by C. Litka
04
They didn't abandon the chase.
A rocket hissed by, trailing a tail of smoke. It missed us by less than a 20 meters, exploding several seconds after it passed us. The shock wave rocked the heavy boat. We were now, without a doubt, within effective rocket range of the leading ship. I lashed the tillers and stood to look back over the propeller cowling at the approaching ship that was looming large behind us - sails spread wide, half a kilometer off. I could see the crew crowded on the upper deck, eager for the kill. At the moment they could only fire the lead rocket launcher, but once they got close enough, they'd likely swing the ship around to allow all the rocket launchers on the deckhouses to bear - something like a half a dozen or so.
We had set our fin sails, but it hadn't made much of a difference. We were now burning the boat's original supply of black-cake, and though we still had a round's worth to burn, with the Temtres in rocket range, that no longer mattered.
Naylea stepped aft to stand beside me.
'Do you think you can deal with it?' I asked quietly. 'We'll need to at least cripple their sails. Without the sails, I think we can still out run them. Better yet, we should try to disable its engine as well. The sails can be done without hurting anyone - the engine room, well, we'll see. In any event, that hinge on the hull where the two spars meet would be the place to put a 5mm dart, once you're in range.'
I'd seen what 5mm darts could do to ship's boats, so I knew we could cripple our pursuers, with any luck at all.
She sighed. 'It's in range now, I suppose. And you're right. We have to do something and there's no point waiting any longer.' She pushed herself off, and walking forward to her kit bag, dug out her multi-caliber, pirate piece darter. Py watched her silently and followed her back.
She handed it to me. 'You'll have to do it, Litang. You've not taken the vows Brother Py and I have taken. Do what you need to do.'
'No one will be killed if you blast those sail hinges.'
She shook her head. 'We both know the engine has to be disabled as well. We can't keep up this pace any longer. We'll be out of fuel within a round or two.'
Which was true. Clearly someone had to do it, and someone looked to be me. Still, I didn't think I'd loose too much karma taking out a few sails and blasting the propeller cowling to save my friends' lives. Naylea activated it, deactivated its security lock, switched it to the large 5mm darts, and handed it to me. I steadied the darter on the cowling and sighted it, Naylea explaining how to use the very sophisticated sight her weapon possessed. Looking at it, it filled my eyesight with a magnified view of what I was aiming at. I could see the blue dot where the drive beam would deliver the dart even at this range - it was dancing wildly about against the hull of the pursuing ship.
And I couldn't stop it from dancing, so I stepped back and shut off the steam to the engine and opened the relief valve. As the propeller slowed to a stop and the cowling ceased to vibrate I was able to hold the darter a lot more steadily. The blue dot still jumped a bit, but I didn't care to wait too long for the ship to get closer.
'Well, here we go,' I muttered and took a shot at the big wooden hinge where the two long spars were attached to form the port side fin sail. There was a bright flash of blue and a large rip appeared in the sail, torn by flying hull splinters. I had, however, missed the hinge, hitting the hull behind and above it.
'How many darts do I have to burn?' I asked, turning to Naylea.
She smiled slightly. 'Oh, a hundred or so. Enough, if you can hit something with them.'
'Right.' I muttered and carefully took a second shot. This time I got lucky and shattered the hinge. The spars were blown free and the ragged sail flew forward in a tangle of lines, that carried off a few minor spars on the upper deck as well.
The unbalanced thrust brought the ship half around so I could take a shot at the starboard hinge as well. That dart exploded on the hull just behind the hinge, shredding the sail and cutting lines that controlled it. The rags and spars flew out in disarray as well.
'Right,' I said. 'That should keep them occupied for a while. Let's put some distance between us.'
I'd barely got those words out when six booms rang out, and six rockets were reaching out for us like a giant hand. With the sails in disarray, the ship had begun to swing broadside to us. Even dealing with the damaged sails and masts, they still had plenty of crew to man the six rocket launchers along the top of deckhouses. I could see the crews racing to reload even before the first volley streaked by us. One of the rockets exploded before it reached us - luckily, as it was uncomfortably close to being on line to hit us. The other five streaked by, one less than ten meters off, their explosions setting the boat bounding once again. I had to grab hold of the cowling and brace myself using the overhead beam to avoid being tossed about like all the loose hampers and dragons where.
Siss and Hissi barked in alarm. Apparently they didn't care for the idea of being collateral damage.
'This won't do,' I said. I brought the darter back down the cowling and stared into the sight. What could I do? I needed to put those rocket launchers out of action - preferably without too much carnage. My St Bleyth ancestors had no problem with carnage, but I did. There was, however, also the pressing question of time? Something needed to be done before the next volley. I swept the ship's upper deck with the darter's long range sight, searching for a target other than the launcher crews.
Could I bring the main mast with its fluttering kite sails down on top of the launchers? Ah-ha! As my sight moved across the deck towards the main mast, I spied a large box at the base of the mast. From my time aboard the Wind Drifter I knew that the box stored a small supply of rockets that could be gotten to at a moment's notice. The main rocket magazine was located deep within the ship, and needed a chain of crew members to toss up the rockets to the launchers in battle. The deck magazine was meant to provide fire until that chain could be organized. It likely contained two dozen rockets at most. It was a small target, but an instantly tempting one to my St Bleyth ancestors, and so, without a further thought, I sent a 5 mm dart on it's way the instant I saw the blue dot jiggling across the box. The fireworks that should result, would provide the diversion we needed.
It did, and more than that. The 5 mm dart exploded in a brilliant flash of blue light shattering the box into a hail of flying splinters and igniting several of the rockets within - which then ignited all the rest - setting off the explosive charges of several of them in a series of explosions, the balls of flame of each shooting up to the top of the mast, the shock waves blasting the nearest launcher crews overboard. The rockets, whose warheads didn't explode, but had their drive propellant ignited shot out in random directions, one down the deck, scattering the rest of the launcher crews. One shot through the sails overhead, while others shot out from the ship at all angles, leaving the remains of the box, the deck around it, and the main mast, burning furiously.
We watched the rockets explode or go shooting by for several seconds in silence.
'You're a ruthless bastard, Litang,' said Naylea, with a sidelong glance to me. From her tone and look, I couldn't quite decide if that was good or bad. She may have been wearing the blue of Laeza, but she was a daughter of St Bleyth.
'I didn't actually intend to do that,' I said, apologetically. 'Well, I did, but I didn't expect it to be this? effective.'
She shook her head in disbelief. 'Don't give me that. I know you too well. Blood tells.'
'I thought it would just create a diversion. Be that as it may, let's put some distance between us and that ship. I don't want to be around if that fire finds its way to the rocket magazine.'
'Shouldn't we take on survivors?' asked Py.
'And have them cut our throats for it?' I replied. 'No, I think we'll leave that to the following ships. The crew may not be able to save the ship, but they should be able to get clear of it even if they have to take to swimming in the air. With the other two ships coming up, they'll all be alright,' I replie
d, adding mentally, "Those that aren't already dead" since I could see several inert bodies floating around the burning ship. They may have paid a steep price for their determined pursuit of our heads. Still, who's to say what had gone on in the Assembly. If DinDay got his way, the Temtre fleet may have already sailed for the SarLa, so these survivors may actually be the lucky ones. The ones still alive.
I handed the darter back to Naylea and turned to open up the steam valve to the engine. 'I think we'd best put some distance between us and those approaching ships. They're not going to be in a good mood.'