Chapter 4 – Vector ZZ4

Commander Alle Thew adeptly pulled his G8 attack craft around to follow his new wingman. Their target had been dispatched and nothing but stray atoms remained, but it had taken more time than he'd intended. The last thing he needed now was for the rookie to go chasing after a new target with no support. The greenhorn didn't have the experience yet and Thew didn't have the time.

"Damn it!" He muttered.

The Rookie's first two shots missed. The veteran pilot cursed as he tapped at the fuel indicator on the console, as if tapping would make the indicator show more fuel than he actually had in the tank. Thew had expended too much on the first kill to risk a second. They might not making it back to the Vanguard if he followed the eager G8. So he snapped on his Com.

"Tango 7 – Stand down." He ordered.

"I can take this one Sir." Came the crackled response. "Itch on.y a Fi..fly."

Alle watched the rookie put two more shots off target as he sped away after the freighter. He wondered what kind of training these pilots were getting these days and shook his head dolefully. The flitting G8 and the illusive Firefly were quickly out of sight. Interference from the great orange moon's corona was thick on his Com and Alle was left with an angry helplessness. He was out of touch, just watching the two dots on his targeting display. He followed them on his screen in horror, helpless to stop this recruit's foolishness from spiraling out of control.

"Damn fool's headed into the moon. Tango 7 – Stand down and return – ZZ4 – Now!"

Nothing came back. Alle wondered if the greenhorn had even heard him. He tapped the fuel indicator again and cursed. Still only crackling on the Com. This was the danger of giving greenhorns too much information, the Commander thought. Their mission was complete. The obstacle was vanquished. But this guy's taken it on himself to eliminate witnesses. That should never have been part of the briefing. Simple. Scramble, take out the craft, return to base. The errant firefly probably didn't even see the kill.

Thew's eyes narrowed on his targeting screen as one dot stopped and hovered while the other fizzled and disappeared. He slammed his fist on the console. The Captain would be less than pleased. Alle could hear him now.

'Don't arouse suspicions' He'd said. 'If you can't put the curious to rest.'

Attacking the wayward freighter was bound to arouse some suspicion and only his rookie wingman had been put to rest.

"Nothing to do about it now." He mumbled.

Thew closed his eyes and breathed deep, trying to focus on his current problems. He enumerated them in his mind, 1. low on fuel, 2. one more dead rookie, 3. a witness to their operation had escaped. He flipped his Com to a new channel and barked through clenched teeth.

"Alpha 12 requesting vector ZZ4."

"Confirmed Alpha 12 – vector ZZ4."

Alle trimmed the power back to conserve fuel as he came to his vector. 'How many more rookies will I have to train?' He thought as he rolled his neck to relieve the stress.

Thew absently traced the patch on his uniform as he resolved the thought in his mind. As many as it took to get a good one, the commander concluded. There was a greater good here to be considered, a new order to bring in. He patted the black lotus patch on his chest and sat back in his seat for the return long trip back.

The commander shut down as much superfluous avionics and electronic as he could to conserve his dwindling energy reserves. Without his wingman he would have to rely on his remaining fuel to get him back to his vector. The Vanguard was not likely to change it course for the wayward G8, after all, it had appearances to keep up. So he would have to close on the exiting cruiser with a single burn and hold the remaining fuel for the final approach. It would be a difficult yet boring run.

The faint yellow line representing his vector flashed dimly in the far right corner on his heads-up display. It was barely visible. His rolling red tote display to the left of the dotted line indicated that he had an hour of tedious waiting before needed to make his adjustment. Hopefully, the cruiser would not have left by then. His canopy display was completely devoid of targets. If the Vanguard weren't there he had one maneuver left and a two-day drift back to a shipping lane. There was a fair bit on prayer involved in that course of action, which was an uncomfortable prospect to the warrior on so many levels. With no immediate threats, Thew back settled into his seat for a long wait.

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