Read Online The Last Revolution by R.T. Carpenter - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: R.T. Carpenter
Tags: spaceship, future war, Space Station, Moon base, Lunar Colonies, R.T. Carpenter, The Last Revolution
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as fast as he could. From his vantage point he could see dozens of soldiers emerging from the jungle.
He slid the cockpit window shut, locked it and then fired up the engines. Pulling the stick back he moved out of the line of jets and on to the runway. Small arms fire suddenly erupted around him and dozens of violent tremors could be felt as the bullets ricocheted off the carbon fiber hull. He was starting out halfway down the airfield, there wasn’t enough space for him to launch, but if the engine was hit he wouldn’t live long enough to feel the H3 cell rupture.
It was now or never. Alden pulled the stick the rest of the way back and the engine flared to life. His eyes grew heavy as they pressed into the back of his head and the jet accelerated down the runway. Everything melted away until the only thing he could see was the edge of the runway and the cliff that dropped off into the abyss. It had terrified him at first, but now it served as a gateway between the physical world and the limitless one that waited.
The craft was just lifting off the ground when he ran out of runway and flew off the edge. Although he had been trained for these kinds of events, his heart was still beating at full speed and now seemed securely lodged in his throat. He was out over the ocean but falling fast. Holding his breath Alden put everything he had into the controls and pulled back as hard as he could. Finally, the nose picked up, and the ocean, runway and Island disappeared.
He was alive. It was the most exhilarating feeling in the world, freedom. He banked the fighter to the right and headed west towards land. Their school sat on a lonely island in the middle of the Pacific. It was several hundred kilometers to the shores of the Sino-Russian Federation, but tens of thousands of kilometers to the shores of the Alliance. The killer had to have gone to the SRF; not only was it the closest but they also had one of the strongest black markets on Earth.
Alden switched to night vision and a pixilated green hue worked its way across the cockpit and filled the screen with all the gauges he needed. The moment his sensors and control panel came online, every alarm possible went off. He had flown straight at the hurricane. He hadn’t been able to see anything until the night vision was activated, but now he could see the massive water funnel straight ahead. It was as if the mighty Poseidon had come to destroy the Island and everyone on it. Alden whipped the craft to the right and turned into a tight barrel roll to avoid being torn apart. Yellow tracers ripped through the night around him.
Two hostile dots appeared on the radar, along with the indication of incoming fire. The distinctive sound was nearly lost amidst every other catastrophic alarm going off. Alden turned off the alarms, tightened his grip on the controls, and settled back into the seat. They would not kill him; this was where he belonged. Flipping the plane into a tight corkscrew, he did everything he could to avoid the hail of fire.
His options were limited, but there had to be a way out. The gravity-defying wall of water and chaos surged in every direction. If he veered off course by even a few meters the jet would be torn to shreds. He pulled a hard right to avoid the second round of incoming fire and then pressed a button to deploy the solar flares. He needed to distract the targeting computers in order to give himself some breathing room.
There were several loud thuds and his fighter shook violently before taking a steep drop. His heart leaped into his throat, he’d made the wrong choice. The rear camera showed hydraulic fluid gushing out of the wing. Alden squeezed the controls and then banked left towards the eye of the hurricane. He had to chance moving in closer; one more hit and he’d be done.
The wind was strong and the controls shook mercilessly in his hands. It took every ounce of his energy to keep from being sucked in. The Island flashed through his mind.
He slid the cockpit window shut, locked it and then fired up the engines. Pulling the stick back he moved out of the line of jets and on to the runway. Small arms fire suddenly erupted around him and dozens of violent tremors could be felt as the bullets ricocheted off the carbon fiber hull. He was starting out halfway down the airfield, there wasn’t enough space for him to launch, but if the engine was hit he wouldn’t live long enough to feel the H3 cell rupture.
It was now or never. Alden pulled the stick the rest of the way back and the engine flared to life. His eyes grew heavy as they pressed into the back of his head and the jet accelerated down the runway. Everything melted away until the only thing he could see was the edge of the runway and the cliff that dropped off into the abyss. It had terrified him at first, but now it served as a gateway between the physical world and the limitless one that waited.
The craft was just lifting off the ground when he ran out of runway and flew off the edge. Although he had been trained for these kinds of events, his heart was still beating at full speed and now seemed securely lodged in his throat. He was out over the ocean but falling fast. Holding his breath Alden put everything he had into the controls and pulled back as hard as he could. Finally, the nose picked up, and the ocean, runway and Island disappeared.
He was alive. It was the most exhilarating feeling in the world, freedom. He banked the fighter to the right and headed west towards land. Their school sat on a lonely island in the middle of the Pacific. It was several hundred kilometers to the shores of the Sino-Russian Federation, but tens of thousands of kilometers to the shores of the Alliance. The killer had to have gone to the SRF; not only was it the closest but they also had one of the strongest black markets on Earth.
Alden switched to night vision and a pixilated green hue worked its way across the cockpit and filled the screen with all the gauges he needed. The moment his sensors and control panel came online, every alarm possible went off. He had flown straight at the hurricane. He hadn’t been able to see anything until the night vision was activated, but now he could see the massive water funnel straight ahead. It was as if the mighty Poseidon had come to destroy the Island and everyone on it. Alden whipped the craft to the right and turned into a tight barrel roll to avoid being torn apart. Yellow tracers ripped through the night around him.
Two hostile dots appeared on the radar, along with the indication of incoming fire. The distinctive sound was nearly lost amidst every other catastrophic alarm going off. Alden turned off the alarms, tightened his grip on the controls, and settled back into the seat. They would not kill him; this was where he belonged. Flipping the plane into a tight corkscrew, he did everything he could to avoid the hail of fire.
His options were limited, but there had to be a way out. The gravity-defying wall of water and chaos surged in every direction. If he veered off course by even a few meters the jet would be torn to shreds. He pulled a hard right to avoid the second round of incoming fire and then pressed a button to deploy the solar flares. He needed to distract the targeting computers in order to give himself some breathing room.
There were several loud thuds and his fighter shook violently before taking a steep drop. His heart leaped into his throat, he’d made the wrong choice. The rear camera showed hydraulic fluid gushing out of the wing. Alden squeezed the controls and then banked left towards the eye of the hurricane. He had to chance moving in closer; one more hit and he’d be done.
The wind was strong and the controls shook mercilessly in his hands. It took every ounce of his energy to keep from being sucked in. The Island flashed through his mind.
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