Knight�s Pride

Chapter 14: Flight Causalities

Cole sat there looking at Spike and Spike in return looked back. There was defiantly tension but also great pain.

�I guess I get to tell a story.� Cole said, his jaw working.

Spike then shot a look over towards KaLee to see if there would be a protest but she did not. This needed to happen and Cole was the one who need it the most.

�I know this race.� Cole spoke. �I remember it very well. You don�t forget a day like that.�

********

A young Cole ran past several other pilots and pit crews.

�Hey watch it.� One person said as Cole darted in front then behind him. He swerved pivoted and dashed through the people. Tearing around the final bend he came to a screeching halt in front of his families pit.

�I got it.� He said with a big grin.

A blonde head popped up from behind a table littered with tools. �It�s about time.� His voice cracked slightly as he spoke.

�Come on Fin. I ran all the way there and all the way back.� Cole said looking at his brother. �Don�t I deserve a break for that.�

�A break?� Another voice came from the other side of the ship. �Why would we do that little bro?� From around the rear of the ship walked another blonde haired boy. Both were taller than Cole but Cole had not hit his growth spurt yet. �We are supposed to give you a hard time.� Vic continued. He walked past Cole and ruffled his hair.

Cole swatted at them with jest. �Yeah but I got the race map.� Cole started sticking out his tong at them.

Both Fin and Vic looked at him mouth a gap then pounced at him. �Give it to us.� They said in unison.

�No way.� Cole yelled before he bolted away shoved the map in his pocket as he ran round to the other side.

He stopped and listened. Both were coming around so he tore to the other side and then clambered up on top of the ship. Staying low he watched as his brothers raced together around the ship again. They stopped looked at each other. Without saying a word Fin motioned for Vic to go the opposite direction and they raced around. Only to come face to face with each other and no Cole.

�Where the hell is he?� Vic asked looking around the area.

They looked around a moment longer before Cole saw the change. It was a simple shift of Fin�s body and he turned to look at the top of the ship. Cole then made his move, as they were both in a stage of looking up as he slid down the side of the ship yelling out as he went. �Yee Ha!�

Thump he hit the ground with both feet and tried to run past them. He might have made it too if his brothers were a little slower. Vic managed to grab his arm pulling him back and pinning, holding his arms to his sides.

�Let me go.� Cole squirmed but was unsuccessful in removing himself form his brother�s grip.

�Oh no.� Fin faced him. �We are not letting you get away.� He was smiling that �I�m your big brother� smile.

�Fin... Vic.� Cole tried to plea with them. �Let me go I have to��

But he did not get to finish his plea as boots were heard. Not the heavy boots of their father but the lighter set of their mother.

�You were suppose to bring it directly to me.� Fortunately her tone was light and Fin and Vic let Cole go quickly.

�I was trying to.� Cole said sticking his chin out at his brothers. �But I was delayed.�

He straightened his clothing and slipped his hand into his pocket. He cautiously pulled out the map of the race and held it out to her. �There you go mom.�

She took it form him and opened up the data pad. It flickered to life and a three dimensional map came to life in her hands.

�Wow.� Vic and Fin spoke in unison.

Cole just stood there in shock. Most of the races they went to did not have a three-dimensional map normally they were just flat data pads.

�It looks like route around the edge of the Adrain sector then straight down the center back here to the finish line.� Fin said maneuvering closer to the map.

�Yeah the Beast�s Asteroid Belt and skirting Adrian Nebula.� Vic Spoke next drawing himself closer to the map pushing Cole back.

�But that�s not even the most dangerous part.� Fin said beginning to get excited.

�I know.� It was their mothers voice s and she moved through her two oldest to show Cole the map. �It is the trail on the surface and under ground around on Adrain Zero.� She leveled a gaze at her youngest son. �What do you know about Adrain Zero Cole?� She prodded.

�It is an extreme climate.� Cole took a breath recalling all he had read bout this sector. �Almost no atmosphere there for no protection from the elements of outer space. It had extreme heat in the sun and extreme cold in the dark. When flying on the surface the pilots will have to keep the cockpits darkened and fly by navigation. When flying under ground minimum light is recommended because of the highly reflective surfaces of the rock.� He stopped and looked at his mother. �How long is the route on Adrian Zero?�

�Looks to be about half the planet.� She punched in a code and a detail of the route flicked into place. �We have to hit the marker at the beginning in the middle and at the end.�

Cole observed the map as well. �It also looks like they are placing observers all around the planet to make sure you do not exit the atmosphere.�

�Yeah.� Treia smiled at her son.

He had a thirst for knowledge about the universe that she fostered. Even at such a young age he was able to gather and retain information about the planetary systems they raced in. He was the best one to keep her informed about energy fluxuations and storms that might cause her trouble. He also would be able to plot her the best routes or maneuvers through a race. Gently she let go of the map and watched Cole take it.

�Remember Cole the race starts in an hour.� She said.

Cole absently nodded and started doing calibrations in his mind. Though she knew he would not call it that. He called them flight patterns or ideas. He sat down and started to place what path along the planets surface would be the best.

His whole focus was on the race path now. Time seemed to work differently around him. His family moved but he was only half aware of them. He plotted out a path and down loaded it into the ships navigation systems. His brothers and father were the mechanics and computers experts he was her navigator. He had to keep her informed of the best flight options.

He eventually became aware of the time as his mother walked up to the ship in her flight suit, helmet tucked under her arm. �It�s all loaded. I will continue to monitor all the flight data as it comes in and let you know any changes that will need to be made.� His face was in thinking mode and Treia smiled at that.

�Thanks my little button.� She said.

Fin and Vic walked up and gave the run down on some system glitches that were fixed with the engines. Wishing her luck.

�Pilots and ships to the starting line.� A voice over the loud speaker boomed and the motion all around them became a purpose.

Cole watched his father walk up to his mother and wrap his arms around her waist. �You fly beautiful.� He touched his forehead to hers. �You fly on wings of energy.�

�I love you.� She said and lightly kissed him.

�Hmmmm.� He smiled. �See you at the finish line.�

�Always.� She flashed him one of the smiles that made Cole envious of his father. But then she turned and saw him and gave a wink. With ease of motion she climbed into the plots seat.

Doughty walked up and patted Cole�s shoulder as he spoke. �Okay son, let�s head to the pit.�

The engines of some of the other ships around them started to come to life.

�Come on.� His father pushed him slightly and the both started to jog to the Pit.

The Pit was a row of booths where all the racing crews stayed in constant communication with their pilots. Doughty and Cole slipped into their booth and shut the door just as Treia's slid her ship into the line up.

Cole put his communicator set on and linked up his computer. He got a visual feed from Treia's point of view. He also got feed off of all her navigational systems. So he knew what she did. Also he received feeds from space buoys placed along the race route feeding information in regards to energy fluxes and �weather� patterns. This allowed him to keep her well enough informed about what she might be heading into. Most of the time he did not have to do much. The flight path was clear and even when something came up he knew mom could handle it. He was there just in case and for the larger anomalies, so she could focus on flying. His brothers monitored the engines and mechanical outputs. His father watched the computers and communications. They had their jobs and they stuck to it.

�Okay boys. Give me the run down.� Treia�s voice came over their headsets.

�You are number sixteen in a line up of thirty five racers. So you are about in the middle.� His father gave the run down. �People you need to be concerned about are numbers 28, 21, 10, 3 and 2. Leether is number two. We all know his credentials and how dangerous he is. Number three is Jumper another dangerous opponent.� He continued on running through the pilots and their credentials.

Cole had read about Leether and Jumper. Spike Jumper was a known pirate and a scoundrel in every sense of the word. Leether was just dangerous. Every race he had been in some type of accident had happened.

�Okay pilots. You know the rules.� The announcement came over the speaker. �Respect for your fellow pilot and the space you fly through. The winner is the first one across the finish line. On the starting pistol we will have a go.�

Cole watched his monitor and watched the gentleman walk up to the platform raise an old flint lock type gun to point in the air. The sound did not reach his ears but he saw the puff of smoke and the scenery became a blur as the pilots surged forward.

�Cry havoc to the race and let loose the dogs of speed.� Treia�s voice softly filtered into Cole�s ear. She said that at every race start. She knew the risks and knew to some this was a battle to be won. The other racers were other soldiers and soon to be casualties. Cole often wondered if she viewed it that way.

As always at first the pace was the same. Everyone held their place in the line up as the speed began to climb. The view started to tip upwards as the ships began their accent to space, beyond the atmosphere. The booth was quite at this point almost as though no one was breathing.

�The most dangerous part of the flight is leaving the atmosphere.� Was what his mother had said.

The pilots basically held formation until after atmosphere exit. At the rate of speed they were going it could be disastrous if one ship hit another. The domino effect could be catastrophic.

There was only one recorded accident involving start up but over seventy-five percent of the ships went down and half the pilots died and the rest took some sort of injury. It was a major disaster.

Then the star field began to show through on the screen in front of Cole and he let out a slow breath.

�Okay.� Treia came over the communication line. �Give me everything you have.�

********

�We continued to feed her information.� Coles voice drifted in the room.

No one asked any questions, not even the twins. Everyone here knew the dangers of flying. Then you add in the mix the element of other pilots trying to beat you somewhere it made for an interesting time.

KaLee noticed Cole�s discomfort as he talked but also noticed his determination to make it though the tale he had.

�It was about forty five minuets into the race when trouble started...�

********

�Coming up on Adrian�s Nebula.� Treia�s voice drifted over the line. �It is fairly active today.�

�The engines are holding fine.� Droughty said. �Just fly through what ever you encounter.�

�Getting readings and visual of the people in front of me.� She spoke up. �Feeding it to you.�

Cole turned half his attention to watching the other ships. Cole knew his mother was in the top ten. Leether and Jumper had already cleared the nebula and were moving on. There were still however a few to watch.

The ships heading towards the Nebula were a little bit older but Cole noticed the way they were kept up. These pilots loved what they did. Enhancements of all sorts were very visible on one of them. On the other the enhancements were a bit more subtle and unobtrusive. They skirted into the narrow flight path along the edge of the nebula. Treia maintained her speed and continued her heading.

Cole noticed a shimmy in one of the ships interior wings as his mother started her approach. �Mom watch yourself.� Cole said through the speaker. �They aren�t looking good.�

Just as the words came out of his mouth Cole saw an arch run along the wing that had shimmied.

�Punch it, mom.� Cole practically yelled into his microphone. �Now!�

Fortunately Treia knew to trust her son and punched up the speed. She was moving up fast on the two other ships. Just before she was going to hit them the arch of energy jumped from the Nebula to the extremely enhanced ship. Cole watched as it ate away at the haul and engine containment. Then there was an energy explosion that consumed the ship and the one riding along side. Treia pushed up her speed a bit more and punched through the consuming energy ball.

�Good catch Cole.� She said riding out the explosion.

Cole grinned, he could not help it. The praise was nice. He normally did not get any.

�There is a bit of a flux in the navigation piloting.� Vic said. �Slow it down just a little bit.� His voice was normal then dropped to a quieter tone. �I�ll see what I can do on this end.�

Cole glanced and saw his brothers begin to work on something. Together� during a race? Cole�s brow wrinkled. That can�t be good. He turned his attention back to his information. Whatever it was, mom needed him focused. It was the best way he could help by doing his job. He also trusted his brothers not to hurt mom.

Dad was talking now feeding her information on placement of pilots and what else was happening in the race. Jumper and Leether were still in the lead and then there were two others in a bit more range. Then there was Treia. She rounded out the top five. The next group of pilots was just reaching the nebulas Treia was leaving it.

The next �obstacle� was Adrian Zero. Cole started to pull up current weather information on the planets surface. On the front there were a couple of sandstorms but nothing that should cause any major problems. He hoped there would be nothing of any major difficulties underneath the surface. Cole knew the information he had was sketchy but he also knew his mom was a good enough pilot to make it through.

�Coming up on Adrian Zero.� Her voice pulled him fully back to the moment.

�Okay.� He spoke directly to her. �You are heading down directly into a minor sandstorm but you should be fine.� Cole swallowed. �The winds are low enough that with the shielding and closing the vents you will still have good maneuverability.�

�Okay.� Her voice sounded a little tight. �Droughty the stick seems to be giving me a little trouble. Can you run a small diagnostic for me?� She knew the boys were working on keeping the engines stabilized for the dessert.

Cole spared a glance to his dad. There was a trust here, knowledge that they were a good team. Cole saw his father�s hands move over the keyboard. There was a moment of hesitation before he spoke. �I don�t read anything here. Just take it easy and no hotshot stunts on the surface.�

The comment was received with a chuckle from the other side of the line as well as around the tent. We all know you are the hotshot dad. Cole smiled and then put his focus back to the race.

He saw the atmosphere as the craft descended and his screen went dark.

�Switching to radar scan imagery.� Her voice spoke in his ear.

He gave a silent nod and looked at another screen. It showed the terrain in a three dimension sound map. It was an easy route on the surface and she was going on the opponent in front of her.

�Not too fast hon�.� Droughty's voice cut into Cole�s thoughts. �We don�t want to pass them underground.�

�I know.� Was her response.

Cole kept his mouth shut he could see the terrain she was flying through and it was treacherous. Canyons and crevasse one moment and cliff faces and rock falls the next. They were currently going through a day light section the temperatures on the haul was reading in the seven hundreds.

�Have the entry point for the underground.� Treia said. Cole saw it too.

�Mom.� Vic spoke up. �Communication will mostly likely be garbled. They alloys in the rock are hard to break through.�

�Understood.� She said. Cole took a deep intake of breath. �Here we go.�

The ship made a smooth dive into the cave. As the canopy pulled back Cole saw the light project was dim but the area around was almost daylight.

�The reflective quality of the rock.� Cole muttered but he could not help to take it in the beauty of the situation. The ship was moving at an extreme rate and could not afford any missed steps. The corridors and tunnels were narrow tight fisting. It made Cole nervous watching it. He knew she would be fine but it was still tight. There was no sound from her only slight crackling over the line. Cole could tell his brothers were getting nervous. He glanced at her engine readings. All with in norms. But he was begging to feel his father�s tension as well as the silence stretched.

Finally Droughty spoke. �Treia, how�s it going?"

Nothing just silence with a slight crackle. �Treia how are ya doing in there?� The question held more urgency this time as Droughty leaned towards his counsel. �Treia can you hear us?�

�Crackle� I am� buzzzz buz� a little stiff� buzz crackle� still a short way� zitz click.� Was all that came through.

�Fin, Vic can you get a message to her?� Their dad looked at them with a great intensity.

�Working on it.� Vic said. Their hands were flying over the keyboards flipping switches and inputting codes. �Try now dad.� Fin said.

�Treia can you hear me?� Droughty practically yelled.

�Yeah� a little bit of interference.� She responded. There was an audible sigh form her end.

�Just a little.� Droughty's response was slightly sarcastic.

�You�re coming up on the next two mom.� Cole cut in he was keeping an eye on her flight path. �There is an open cavern up a head.� He saw her readings change and give the stability of the cavern.

�Pretty unstable but I might be able to pass.� Her voice was tight. �Could be my only chance for a while.�

�My thoughts exactly.� Cole said.

�Treia I don�t know�� Droughty started.

�Entering the cavern here we go.� Her voice held excitement and there was a flux of energy out put to the engines.

Cole held his breath as he heard a soft swear word escape his father�s throat. That is odd normally he is gun ho for her to fly fast. Even when she shouldn�t.

The two ships in front of her were pretty close together each trying to get past the other, neither really aware of her coming up on them.

�There is a lot of instability in the stalactites they will be dropping with all the sonics going on in there now.� Cole stated.

�Okay.� Treia responded. �Feed me.�

��K.� Was his tight return. They had done this once before through a debris field in another race. There were cannons that shot out extra debris. Cole focused on the readings of the canons and what was coming and Treia focused on flying.

She was almost on top of them when the first stalactite dropped.

�Port.� Cole said.

With fluid movements the ship moved and a razor sharp stalactite fell past her. With that movement the other pilots became aware of her presents and pushed their speed.

�Starboard.� Cole said and Treia responded moving her ship back to its old position directly behind her opponents. She then punched up her speed and pushed herself into their numbers.

Now the three of them were nose to nose. They seemed to swirl around a moment before Cole spoke. �Port, port starboard, port, directly above.�

He watched as the deadly dance in sued. The three ships moved around and over rotating who was on top or to the side.

�Port.� Treia said timing her moves against all factors the stalactites were dropping now.

�Port.� Missing the ships by small margins.

�Starboard.� They were getting close to the exit out of the cavern.

�Port.� And she managed to pull slightly a head.

�Directly above.� She punched the out put just as the stalactite fell into one of the other ships wings causing it to flip over and narrowly miss the second ship. It continued to flip out of control until it hit the wall of the cavern and explode into a big fireball. Its engine core went also sending out a shockwave.

She shot into the small opening and focused on maneuvering in the narrow corridor again. What she did not see but Cole did was the shock wave hit the other ship causing it�s engine out put to fail and crash directly into a wall. Then the stalactites began to fall like rain.

Well that is going to be difficult for the coming pilots. He shook his head. Focus on the front Cole. He chided himself mentally putting his focus on the race in front of his mother.

She was now third, only two opponents in front of her, Leether and Jumper. Both had reputations neither were very good reputations.

�You�re going to want to slow it down the last part of the underground.� Cole said. �There are some sharp turns and corners.� He watched, as her speed slowed some but not a whole lot. Cole griped the table. This was going to be intense.

She continued her run and soon shot out of the underground. She was now on the dark side. Steam rolled off of the haul as the temperature changed.

�Droughty, still feeling a little pull on the stick� I�d almost say it is getting worse.� Treia�s voice was tight and pulled.

�There are some pretty heavy wind shears coming up.� Fin said. �I don�t know how well the haul will hold up with the temperature changes.�

�Okay.� Droughty spoke up. �Let�s get you out of the atmosphere then we will pull you off and get that fully checked.�

�Okay.� She responded.

Something settled wrong in Cole�s stomach. He watched the readings, they were all fine nothing appeared to be off but they all had learned to trust a pilot�s instinct and his mother�s especially. She started her climb off the ground and out of the atmosphere. Cole noticed a slight shimmy in one of the wings.

�Vic do you...� He started off the com. �Yeah.� Was the response before the question was even finished. �There is nothing I can do right now.� It was hard to wait to have the ship possibly fall a part underneath a pilot. It was even harder when it was a family member.

Treia did not talk there was nothing to report that they did not already know on the ground. She pushed out of the atmosphere holding her breath. Cole let his out when stars filled his screen.

�Okay I am going to take a stationary orbit around the moon.� She sighed. �And run a full diagnostic��but she did not get to finish her statement as the words next hit Cole�s ears. �Oh my god�� Communications were totally cut off. No information was being fed to their screens.

�Treia.� Droughty called out her name. Then again this time more frantic. Cole just sat staring at the blank screen.

His brothers looked between the two as their father became more panicked. Finally Vic walked over and asked. �What happened?�

Tears began to fall like large crystalline weights. Falling off his face down.

�Cole?� Vic placed a hand on his younger brothers shoulder.

�Gone.� He whispered. �Disintegrated.�

�What do you mean?� Fin asked. Trying to calm their father.

Over the loud speaker came a voice. �Another explosion this time it was the Asterfeild ship exiting the atmosphere of Adrian Zero. There appears to be no survivors.�

On to Chapter 15

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