What can we do? I asked the Dendon.
I already suggested praying to your deities, it said, There is little else you can do.
Rage flared up in me. Is that it then? You’re just going to let us die? You’re going to let the Dons win again?
No, they will lose the war. This battle, though, is already lost.
“No!” I shouted.
I opened my eyes. Everyone stared at me.
“I’m not giving up,” I said.
My hand locked to the metal skin of the Blinky ship. I could feel every lowest bidder bolt and weld of its body. I knew the chemical components of its moldy seaweed stench. My nerves were the substandard wires running under its too thin skin.
I kicked the engines on and slewed the ship around to face Bey Jodo’s ship.
Through the Blinky ship's sensors, I saw the ugly black shape of his ship loom. It was still coming toward us. I ran the engines up to full power. The hull of the Blinky ship groaned and popped under the strain.
We leapt forward.
Bey Jodo reacted. Missiles erupted from the ship. I threw power to my shields.
Blasts rocked the ship and power drained from me. The ship’s power plant couldn’t keep up. Internal sensors screamed at me. The plant was overheating, ready to go critical.
I didn’t care.
Bey Jodo tried to turn his ship.
Too late.
The ships collided.
Metal crunched, groaned and squealed. Sparks shot from the control panels. Sensors cried out, broadcasting the Blinky ship’s pain.
I heard other cries. Human shouts. Kincaid…Julie…the goon. The Blinky, Pejk babbled something in his alien tongue. An odor of cinnamon brushed past me, with a rustle and rasp.
The Stickman, Azor, rushed to the controls. He tried to do something, but I still had the controls locked down.
Liz’s hand grasped my shoulder. Human, unarmored. For a moment I wondered why she hadn’t armored herself. Then I realized. If these were our last moments together, she wanted nothing between us.
If we were going to die, what was the point of the armor?
“I’m not giving up yet,” I said.
I turned my attention to the ship’s exterior sensors. The camera that sill worked showed a twisted mass of metal where the two ships met. Atmosphere outgassed from several places along the Blinky ship.
Bey Jodo’s ship appeared to be in much better shape. There was only minimal air escaping from points near the impact. Ramming the Blinky ship into him was like slamming an empty aluminum can against a brick wall.
Atmosphere warnings were sounding throughout the Blinky ship. I did a quick internal scan and realized the ship didn't have the capability to seal off sections of the ship.
The Blinky designers probably deemed it too expensive a feature to include in their vessels.
I turned my attention to the control cabin.
Julie, Kincaid and the Goon had been thrown against the view screen by the impact. Kincaid cursed a blue streak. Julie was busy untangling herself from a mass of tubing that had come down from the ceiling. The goon rubbed his head and watched his wife struggle. He didn’t seem interested in helping her.
Pejk was pitched over in his chair, arms crossed in front of him. His head was bent down and he mumbled something in his own language. Probably doing what the Dendon had told me to do–pray to a deity.
I wasn’t ready for that yet.
Azor sat in the control chair. He pounded the controls with his dozens of fibrous fingers.
Liz stood by the seat I was still strapped to.
Using the ships flickering sensors, I mapped the shortest route I could to Bey Jodo’s ship. From what I could tell, we had impacted the hanger bay of his ship. There was an access hatch on the Blinky ship just inside the hanger area. There wasn’t any atmosphere in the bay, but we could make a run for the interior of his ship.
Without anything to protect us but me.
I bore down on the ship’s power plant, taking everything I could from it. When I released it, my own energy would drain quickly if I kept the shield up.
“I’m not giving up,” I said. Liz squeezed my shoulder. I looked up at her. “Get ready to board that ship.”
Liz grinned and moved to shuck off her coverall. I held my hand up.
“Wait. Save it for a surprise,” I said.
Her lovely lips turned down. “That doesn’t sound very smart,” she said.
“We need all the edges we can get,” I said, “Just wait, okay?”
She didn’t look convinced, but she kept her clothes on.
Julie finally untangled herself. “Thank’s for nothing,” she said to her husband.
He shrugged. “Likewise, I’m sure.”
“Everyone, come over here,” I said, “We’re leaving the ship.”
“That sounds very unwise, human,” Azor said.
"Well, unless you can breathe vacuum, I suggest you come with me," I said, "Otherwise, I don't give a crap. Now everyone who wants to keep breathing, get over here and get ready to move with me."
I withdrew the shield from around the ship. I didn't need to extend the energy for that anymore. Instead, I put the shield around everyone in the cabin. I pulled my hand away from the cabin wall. Immediately I felt the energy draining from me.
I unbelted and moved toward the exit. The lights flickered and dimmed. My little army shuffled after me.
"I'm coming for you, Bey Jodo," I whispered.
Seventy-Eight
Cinnamon, moldy seaweed, lavender, musky cologne, mesquite smoke. Our colony of odors moved through the shattered corridors of the Blinky ship in my bubble. The brown metal of the walls and floor were rippled. Silver and green wires hung down through broken ceiling panels. Some of them sparked and flared. There was still some atmosphere, but not much.
I took the lead, Liz following close behind. Kincaid came after, Julie and the goon trailing. In the rear was Azor, prodding the whimpering Pejk along.
“I do not see why we have to leave the ship,” Pejk said, “Surely there are better alternatives to this?”
“Your core is going critical,” I said, “This ship has about ten minutes before it blows.”
“What! We shall surely die now!” Pejk wailed. “What point is there to this exercise? Bey Jodo’s ship will perish with mine! There is no hope!”
I ignored him and pressed through the debris in the corridor. The hatch should be right up ahead.
“You do have a plan, don’t you, chief?” the goon asked.
“There’s another ship in his hanger, remember?” I said.
“Won’t matter much if we can’t get it out,” the goon said.
“We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it,” I said.
The ship groaned and trembled. The deck vibrated under our feet. I guessed Bey Jodo had recovered and was trying to free his ship.
“Come on,” I said, “We need to move.”
My energy was draining fast. I wouldn’t be able to maintain the shield bubble much longer.
I spotted the hatch. “There!”
We rushed the last few meters. The hatch was bent, partially ajar. I gripped it. Super strength. Bracing my leg on the wall, I yanked it out of the frame. Smashed it through the opposite wall.
Darkness loomed beyond the open doorway.
The ship shuddered again. I sensed movement in the darkness. Lights. Julie and Kincaid gasped as I luminenced.
“What the fuck!” Kincaid shouted, “He’s going critical!”
“It’s just lights,” Liz said, “Asshole.”
Beams of light stabbed out from my eyes. For a moment I didn’t understand what I was seeing. It looked like something flowing past the door. Then a jagged edge moved past and I realized it was the hanger of Bey Jodo’s ship.
“Azor!” I cried, “Get through the door and grab hold of that ship!”
I remembered how Azor’s limbs had stretched down to snatch me out of the jet copter–some
thing that seemed like eons ago. If he couldn’t catch hold, then we were dead.
Azor seemed to understand what I wanted. He rasped and skittered past me and through the door. His arms stretched and stretched, the fibrous bands in them twisting and squeaking.
Beyond him, I saw a thin crescent of Earth horizon. And stars beyond that.
“Hold to me!” Azor shouted.
Thick fibers extended out from his body. I grabbed hold of it. I half expected to to be cold and slimy. Instead it was warm and somewhat rough, like sandpaper.
The others pitched forward, grabbing parts of Azor. I concentrated on the shield. Made it extend over all of us. A wave of weariness washed over me. The shield was too big.
“Through the hatch! Through the hatch! Quickly!” Azor said, “The ship turns!”
We piled through the hatch one after another. Into the inky night. We hung over the darkened earth.
The Blinky ship fell away from us. I caught a glimpse of it. Lights flickered. A haze of debris and escaping air hanging around it.
We clung to Azor, breathing in his cinnamon scent. All that held him to Bey Jodo's ship were two thin fibers.
The Blinky ship disappeared as Bey Jodo’s ship rotated. I realized what Bey Jodo had done. He couldn’t pull away from the other ship, but he could apply a centrifugal force to fling it away from him.
Azor reeled us up to the ship. The hanger bay opening was distorted and torn. Rended metal shined silver in my lights.
We passed through the opening and gravity returned. Sort of.
Some of the deck plates in the hanger were buckled. Kincaid stepped on a damaged one and cursed as he floated into the air. The goon grabbed his leg and hauled him back down.
Something flashed behind us. We turned. Orange and green fire jetted across space. An instant later something hit the ship. The ship rocked and shuddered. Threw us to the floor.
Klaxons went off and orange lights flashed on the ceiling.
Azor pointed to the back of the hanger. “There is a pressure field there. There may be atmosphere behind it.”
I saw a shimmer crossing the width of the hanger.
“There was a field like that across the opening,” the goon said.
“Well equipped ships have backups,” Azor said. He turned his fibrous body toward Pejk. “Poor ships do not.”
Pejk was either too terrified to respond. Or chose to ignore Azor's pointed remark.
“Come on!” I said.
I’d spotted something else behind the shimmering field. The lethal looking craft that I’d seen on my previous visit. If I could get control of that...
We ran through the field. I withdrew my shield from myself. Warm, rancid cat food tinged air washed over me. It stank, but it was breathable. I dropped the rest of the shield.
The relief was immediate. The energy drain stopped. I felt a little weak, but not on the edge of collapse like I had before.
"Ew, this place stinks," Liz said. She looked around. "Does this guy keep cats or something? It reminds me of my grandma's house. She's got, like, a million cats."
I didn't answer. I had my eyes on the little ship. It looked heavily armed. With it, I could destroy the maker bomb.
If it wasn’t already too late.
“Azor!” I shouted, pointing at the ship, “Can you fly that thing!”
Azor rotated around on his multitudinous feet. “I do not know,” he said, “Dons do not let my people access their ships.”
Not surprising. The galaxy’s gangsters didn’t want the cops getting too nosy.
“Well, we’ll have to wing it,” I said, “I think he’s already launched the maker bomb. But maybe we have time to destroy it.”
A door slid open near us. Bey Jodo stepped out, a weapon in his hand. The blue tentacles sprouting from his head were disarrayed. Something dark dripped down the side of his triangular face. His dark business suit was rumpled and torn.
“You are right, human,” he said, “I launched the weapon twenty minutes ago. You are far, far, too late.”
He walked onto the deck, holding the weapon steady. “Your disgusting world is already dead. It just doesn’t know it yet.”
He moved in front of us, the weapon never wavering. Headed for the little ship. Apparently he was going to abandon his own ship. The exploding Blinky ship must have damaged it more than we thought.
I had to stop him.
“I think you’re lying,” I said, “I think there’s still time.”
“Not for you there isn’t,” Bey Jodo said.
I raised my shield an instant before he touched the trigger on his weapon. Red light flashed out. An old fashioned laser. Absorb the energy.
The light splashed over my shield and disappeared. I felt the power of it charging my cells.
“Thanks,” I said, “I needed that.”
Bey Jodo’s eyes widened, then his gaze flicked over my shoulder. I knew who he was looking at. I didn’t want to take my eyes off him, but the hairs on the back of my neck rose up.
“Take him,” Bey Jodo said.
I half turned. I was flush with energy from the laser, but it wouldn’t last long. Keeping up a shield drained me too fast. I had to tell Liz to grab Julie.
Except Julie was doing something weird.
She was stripping her clothes off.
Clothing, actually, since all she wore a black, one-piece coverall. She zipped the front down to her crotch. Which showed off a neatly trimmed triangle of dark hair. I managed to raise my eyes as she shucked her arms out of the sleeves.
That’s when I saw the thing between her small, perky breasts.
“Shit! Liz!” I shouted.
Liz whirled around and saw it, too. Her hand shot to the zipper of her coveralls.
Julie's coveralls were down around her ankles. She jumped out of them, touching her fingers to the stunted, black triangle on her chest.
In mid-air, black armor flowed out over her. It encased her before she came down. Her armored feet hit the deck with a clang.
“Don armor!” Pejk shouted, “Oh no!”
Julie’s leg shot out. Her foot slammed into Pejk’s torso. He grunted and flew across the hanger bay.
Azor flowed toward her. Dark fibers raced out from his body. They wrapped around Julie’s arms and legs.
It barely slowed her down.
She grabbed the fibers and yanked. Azor toppled. Smacked onto her hurtling fist. The fibers around her fist went limp and fell away.
She turned to me. Her armor shone blackly, like a giant shiny insect. It wasn’t as smooth as Liz’s. It showed joints and lines. The armor hissed as she took a step toward me.
“This time you’re going to stay dead,” she said.
Her voice sounded hollow, like it was from the bottom of a well. Black, armored fingers reached for me.
A golden figure loomed up behind her.
"You keep your hands off my man, bitch," Liz said.
Gold fingers closed around Julie’s arms.
Julie tried to twist away, but her feet were already off the ground. Then she was airborne. Slammed into a bulkhead at the back of the hanger.
In an instant, she was on her feet.
She ran at Liz. Liz leapt toward her. They came together with a clash and ringing of metal. They separated. Started to fight hand to hand.
They were both combat trained. Each moved in a dance of swings and cuts. Arms and legs shot out in precision moves, clanging against each other. Gold and black, light and dark, battling.
The deck trembled as something roared to life behind me.
I spun around. The lethal insect of a ship rose and flew toward us.
I cursed my inattention. Bey Jodo had beaten me to the ship. If he escaped then everyone on earth was finished.
“Stop him!” I shouted to Liz.
She threw a vicious jab at Julie. Sent her flying. Liz turned and ran for the small ship.
It accelerated, zooming past her. Out the crumpled hanger opening, into th
e night.
“No!” I screamed.
I fell to my knees and put my hands on the deck. I put my consciousness into the ship.
I raced along its nerves, finding its controls. I brushed aside the security programs that tried to stop my intrusion. Warnings bleated at me, crying for attention. Schematics of damage appeared in my mind.
I moaned in despair. The ship was too damaged to pursue him.
Look closer.
I brought my head up. The Dendon wanted to show me something.
Good ships have backups.
I pushed into the ship's inventories, not knowing what I was looking for. It didn't take me more than an instant to find it, though.
I gasped. Could it be?
I raced along electronic pathways until I came to it. I accessed the systems and powered it up. It came online and told me it was ready. I gave it the command to come out.
I took some energy from the ship’s power plant, then pulled my consciousness out.
Metal clanged against metal. Liz and Julie still battled. Azor, Pejk and Kincaid huddled behind some debris. They peeked over it at the armored warriors.
I ignored all of them for the moment.
I turned my attention to the spot where the little ship had been. Doors slid aside on the floor plates. An elevator lifted and the other ship appeared over the edge of the floor.
Bey Jodo’s backup ship.
It was smaller than the other craft, and not as heavily armed. But I knew from my run through the ship’s systems, that it was fast. Very, very fast.
Fast enough to catch him.
Or fast enough to catch the maker bomb.
Seventy-Nine
The rancid cat food smell of Bey Jodo's dying ship was overlain with acrid odors of burning electrical wires and plastics. But the little ship that just rose from beneath the hanger bay deck looked brand spanking new.
I ran across the hanger deck to the little craft. Behind me, the clangs of gold armor against black continued as Liz and Julie battled.
I stopped and put my hand against the little ship’s skin. It responded. Opened a hatch with a hiss and a whine. The interior had a musty stench. Like mummified rancid cat food.
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