"Lady, you're a real piece of-" Another warning shot.

I threw the throttle forward again.

Think, Brandon! What I should do now? A Sabre should outrun a MiG at low altitude, or the MiG would lose control trying to keep up... but what weaknesses can I count on? I don't know anything about her and she knows everything about me!

As I anticipated, her jet was accelerating back into firing range. Bugging-out wasn't an option. I knew I needed a plan fast or I'd lose a lot more than simulated aerial combat.

I applied the speed brakes, to give her a taste of her own medicine. She was fast enough to weave but ended up at my two o'clock. Immediately I began a pulling maneuver, turning my nose toward hers, and fired - missed. As I passed it on the horizontal plane, the MiG shed enough speed to get on my four o'clock and attempt the same move against me. Cursing again, I spun to bank hard-left before she could get her shot.

"Command... object add: Sidewinders." Though the missiles had come a little later than the Korean War, it wouldn't have been the first time I fudged history a little.

The control system didn't respond, not even for a busy message. Even back in my real body, I could sense my pulse racing. Again and again, we spun and crossed each other in a scissors pattern, evading each other just enough so neither could get a shot. In a normal fight with another ascender, I might have shot the MiG down easily, but my opponents' sloppy maneuvers were becoming more graceful, as if she were going from freshmeat to alpha faster than anyone I'd ever seen. The two of us were barely maintaining enough speed to stay in the air, but she was somehow more successful, creeping behind me meter by meter, a little more with each pass.