ’ s deep
brown eyes searching for her.
Another fighter saw Soo-Kyung, and
she made for an easy target. It accelerated towards her, opening up
with its bullets. But Soo-Kyung was too fast, and she pushed her
attitude jets, spinning her ship to the side, and watching the
other one overshoot. She opened up with her guns, and ‘ killed ’ him
instantly.
But it was clear that she was
hunting Aisha now. Aisha realized that her best chance was to stick
with the plan. Silently drifting, watching with her eyes as well as
her heat sensors she saw Soo-Kyung slowly pick off the other
fighters. She ’ d lure them in and kill
them, or she ’ d wait until two of them were
focused on each other, and she ’ d kill them
both.
Like a lioness, Aisha ’ s roommate slowly made her way to the top of the
pecking order. Soo-Kyung was as smart as she was lethal. And she
knew that Aisha had retreated to a position of safety. It was
likely that she knew as much about the ship by now that Aisha did,
but how could she go into stealth the way Aisha had?
There were only three other
fighters left, now. Aisha watched as Soo-Kyung lured one of them to
chase her, right into the path of the third. It did her dirty work
for her, and now it was just Soo-Kyung, Aisha and that third. It
was piloted by a Brazilian kid that everybody called
Ronaldo.
She watched as Ronaldo turned and
chased Soo-Kyung ’ s ship. After the earlier
chase, when Soo-Kyung had lured the fighter towards Ronaldo, she
had shot off as fast as
Similar Books
