Jack of Harts 2: Angel Flight Read Free Page A

Shang fighters at the Battle of Fort Wichita in the old Hellcat they’d flown at the time.  Jack and Betty had accounted for far more Shang lives, but they’d had an Avenger, so it wasn’t a fair comparison.  Drew and Jasmine had fought beside him in another Avenger, and the dozen fighters of Cowboy squadron had torn apart entire Shang warships with their concentrated fire.
    Now that they augmented their numbers with drones, the cybers simply expanded the number of fighters they flew and gave each pilot and cyber team control of twelve fighters.  It was a truly amazing amount of firepower for a single pilot to be in command of.  He watched the drones slotting in around the piloted fighters with approval and turned to examine the new arrival on his console.  She was brunette to Betty’s blonde, wore faded blue jeans and a grey tank top to Betty’s yellow sundress, and her feet wore nothing at all compared to Betty’s white sandals.
    When Drew died at Alpha Centauri, Jasmine’s commission to the Republic of Texas had ended.  Jasmine had been literally born to fly with Drew and the pain of losing such a partner had nearly ended her.  It drove most fighter cybers to shutting down permanently rather than live without their partner.  But Jasmine was made of far sterner stuff than most cybers.  She’d chosen to take a new partner and gave Jack a relationship he thought was unique.  He had two cybernetic partners.
    “Jasmine,” Jack said with a smile as her eleven drone fighters slotted into position around the single fighter he and Betty commanded.
    “Jack,” the cyber returned, wry lips quirked under her long brown hair.
    “Status?”
    Jasmine’s smile turned predatory.  “Oh, we’re so green.”
    “Good.”  He looked at Betty and she nodded back.  “Well then, let’s rock and roll.”  He placed his hands on the controls and spun seventy-two Avenger-class fighters and drones to face the oncoming wavefront of incoming enemy missiles.  “This is Captain Jack of Hart squadron, Marine Fighter Attack Wing 112, to fleet command,” he intoned with a nod towards Betty.  She nodded, indicating that she was transmitting.  “The Cowboys are ready for action.  Where do you need us?”
    A fourth cyber appeared on his console, and Jack had to suppress an amused smile at just how crowded it was getting in the cockpit.  She was brown haired, brown skinned, and looked like an extra from a Zorro movie.  That wasn’t a surprise.  She was after all the brain of the Santa Isabel , flagship of the Spanish Armada and the entirety of Third Fleet.  “Cover the carriers,” she ordered in Spanish-accented English.  Not Spanish-accented American which sounded entirely different, but Spanish-accented English .  It was an odd mingling of foreign accents that almost confused his ears.  But by God he could listen to her read the dictionary all day long and never grow tired of it.  “We need to protect them while the rest of the fighters launch,” Santa Isabel continued and Jack nodded.
    “Will do,” he answered and turned back to Betty.  “Cowboys, did you hear the lady?”  Betty smiled as his squadron-mates answered in the affirmative in rapid succession.  “Assume defensive formation delta,” Jack ordered and returned his gaze to Santa Isabel’s cyber.  “Good luck.”
    Santa Isabel smiled back.  “God be with you, Captain Hart,” she returned in a far more formal tone before fading away.
    Jack turned back to Christine.  “Slot us into your defense grid, please?” he asked with raised eyebrows.
    Enterprise’s cyber nodded in agreement.  One of the displays flashed to show the fleet’s collective point defense grid reaching out towards the oncoming threat and zoomed in on Enterprise, oriented bow-on to the enemy.  He watched Ken and Swan’s squadrons moving to Enterprise’s port side while Jesse and Snake moved to starboard, spreading out to form an angled wall of fighters guarding