Chapter 13

You fight like you train.

— U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School, TOPGUN.

Sophia regained consciousness and experienced a moment of disorientation. She looked around and realized that she was in her cockpit seat and then she remembered that this was part of her survival training. She had been knocked out and dropped off in an unknown location. She manually undid the hatch cover and crawled out into the hot desert air.

The survival exercise was designed to be as lifelike as possible. Sophia woke up in an exact replica of a Swift ejection pod which consisted of the cockpit area and the surrounding break-away portions of the airframe. The Swift was designed so that any two of the ejection pods in the aircraft could be jettisoned and the third crew member could still fly the plane. In a real emergency, retrorockets would fire and lower the pod to the ground. There was also an emergency parachute in case of rocket failure.

Sophia reached into the cockpit and removed her sword from its holder behind the seat and then retrieved the survival kit from its storage location. The survival kit contained food and water for five days, a utility knife, a med kit, a compass and matches. It also contained one of the new invisibility "cloaks" that had recently been developed, a space blanket, a folding survival rifle and a backpack to put it all in. The .22 magnum caliber rifle came equipped with a laser sight and a 20X spotting scope. It was intended for use as a weapon to kill wild game.

After unloading the equipment and putting it in the backpack, Sophia retrieved her PDA from its cradle on her instrument panel and checked it to make sure that the electronic maps and GPS were functioning. The AI had loaded maps of the region into the PDA prior to her "ejection", but the GPS function was showing no satellites.

"Just great," she thought. "They're not going to make this easy."

One of the first things the Confederacy does when orbiting a new planet is to set up a navigational grid. Using satellites or navigational beacons from military ships, a grid is established much like the GPS system on Earth. Ground-based and air-based operations could then use the grid for navigation. The lack of a signal told Sophia that she was going to have to do her navigating the old fashioned way, with a map and a compass.

The last two things she did were to strip the pod of any useful items and then set the pod's proximity charges. Sophia quickly removed the parachute and the retrorocket fuel cells which contained a propellant that could be used to start a fire in an emergency. She also stripped several wiring harnesses out of the instrument panel and removed the seat cover and cushioning. She shoved all of this into her backpack and manually set the charges. By the time the charges armed themselves, Sophia was several hundred feet away and moving toward high ground. If anything bigger that a dog got too close to the ejection pod now, they were going to have a very bad day.

Manuel finished packing his survival equipment into the backpack and quickly set the proximity charges. Unlike Sophia, he had not stripped the parachute, fuel and wiring from the pod. Manuel's plan demanded that he be able to travel light and fast. Manuel quickly made his way to a small hill near his drop-off point and consulted his maps. Using his compass, and by measuring the bearings to surrounding hills and other terrain features that he could identify on his map, he quickly determined his location.

Next he reached into his flight suit and withdrew a small hand-held device. He had stuck it to the inside with Velcro. Manuel turned the device on and it quickly displayed an arrow that pointed in a northwesterly direction. Satisfied, he turned the device off and placed it in his pocket. The tiny tracking device that Manuel had hidden in Sophia Santini's flight suit was working perfectly. Manuel headed out in the direction of the signal.

Sophia was peering over the ridge using the spotting scope off of the rifle. Below her was a mock enemy base, complete with vehicles and Sa'arm dummies. A large opening had been dug into the side of a cliff, simulating an underground Sa'arm warren. As she had been instructed, Sophia marked the location of the base on her electronic maps. She then took several photos of the base using the built-in digital camera in her PDA followed by several minutes of video before moving below the ridgeline and going into hiding. The hottest part of the day was approaching and it would be better to go around the base just before dark and then find a shelter for the night.

Manuel had been moving almost non-stop since he had left his pod, only taking a few hours rest in the afternoon and for a few hours each night. He was beginning to get nervous, if he didn't catch up to the bitch before tomorrow, he wouldn't have enough time, or water, to get back to his designated pickup location by the end of the exercise. If he wasn't back in time, then suspicion about that cunt's disappearance would fall on him.

A flash of light, as off of a piece of metal, caught his eye and he immediately dropped to the ground. He pulled the survival rifle out of his pack and unfolded the stock. Slowly he rose up until he could scan the countryside. Before long he saw a figure moving along a narrow ridge. He turned the magnification on the spotting scope up to its highest setting and once again observed the figure.

"Fuck!" Manuel spat. "It's one of the Germans."

He sat down and waited for the German to move on. While he waited, he pulled his tracking device out and checked the direction to his target. He noticed that the direction had changed significantly since he last checked it. Excited now, he hurriedly did some simple geometry in the sand next to him. His equation indicated that he was now approximately 8 kilometers from his objective.

"I should be able to catch up by dark," he thought as he begun to move again.

Manuel took a chance that the instructors wouldn't put anyone closer than a few kilometers of each other to prevent them from working together. He pushed himself as hard as he could, even moving through the heat of the afternoon. He exhausted his supply of water, but he didn't care. Manuel fully expected to be taking the rest of Sophia's food and water tomorrow.

By dusk, Manuel calculated that he was within one kilometer of Sophia's position. He crept forward until he figured that he was within four or five hundred meters. He decided to stay put during the quiet of the desert night. He didn't want to give that sword-wielding whore any warning.

Manuel was ready at first light. He watched the tracking indicator until it started to move before he eased himself out of his hiding place. He cautiously scanned his surroundings before bringing his scope up to look for his target. He quickly found her walking away from him at a distance of approximately 300 meters. He resisted the temptation to take a shot at her. 300 meters was simply way too far to try a shot with the small caliber weapon. Manuel removed the invisibility cloak from his backpack and draped it over his body. Once concealed, he followed his prey, quickly closing the distance. After an hour of careful stalking, he was within 50 meters. He had just set up to take his shot when the bitch disappeared from sight. Manuel, fearing that he had been detected, waited for ten minutes, but she didn't reappear.

Manuel's curiosity finally got the better of him and he slipped quietly forward. He was nearly to the spot where his target had disappeared when he saw the steep ravine that cut across his path.

"She's crossing the ravine," he thought. "Excellent, she'll be a sitting duck down there."

Manuel was almost to the edge of the ravine when his target suddenly appeared on the rim of the ravine opposite him. He was so surprised that he froze. Manuel could see that she was walking downhill and would soon be out of sight. Not able to wait any longer for his revenge, he brought the rifle to his shoulder and depressed the laser button. He quickly placed the bright red dot on the back of his target's neck and squeezed the trigger. A sharp crack echoed down the ravine. The woman spun around and fell to the ground, out of his sight. Manuel chambered another round in the rifle and began to look for a way to cross the ravine. The sides were steep and Manuel didn't want to slide down. Removing his cloak, he began to walk along the edge looking for an easier way down.

Sophia woke up on the third day of survival training with a sharp pain in her neck. Using a backpack for a pillow was definitely not travelling in 5-star luxury. She ate a breakfast bar from her pack and took a couple of swallow of water to wash it down. Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she began to head out toward her designated pickup point. At her current pace, she figured to be there by mid-day tomorrow.

Before she had gone very far, she encountered a steep ravine. It was nearly 40 feet deep and had steep walls. She slid down the side of the ravine, using the cover off of her gunner's seat to protect her hands. Once at the bottom, she began to search for the easiest way to the top. Luckily, there was a narrow gully eroded into the opposite side of the ravine that provided for a steep, but not impossible, climb to the top.

Sophia had just reached the top of the ravine and started to walk again when she was struck hard in the right shoulder. The blow spun her around and knocked her off of her feet. As she fell she heard the crack of a gunshot. Sophia reached up to her shoulder and felt liquid seeping out of her flight suit. He hand was wet with blood when she pulled it away.

"Oh Fuck! I've been shot!" her mind screamed. "What the hell is going on?"

Sophia cautiously raised herself up using her good arm and looked back the way she had come. At first she saw nothing, then suddenly, Manuel Esteves appeared as if by magic. Sophia saw him drop something that shimmered for a second as it fell.

"That mother-fucker snuck up on me in his cloak," she thought. "Now what am I going to do?"

Sophia crawled as quietly as she could down the hill until she was certain that he couldn't see her. She opened up her backpack and rummaged around in the med kit. She swallowed two general-purpose nanobot pills and pulled out a package of wound powder. Setting the package aside, she stripped out of her flight suit as quickly as she could then dumped the powder over the wound in her shoulder. Then she took the space blanket and parachute from the backpack and stuffed her flight suit full of the material. After arranging her scarecrow face-down on the ground, she propped her boots up against the leg openings and tucked the arms under her "body".

"This won't do, there's no head," she thought, panic starting to set in. "Think, think, think," she berated herself. Finally she had it.

She pulled the knife, invisibility cloak, and PDA out of her backpack. She debated trying to take the rifle, but it was disassembled and she felt she wouldn't have enough to time to put it together. She positioned the backpack as though it was blocking a view of her head and then she used the knife to cut off a handful of her long, dark hair. She quickly arranged the hair around the collar of the flight suit to help give the dummy the appearance of a head. The dummy wouldn't pass a close inspection, but it might give her a chance. Taking nothing but her sword, PDA and invisibility cloak, she hunkered down under the cloak next to a nearby boulder to wait.

She didn't have to wait long. Manuel fired another round into the dummy from atop the hill and then strutted down the hill toward the body. As Manuel passed her hiding place under the cloak she took a photo of him approaching the fake body with his gun at the ready. "Maybe someone will find this if I don't make it," she thought as she carefully tucked the PDA out of sight.

Trying to stay under the cloak, Sophia snuck up behind Manuel. Just as she was getting close, Manuel discovered her deception.

"You bitch!" he yelled as he spun around, searching the area. "I'm going to get you yet."

He continued to look for her as she slipped closer. Unfortunately, her right arm was beginning to go numb from the wound and the cloak began to slip. She tried to hold it, but her hand fell outside of the cloak. Manuel saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. He spun and began to bring the rifle up.

Sophia reacted just as her training had prepared her to. She grabbed the hilt of her katana and, using an Iaidō technique that she had practiced over and over again; she drew her sword and struck in one smooth motion.

Manuel watched the cloak fall, revealing the cunt who had embarrassed him. Grinning, he pointed the gun at her chest, and at point blank range, pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Manuel looked down to see what had happened, only to find that both of his hands had been cut off at the wrist. His hands, still wrapped around the gun, were lying on the ground at his feet. He looked back up at Sophia, who was standing at the ready, blood dripping off of her humming katana.

"YOU FUCKING WHORE!" he yelled, an angry sneer fixed on his face.

"I told you I was going to bust your fucking head open," Sophia said.

Before he could respond, her sword flashed and his vision spun crazily for a second, coming to rest looking straight up at the sky. The last thing that Manuel Esteves ever saw was Sophia's naked, blood covered body squatting over him to piss on his decapitated head.

Aaron, Reggie and the rest of the family waited impatiently in the squadron ready-room for midnight to arrive. All of the pilots and gunners had reported in from the survival exercise except for Sophia and Manuel Esteves. They were afraid that she might be hurt or dead. The exercise was not officially over until midnight, at which time Sophia's PDA would activate and send out a homing signal for rescuers.

At the stroke of midnight the AI spoke, "Neither Lieutenant Santini nor Lieutenant Esteves has reported in. Their homing signals show that they are located at the same location; 10 miles from Lieutenant Santini's pickup point and 35 miles from Lieutenant Esteves' pickup. Emergency personnel are on their way."

Twenty minutes later, Colonel Walker entered the ready-room.

"She's alive, but in critical condition. The EMT's have her stabilized and she'll be arriving at the medical center in a few minutes. I have a transport ready to take you to medical," Walker told them. "It's waiting outside."

The family hurried outside and began to climb into the transport vehicle. Aaron, Reggie and Ken waited until last, wanting to ask the Colonel what had happened.

"What happened out there?" Ken asked.

"We don't know for sure yet. All I know is that Lieutenant Santini has been shot," the Colonel replied.