Kaiju Apocalypse by Eric S. Brown, Jason Cordova Page B

Kaiju while trying to recover from something like that.  Talk about blind luck, though luck is comparative when looking at it in hindsight...”
     
    “Hey, what’s that?”  Calloway asked as an unidentified blip appeared on their radar. He toggled the IFF and it blinked blue after a moment of indecision. Seconds later, detailed information flowed across his screen. “Well, at least the radar still works. That’s Trident Five.”
     
    “Knight? What the hell is he doing out this way?” Thornton wondered as he checked his fuel gauge. They had just enough to make it to Lemura at their current speed. He did some quick mental math before making a quick decision. “Trident Two, slow to eight-five-zero knots, acknowledge.” Thornton slowed the Trident down by two hundred knots, which would give them an additional fifteen minutes of flight.
     
    “Roger, One. Slowing to eight-five-zero knots,” came the reply from Trident Two.
     
    “We got laser comms with Knight?” Thornton asked his co-pilot.
     
    “Uh... yeah, raising him now.”
     
    “Trident Five, this is Trident One. Come in, Trident Five,” Thornton said once Calloway had linked their comms.
     
    No response.
     
    “You sure he’s receiving?” Thornton asked after a moment.
     
    “He’s five-by-five,” Calloway confirmed.  He double-checked his comms again, and then frowned. “That’s weird. Maybe he’s suffered some sort of–”
     
    The threat detector suddenly screamed to life, filling the cockpit with a cacophony of noise. Calloway’s eyes widened as he immediately scanned the water, looking for any sign of the Kaiju. The ocean appeared to be tranquil below them, however. His eyes tracked back up to the threat radar.
     
    “Holy shit! Two incoming missiles, designating Tango One and Tango Two. Range, one-six miles and closing fast!”
     
    “Who fired at us?” Thornton nearly shouted as he pushed the Trident lower towards the ocean surface. “Was it Kaiju?”
     
    “Knight fired at us!” Calloway yelled as he flipped a switch. “Preparing chaff and flares!”
     
    “Hold one,” Thornton said as his heart began to slow down from its frantic pace from moments before. “Neither has a lock on us.”
     
    “Trident Two, you have inbound Tangos, do you copy?”
     
    “Both have hard-lock, One,” Trident Two replied in a calm voice. At least, as calm as a pilot under fire could be. “Preparing to deploy chaff and flares.”
     
    “Knight! What the fuck are you doing? You’ve targeted allies, you blithering asshat!” Thornton shouted into the comm, ignoring radio protocol in his anger. “Break off your attack, damn you!”
     
    Trident Five remained silent.
     
    “I know you’re reading this, Captain Knight. Respond, damn you!”
     
    No response.
     
    “Fine. You want to play games with me, you little shit,” Thornton growled. “Sidewinders are armed and seeking, Knight. Don’t make me shoot you out of the sky. Acknowledge receipt of this transmission, over!”
     
    “...find a safe place. I just need to find...” a whispered reply broke through the comm.
     
    Thornton and Calloway shared a look. “Are we recording all of this?” Thornton asked, his voice carefully neutral.
     
    “Yep,” Calloway nodded.
     
    “Last warning, Captain Knight. Detonate your missiles or you will be fired upon.” Thornton leveled off the Trident roughly fifty meters above the surface of the ocean. Trident Two had not followed their descent, choosing instead to try to climb into the upper atmosphere to take the two missiles which had locked onto them.  They rapidly moved further from Trident One. He toggled the comm himself. “Trident Five... Knight, listen to me. Destruct your missiles now. You’ve accidentally targeted Trident Two. You’ve targeted Commander Tom Coonradt and Lieutenant Robert Head. You know them, they’re your friends. Coonie and Gets More? C’mon Knight, kill those missiles.”
     
    “Ten seconds,” Calloway