Morgan Selwood - a real top gun

 

 In the last couple of weeks we've had posts about 'top guns' and top guns they were, indeed. But I doubt any of them could beat Morgan Selwood.

She's a Supertech, which is a nickname for a BI – a biological intelligence. You might call her a cyborg, but the 'human' element is very much to the fore. She is an enhanced human with a super computer in her brain and she's capable of controlling a battle cruiser by herself. As it happens, she's also a gun pilot – when she gets the chance.

And she does, in most of the books she's in. In Morgan's Choice she impresses her captors with what she's able to do with one of their stolen shuttles and in Morgan's Return she has to battle with another Supertech.

This is a scene from Kuralon Rescue. Chet, Toreni, and Jirra are in small freighter Trader's Dream trying to make their escape from Kuralon but they have been intercepted by a J-43 patrol ship, which is shortly joined by a J-500 Hunter, a heavily armed cruiser. Fortunately, Jirra was able to contact Morgan earlier and she has just arrived on the scene in the luxury yacht, Vulsaur. Here's what happens next – slightly edited to remove extraneous bits.

***

"Are you there, Jirra?"

Vulsaur, with Morgan at the controls. Jirra could have screamed with joy. But it wasn't over yet.

"We've been intercepted by the J-43. Shift drive's destroyed, one main engine gone, environmentals damaged."

"Understood. Oops, looks like the J-43 has seen me. I'll get back to you."

The J-43 moved sideways, then fired three missiles. Promolus appeared to know what she was doing. Jirra had seen that maneuver before. Enemies had little time to react and the way they moved was usually predictable. Jirra almost felt sorry for the captain. Vulsaur fired two intercepts and destroyed the third missile with energy blasts. Fragments vaporized on Trader's Dream's shields, providing a short-lived light show. If Promolus wasn't worried now, she ought to be. Vulsaur fired forward thrusters, slowing down. Morgan had probably given the patrol ship a chance to retire with dignity. For a moment, Jirra thought the gesture had been accepted, but then the J-43 jagged sideways again. The new blip on the proximity display explained that.

Jirra guessed the newcomer was the J-500 even before the display confirmed. They thought they'd trap the arrogant civilian in the middle, did they? Jirra chuckled. Two ships against Vulsaur with Morgan Selwood at the helm? Still no contest.

A movement beside her made her glance around. Chet, still in the silver survival suit.

"What's happening?"

Grinning, Jirra gestured at the screen. "The J-500 is coming to play. They think they can finish off a civilian yacht. Although I think the J-43's captain may have some other notions."

"A civilian yacht? How can it be a match for a Hunter?"

"That's a lot more than a civilian yacht. It's fast, maneuverable and bristling with weapons. And Morgan Selwood is at the controls."

Chet shook her head. "Against two ships?"

"You don't know much about her, do you?"

"Not a thing. Except a few stories about the Yogina and Ravindra."

Vulsaur had a flexibility the other ships did not possess. Morgan had built her with flexible nozzles on her thrusters, so she could move diagonally more easily. The J-500 fired four missiles at Vulsaur's stern, the J-43 fired three missiles at her bow, attempting to stymie and maneuver. They must have thought they had her. Morgan destroyed the bow missiles with counter missiles. She fired her upper thrusters, dropping the ship. Three of the four stern missiles exploded on Vulsaur's shields in a sparkling display of writhing blue energy. Vulsaur dodged beneath the fourth, which could not match her change of direction. The J-43 was exposed. Promolus tried desperately to avoid, dodging sideways. Too late. The missile impacted the patrol ship's bow. Debris poured out with the pressure of the air venting into space. Jirra almost cheered. If they had any sense, they'd back off while they still could.

Vulsaur had slipped in behind the Hunter. Morgan fired one missile, waited until the counter missile came back from the J-500 and fired a second missile before dropping beneath the ship.

"Wow. She's good, isn't she?" Chet said. "Or is that the ship's systems dodging at the last minute?"

"Both. Morgan overrides the systems so she can leave her dodge to the last possible moment."

Chet stared. "She's better than a computer?"

"She is a computer. In a way." Jirra pointed at her head. "She has a computer in her brain. She's quite capable of handling all the systems on a battle cruiser on her own."

Chet was silent for a long time, absorbing that information as she watched the three ships in their deadly dance. "Why hasn't she blown them apart?"

Jirra glanced at Chet. Siena had asked a similar question, phrased in a very different way.

"What's Morgan like?" she had asked.

"Incredibly smart, a brilliant engineer—"

Siena had waved a hand. "As a person. I know she's not really a person, but you know what I mean."

"Yes, she is really a person. I think if you painted her skin brown," Jirra had raised her own arm to illustrate, "she wouldn't be any different to us. Apart from her eyes, and contact lenses would hide them. She's a wonderful dancer and she can be lots of fun."

"Because although she's got that computer in her head, she's a living, breathing, woman with all the same emotions as you and I. She probably thinks they're just doing a job and doesn't want to kill them. But I don't think the Hunter is listening. And I think the captain isn't thinking straight. If he proceeds with that vector, he'll impinge on the J-43."

The Hunter raked Vulsaur with energy weapons from its flank. The yacht's shields sparkled with a brief blue glow. A missile followed. That wasn't silly. The captain expected to weaken the shields and pierce with the missile. But Morgan dropped the yacht out of the way seconds before impact. This time, she set Vulsaur up at right angles to the Hunter's underside. Three missiles, each sent within seconds of each other, slammed through the Hunter's shields and into its engines. The shock waves from the explosion rocked Trader's Dream.

Chet cheered, both fists raised above her head. Jirra knew Morgan Selwood wouldn't be doing that.

The Hunter continued in a straight line. With the main engines gone, so was the power to the thrusters. Jirra leaned forward. "Grief. If Promolus doesn't shift her ship soon —"

The ships collided in absolute silence, the hulls bending and crumpling and twisting under the pressure. The smaller ship's shattered nose rose over the Hunter's bow. The larger vessel split the J-43 down its underside, until the Hunter reached the engines. The explosion tore both ships apart.

***

That's a space battle, so different from what would happen in atmosphere. That is, not like the attack on the Death Star in Star Wars 😀.

Find out more about the Morgan Selwood series here.