New Story Out - The Combat Pilot's Dictionary
"This was instinct. This was kill geometry, a perfect equation written in blood and sweat and carbon isotopes."
A great way to start the year - my first professionally published science fiction story, The Combat Pilot's Dictionary, is available now in Aurealis, accompanied by some excellent artwork by Simon Walpole.
It's about the breakneck high-gee violence of interstellar combat, the interstice between technology and the human mind, and fast love in the theatre of war.
You can read the full story in Aurealis #167 here.
A brief addendum to the story, for anyone who wants a little bit more, follows:
//SECURE DISPATCH TAC-COM
//CLASSIFIED LEVEL CHIRON
//S_034-436 A2
//JOVIAN CAMPAIGN AFTER-ACTION REPORT
---BEGIN---
>LIMITED ENGAGEMENT IN CALLIPSO GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT
>CONFEDERATION COMBAT ELEMENTS:
CARRIER BATTLE GROUP (PRESUMED CARDINAL SPEAR)
>ALLIED ASSETS: TWO HUNTER-KILLER
DESTROYER ELEMENTS (AWS VORACIOUS AND AWS MALACHAI) SUPPORTED BY FOUR FIGHTER
WINGS (102nd, 104th, 17th, 47th)
>CONFEDERATION ENGAGED ALLIED FORCES 0610 EARTH STANDARD TIME
>ALLIED FORCES SUSTAINED HEAVY LOSSES: 102nd AND 104th REMOVED FROM PLAY, AWS MALACHAI LOST WITH ALL HANDS, AWS VORACIOUS HEAVILY DAMAGED
>CONFEDERATION CARRIER BATTLEGROUP
SUCCESSFULLY DISENGAGED AND MADE IMMEDIATE BURN FOR JOVIAN HIGH ORBIT LAGRANGE
POINT L4
>SUGGEST DEPLOYMENT OF ADDITIONAL ALLIANCE ASSETS TO COUNTER
---END---
//SECURE DISPATCH
TAC-COM
//CLASSIFIED LEVEL EREBUS
//S_049-436 Y4
//AFTER-ACTION DEBRIEF (EXCERPT 19A)
---BEGIN AUDIO RECORDING---
[14:23] PILOT TK19-892: They came out of nowhere, no drive flare – just dropped right on top of us like it was a crash jump or something.
[14:24] INTERVIEWER: And this was at sublight?
[14:24] PILOT TK19-892: Yeah. Conventional drive engines apparently.
[14:24] INTERVIEWER: So you attribute this defeat to the enemy forces’ ambush?
[14:24] PILOT TK19-892: Partially, yeah. The rest is because of that damn pair of fighter aces.
[14:24] INTERVIEWER: To clarify, you are referring to these two fighters? For the benefit of the tape, I am showing the pilot guncam footage of enemy combat element designation HUGINN and MUNINN.
[14:24] PILOT TK19-892: Yeah, that’s them.
[14:24] INTERVIEWER: Can you describe what it is that makes these elements so dangerous?
[14:24] PILOT TK19-892: You’ve watched the footage, right?
[14:24] INTERVIEWER: For the tape, please.
[14:25] PILOT TK19-892: Right, right. Well for one, that one – MUNINN or whatever – is a crazy pilot. Absolutely nuts. I saw him hit what must have been twenty gees in one of those burns, and he came out of it lucid enough to lock up Pags and Pancher before they could jink. I don’t know anyone who can move like that.
[14:25] INTERVIEWER: I see. And HUGINN?
[14:25] PILOT TK19-892: He’s just always there by his wingman. Never seen anyone fly that close together, it’s like they’re linked or something. Can’t get into MUNINN’s kill slot without HUGINN coming out and lighting you up.
[14:25] INTERVIEWER: You believe they are skilled pilots, in your estimation?
[14:25] PILOT TK19-892: Skilled? I don’t know anyone who can turn like MUNINN and still come out alive. I’d say it’s a drone ship, but then I don’t know a computer that’d take those risks and still come out on top. That’s a human, alright, but I don’t know what they’ve got him juiced up on.
---END AUDIO RECORDING---
>NOTE SIMILARITY BETWEEN MUNINN FLIGHT PATTERN AND ENEMY ASSET 287Z-41D (ATTACHMENT: ENEMY LOSSES-ALEXANDRIA ENGAGEMENT)
>REQUEST ADDITIONAL INTEL ASSETS TO IDENTIFY PILOTS
//FLEETNET TACTICAL ALERT
//CLASSIFIED LEVEL ARCTURUS
//S_053-436 N5
//TACTICAL UPDATE – JOVIAN SITUATION
---BEGIN---
>JOVIAN THEATRE HAS STALLED DUE TO GUERILLA TACTICS EMPLOYED BY CONFEDERATE COMBAT ELEMENTS
>REGROUP IN SATURN ORBIT FOR REFIT AND RESUPPLY
>ALLIANCE COMMAND TO INVESTIGATE DEPLOYMENT OF ADDITIONAL STRATEGIC ASSETS TO JOVIAN THEATRE
>STAY ALERT FOR ENEMY FIGHTER ASSETS DESIGNATED HUGINN AND MUNINN
>DO NOT ENGAGE WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT NUMERICAL AND SITUATIONAL ADVANTAGE
---END---
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