Junkyard Raiders by Jamie McFarlane

Author:Jamie McFarlane [McFarlane, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: military, SF
Amazon: B09KJFNMF9
Publisher: self-published
Published: 2021-12-02T00:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

SPLASHDOWN

The bridge of Seahag resembled that of a mid-sized fishing boat. Adjustable seat posts sat in front of a wide array of controls, allowing two people comfortable viewing angles forward through the narrow, transparent strips of armored glass. Both positions equally controlled piloting chores as well as weaponry, although the array of weapons options were enough that it would require focus if fine control was expected.

“What ordnance loadout should we go with?” Darnell asked after picking up AJ from the shore.

“Depends on if we’re going after the ships or the actual Lagos themselves,” AJ said. “I’d go with something hefty if we’re going to make a run at those ships. I guess we test using what we have the most.”

Darnell set the Seahag on a course to intercept the second of three coordinates provided by the Tok commander and flipped through various options on the vessel. “Dang, this thing can shoot just about anything. We’ve got thermite grenades, a 300mm machine gun with three different ordnance choices and white phosphor smoke bombs. Any suggestions?”

“Let me look,” AJ said, pulling up the second station. “Take us to that other ship.”

“We don’t know it’s a ship,” Lisa said.

“Fine,” AJ agreed, poking through the menus. A prompt illuminated on a screen before him, suggesting that he needed to equip the optional targeting helmet. Tapping acceptance, a panel popped out from the forward bulkhead, exposing a transparent visor attached to a headband. Trailing down from the headband were small, round probes.

“I need a moment to calibrate that device,” Beverly said, appearing in front of him in her work coveralls and polka-dotted Rosie the Riveter garb. “Okay, you should be good to go. I’ll work on learning the interface so you won’t need the device after a while.”

AJ placed probes against his temple and over his brow. At first, they felt like they might fall off, but then they adhered after extruding a sticky substance. On the visor, a HUD appeared, showing the same menu that was on the console. The interface preferred to show the menu on the real screen on the bulkhead, but when he turned away, the screen tracked with his head’s movement. Even more impressive was that when he wasn’t focused on the screen, it lost most of its opacity and became nearly transparent.

“That’s neat,” he said, flipping through the menus with thumb and forefinger. It didn’t take long to switch the loadout, filling the mini-missile tubes with armor-penetrating explosive rounds. He also switched the machine gun so it had a mix of super-hardened armor-piercing rounds and their opposite, softened kinetic loads that would expand on contact. “Slow down a minute. I’m going to toss out a target and see how this works.”

“Want me maneuvering or not?” Darnell asked.

“Either way,” AJ said. “I’ll let you know what’s going on.”

Darnell slowed Seahag, giving AJ time to locate and eject a target. A small box was flung forward, expanding many times its original size and fluttered as it arced toward the sea. AJ

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