When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars) by Adam Korenman Read Free Book Online Page A

,” Newman said.
                  George immediately took off, running over to his fighter. The hangar crew already had the ladder out for him, and they handed his flight bag up after he sat down in the cockpit. Cameron realized he had n’ t moved yet and followed suit, finding his ship and climbing inside. The newer Phoenix had cushioned interiors and poly-crystallic screens with a refined holographic overlay. Ca m’ s fighter was pieced together from eight different versions of the Deuce, and looked it. One computer flickered green while another beamed images in sickening orange. It had taken him months to be able to process the kaleidoscope.
                  In the cockpit, Cameron flipped on the master power and waited two seconds for the computer self-test to complete. He reached back behind his head and pulled out his helmet from the stowage rack. The water line was still connected, and he bit down to test if it was full. A sweet mixture of a water and electrolytes filled his mouth. He squeezed the baggy and shook, hearing the slosh of a half-empty bladder. Wo n’ t be out more than an hour. I t’ ll be fine. Cameron pulled his helmet on and plugged into the communication box. Immediately he heard traffic from Wolfpack. It was the usual buzz: what people thought of the mission, if anyone knew something new, did so-and-so hit that hottie last night.
                  Switching to a local line, Cameron spoke .“ George, you read me ? ”
                  “Lima Charlie, Cam. This shit is crazy .” George leaned back as a flight crew Chie f— an attractive woman with bright green eye s— tugged his harness tight and checked for frays in the straps. As she pulled away, George held up a hand .“ No kiss for good luck ?” The Chief smacked his helmet hard enough make him wince, but as she climbed down he saw her blush. George laughed and pulled his canopy shut, waiting for the magnets to connect and seal. He listened until the locks clicked twice before giving the crew a nod. The Heads Up Display read green, meaning the cockpit was now pressurized and ready for launch.
                  Cameron felt rather than saw the crane grab his fighter and begin moving it toward the rails. It was n’ t as efficient as launching from the airfield, as only two fighters could take-off at once, but the magnetic launcher allowed crews to immediately enter the battlefield rather than waiting to taxi out into the vacuum. Cameron connected his flight suit to the hoses inside the craft. Zero-G combat was a fairly different animal than planetary dogfighting, but the human body was the same. The flight suit would help keep him conscious during even the most intense fights. Air and water flowed in hoses around his legs and torso, contracting and relaxing as the system came online. When needed, this would keep blood in the right places.
                  “This is Wolf tw o— shit, Wolf on e— show me attached on rail two . ”
                  “Wolf one, this is Yankee one-two .” Captain Newma n’ s voice came through calm as a schoolteacher over the line .“ You are cleared to launch in minus sixty seconds. Good hunting . ”
                  “One-two, this is Wolf six ,” George said .“I’ m on the rail, show me outbound .” He toggled his power amp, listening to the engines whine.
                  The Phoenix began to vibrate around Cameron as the magnets picked up their spin. Once the green light came, the hangar crew would switch his arresting magnet forward and propel him to launch speed in under two seconds. He remembered the first time h e’ d launched off a rail. George had been telling jokes into the radio from the ground, and Cameron had turned to make a face at him. When the rail launched, his head jerked back so hard he thought his head would be torn off. Three weeks in a neck brace had cemented that lesson in