Breaking Sky(77)

“What now?” she asked Pippin.

“We wait to find out what this combat is all about.”

They didn’t have to wait long. The fighter jets started to weave. All of them. Dragon’s missile lock alarm went off, making Chase seize in her chair.

“Every single one of those birds is engaging!” Pippin yelled.

Chase watched the cloud of jets come to life and turn at her. “Holy shit, they’re trying to lock on us!”

The Streakers split up, and the fighters chased. They weren’t fast enough to keep up, but there were enough of them to get in the way and completely muck up her escape. Plus, she knew deep down that she wasn’t supposed to escape. This was the combat portion of the test.

A dogfight to end all dogfights.

Chase pulled Tristan’s maneuver, the back loop, and missile locked on an F-18 Hornet. The jet bugged out as soon as it had been tagged. “Well, there’s the secret. We have to tag every single one of these suckers. Here we go.”

Pippin didn’t answer; he was too busy keeping their tail clear.

Chase glanced over and saw that Phoenix and Pegasus had caught on too, and the long pursuit began. It seemed to take many hours, although it probably wasn’t more than two. Chase’s eyes went blurry from exhaustion. Her ears stung from hearing the warning alarms when the jets flew too close, but in the end, the Streakers proved they could outfly and outmaneuver every single jet up there.

Dragon felt like a hummingbird among crows, darting circles, in and out before the jet in question saw her. Her body lined with sweat, and her hands were shaking by the time there were only three jets left in the sky. Three Streakers.

“Are we done?” Chase asked Pippin.

“Nope. We’re supposed to get flagged when it’s over.”

“Then what are we waiting…” Chase’s voice died out. She saw Phoenix move into a striking position behind Pegasus. “No way,” she said. “This is a ‘last jet in the sky wins’ kind of thing, isn’t it?”

“That sounds about as original as the military can muster. So, sure.”

Chase watched Tristan gain missile lock on Sylph, who then left the scene with an angry burst of speed. Now it was just the two of them. “This should be interesting,” she said. “He won’t let me win this time.”

“Does anyone else feel awkward?” Pippin asked. “I feel awkward.”

Chase threw herself into the throttle and felt the magnetic surge of Phoenix blasting after her. They flew for heartbeats, for minutes. Forever. She swung around when they were way over Canada, engaging him full-on, a strong smile spreading over her face.

“Nyx!” Pippin yelled, snapping her concentration. “Do you see that? Look at the screen.”

Chase glanced down and saw a blip coming at them. Fast.

Faster than fast.

She peered at the horizon until she saw something small.

Something bloodred.

? ? ?

Chase lost Tristan in a sunburst. “Red drone! It’s fake, isn’t it?” She was already running evasive maneuvers, but her mind was a blaze of denial. “It’s for the combat test, right?”

“Looks real to me!” Pippin yelled.

She flew zigzagging getaway patterns, but the drone was faster. “Where did it come from?”

“It must have caught wind of our maneuvers. We were in the sky too long after what happened last week.” Pippin was frantic, punching at his controls.

“Can’t you get the tower on the radio?”

“No joy. Can that drone jam our signal?”

Kale’s warning from a few days ago lit up her spine.

“Hunted,” she murmured. “So I guess it’s good we’ve got real missiles now, huh?”

“Good isn’t the word I’d use.”

Phoenix was flying tight beside her. She checked the desire to look over at his cockpit. She had to go faster. They had to split up. The drone would only be able to follow one of them.

Tristan must have understood. He broke right. She went left.

“I guess we win,” Pippin said as the drone swung after them. “Or lose.”

Chase dropped her altitude and speed until the drone was right on her butt, then rocketed Dragon out over a gorgeous patch of wilderness, complete with emerald fields and a huge bottle-blue lake.

“There’s no one here,” she said, gasping between each word. “No people down there. We should do it here.” She flipped up the switch cover of the missile control and put a stiff finger on the trigger. “That drone can’t go back to Ri Xiong Di, and it can’t follow us to the Star, right?”

Pippin’s response came a mile behind her question. “Right.”

Chase hit the fastest speed she could reach on her tired muscles and swung over the shimmering water. Too fast, the drone was on top of them. She hit the brakes, and it flew by overhead so close that Chase heard the screech of metal on metal. She headed back into the atmosphere, shaking the drone a little bit off her tail before she had no choice but to come back down.

Down.

Too low. She had to pull back up, but the drone seemed to be waiting for her move. It engaged, nose to nose.

Chase fired, but the drone shot first.

A missile came at them in a blur.

At the cockpit.