One of Toll’s favorite things about space flight was the
stars. He had spent his childhood looking into the night sky and making up
stories for all the constellations. As an adult he still loved looking at the
stars but now the constellations he had grown up with were gone. The sky was
filled with different god’s and their foreign names and adventures, but they
were still beautiful. He often found himself staring at these brilliant points
of light and wondering if any of them were just the opposite side of the sky he
had always known.
He had the squads split into groups of three, they were dog
fighting, each team had a secret member worth ten points. If shot down, but if
the other two members were shot down first then the ten points was void. It was
a target awareness drill and it left a team of three sitting on the side lines
at any one time.
Toll’s mind had wandered out into the stars as the drill
went on round after round. His plane drifted into the engagement zone.
“Sir, it appears that you have moved into the engagement
zone, is the drill over?” Preach’s robotic voice crackled in his flight helmet.
Toll was brought back into the moment and moved himself back out of the zone.
“Are you ok sir?” Preach asked.
“Yeah I’m fine Preach.” Toll watched the teams facing off
against each other, move and counter move, both sides looking for something to
betray which ship was the real target. “Hey Preach? Who in this group do you
think is the best pilot?”
“Sharea” he answered almost immediately.
Toll was shocked. “What’s your reasoning?”
“She has fewer engagements than all but one other pilot, but
she has the third highest kill to death ratio.m She doesn’t start fights, but
she will finish them. Her record of being show down is in the bottom quarter of
the squad which means she’s most of her time in the air waiting for someone to
pick a fight with her. And most importantly when assigned as a wing man she has
never let her lead get shot down before she is.”
Toll pulled her stats up on his console to verify. “So not
quick to anger, self-sacrificing, and efficient in a fight.”
The loosing team from the closest engagement few to the side
lines. And Preah’s team entered the combat zone. Toll contacted Darren
privately to let him know he was the secret score plane.
When they had returned to Earth Toll was approached by
Preach. “I believe you left the meeting before we had fully explained the scope
of the assault plan. If you would like I can set up a meeting with Third and
Carter and we can finalize our assault.”
Toll thought it over for a moment as Preach got onto the bus
with the rest of the squad. Toll stood by the door as his pilots climbed on one
by one. He stopped Sharea as she approached the door. “Get civil and meet up
with Preach, you’re going to join us at a meeting.”
“Yes sir.” She nodded and climbed onto the bus. Toll
followed her and doors closed behind him.
