FLIGHT by Matthew Keegan
FLIGHT
Dal Fenn watched the light freighter pass the last marker through his cockpit window and gave a wave in their direction.
"You're clear now, Boreal Beauty, and can start your climb. Have a good one."
The XS Stock Light Freighter began a gradual nose-up and rose through the lilac and blossom coloured clouds that constantly surrounded the gas giant of Bespin. Sunlight reflected off the starboard side viewport briefly as her angle became steeper.
"Much appreciated, Lieutenant. We'll catch you next time. Boreal Beauty, out."
From the pilot's seat of his Storm IV Twin-Pod cloud car, Dal kept his eye on the ungainly freighter until it disappeared into the cloud bank above them before looking across to his gunner in the second pod beside him. Separated by several metres but joined by the main engine housing, the two occupants of a cloud car communicated via a voice activated internal comms.
"Are you ready, Tikk?" Dal asked with a smile in his voice.
The gunner looked across at him and nodded. "Born ready, my friend."
Tikk had hardly finished speaking when Dal threw the flight stick hard to port and pushed the throttles all the way forward. The car rolled over onto its side, banking ninety degrees, and began a brisk yet smooth acceleration up through the sound barrier. The compact ion engine screamed its iconic howl as their speed raced from triple digits to quadruple. Both men felt their pressure suits inflate around their legs and torso, keeping blood up in their head and chest where it was needed.
At the peak of the fast turn their bodies were strained under an incredible 9 Gs of pressure, the limit their suits could compensate for. Dal heard Tikk grunting, fighting the forces as he sliced the car through the sky with astonishing speed. The Storm IV could do 1500 kph but he bought it out of the turn and straightened up once it crossed 1300.
Easing back to a safer cruising speed, Dal ran an experienced eye over his gauges to ensure his machine had handled the aggressive manoeuvre. His Gas Density Detector, showed no rising thermals of tibanna gas. Flying through a pocket of rising tibanna wasn't life threatening but it could sometimes play havoc with engines, causing them to flare if an atmos intake swallowed an overly-rich concentration of the invisible, naturally forming accelerant. It was best to avoid them if possible which was why GDDs had been installed in all patrol vehicles. It was also the reason why escorts to and from the city were advised.
Satisfied all his gauges were in the green, he looked across at Tikk. The young Bespin native was grinning from ear to ear, giving him a thumbs up.
The car punched through yet another large cloud and they entered sighting distance of Cloud City itself. The behemoth of a structure still amazed Dal, even after all these years of policing her airspace. Floating thousands of kilometres above the planet's core, it was a long drop to the bottom. When he was not on flight patrol he used to forget that fact, but once he lifted his Storm IV off the landing pad and crossed the city's edge, all that air below made him appreciate the engineers whom constantly inspected and maintained the hundreds of kilometres of repulsor-lift coils which wound around the underside of the city. With five million people living and working within the floating city, he hoped each and every one of them thanked the engineers in their own way.
They passed high over the privatised tibanna refineries which floated out from the city, each platform chasing their own pockets of rising tibanna gas, and closed in on the city's airspace. The top of the mushroomed shaped city sparkled like static electricity as sunlight reflected off thousands of high rise windows. The closer they flew, the clearer each tower became, each reaching high over the crown of the city. Here and there tiny dots and dashes passed in between the tall buildings and Dal could make out other patrol cars, private vehicles and long public transports which snaked from platform to platform.
He dropped the nose of the car and decelerated to the city airspeed limit as they approached the belt of the superstructure. His plan was to pass the transport platforms along the outer edge for a quick patrol but their comms crackled to life with a message that would change everything.
"Storm Thirteen, come in, Dal." The voice of their dispatcher sounded taught, like she was on edge.
"This is Dal. Go ahead, Control."
"Confirm you are in the east quadrant."
"That's affirmative, Control. Just passing the heavy freighter pads…"
The dispatcher cut him off and just her tone told Dal that something wasn't right. Cloud City rarely had trouble that warranted a large scale security intervention. They broke up bar fights between drunken gas workers on payday, cleaned up after the odd speeder collision, escorted inbound and outbound ships, and basically kept the peace by being a visible presence. But this message didn't sound like help was needed with another ale-fuelled Ugnaught brawl in the lower levels.
"I'm redirecting Storm Six to your location. I need you two to escort a flight group inbound from North Sector Nine. It's…" The transmission broke off momentarily before the dispatcher came back on, her voice now noticeably shaken. "It's the Empire."
The word turned his blood to ice.
Dal waited a moment, trying to convince himself he had misheard.
"Say again, Control? Did you say the Empire?"
"That's correct, Dal. They'll be in atmos in five minutes. I've… I've been instructed to allow them to land on the Eastern city level, pad one-four-eight. Escort them in and await further instructions."
For a moment Dal wasn't there. The car was cruising on its own. Gone were the clouds and the city, his gunner and everything around him. All he could see was that face. The look of shock on that face… or what remained of that face. The sound it made was that of a slow and painful death...
"Dal?"
Tikk's voice pulled him back from the nightmare he carried.
"Copy that, Control," Dal managed to reply. "Rendezvousing with Storm Six to North Sector Nine for escort. Storm Thirteen, out."
He thumbed off the frequency to nodded to his flight partner. He forced a smile that must have looked strange.
"Are you okay?"
Dal blinked hard and nodded. "Yeah. Of course." He was glad his eyes were hid behind his tinted flight goggles.
"Why in seven suns would the Empire be coming here?" Tikk asked. "They never venture this far out."
"I've no idea," Dal answered as calmly as possible.
"And a flight group! Maybe their capital ship has run into trouble in the belts and they're here for help," Tikk guessed.
"I doubt it." Dal mumbled quietly.
Their headsets crackled with a new voice.
"Storm Thirteen, this is Storm Six. Got a copy, Dal? This is Seer and Chez."
Through his front viewport, Dal could see another burnt orange Storm IV coming towards them, following the convex curve of the city.
"Gotcha, Seer. Form up on my left. Let's get this done."
"What do you think they're here for, Dal?"
The elder pilot could think of a thousand reasons why the Imperials were here but one specific reason made him feel sick.
"I've no idea. Let's just hope it's not for long."
It had been years since he had seen an Imperial shuttle such as the one that glided towards them now. And even back then the sight of such a majestic craft had filled him with dread.
On route to meet with this flight group Dal had almost talked himself into believing Tikk's reason for their visit being simply a stricken ship in need of fuel or repairs from navigating through the many asteroid belts that snaked through the outlying areas.
But as the pristine white Lambda class shuttle emerged from the tangerine-coloured clouds with its wings splayed out gracefully like a water bird coming in for landing, Dal knew this could not end well. Lambda class shuttles carried people of importance. And with Imperial dignitaries came an armed troop escort.
Dal felt the knot in his stomach get tighter as four more shapes emerged from the clouds. TIE fighters, two off each wing of the shuttle, bracketed it in perfect formation.
Switching the radio onto the open frequency, Dal transmitted to the incoming ships before he moved in. He didn't want to be seen as making an aggressive move and mistakenly shot out of the sky.
With a calm yet authoritarian voice, the best he could summon, Dal hailed the approaching shuttle. "Imperial flight group, this is…" Dal caught himself at the last moment. It was procedure to inform all ships of your name. He paused momentarily before continuing. "….the Bespin Wing Guard. I've been instructed to escort you to your designated landing pad. Please follow us."
He thumbed off the comms and took a breath. He realised his mouth was dry and desperately wanted a drink. Something hard and adult would do the trick.
"Understood, Bespin," the accented voice replied.
Dal couldn't pick if it was from Vardos or Coruscant, but it definitely had the tone of someone whom had been through an upper class officer's school.
"Lead the way with as little delay as possible." The voice cut off.
Dal could see the five ships were not slowing down for them so he and Seer both accelerated their twin Storms with a sweeping curve to bring them up in front of the shuttle and its escorts. It wasn't a comfortable place to be as when he looked in the rear view-finder he could see nothing but Imperial cannons on the front of all five ships pointed his way. He decided he wouldn't look back again.
They flew in silence. Despite the craft's climate control, he was sweating. His skin felt clammy. He knew he must look like a guilty man whom had been found out.
There was minimal tibanna updraughts so the flight was relatively smooth and quick.
Crossing over the city's edge they could see the designated pad had its landing lights on. The two pod-cars slowed as they slipped between the surrounding high risers and Dal thumbed the open frequency.
"Imperial Shuttle, landing pad one-four-eight is illuminated and ready for you."
There was no reply so he and Storm Six broke away and went into a slow loop around the pad to watch it land. It's two side wings folded up, coming to rest near its vertical dorsal wing, and it touched down gently. Behind it the TIEs broke off and accelerated away fast, back the way they had come. They didn't ask for an escort and Dal was glad for that.
Turning his attention to the landed shuttle as his loop bought him back around, he watched a dozen white clad soldiers exit from under the cockpit and line up in two rows either side of the ship. Then a large caped figure in pristine black armour strode between them to meet the welcoming party exiting the building. He could make out their Administrator and his bald cybernetic assistant along with twenty of his fellow Bespin Guards.
As he watched the tall black clad Imperial step up to Administrator Calrissian, a voice came over his comms.
"Dal, I need to refuel. I'm heading back to the depot."
He looked across at Storm Six and nodded. "Roger that, Seer. We'll follow you back."
The two forked patrol cars peeled away from the ominous events below and sped towards their hangar on the far side of the city.
As technicians refuelled his craft, Dal walked away to the edge of the platform to be alone. Although he was never truely alone. The voices of his past followed him, and that face… that face was always there in the back of his mind, screaming in pain.
'Dal? You alright?"
Turning, he saw Tikk crossing the refuelling platform, his shaggy blonde hair blowing in the breeze. The kid didn't know about his past and for a second Dal wanted to tell someone so he could share the burden. But he knew it wouldn't help.
"I'm fine," he lied as he turned back to look out over the beautiful city that had become his home. It pained him that it could be the last time he got to enjoy it.
"Don't worry about them. The Empire. We've not taken a side in this war that's going on. They know that."
Dal shook his head. The kid had so much to learn.
"That doesn't stop them," he said quietly. "They move in and take over and call it assisting. If your lucky. Sometimes they give no explanation. They're like a virus that spreads, constantly consuming and leaving death and despair in their wake."
"Fierfek," Tikk swore, using his favourite curse word he'd picked up off a passing Mandalorian a few months back. "They've got you rattled, haven't they?"
Dal shook his head and sighed. "No matter where I go, they're always just behind me. It could be a few months or even years, like I've had here." He turned and smiled a sad smile at Tikk. "I've been here six years. Six years of living in one place in peace. And I thought this was going to be it… the one place I could call home. But when you've done the things I've done… you've always got to be ready to move on when they come calling."
Dal knew it sounded like he was rambling but he didn't care. He turned back to the skyline and tried to block the voices from his mind as he thought back on his six years here. Six years…
They'd come in the middle of the night. An officer and four troopers. No warning. No enquiry. Only the accusing word from someone that didn't like him.
Yeranna had been asleep. Her light snoring had stirred him from his slumber and he was enjoying watching her sleep, the lights of the city through the window illuminating her face just enough for him to see.
Then a noise which was foreign. The sound of a weapon being bumped against armour.
He'd woken Yeranna and motioned for her to be quiet.
"Someone is outside," he had whispered.
His wife had sat up quietly, understanding the danger.
"Thieves?" she had uttered, barely audible.
He'd shaken his head and shrugged. He didn't know.
Grabbing the repeating blaster pistol he kept by the bed, he had slipped from its warmth and crossed the floor to peer over the balcony to the lower level of their dwelling. The noise had come from outside the front door. Forcing himself to the stairs, he'd thumbed the safety off the blaster and descended. Then the world had erupted in noise and light…
The front door had punched inward with a small explosive and a stun grenade had been tossed through the opening. It took Dal a moment to realise what it was but he was too late in covering his ears.
The grenade had been deafening, shaking him hard. Not designed to kill, it had robbed him of his hearing and sight long enough for the doorway to fill with the white clad soldiers of the Empire.
Shouting, noise, beams of light… then someone had opened fire.
Dal couldn't remember if it had been him or not. It could have been. Another stun grenade went off early when struck by a bolt. It felt like the noise would never end. But it was all over in half a minute.
And then the screaming began.
Two troopers were dead, two were unconscious. But the officer was screaming. Dal got to his feet and crossed to the man. A laser bolt had caught him in the side of his face. His cheek was gone, his jaw was…
Light flooded the room as Yeranna came down the stairs. She turned away at the carnage. The smell of burnt flesh turned her stomach.
"Why?!" she had asked.
Dal didn't know if she had been talking to him or the screaming officer.
He'd heard the comm-link on the officer's wrist crackle with a demand for a sitrep. The officer continued to scream as best as he could with half a face.
"Dal!" Yeranna had pleaded, "what's going on?!"
Picking up the data pad the officer had dropped, Dal looked at the screen and was shocked to see both their names on a wanted list. 'Wanted for theft of Imperial property'.
But it was ludicrous! He'd never stolen anything from the Empire. He worked in the shipyards as a dock pilot. Everything he worked with was several tonnes in weight. He could hardly sneak out with sub-light drive mountings in his pockets.
Then he had seen another name. Himmar Greenly: the accuser.
"That snake…" he had muttered at the sight of the name. The two had never gotten along. In his three years working the Kuat Shipyards, they'd constantly clashed over trivial things. They'd come to blows several months before in the locker rooms. Greenly had come off the worst. And his payback had been to lie about Dal and his wife to the Empire.
The screaming officer…
Dal knew the man was in pain and without thinking he had aimed his blaster at the man and fired one last time.
Then they had fled.
They had fled. From Kuat to Quellor. From Trigalas to Tibrin. Each time one step ahead of the Empire until they got to Bespin. Here they had found a place to live. Dal found a job in the docks and worked there a year before he put in an application with the Bespin Wing Guard. He got in, worked hard and rose through their ranks quickly. The pay was good, much more than the docks or even the shipyard on Kuat, and Yeranna and he had a great apartment on the west side with stunning views.
All they had achieved had been because of that Imperial raid. And now they were here. So if the Empire rolled in with force, how long until they started demanding scan-docs from everyone? He was on file. And the penalty for killing an Imperial officer was death.
Beside him, Tikk said, "You're crazy, Dal. There's no need to worry about the Empire here. I bet you they move on in no time."
Dal just nodded, not wanting to get into an argument.
"C'mon," Tikk said as he headed back. "Refuelling is done. Let's get back up there."
Dal was about to reply when his comm-link chirped. They were being hailed. He activated the link. "Lieutenant Fenn here."
The scratchy voice of the dispatcher came through.
"Dal. I need you and Seer to intercept an incoming freighter and keep it from approaching the city for a while."
Dal baulked at this. Either ships were accepted or very rarely turned away. This was odd and he just knew it had something to do with the Empire being here.
"You want us to stall him, is that right?"
"That's the order. YT freighter to be held out beyond the outer marker until further notice."
"Copy that. Refuelling is done. We'll be airborne in a minute."
Another voice came over. It was his superior, Commander Towth.
"Lieutenant Fenn. Under no circumstances are you to inform the incoming freighter about the presence of the Empire. Do you understand?"
Not once had Dal heard the Commander over the comm-link. He was a bureaucrat and never entered control operations as far as he knew.
"Copy that, Commander. We won't say anything."
He signalled for Tikk to mount up and soon they were racing away beside Storm Six.
Control directed the two Storm IVs to a section of sky far beyond the eastern marker. Dal began a wide looping circuit as they waited and Seer stuck several lengths off his port side. Both noted that gas thermal activity in this area was more prevalent than what they had encountered earlier in their shift but it was manageable.
After several minutes they were informed by Control that the incoming freighter should be coming into sight soon. Dal responded by accelerating hard directly at where the freighter should appear.
It was hard to miss. The YT 1300 freighter came out of the clouds just below them and Dal swooped down in a turning dive to close the space between them and the ungainly ship. Seer volunteered to take the lead position with Dal on the freighter's starboard side.
As Dal took up his spot, he activated the wide band frequency and sent out a warning chirp that was piercing enough to get anyone's attention.
"Attention YT freighter. This is Lieutenant Fenn of the Bespin Wing Guard. You have entered a restricted air space. Please transmit your registration and maintain your present course."
A male voice, possibly Corellian, replied, "Uhh… copy that, Lieutenant. Transmitting now."
Dal kept an eye on his screen and waited only a few moments before the details rolled down the monitor. He relayed the information to Control and turned his attention back to the freighter.
It's hull was covered in scorch marks from laser blasts and he'd seen enough asteroid damage on ships to know this one had been through one of the belts of the Anoat System. Fresh dents and scratches had attacked the years-old coating and revealed the metal underneath in a myriad of places. This ship looked like it was on its last legs and he wondered if it would even make the city… if Control allowed it to enter.
The GDD chirped and plotted a path around several rising columns of gas. Thumbing the comms, Dal hailed the freighter and told it to follow their course to avoid the tibanna.
Part of him wanted to warn whoever it was to flee, to tell them the Empire was waiting for them. With the battle damage this ship had, it had to have been on the run from their common enemy. How many ports had Dal and Yeranna flown into only to see an Imperial presence at the last minute? So many close calls. So much hiding, living in fear…
"Gotcha, Lieutenant," the freighter pilot replied and the freighter mirrored the turn. "I'm trying to get a message to Lando Calrissian. He's an old friend of mine…"
Dal heard the name of the city's Administrator and pictured the man meeting with the Imperial delegation. The man dressed in black armour… This pilot had no idea what he was getting himself into.
"YT freighter, we need verification of your landing permit," Dal cut him off, delaying for time. He really wished this guy would take the hint and leave before it was too late. He looked across at Tikk and got an idea. Maybe if they fired across their bow, he might hightail it out of there...
"No, I don't have a landing permit. I'm trying to reach Lando Calrissian."
"Tikk, give him a warning shot. Shut this guy up."
Take the hint... Dal pleaded.
Reacting instantly as he had been trained, Tikk fired a couple of bolts at the very front of the vessel. With the amperage set low, the blasts shook the freighter but caused no damage.
"Whoa, whoa! Wait a minute! Let me explain!"
"You will not deviate from your present course," Dal shot back.
Take the hint, you fool, Dal thought to himself. Get out of here!
But the YT continued on, sticking to Storm Six's exhaust trail like he was being towed.
Dal slumped in his seat. With the comms being monitored, there was little else he could do. But he couldn't say he hadn't tried. This guy may not want to save his skin, so Dal would concentrate on saving the one who counted: his wife.
Dispatch cut in on their comms. "Okay, Dal. We need that freighter on platform three two seven."
Sorry, bud, he thought as he thumbed the radio.
"Permission granted to land on platform three two seven."
The pilot replied with a grateful, if somewhat unamused, "thank you" and Dal sighed. He didn't care if anyone heard it.
"Take him in, Seer," he said to his colleague .
"Copy that, Dal."
As the three vessels entered sight of the city, Dal quietly tapped out a message for his wife and sent it off. It simply said Kuat: One Hour.
Kuat was their code word to flee. Once he was back on the ground and his shift over, they would quietly buy passage on the next outbound freighter. He wouldn't risk saying goodbye to anyone. Not Tikk, his gunner for the last two years. Not Seer or Chez. He would just slip away and rendezvous with Yeranna. They would then look for a new life somewhere else and leave behind their life in the clouds... on the run once more.