CHAPTER 5
“Laser cannon warming up,” Slinkie shouted. “It’s going to take longer because of the Ultrasight.”
“Have to make the tradeoffs. Take your time, I’m fine here.” I flipped the Sixty-Nine end-over-end, which meant most of the laser shots missed us. The couple that hit glanced off. “Structural?”
“Looks fine so far. Think we can make Herion?” Randolph asked.
“Doubt it. Can’t jump, either.” The Sixty-Nine was outdoing herself—a couple of times I wondered if she was going to split apart, but she held on and we did the dance together no one did as well as the two of us. Of course, I was glad we all had anti-motion sickness meds pumped into our systems on a daily basis, because flying while puking is harder than it sounds.
“So, pretty much, we’re screwed.”
“C’mon. It’s us.”
“Oh, right. We’re completed and utterly screwed.”
I managed to dodge another set of laser shots. They had us surrounded, like we were inside a big spaceship ball. The only positive was that they had to be a lot more careful about where their shots went than we did. They were closing the gaps though, and soon we wouldn’t have any maneuverability at all.
“Any time, Slink. Really. Any damn time.”
“Firing laser cannon in five… four… three….” Slinkie’s voice was back to calm. Shooting things always made her feel better. “Two…one.”
The blast shook the ship, but I was ready for it and allowed the shock to spiral the Sixty-Nine even more erratically. Another attach cable just missed us. Unfortunately, the laser shot didn’t hit any of the ships. Which was odd, since Slinkie was a damned good shot.
“So very screwed,” Randolph muttered under his breath.
“Maybe.” I could see where the laser shot had hit. “Slink, really, when are you going to marry me?”
“Never. Do I need to spell it out for you?”
“No, I got it.” I hit the thrusters and raced for the two biggest ships. The ones holding the biggest net. “Let’s just cohabitate. Who needs legality? Not me. I’m the poster boy for anti-legality.”
“Nap? Why are you heading for the net? Are we trying to make it easy for them?” Randolph shoved back in his seat, braced for impact.
“I’m not heading for the net.” Flip, dodge, reverse flip, triple axel, end-over-end, and through the hole in the big net Slinkie’s blast had created we went. “I’m heading for freedom.” We spun past the ships, righted, and then I hit the boosters and the thrusters at the same time.
We shot away like a Libsuno after, well, another Libsuno. They were an active race, and they liked to play chase almost as much as they liked to get caught.
I, however, did not like getting caught. I was determined to put significant space between us and the armada.
“Ships are following, Captain,” the auto-helper said.
“No kidding. You want to offer anything helpful or you just chatting?”
“Don’t talk to Audrey that way.”
“Randolph, it’s a computer program.”
“Audrey has feelings.”
“We need to get you planetside, and fast.”
“I programmed her to have feelings.” Randolph sounded hurt. “And she does.”
“How about her voice? Did you program that to be consistently calm and cheerful, just so it would drive me crazy?”
“No. I think it helps keep everyone relaxed if Audrey sounds like she’s relaxed.”
“She’s a computer program!”
“Nap, stop shouting at Randolph,” Slinkie said urgently. “They’re really coming after us. At top speed.”
“Think we can make Herion now?” Randolph asked, still sounding upset.
“No idea. How far?”
“Suggest evasive actions, Captain,” the auto-helper said calmly. “Would you like rear-view?”
“Ya THINK?”
“Stop yelling at Audrey!”
Rear visual superimposed over front. It was freaky and caused migraines until you got used to it. “All the ships are following us. Why? We have nothing, and we look like we have less.”
“They want the ship,” the Governor said. It didn’t sound like he was suggesting so—he was stating it.
“So, while we run, dodge and, please Lord Avian’s Handmaiden, we shoot the damned cannon, why don’t you tell us what you think we’re up against, Governor?”
“Laser cannon firing in five….”
“I really don’t want you yelling at Audrey,” Randolph said truculently. “And I think you should call her Audrey, too.”
“It’s a long story, Alexander.”
“Estimate time to destruction in fifteen seconds, Captain.”
“Three….”
“Everyone shut up! What was that again?” Silence. “Sorry, what was that again… Audrey?”
“Estimate time to destruction in, now, ten seconds, Captain.”
“Why? In one second.”
“Engines are overstrained.”
“Don’t fire the cannon! Ultrasight off! Rearview off!” I counted. “Audrey, we’re past ten seconds. Do we get to live?”
“Yes, Captain. Until we are shot by the ships in pursuit, who are both gaining and firing.”
“So, if I’ve got this straight, we can’t see them, shoot at them, or run away from them?”
“We can continue to run, Captain. Estimate pursuing ships will overtake us in one minute and closing.”
“Herion’s at least ten minutes away, going balls to the wall.” Randolph sounded resigned. “You know, Ziggy still owes me fifty creds.”
“For what?” When you’re about to die, sometimes the inane and innocuous seems like a good thing to focus on.
“That shipment of chickens from Aviatus. He bet me that the roosters would kill each other. They didn’t. Instead, they ran at each other and then ran away.”
“Because you’d drugged them.”
“Whatever works, Nap. Isn’t that what you always say?”
I thought about this. “Chickens.” I felt an idea hit so strong it was like an electric shock. “Slinkie, get ready with the cannon.”
“Why?” She sounded like she was just this side of crying.
“Because we’re going to attack.”