Excerpt: ETHER: The Last Starfall

Some things in life are unquestionably worth dying for.

Unfortunately, this had to be one of them.

Two of them darted in and out of the mist, their quick disappearing acts becoming their greatest trick. Not nearly as sleek, a larger cruiser skimmed the treetops, golden reflections bouncing off of the blue paneled wings. The buzz of the crafts echoed throughout the forest and sent birds airborne and animals to their lairs. The twin scouts were faster than the cruiser, rapid in their movements but not completely thought out. They couldn’t contemplate room for error on their part nor the quickly changing minds of their human adversaries.

The bullets they shot ricocheted off the hull of the Dragonfly cruiser as it swerved to and fro, darting not nearly as swiftly as the scouts. The pilot and her crew, however, couldn’t be shaken –there was too much experience on their side.

A shining Brig scout sped just over the cruiser’s port side, sending down a shower of bullets as she banked and changed direction. Although the battle appeared fierce but controlled outside, the crew of the Dragonfly cruiser was at their limits.

“Put that fire out!” It was needless to repeat, but the sting of the smoke in her throat put her at an edge. She received no answer as the two gunners below worked to stop the source of the asphyxiating smell, still rising from the open hatch below.

“We’ve got one more coming up on the starboard side.” A rough voice next to her bounced with the movement of the craft. His words interrupted a shrill beep sounding from the controls before her. A small screen with the cruiser’s layout blinked, one of the wings highlighted in red.

“Second Port Wing’s been grazed.” Adrianne glared through the curtain of rain at the foliage passing by underneath as a green streak. “Figures.” She didn’t even bother to mutter this as her anger reached a pinnacle.

“Keep trying to get a hold of Twig.” The cruiser banked to its starboard side, sweeping underneath the new enemy before righting itself once more. “Even if he can’t get out here, we need to tell him Steele is-“ She paused, cursing while trying to keep the aircraft just skimming the treetops. “Well, he’d better get out here fast.” She muttered to herself.

You know he’s already on his way. The thought came and passed, unbidden and not her own.

“I know.” She answered it aloud as the man in the cockpit half smiled down at her. He had a hard face with sharp features that made him appear harsh. She glanced at the radar, biting her lip as a scout disappeared, though they had not shot even one bullet. “Never know what these things are up to…” The two remaining increased their speed to a dangerous level for their size and closed in on their stern. She began to notice a cluster of trees ahead was taller than the rest –a bump in an otherwise flat green playing field.

“Spence,” Her voice carried easily over the radio through drone of the engines and down to the lower level. “Any chance we’ll be on offence soon?”

The radio attached to the ceiling of the cockpit buzzed as he replied from below. “That’d be a negative. We’ll just have to wait it out ‘till someone comes.”

Her darkened eyes narrowed at the view before her as the cruiser turned quickly around the group of trees. The silver scouts followed faithfully in a line, making the turn with grace. The cruiser did not break her harsh turn as she came to her starting point. Adrianne pulled up sharply, the craft barely missing the top of the last scout in line. The scout behind her, however, smashed into his comrade in a fiery blaze.

The two gunners below let out a whoop that could easily be heard without the radio as the man beside her laughed. She would have preferred they work on repairing the aft gun –the only one that seemed to be able to damage these new models. Even the man seated next to her grinned as she caught his glance –with eyes that were too kind for all that they had seen. Still, she couldn’t help but allow only a slight grin at their short glimpse of success.

The glimpse, it seemed, lasted but a moment.

The radar blinked as something came into view –the third scout reappeared. It flew up from the treetops ahead of them, breaking through a blanket of fog. Once the wave of shocked passed, Adrianne gripped the wheel, but the cruiser couldn’t pull away in time. The horrifying sound of metal upon metal vibrated throughout the cabin and lower level.