I watched each of the solo runs, and we were actually starting to look like real pilots. The way Hurl spun after her dodging Krell was impressive. And while FM could be too careful, her flying had an inspiring precision to it.
Kimmalyn did her solo run next, and she actually managed to IMP the Krell. I smiled, and called her when she came back. “Hey,” I said over the private line. “Good job.”
“I didn’t crash,” she replied. “So that’s new.”
“You almost never crash.”
“I almost never win a drill either.”
“We’ve all got talents. Yours is sniping from a distance. Mine is swearing at people.”
“Swearing at people? You almost never—”
“Shut it, scudface.”
She giggled, which made me smile. Maybe Nedd was right. Maybe she did need a chance now and then to blow off steam.
“Now dear,” Kimmalyn said, “far be it from me to offer criticism. But that was hardly an imaginative cuss. I’ve heard that word, oh, every day since leaving Bountiful Cavern! Where I come from, you need to be circumspect.”
“What’s the point of that?”
“Well, you can’t have people realizing you’re disparaging them. That would be embarrassing!”
“So you insult people . . . without insulting them?”
“It’s our way. But don’t worry if that doesn’t make sense to you—personally, I think it’s inspiring that you’re comfortable being the way you are. It must have given you so many chances to learn life’s lessons!”
“That’s . . . huh.” I grinned. “I like that.”
“Thank you.”
Our line crackled, and Jerkface’s obnoxious voice came on. “Quirk, Spin, are you two watching Hurl’s performance? You should be paying attention.”
“I’m watching,” I snapped.
“Good. Because from my vantage, it looked like you were sitting around gabbing and giggling.”
“Jorgen,” Kimmalyn said, “I just want to let you know how you’re regarded as a flightleader. As the Saint is Goodly and Just, I’m certain you’ll be rewarded with everything you deserve in life!”
“Thanks, Quirk. Stay sharp. Jorgen out.”
I watched until the light indicating that he was on the line winked off, then I burst into a fit of laughter. “That was the most glorious thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life.”
“Well,” Kimmalyn said, “you are known to be a tad dramatic at times, but I suppose I can accept the compliment.” She flew off to do another run, as Cobb wanted to coach her on the way she used her booster.
“She almost doesn’t belong here,” I whispered to myself. “It’s like she’s both too good for us, and not quite good enough at the same time . . .”
“That’s contradictory,” M-Bot’s voice said in my ear. “So perfectly human.”
“Yeah,” I said, then sat up straight. Wait. “M-Bot?”
“Yes?”
“M-BOT.”
“Not that I mind being screamed at, as my emotions are synthetic, but would you mind—”
“How?” I said. I hunched down in my seat, whispering quietly. “Can the others hear you?”
“I’ve infiltrated your lines and sent my communications directly into your helmet,” he said. “Your wireless communications emitter gives me a focal point to use for isolating you.”
“My what?”
“In your bag. I think you set it next to your seat.”
The personal radio that Cobb had given me.
“As I’ve said, your people’s communications methods are quite primitive,” M-Bot continued. “Which I find curious, since the rest of your technology—save your lack of brilliant artificial intelligences—seems relatively similar to my own. Well, and you’re also missing cytonic hyperdrives. And proper fungal documentation techniques. So I guess you’re actually backward in all the important areas.”
“I thought you were worried about being discovered!” I whispered. “Why are you talking to me here?”
“I’m a stealth ship, Spensa,” he said. “I’m fully capable of hacking communications lines without exposing myself. But I warn you, I don’t trust this DDF of yours.”
“You’re smart not to,” I said honestly. “But you do trust me? Even though I lied to you?”
“You remind me of someone I’ve forgotten.”
“That . . . is kind of contradictory, M-Bot.”
“No it’s not. I said it, and I’m one hundred percent rational.”
I rolled my eyes.
“That’s called logic.” He waited a moment, then added, softer, “I’m super good at it.”
Ahead, Kimmalyn finished her run with the Krell ship escaping. She never fired her IMP.
But she could have shot the thing out of the air. I thought, irritated on her behalf. Assuming its shield was down.
Cobb kept saying we needed fundamentals, and I supposed that made sense. It still didn’t quite seem fair. Like . . . we weren’t using her to her fullest.
“Spin,” Cobb said. “You’re up.”
“Up for what?” M-Bot asked me. “What are we doing? I don’t have a video feed. Just audio.”
“We’re flying,” I whispered, then hit my booster and soared into the holographic debris—which was constantly renewed with new debris falling from the sky above.
My target appeared, a Krell ship weaving between pieces of junk. I leaned in and chased after it, overburning through the junk. Almost close enough . . .
A light started blinking on my dash. I had a tail? What? This was supposed to be a solo, one-on-one exercise. Apparently Cobb intended to make this more difficult for me.
So be it.
I rolled in a spinning dodge as the tail started firing its destructors. My maneuver saved me, but let the target get ahead of me. No you don’t. I thought, hitting my overburn and blasting after it, taking a corner at speed and gaining ground. The tail stuck to me, continuing to fire.
I took a hit that nearly overwhelmed my shields. But I focused on the ship in front, which dove downward. So I cut my acclivity ring and slammed on my overburn, turning into a gut-wrenching dive. Lights flashed on my control panel to warn that without my acclivity ring, nothing would prevent me from slamming right into the ground.
“I don’t know who you’re fighting,” M-Bot said. “But those warning beeps indicate that you’re not doing a good job.”
As a companion to his words, the line on the top of my canopy warned that I’d just overwhelmed my GravCaps, and the g-force indicator started to flash red. In a real ship, I’d be hit with all those g-forces, which—in a dive—would push the blood to my head and make me start to red-out.
“Try not to die,” M-Bot noted. “I don’t want to be left alone with Rodge. He’s boring.”
I passed into the trail of another chunk of falling, burning metal—sparks bouncing off my shield, making it light up and crackle with energy. I’d lost the tail, which had fallen far behind, but I wasn’t close enough to the one in front.