Jack of Harts

The Old Mexican States, the Central American States, and the Caribbean States collectively have more land and water mass under their control than any other part of the United States. They nearly doubled the population of America when they joined, and converted America to a solid Catholic majority, to the annoyance of many Protestants and Evangelicals. They also made Spanish the official Second Language of the United States of America, even if the various dialects are something no native of Spain would call Spanish. Most government business is conducted in Spanish, though some places like Belize continue to maintain American English as their primary language. The single most defining trait of the region that most northern Americans notice upon arrival is that they tend to be more laid back as a culture. Life is lived at a slower pace, and they are favored as a vacation destination. Disney World Mexico is the largest Earthbound amusement park for instance. Many Americans also retire to these States after building up a nice little fortune in the big cities, bringing in some much appreciated money to the regions.

Pacifica was born of Silicon Valley’s profound wish to have nothing at all to do with the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and whatever other additional phobics they could think of, foulminded deplorables surrounding them. As the rest of America fell into the Second Great Depression that was its just punishment for electing some of the more egregious Presidents of the last few decades, San Francisco and the surrounding cities charted their path on a new and better course that would forever eclipse the cesspool they left behind. The more enlightened regions of Western Washington and Oregon soon joined them, as well as the newly reborn Kingdom of Hawaii. Many other islands all over the Pacific followed their lead in time, helping to create one of the most exclusive State alliances in the United States of America. It has the smallest landmass by far, but covers the largest amount of ocean property, and Pacifica is second to none when it comes to building artificial islands or underwater facilities for their very exclusive population. They also specialize in various cybernetic and collegiate industries, and are home to some of the best cyberspace worlds in existence. Very few nations on Earth and beyond can compete with them in the cybernetic fields, and most of the very best personal assistant AIs are coded by Pacifican cyberneers.

Malcolm’s Blackhawk starfighter shuddered as decoys and jammers shot out to confuse the enemy missiles. His laser cannons pulsed as the fighter squadrons around him laid down their own line in space and countermissiles shot out to kill the missiles that fought through the electronic warfare. Normandy added her own fire to the defense, along with every surviving ship in the fleet. Lasers, missiles, and energy shields destroyed them by the scores, but the fleet’s point defenses had been too badly damaged to stop everything the Shang sent their way.

Malcolm held his hands on the controls as the surviving missiles came in for the kill. His left hand rested on the throttle controlling movement in every direction, his right hand holding the stick directing orientation. It was deceptively simple and complex at the same time, especially for someone who’d not played many fighter sims in his life. But training turned it into instinct. He no longer thought about moving.

Malcolm felt danger coming, and it was time to be elsewhere. He moved the throttle to the left without taking time to think about it. Slowing down to think about it could get a man killed, after all. The Blackhawk’s thrusters flared and the better part of a dozen fighters accelerated with him as the missiles entered their final attack run.

Several fighters moved between him and the missiles in the last instant, even as their final point defenses continued to fire fast enough he could see the heat radiating from them. One lost an engine and fell out of formation to a near miss that was still too close. Another came apart and her engines exploded out in every direction to a different missile. And a third fighter fired an entire stream of countermissiles at one missile before simply disappearing as it rammed another aimed directly at him.

The missiles kept coming.

****

Wolfenheim Emergent is currently available for preorder and will be released through the following retailers on September 1

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Apple Books

Kobo

Smashwords