Magnum started firing. Ben trusted the big man, but some of the laser bolts sizzled by his head close enough for Ben to feel the heat coming off them. Still, he ran. Ben had never considered himself a fast runner, and sprinting across the salvage fields was dangerous enough. More than once, the debris shifted under his feet. Ben stumbled, corrected himself, and kept running.
Suddenly something smashed into his right leg, knocking his foot into the path of his left leg. He fell hard. The impact knocked the breath out of him. Struggling just to get air into his lungs, Ben heard shouting.
“Don’t let them get to that ship!” Hoya screamed, his voice echoing across the salvage yard.
Shots rang out like the crash of thunder. Ben managed to turn his head in time to see Magnum jumping back toward the air lock. Ben was so close, only fifteen feet away, but he was pinned down by the fire from the Scalpers. More shots were heard, laser fire from the commandos. Ben rallied his strength and started crawling. His right leg was on fire and had almost no strength. When he pushed against it, pain shot up through his body. His lungs were aching and it felt as if there were ropes around his chest, making it nearly impossible to breathe.
The sound of footsteps behind him was unmistakable. Ben rolled over in time to see Hoya standing over him. He was pointing Ben’s own laser pistol down at him.
“You aren’t taking my ship,” the outlaw snarled.
Ben’s mouth went dry and time seemed to slow down, as if they were jumping into hyperspace. Ben actually saw the outlaw’s finger squeezing against the trigger, but before a laser beam was fired to end Ben’s life, several blasts went flashing past Hoya. Magnum was holding the big rifle with one hand and shielding his body with the side of the ship, firing haphazardly across the battlefield.
No conscious thought entered Ben’s mind. As Hoya leaped back to avoid Magnum’s shots, he simply raised his own rifle and fired. Hoya’s head vanished in a red cloud of mist. The outlaw’s body stiffened and toppled forward like a tree that is cut at the roots. Hoya’s headless body crashed into the trash beside Ben, who snatched his laser pistol from the man, and started a mad scramble toward the ship.
Before he reached cover, Magnum jumped out and began firing again. When Ben was close enough, Magnum grabbed his arm and jerked him back around to the side of the ship. Ben saw more commandos breaking cover. They were throwing off their camouflage and raising powerful-looking weapons. Magnum pushed Ben into the air lock and jumped in on top of him. Ben tapped his com-link and shouted, “Go!”
The Modulus Echo’s engines roared and the ship rose straight up into the air. The ship moved so fast, Ben and Magnum were pressed down onto the floor of the air lock. It was clear they were going above the fifty-foot level that Kim had said would keep them off the Imperium’s radar, but no one cared. When the ship slowed, Magnum reached up and tugged the handle to cycle the air lock.
Magnum got to his feet and helped Ben sit up. Once the danger was past, the agony in his leg flared to life.
“You’re hit,” Magnum said.
Ben was on his good leg, looking down at his injury. There were entrance and exit wounds on his calf muscle a few inches below the knee. While the air lock worked through its cycle, Magnum bent down and looked at the wound.
“It went straight through,” Magnum said. “You should heal alright. I’ll get some first-aid supplies and we’ll clean it up.”
“Thanks,” Ben said.
But his own injuries were forgotten the moment the air lock door opened to the cargo bay. Kim was on the deck, passed out.
“Get her,” Ben said. “Carry her up to the sick bay.”
“Any ideas on where to go?” Nance said over the com-link.
“Get us in a low orbit,” Ben said.
“That’s not a good idea,” Nance said.
“The Imperium Fleet is waiting for us,” Jones added.
“That’s why ground forces didn’t take us down,” Magnum said.
Ben was hobbling along behind the big man as he started up the stairs with Kim in his arms.
“They want us in orbit?” Ben said.
“A call came in from Hamish Flemming,” Nance explained as they climbed up to the bridge. “He said an entire armada had settled into orbit around the planet. That there was no way off the world without getting slagged.”
“What’s happening?” Kim said, coming around.
“We’re in trouble,” Ben said. “That’s what. Get her to the sick bay.”
“No,” Kim said. “I’m okay. Get me some water and I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” Ben said, his voice softening.
“Ben, trust me,” Kim said. “Put me in the pilot’s seat. If we have to fight our way off this rock, that’s where I want to be.”
“You both need medical attention,” Magnum said.
Ben could feel blood flowing down into his boot. His leg felt as if it were on fire, and it hurt to put weight on that leg, but he knew the bone wasn’t damaged.
“I’ll be fine,” Ben said. “Get her to the pilot’s seat.”
Magnum didn’t argue. He carried Kim over and settled her gently into her chair.
“Thanks, Magnum.”
“Glad to have you where you belong,” the big man said.
“Jones, get Kim some water,” Ben ordered.
The older man was on his feet and moving without complaint. Ben dropped into his seat and looked at the systems. There was plenty of fuel. If they could get off the planet, they could make a hyperspace jump to safety.
“Nance, turn on the radar,” Ben said. “We have to know if we’re safe up here.”
“Imperium ships are inbound,” Nance said almost immediately.
“From where?” Ben asked.
“Everywhere,” Nance said.
“Better not stick around, then,” Kim said.
How she managed to fly the ship in her condition, Ben couldn’t tell. But she dropped them into a dive and sent the Echo racing along the surface of the salvage fields only fifty feet from the ground.
“Better strap in,” Ben said. “The art grav genny is down.”
“I hope the professor is okay,” Nance said.
“I am fine,” Jones said, as he descended from the upper deck. “I have water.”
Ben saw the older man was clinging to the stair railing with one hand. In the other, he held a water bottle.
“Imperium forces are converging,” Nance said.
“Is this it? Is this the end?” Jones said after handing over the water bottle to Kim.
“I’ve never seen so many ships,” Ben said, looking at the radar. It recorded so many Imperium ships that the radar looked like a large, solid mass.
Kim took a long drink, then sighed. “If it’s the end, we’ll make it a hell of a ride.”
“Missiles!” Nance said loudly, but in her unflappable tone.
“Our deflectors won’t stop them,” Magnum said.
“Then it’s up to us,” Kim said. “Better hold onto something.”
Chapter 29
Kim was hot. Her skin felt like it was in an oven, and she couldn’t be sure but it felt as though poison was pumping through her veins. Perhaps she was dying, but even that thought didn’t bring her down. Her spirits were high. Somehow, someway, she had made it back to the Echo. She was seated in the pilot’s seat of the ship she loved, and in her mind that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Ben loved her. She was sure of that. He loved her and had come for her, and was even willing to give up his ship for her. It was almost too much goodness to believe. If she wasn’t piloting the ship, she would have wanted to be in his arms.
The water that Jones brought to her was cool and had a strange organic aftertaste. Kim didn’t know what it was, but she didn’t care. Her body was craving water, and the cool drink was invigorating. The pain in her leg radiated through her entire body, and the heat sapped her strength, but she couldn’t worry about any of that with missiles on the
ir tail.
She waited, watching the missiles approach on her monitor. At the last minute, she dove even closer to the ground, skimming along the surface just a few feet above the endless field of trash. Then she pulled back on the joystick and pushed the throttle to its stops. The Echo shot upward into the sky and the missiles, dozens of them, impacted on the surface.
“Wow,” Ben said. “I can’t believe that worked so well.”
“It shouldn’t have,” Kim said through clenched teeth. Moving the foot pedals that controlled the wing engines was excruciating, but she had no choice.
“They weren’t locked onto us,” Nance said.
“Why not?” Ben said.
“Because they don’t want to destroy the ship,” Magnum said. “They’re just here to drive us like dogs chasing a boar toward the hunters. That’s why the Imperium commandos didn’t attack us. They had more than enough time and personnel to take the ship.”
“Instead, they helped us escape,” Ben said. “This makes no sense. Why would the Imperium help us?”
“They wouldn’t,” Jones said. “The Royal Imperium only cares about perpetuating their control and power.”
“So why not just take us out?” Kim asked as she turned them in a long, careful turn. She had to remind herself that they weren’t manipulating their own gravity, which meant she couldn’t do as much as she might otherwise. The gravitational force from making a tight turn in atmo could cause them all to pass out.
“They want us alive?” Nance proposed.
“They could have taken us alive on the ground,” Magnum said.
“They want us alive and in the air,” Ben said. “Where are they driving us?”
“Up,” Kim said.
“Hamish said they have more battleships in orbit than he’s ever seen before,” Nance said. “Enough to slag the entire planet.”
“Odds are good that they’ve got something planned for us up there,” Magnum said. “We embarrassed them, so they’ll want to prove to the galaxy that they can’t be challenged.”
“We break atmo and we’re finished,” Ben said. “Maybe we could find a place to land and hide.”
“Impossible,” Kim said. “There’s got to be at least twenty ships below us. They’re just tracking our movements and there are more following.”
“So we can’t land?” Ben asked.
“Nope,” Kim said. “They’ve got us boxed in. I’m trying to stall, but I can’t avoid them forever.”
“We’re out of options,” Nance said.
“We could crash,” Magnum said. “Rob them of the satisfaction of having their way with us.”
“I think she meant options where we live,” Kim said.
“There’s no shelter for us here,” Ben said. “We have to get out of orbit and make a hyperspace jump.”
“That’s not an option either,” Kim said. “They’ll slag us or worse. I’m guessing they have enough fighters up there to surround the planet. And that’s not counting the big laser batteries on their cruisers. It’s suicide.”
“Maybe not,” Ben said. “Stall for as long as you can.”
He didn’t explain himself. He just slid off his seat at the engineering console and hopped toward the stairs.
“They’re firing lasers,” Nance said.
“I’ll bring up the shields,” Magnum replied.
Kim saw the lasers streak toward them at the very edge of their effective range. The Imperium fighters were coming at them with as little force as possible.
“I hate this,” Kim said.
“More enemy ships approaching from the northeast,” Nance said.
“What’s our altitude?” Jones asked.
“Eighteen thousand,” Kim replied, feeling weak and helpless.
“How high can those fighters go?” Magnum asked.
“That depends on the atmosphere,” Jones said. “But I am thinking we could have a window of safety.”
“Not for long,” Nance said. “We only have a finite amount of fuel.”
“And if I’m being honest,” Kim said. “I don’t think I’ll be okay for long. Does anyone know what Ben is doing?”
“I believe he is trying to finish the gravity shield modification,” Jones said.
“You don’t sound too confident,” Kim said, a sense of futility settling over her.
“I have done the math,” Jones said. “The numbers do not lie, but the solution that Ben has devised seems too—”
The ship was suddenly rocked by laser fire. It deflected off the deflector shields without damaging the ship, but Kim instinctively pulled up.
“That was close,” Kim said.
“They’re getting impatient,” Jones said.
“We’re crossing twenty-five thousand feet,” Nance said.
“The Imperium vessels look like a swarm of insects,” Magnum said. “This is insanity.”
“What were you saying, Professor?” Kim demanded.
“Nothing, nothing,” he proclaimed.
“You were saying something about Ben’s modification to the artificial gravity generator,” Kim said. “Finish what you were saying.”
“Only that it seems impossible that such a small device could work,” Jones said. “We won’t know what it will do until we come under fire.”
“And that may be too late,” Kim said, fear battling with frustration in her heart.
Why did her realization of Ben’s feelings have to come so late? It didn’t seem fair. She took another drink of the water, but almost immediately had to pull up on the ship again as more laser fire was blasted at them.
“Auxiliary battery at three-quarters of power,” Nance said. “Zexum is dipping below half a tank.”
“And that’s without the artificial gravity or life support systems,” Kim said.
“Time is running out,” Magnum said.
Kim felt the pull to break orbit. There was nothing but certain death below them. The threat of even more violent force above them was tempered by the tantalizing possibility of escape.
“What if we break orbit and immediately jump to hyperspace?”
“That would take a major boost of power,” Nance said. “Just breaking free of Torrent Four’s gravity would be difficult.”
“But it’s not impossible,” Kim said.
“We’d be jumping blind,” Nance said.
“Better than getting caught by the Fleet,” Kim shot back.
“Only if we don’t smash into a battle cruiser in the process,” Nance replied.
“So we break orbit,” Kim said. “Pick a blank spot in space and make our jump.”
Everyone knew the idea was risky, but they also knew they had no choice. Kim touched the com-link on her console.
“Ben,” she said, her voice raspy and dry. “We’re running out of time.”
“Just a little longer,” he said.
“We have to make a jump,” Kim said. “It’s our only chance to survive.”
“No!” Ben said. “I’m almost through. You have to trust me.”
Kim shook her head. The fog was returning. She felt dizzy, and flying seemed unnatural for the first time in her life. They were gradually climbing toward orbit, which for the moment, seemed to satisfy the Imperium ships.
“Nance,” Kim said. “At this rate, when will we break out of atmo?”
“Eight minutes,” Nance replied.
“You’ve got nine minutes, Ben,” Kim said. “And whatever you’re doing better be good.”
Chapter 30
Ben forgot about the pain in his leg and the weakness from his broken arm. He was alive, and he had Kim back. Nothing would stop him from getting the gravity shield operating. It was their only chance of survival. Perhaps they could make a blind jump, but the odds were against them. Primarily because the Imperium Fleet would expect such a move. But also because the danger involved in jumping into hyperspace blind was so great that Ben had trouble believing anyone could do it twice in a single lifetime and survive.
&nb
sp; He had the power supply connected to the magnetic coil, and all he had to do was attach the gravity wave projector to the artificial gravity generator. The magnetic coil would keep it spinning, at least in theory. If any of the dozens of assumptions that Ben had made in designing the gravity shield was wrong, the entire device would fail. But while Ben had no formal engineering training, his instincts had never steered him wrong. He could see how things worked in his mind, the way songwriters could hear melodies, or sculptors could see great works of art in blocks of stone.
Ben set the wave projector in place with one hand and tapped his com-link with the other.
“Give me power to the artificial gravity generator,” Ben said.
“We need all the power we can spare to make the jump to hyperspace,” Kim said.
Her voice was raspy and weak. Just hearing her made Ben feel scared. He finally had her back, and he couldn’t help but worry that he might lose her again. Something was wrong with Kim, but he didn’t have the time to see to her. They had to survive the escape from Torrent Four first.
“I know,” Ben said. “But if this works, we won’t need to jump blind.”
“You’re crazy, you know that?” Kim said. “But God, I love that about you.”
“You have power, Ben,” Nance said.
The artificial gravity generator hummed to life, and Ben felt the invisible power of the magnetic force produced by the magnetic coil. He released the gravity wave projector and watched as it floated near the silver ball that protruded from the artificial gravity generator. That ball was the source of the gravity, and what Ben needed was for his wave projector to move.
A single wave of gravity wouldn’t do. It wouldn’t surround the ship for one thing. Gravity interdictors used gravity projectors to catch and hold ships, or at least slow them down. Tractor beams used gravity projectors to pull vessels carefully into docking arms or hanger bays. Ben had modified his projector so that it didn’t just project a gravity beam, but actually undulate it like a wave. And if the device would spin, it would surround the ship with a flowing, powerful sphere of gravity that would fling away any debris or weapon that came in contact with it, even laser beams. If it worked, it would act much like a black hole, creating a powerful gravity field that could bend light.
Gravity Flux: Kestrel Class Saga Book 3 Page 13