YUKIKAZE (26 page)

But the difference is to be expected,
the major thought. Rei and the other Boomerang pilots were constantly fighting on the front line. The captain was a noncombatant test pilot, not a soldier. Danger was nothing new to him, but he didn’t fight in actual battles and wasn’t constantly confronted by a strange, irrational enemy like the JAM.

There was one other thing that differentiated Captain O’Donnell from the Boomerang pilots: he was one of the elite. The soldiers here were mainly those who’d been sent to Faery because they couldn’t fit into Earth society, but the captain wasn’t like that. Back where he’d come from, he had been a top-ranked test pilot in the air force. He had chosen to come here. He’d wanted to be a pilot for the FAF so that he could help defend Earth and his homeland.
This bloke,
the major thought as they continued to talk,
is a straightforward person. He isn’t a man like Rei, his heart maimed by the wounds life’s given it. Not like Rei. Not like me, either.

Captain O’Donnell always brought an aide with him, which was unusual for someone of his rank. Lieutenant Eva Emery reported directly to the captain and was an engineer trained in the field of aviation optoelectronic systems. Her official role was to liaise with the engineering specialists involved with his flight tests, and she performed this duty well, but the captain used her for various odd jobs beyond that, making her essentially his personal assistant.

As Captain O’Donnell attended to the briefing and cheerfully cracked jokes, Lieutenant Emery sat behind him, taking notes.
She’s probably the reason he’s in such a good mood,
thought Major Booker. In public, she addressed him as “Captain O’Donnell” and did so curtly, as though to give the impression there was nothing more between them.

However, some hours after the briefing had ended, when Booker went down to the dark and now abandoned maintenance bay, he witnessed a scene that made it clear their relationship was more than just a professional one.

“Listen, Hugh,” Lieutenant Emery said, speaking in an intimate tone, “I’m worried about this.”

“Don’t be,” the captain replied. “The Fand II’s a good plane.”

“But they said the tests on the central computer still weren’t complete—”

“It’ll be okay. If anything happens, I’ll have this Sylphid to act as backup. And it isn’t just any old Sylph. It’s a Super Sylph. It’s a fantastic plane, and Unit 3 here is the very best that Boomerang Squadron’s got. Its avionics hardware may be outdated compared to the Fand II’s, but it’s actually more powerful. In truth, I envy the guy who flies it. He’s ended up in the strongest fighter there is.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever understand why these fighters appeal to you so much. They’re just machines.”

“We need the best planes possible to counter the JAM.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“What, are you jealous, Eva?” O’Donnell teased.

“No, I’m worried about you,” Lieutenant Emery snapped. “I worry all the time.”

“No need. I only have eyes for you. If another woman ever touched me, she’d turn into a pillar of ice and shatter.”

“I’m being serious,” Emery said, stamping her foot. “Don’t make fun of me.”

“Honey, I’m always serious,” he replied, grinning, and pulled her into an embrace.

“You’re only serious about whatever’s new. That’s why you became a test pilot, isn’t it? Am I just one more thing you’re testing out?”

“Eva, you’re not like a plane. Believe it or not, I can tell the difference,” O’Donnell said with a hint of exasperation in his voice. “Why are you being like this?”

She stiffened for a moment, then suddenly collapsed against him, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I want to go home,” she said in a small voice. “Back to Earth. With you.”

“You mean run away? The JAM are still after Earth. I have to—”

“Stop it! Please, just stop…”

“Maybe you’re right,” he said, stroking her hair. “But just calm down a little, okay? My term of duty’s almost up here. If you want, I’ll resign from the FAF. But as long as I can still fly, I’m going to keep doing this job.”

“But being a test pilot is so dangerous. You can’t trust these machines like you do. Please. Please, Hugh.”

O’Donnell was silent for a bit, then said gently, “Okay, think about this: my term’s up in two months. In two months…let’s get married.” He cupped her face in his hands. “I love you, Eva.”

They shared a warm kiss, and then Lieutenant Emery let go of the captain and informed him in her professional tone that she’d processed the day’s schedule. He gave her a wink and turned to go.

He froze at the sight of a figure standing in the shadow of Yukikaze’s radome.

“Who’s there? State your identification.”

“Lieutenant Rei Fukai.”

O’Donnell looked at the name stenciled beneath Yukikaze’s canopy and nodded.

“Ah, I’ve heard about you. The ace pilot of Boomerang Squadron. That’s an excellent fighter you’ve got there in Yukikaze. What’s that name mean, by the way?”

“‘Snow wind.’”

“‘Snow wind’? Like a snowstorm?”

“No, a snowstorm’s different. A snow wind is a snow wind.”

Rei looked at the two lovers without any expression. As Captain O’Donnell made to approach Yukikaze, he stopped him with a sharp “Don’t touch her,” then climbed up the boarding ladder and opened the canopy using the external manual control. Settling into the cockpit, he turned the master test system on, set the built-in test system selector to interleave mode, and began running the diagnostic routine for Yukikaze’s electronic instrumentation.

“I’ve flown Sylphids before,” O’Donnell called up to him. “But the Sylphs you guys in the SAF fly are another beast entirely. I’ve never gone up in this one, but I’ve heard talk of what it can do. Go easy on me tomorrow, okay?”

Rei remained silent. The captain gave him an easygoing salute anyway, and put his arm around Lieutenant Emery’s shoulder as they exited the maintenance bay.

“First Lieutenant Fukai.”

“Jack. Don’t scare me like that. Where’ve you been hiding?”

“I forgot something down here… Rei, Yukikaze’s modifications have been perfect.”

“You’ve put new systems into her. She’s changing. She’s slipping out of my hands.”

“The system outline is just what I explained to you yesterday. We’ve got an early day tomorrow. Get to bed.” “Yeah.”

Rei nodded, but didn’t make any move to climb down from Yukikaze. Booker sighed. With the combat flight test plan documents bundled under his arm, he left Rei behind in the silent maintenance bay.

Rei was a Boomerang soldier.
I should be used to that attitude by now,
the major thought. But after seeing the human feelings shared by Captain O’Donnell and Lieutenant Emery, Rei seemed unusually tragic to him. Yukikaze was indifferent to the expectations that her pilot or any other human held for her. She was the heroine of her own story. A spirit of the air who ruled the skies of Faery. The queen of the wind.

0620 HOURS. CLEAR skies. The Fand II’s combat flight test got underway. After the preflight briefing, first the control plane trundled out onto the runway, with Rei aboard it. Next came their escort, 5th Squadron’s Unit 6, Minx, on launch standby.

The Fand II’s engines started up. Captain O’Donnell felt the vibrations with his entire body and sensed nothing out of the ordinary. All caution lights were clear. Standing well away from the plane, Lieutenant Emery asked him through the headset how things looked.

“All systems normal. Okay, I’m raising the output to military. Detach the comm cord.”

“Be careful up there.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ve got a present for you when I get back.”

“A present?”

“Just make sure you’re not wearing anything on the ring finger on your left hand.”

“Oh my god… Hugh…!”

“This is Fand II, O’Donnell. Ready for takeoff.”

The control plane made a leisurely takeoff, trundling down the runway and hauling its bulk into the sky. Minx followed, lighting its afterburners in a combat climb.

The Fand II initiated its takeoff sequence. Rotation. Landing gear up. Trying not to stress the plane, O’Donnell guided it along a normal ascent and then banked into a 3G turn. Orbiting the airspace around the base, he waggled the plane’s unique forward-swept wings. He could see Lieutenant Emery below him, a tiny figure on the ground. Yukikaze was not out on the runway. O’Donnell brought the Fand around to the correct heading and opened the throttle, accelerating toward the flight test airspace.

After completing the preflight checks, Major Booker switched Yukikaze’s auto-maneuver system on, closed the canopy and moved away from the plane. Her twin Super Phoenix engines roared to life. The air shook. She accelerated down the runway at terrific speed and lifted off using only 80 percent of the usual length. Pointing her nose skyward, she quickly hit full vertical climbing speed, moving at over 9 Gs.

Like a rocket,
thought Major Booker.
No, even faster.
She was out of sight in an instant.

“Rei, look at her,” the major muttered to himself. “This is Yukikaze. This is her true form.”

Maybe we humans have underestimated her,
thought the major as a strange chill traveled through his body.

Aboard the control plane, Rei sat at Yukikaze’s remote console, monitoring the video feed and other flight data she was sending them. He watched the symbol on the radar screen marking her position. She was flying level and closing rapidly on the control plane. He didn’t interfere.

Yukikaze picked up even more energy, passing the control plane on the right side at supersonic speed. As fast as a missile. The shock wave of her passage shook the huge aircraft.

“Whoa!” exclaimed the pilot. “What the hell was that? Is it trying to clip us?”

The Fand II reached maximum speed and began running through its tests.

Yukikaze followed, and then shot past the Fand II as it unloaded Gs and descended in preparation for low-altitude penetration. Yukikaze quickly descended as well and took position five hundred meters off to the Fand II’s side.

“Initiating ultra low-altitude penetration test.”

Captain O’Donnell ran the throttle forward. Yukikaze flawlessly maintained position on his wing. The shock waves of the two planes tore a swath through the forests of Faery, leaving a clear path marking the course they had taken.

“Okay, initiating dogfight capability test.”

O’Donnell confirmed that his anti-G seat control was functioning normally. The Fand II’s seat was deeply reclined, shaped to wrap around the pilot’s body even more than usual in a single-seat fighter.

“Let’s do this,” the captain muttered.

The Fand II was no match for the other plane in terms of raw speed, but in a dogfight he would be the victor.

All caution lights, clear. Maneuver switch, ON. Fly-by-light system, normal.

Yukikaze maintained her attitude as she climbed. Without increasing her angle of attack, she ascended while remaining level with the ground. After flying over two hundred kilometers in three minutes, she turned and confronted the Fand II. She had now become a simulated JAM.

To ward off a close-range attack Yukikaze fired six simulated medium-range high-velocity missiles. The simulated missile tracks appeared on the Fand II’s moving target indicator.

Here we go,
thought Captain O’Donnell as he shifted his gaze from the MTI to his HUD. This was what had wiped out the 402nd.

The Fand II fired the FAF’s new high-velocity air-to-air missiles. Four shots. These too were simulated. Missile intercept, successful. Just before launching the HAAMs, O’Donnell had initiated a high-velocity turn. The two remaining “JAM” missiles would reach the Fand II in ten seconds. The captain turned the Fand II toward them nose-on and corkscrewed through the air, evading the first one. The plane instantly slid right and popped off three shots, taking out the second missile, then flew in a flat scissors maneuver as it closed in on Yukikaze. Right, then left, the high-G forces buffeted Captain O’Donnell’s body. His labored breathing carried over the radio and was heard by all the flight test staff.

“Amazing plane…haven’t seen performance like this before.”

Yukikaze attempted to turn and withdraw.

“Think you’re getting away? Fand II…pursuing.”

Suddenly, Yukikaze opened her air brakes and radically decelerated. Killing her speed, she dove.

“The hell…?”

O’Donnell’s eyes widened. The Fand II overshot Yukikaze at subsonic speed. O’Donnell immediately lost sight of her. He cursed and pushed the nose of his own plane down without rolling, going into an inverted loop. The blood rushed to his head, threatening his vision with redout. He reflexively loosened the loop diameter, searching for Yukikaze. A warning sounded, alerting him to an enemy plane above and to the rear.

He banked hard into a half-roll and climbed, finally catching sight of Yukikaze, which was coming at him at the maximum angle of attack, with gunsight open. She locked on to the Fand II just as it began to climb and opened up with simulated cannon fire. He was just barely out of range, and the combat technique simulator in the control plane determined the attack failed. The Fand II immediately counterattacked.

Captain O’Donnell was now soaked with sweat from head to toe, his breathing coming hard. His heart was pounding as though he were in a flat-out sprint, and he could only speak with great difficulty.

The Fand II got around to Yukikaze’s right rear quadrant. Yukikaze executed a high-G boost out of subsonic speed, and the Fand II instantly turned to follow, shuddering with the strain of the maneuver. Lock on. Auto-fire. Out of range. O’Donnell launched his remaining four simulated missiles. Yukikaze evaded them at the last moment, pulling 16 Gs in the process.

“Damn, that thing…that…Super Sylph is a monster.”

The Fand II accelerated. Yukikaze turned.

An emergency call was sent out to the control plane from Yukikaze. O’Donnell noticed her turn radius widen. “I win…” he muttered.

“Captain O’Donnell,” Lieutenant Fukai called. “There’s been a malfunction in Yukikaze’s hydraulic system. The function of the elevon on her right main wing is compromised. The Fand II wins.”