[Avia]

Flint touched his com-viewer, then placed it to an ear. "Haze, we got hostiles coming in hot. They're after Avia. Assemble the team and meet us at the dock. Ten minutes."

In a flash, Flint donned a green camo suit and one boot, leaving his artificial leg shoeless. Then he hauled out a black duffle bag from a hidden compartment beneath a bedroom rug. The zip-closure hissed as he yanked it open, revealing weapons and tactical gear.

"We do mercenary work for select clients," Flint explained after I lifted an eyebrow. A half grin appeared on his lips. "Call ourselves the Geezer Squad."

I grinned in reply as he slung a bulky plasma rifle across his back and fixed a holstered projectile pistol on a belt clip. Then he tossed another pistol to me. "Remember how to use this?"

"Yeah," I replied, balancing it on both palms. "But I still don't like it."

"We do what we have to do." Flint turned to Zach. "Have you had weapons training?"

"A little," Zach answered with a shrug.

Flint tossed him a stunner pistol. "Don't point this at anything you don't want to shoot."

We met the others at the dock, the same four I met earlier in the rec center. They were dressed in camo, similar to Flint, and equipped for armed conflict. While gray and aged, there was a calm and unbending spirit born from a lifetime of experience, and I took comfort in that.

The setting sun painted high clouds in oranges and reds, while at the opposite horizon, a moon had just cleared the trees, tracing a golden shimmer across the lake. It would have been a peaceful moment if not for the coming threat.

"What are we facing?" Shade asked while slinging a rifle across her shoulders.

When Flint turned to me, I answered, "Two delta-class shuttles, probably Omni-Corp security. They'll be here in fifteen to twenty minutes."

Flint continued, "Each shuttle might carry ten combatants plus pilot, and maybe mechs."

Bulldog hefted a long cylindrical pack and grunted, "So, we're outnumbered like usual?"

"Yeah," Haze replied, "but they're corporate goons, probably Fed military washouts."

"How do you want to play this, Flint?" Amber asked. The green backpack she wore seemed too large for the small woman, but she bore it well.

"We need to escort Avia and Zach back to their ship," Flint said.

"Phfft," Bulldog spat. "Hostiles will get to the spaceport before we do."

"Didn't say it would be easy."

"There is another option," I interjected. "I can bring the Freebird to us."

Flint wrinkled his brow. "You can fly it remotely?" Then he put fingers to his forehead. "Of course you can. Okay, new plan. There's a defensible clearing across the lake. Land it there. That way, we keep the fight away from the village. Load up!"

Closing my eyes for a moment, I connected to the Freebird AI and had it ramp up the fusion reactors in preparation for liftoff.

We boarded an open-cab hover-car that stood ready on the pebble beach, crowding into three seat rows. Levitated by four thrust fans, one at each corner, we sped across the lake with a mist cloud in our wake. I tied back my flurried hair.

After accessing the Panchaia space control with my cybernetics, I shouted over the fan whir, "The shuttles split up, one to the spaceport and the other to the village!"

"With any luck," Flint said, "they won't find us across the lake."

"Since when have we been lucky?" Bulldog huffed.

Flint ignored the grumble, instead turning back to Amber. "When we reach land, get eyes in the sky."

"Got it," she responded, "like, in case we're not lucky?"

Haze slowed the hover-car at a rocky beach, and carefully climbed a moderately steep slope to a narrow grassy plateau, forcing me back into my seat.

Taking advantage of the reduced speed, Amber took two mini-drones that looked like oversized bumble bees and launched them from an outstretched hand. They buzzed straight up to the sky. Watching video feeds on a thick tablet-viewer, she announced, "All clear, so far."

"The Freebird is away," I said as Zach's ship lifted from the pad, "and coming our way." Just in time, too. In four minutes, an enemy shuttle would arrive at the spaceport.

"Try to keep it at tree level, kiddo," Flint instructed. "Maybe they won't notice."

I nodded in reply while sending the flight parameters to the ship AI.

Zach's eyes widened, as I suspected the reality of upcoming combat hit him. Reaching over, I squeezed his hand. "Doin' okay?"

He forced a grin. "Life is one adventure after another with you, Avia."

I knew Zach's reply was meant to set me at ease, but sour guilt churned in my gut. "I never meant to put you at risk," I said, dipping my eyes.

"Hey, I started all this by kidnapping you, remember? Not regretting it."

As I leaned over, attempting to place a kiss on his cheek, the hover-car lurched, and my nose jammed inelegantly against his ear. The car had side-swiped a boulder, bouncing to the side while weaving through the trees.

"Easy, Haze!" Shade yelped. "Let's arrive alive."

"Next time, you drive," Haze grumbled in reply.

"There," Flint said, pointing ahead to a grassy clearing dotted with yellow wildflowers within a circ of rocks and tall deciduous trees.

Haze nodded and set the hover-car down with a thump beside a red boulder.

"Defensive perimeter!" Flint barked as they bounded out. Then he tapped his right ear, which contained a hidden earpiece. "Com encryption alpha."

In smooth, practiced motion, the mercenary team donned tactical visors, touching the sides to enable heads-up displays. Plasma rifles in hand, they spread out, choosing cover behind boulders or enormous tree trunks. In addition, Bulldog removed a bulky missile launcher from the tube-like pack he hefted. Flint kneeled beside Zach and me near the hover-car.

As I popped a gummy candy into my mouth, Flint grinned at me. "Still like those goober things, huh?" I grinned in return.

Flint tapped his ear to activate the com-channel and said, "What do you see, Amber?" I listened in over my cybernetics.

"Guess what?" she replied. "We're unlucky. The shuttle to the village veered our way. ETA, umm, five or six minutes."

"Told ya," Bulldog mumbled.

"Avia?" Flint said, glancing my way.

"I can get the Freebird here in fifteen minutes if I push the thrusters," I replied over the com via a cybernetics synthesized voice. "But there'll be ground damage from the thrust wash."

"The trees will grow back."

Zach wrinkled his forehead in confusion, since he was not privy to the com conversations. I leaned over and explained, "The bad guys will get here before the Freebird."

"That's not good," he said with a huff.

A crescendo of fusion thruster roar announced the first shuttle's arrival even before Amber announced, "Here they come!" She broadcast images of the white-winged shuttle as it swung around to the clearing. Dropping near ground-level, ten white-uniformed and armed combatants bailed from an open hatch. Then the shuttle lifted away with a roar.

"Avia, jam their coms." Flint ordered.

Reflexively putting fingers to my forehead, I used my cybernetics to scan the usual com frequencies. Upon finding their channel, I broadcast an irritating high-pitched squeal, grinning as the combatants simultaneously yanked out earpieces. Flint winked at me with a half-grin.

Amber's drone footage showed the enemy spreading out in the underbrush just beyond the clearing and across from us. Thus, the battle lines formed.

Zach tapped Flint's shoulder and said, "Omni-Corp wants Avia alive, so they will be reluctant to use lethal force."

"Maybe," Flint replied curtly. Then he ordered over the com, "Shade, lay down a few bolts at their feet. Let's see if they take a hint."

Within two seconds, four orange plasma bolts streaked across the clearing, blasting into the brush in dazzling bursts at the far side.

Immediately, they responded with sharp staccatos of projectile fire, sprayed wildly across the clearing. Countless bullets pinged off the rocks and slashed through the brush.

"Maybe not," Zach muttered as he crouched beside me behind the boulder, extending an arm across my back and pulling me close. His gesture, despite that I was the one with combat experience, warmed my heart.

"Damned amateurs," Flint growled with a sneer.

"Couldn't help but notice that they didn't take the hint, Flint," Shade said in an even tone.

Flint sighed. "Okay boys and girls, light 'em up!"

After switching on the infrared targeting screen, Flint swung his rifle around the boulder and pulled the trigger. Nearly simultaneously, the team fired as well. A barrage of orange bolts blazed, hissing and lighting up the clearing in orange flashes within the fading twilight. They were deadly accurate, and based on the drone footage, at least five enemy combatants fell from the sizzling blasts. The others scattered, running wildly in all directions. A scent of ozone tingled my nose.

"That showed 'em!" Bulldog blurted out.

"Stay sharp!" Flint warned. "The others may try to flank our position." He turned to me. "ETA?"

The Freebird zoomed just above the trees, but not here yet. "Four minutes."

The roar of thrusters filled my ears, but not from the Freebird. The shuttle reappeared above the trees beyond the clearing, swinging around. About a dozen dark, ovoid objects dropped from its belly and flew our way in arcing paths, buzzing like mad hornets.

"Kamikaze drones!" Amber shouted.

I sucked in a breath. These insidious little devices tracked down their victims, then killed with a hail of deadly shrapnel as they exploded.

Flint turned, eyes widened. "Can you deactivate them, Avia?"

Closing my eyes and touching my forehead, I was already on it. I reached out with my cybernetics' embedded transmitter, attempting to connect. The drones were semi-autonomous, guided by a targeting AI on the shuttle, but still able to operate on their own. Fortunately for us, their cyber intrusion protection was rudimentary, and I connected via the guiding signal and hacked the drones, locking them out from the controlling AI.

Nodding, stern-faced, I replied, "I can do better than that — I can turn the drones against them."

First, I erased the targeting parameters. Rendered purposeless, the drones merely hovered in place, each like a small black disk suspended just above the trees. The original targets excluded the Omni-Corp security forces, who all wore passive identity badges, and, interestingly, excluded me by visual reference. Apparently, Zach's initial assessment was correct — Omni-Corp still wanted me alive.

Then, with a simple code alteration, I established myself as the coordinating AI, taking full control of the drones. I set new targets, namely the enemy fighters in white uniforms, and their ID badges would lead the drones right to them.

This will not be their day.

But before I set the drones loose, my heart raced and breath caught in my throat. Old images of combat when I was a child soldier flashed across my mind, paralyzing me. I recalled shooting a young man at close range and his following death stare. And the ballistic impact shockwave that spread across a planetary city, killing countless thousands — a result of my actions. As part of the Cyber Assault Force, I caused so much death, and I didn't want to do that anymore.

Zach, apparently noticing my trembling distress, put an arm around my shoulder. "Avia?" he said in a gentle voice, "are you alright?"

Taking a deep breath, I drew comfort from his concern. "I'll be okay."

I made one more modification to the drones programing — changing the proximity parameters so they would detonate further from the targets. Thus, they would injure, but less likely to kill. Then I sent the drones loose.

The drones dove at their targets like birds of prey, exploding in bright flashes and sharp cracks within the brush.

For a moment, eerie silence overtook the forest. Then came a panicked cry of pain from across the clearing, followed by a chorus of moans. At least some had survived.

"Damn," Bulldog remarked over the com.

Amber followed, saying, "They're down. I show no activity."

"Woo hoo!" Shade exclaimed. "Flint, your Avia is awesome! Can we keep her?"

"Stay sharp!" Flint barked. "We're not done, yet."