Free Exodus: Empires at War: Book 11: Day of Infamy (Exodus: Empires at War.) by Doug Dandridge

of Capitulum
perfectly, showing her the course she must fly to avoid the buildings while
giving the crowd on the ground the best show possible.
    I’ll be glad to get to
that training unit ,
she thought, surprising herself.  She had been dreading the transfer to a
non-combat assignment, until now, when she realized that really all this group
did was perform as a glorified show flight, and nothing more.  Their ostensible
job was to protect the capital from atmospheric attack.  As if that will
ever happen , she thought with a snort.
    “Execute roll over,”
called out the group commander over the com.  “On my mark.  Mark.”
    The maneuver was much too
dangerous for actual pilots to execute.  Preprogramed automatic systems took
over, rolling the entire group over, ships on one side going up and over the
others, until every fighter was oriented with cockpits facing the ground.  The
maneuver disgusted the Warrant Officer, who hadn’t become a pilot to ride in a
robot controlled craft.  Of course she still had to be there, according to the
‘Man in the Loop’ law.  The ongoing war with the Machines had reiterated the
importance of that doctrine.  Though the damned missiles that spaceships
throw at each other are under computer control, she thought with a scowl on
her face as she looked up to see the ground passing below.
    The Empire jettisoned the
law quickly enough when it suited them, or when it was necessary.  Ship
missiles could attack targets light hours from their launch platform, with no
way to control them from that distance.  She hadn’t heard of people lining up
to volunteer to ride the weapons into their targets, so computer control was
the only way to do it.  On the positive side, those missiles only had a maximum
power time in the twelve to fifteen hour range.  After that they were just a
rapidly coasting inert object, still dangerous, but unable to change their
course to go after targets their brains might decide to attack despite the
wishes of their masters.
    “One more go and we’ll
call it a day,” said the Colonel over the com as they came to the end of the
run.  “And remember, the Empress and quite a few VIPs will be watching.”
    Debra cursed under her
breath.  The damned Colonel didn’t have to repeat the performance.  He was up
above hovering in a craft piloted by someone else.  And she could care less who
was watching them fly like a bunch of robots over a parade.  She craved combat,
and surely there was enough of it to go around.  But for some reason it was
being denied her.
    “How did she handle?”
asked the Crew Chief after she had stopped her craft in its revetment.
    “Like shit,” she
screamed, stomping off across the tarmac and leaving the wide eyed Crew Chief
speechless.
    *     *     *
    Sean woke with a scream
on his lips, staring wide eyed into the darkness.  The room lights came on at
the sound, and he looked to the side to see that Jennifer was not in bed.  It
took him a second to remember that it was midday, that he had laid down for a
nap, and that she wasn’t due home until evening.
    “Is everything okay, your
Majesty,” came a voice over the intercom that he recognized as one of his
Secret Service detail.
    “It’s fine, Collin,” he
answered, remembering the name that went with the voice.  “Just a bad dream.”
    “Are you sure, your
Majesty?”
    Sean could imagine the
young man sitting in the monitor room, probably looking on a vid screen,
forbidden of the Imperial bedroom but still used when the Service thought the
situation warranted it.  He was obviously monitoring the Emperor’s vitals over
remote pickups, making sure Sean was not under duress and answering
accordingly.
    “I was just a dream,
Collin.  Probably brought on by stress.”
    “Would you like for me to
send one of the servants in?”
    “I’ll call one in a
moment, Collin.  For the moment, I just need to think, so please give me some
quiet.”
    The intercom died,