Magnus’s eyes flew to the images of the dark discs several miles beyond the portal. Instead of jumping across the space in groups to rain bursts of havoc into the Pleiadian array as they had in the past, the warships were moving en masse toward the orbiting stations, tightening the noose in a painfully slow display. The bottom holo of the other portal showed the same stratagem being implemented by the warships surrounding Tanamar’s patrolling forces.
The captain shook his head. He could well imagine the sneer spread over Salaal’s pebbled face as he sat and watched the drama unfold. “Damn it,” he breathed softly as his stomach clenched with tension. “All for show, just to make us squirm.”
“It’s working,” Hurik muttered, scanning the approaching warships intently, her fine features drawn taut with apprehension.
The warships came within five miles of the stations and began to circle. Magnus kept his eyes glued to the holo as the Zephyr rose and wove alongside the Appin in an erratic path above the stations. A streak of gold flashed across the viewscreens as Yuri’s Birdwings zoomed past in their sweep through the perimeter.
“Here they come!” Al blared across the link as the circling gray discs broke into groups and raced across the empty space from multiple directions.
“Hurik, keep your eyes on the angles and paths of the warships. Let me know the second we’re targeted,” Magnus directed, watching more than a dozen bands of discs converge on the Pleiadian forces.
“This group of four is headed straight for the next portal station,” she pointed out, highlighting the ships in red within the shimmering holos. “It looks like each group is targeting a station on its way in.”
“We’ll aim for the closest. Rhona, take us down, but keep us above their current altitude. I want to drop and strike before they reach the station,” Magnus instructed while Amara rapped out orders over the relay for other vessels to cover the rest of the stations.
“Al, we’ll hit the far pair. The other two are yours.”
“You got it, bro.”
The Zephyr banked over the station with the Appin on its tail and headed out toward the oncoming warships. “Wait for it—drop!” Magnus roared. “Rob, fire! Ari, full aft cannons as they pass!”
The ship lurched downward and vibrated as the forward cannons sprayed the Drahkian vessels with a shower of fire. It shook again, much harder as the warships hit them with several volleys of disruptor blasts. Magnus grabbed the grip bars on his console for support while Ari pounded the warships with a barrage from the rear.
“Come about!” he shouted, scanning the screens for indications of damage to the Zephyr as well as the warships. “Thora, shields?”
“Holding steady, Captain. No damage.”
“Al?”
“We’re ok—some minor damage.”
“One of the warships took a hit,” Rob reported while the Zephyr made a tight turn back toward the orbiting station. “A trail of debris is floating between us and the portal. The Birdwings took out the lead ship in another formation.”
“The group we struck veered off course and barely grazed the station when they passed,” Hurik added, studying the flight patterns of the ships on her screens before sucking in a quick breath. “They turned and are heading straight for the Corum and Loki … and so are three other clusters,” she finished, looking up with wide eyes.
Magnus quickly popped his mic back on. “Miros! They’re coming after you!”
“We see them. If they’re so hot for my blood, we’ll let them chase us up away from the portal. Time to pull some dragons out of our back pockets, folks. Tarsian navigation officers, shoot toward the coordinates I’m sending out and fall in behind the Corum when we get there. Ki’an nav officers, head for these coordinates and line up behind the Senshi. Yuri, sweep in just above the portal and see if you can keep those bastards from punching through.”
“What about Amara?” Al piped in. “Looks like they’re gunning for the Nomvikeli on the far side.”
“Don’t worry—she’s got some surprises up her sleeve. Let’s go!”
Magnus muted his line and glanced over at Rhona.
“I’ve got it, Captain,” she confirmed with a nod while her hands flew over the controls.
As the Zephyr shifted course and raced upward toward the meeting point, Magnus shut down the image of the stations behind them and enlarged the holo of the entire portal space. Seconds before the four warship bands converged on the flagship, the Corum shot up with the Loki and pulled quickly around in a tight turn, sending a burst of fire across one of the groups before they rose again and darted just beneath the bellies of a second formation, scoring the Drahkian vessels with a swath of cannon fire.
“She’s a fucking great pilot,” Magnus whispered under his breath as he watched the pair of graceful starships pull up and away from the criss-crossing mass of larger warships.
“Who, Lita Silésian?” Hurik asked beside him. The admiral’s fireball wife was the navigation officer steering the Corum.
“Yeah. She was the best in our class years ago at the academy. Miros knew what he was doing when he married that one. I bet she’s just as good—” Magnus broke off and cleared his throat before he said something hideously inappropriate. “They make a damned good team,” he mumbled as his serious first officer twisted her mouth to keep from smiling.
“The rendezvous point is just ahead, Captain,” Rhona called out.
“Ok, stay sharp, people. The Corum and Loki are coming in with four warships on their tail,” Magnus observed and flipped on his mic. “Al, let’s cut those bastards off to give Miros some room to maneuver.”
“Right behind you, Mag.”
“Rhona, take us right across the warband’s nose and then whip us around so we can slide into formation near the end. Rob and Ari, fire a blitz in their faces as we cross in front of them. I don’t care if you hit anything—just blind them for a few seconds to throw them off.”
The Zephyr shifted its course and headed for the oncoming warships. As the Corum shot past, the Loki banked away while Miros began shouting orders across the link to collect the converging Tarsian starships into a line trailing tightly behind the flagship.
Rhona dipped the Zephyr and brought the ship charging up at an angle across the path of the lead warship.
“Fire!” Magnus ordered and held on as the ship shook from the discharging cannons and a burst of return fire from the warship. The Zephyr pulled into a sharp turn with the Appin close on its heels and bolted forward in a burst of speed to join the Tarsian formation.
“The warships steered away from our barrage, but they’re coming up again behind us,” Hurik exclaimed.
“Got it. The Loki’s waiting for us up ahead. Hold steady, Rhona, and lock us into the Corum’s flightpath five hundred feet behind the last ship.”
“Thanks for the cover, people,” Asta’s voice broke in over the channel. “You two go ahead and fall in. We’ll cover the rear—we’ve got bigger aft cannons.”
“Mmm, yes, you do, big girl,” Alasdair teased.
“Watch it, pipsqueak,” the senior captain retorted as the Loki opened fire on the lead warship and came into position behind them.
The Corum was already whipping through the northern third of the portal zone like a vengeful god, pulling the Tarsian ships behind it in a serpentine chain and firing on the first Drahkian vessels in its path. As soon as the Corum passed over and blasted a target, the next ship fired and then the next, hammering precision shots at the same coordinates on a single warship to weaken its shields.
Magnus watched the coordinates feeding into their systems from the Corum fly across the screens on his console. “Looks like our first mark is already wounded,” he pointed out as the Zephyr sped along its roller coaster path toward a disabled gray disc being pummeled by the passing Tarsian vessels.
“We’re ready,” Rob confirmed, his eyes glued to his screens and controls. As the Zephyr came within range of the floating ship, the officers fired long,
hard bursts onto a darkened patch on its hull in the few flash seconds they had before passing out of range. In the next instant, the warship exploded, shooting debris outward in a bright display.
Down below, the Corum shot into the midst of a large batch of warships that had banded together, sending the slower gray discs into chaotic disarray as the Pleiadian dragon tore through, blasting in all directions. The Drahkian vessels returned fire, but the erratic path of the line of smaller ships made them difficult to hit. Two more warships lit with showers of sparks as the piercing beams from the passing Tarsian vessels found their marks, rupturing both vessels after the fifth ship’s pass.
Abruptly the entire bevy of warships disappeared from the field and reappeared a short distance away where they quickly reorganized into a new formation. Moments later, six other discs transported directly into positions at the vanguard of the Drahkian formation.
The Corum glided upward and slowed, leading the Tarsian line in a sinewy curve away from the large warband while Miros’s laughing voice came on over the channel. “Bingo! Those new ships in front just confirmed my hunch. I’ve been watching their movements and I’ve pinned Salaal’s ship. All of you, key your holos into mine—I’ve marked the flagship in red.”
Magnus quickly picked up the frequency and zoomed the display in on the warband where one of the discs near the center of the diamond formation was highlighted in bright red. “Damn,” he whispered under his breath, amazed once again at Miros’s sharp wits.
“The Ki’ans destroyed two discs on the far side with these same tactics and Amara’s new spinning formations brought down four more.”
“I bet Salaal’s mad as hell,” Asta reckoned over the link. “He’s lost most of the new numbers he just brought in over this portal alone.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s in a lather,” Miros agreed. “They’re starting to move. Let’s nail this motherfucker while we know where he is! Stay with me, people.” The channel went quiet while the admiral issued orders to his crew for a new course.
Magnus glanced around the silent room at the fierce concentration on his officers’ faces. They all knew the ride was about to get bumpy again and that the lives of everyone on board, not to mention the millions down below on Bandu, rode on each of their shoulders. An instant’s hesitation or miscalculation could very well turn them all into vapor and dust particles.
As the Corum came around, leading its long line of shimmering, sleek vessels, the flock of warships moved slowly across the portal space, by all outward appearances in no hurry to engage the Tarsian forces. A patch of gold flickered in Merope’s sunlight as Yuri’s wing patrolled the space down below the warships, no doubt keeping an eye on the gray disc Miros tagged as Salaal’s.
The Zephyr lurched forward as the admiral’s ship picked up speed. “Here we go,” Rhona announced briskly, setting the controls to keep the Zephyr accurately positioned in the Tarsian lineup.
The Corum wove an erratic path as it accelerated and raced toward the oncoming discs. Just out of firing range, it dropped below the warband’s altitude and pulled up again in a tight curve, rocketing up through one side of the diamond array, spraying fire on the four closest warships. The Drahkian formation wobbled and opened fire, a heartbeat too late to catch the Corum as it shot passed, scattering further as the second and third Tarsian ships burst through with all cannons blazing.
Magnus kept his eyes pinned on the bright holo while Rhona guided the Zephyr down into the curve to fly in under the scrambling warband. Lita was already bringing the Corum back around, angling the dragon to make another pass across the gray discs.
“Magnus,” Miros called sharply across the open channel. “We’ve got one shot at Salaal before he transports away. While his eyes are on me, break off your run and come up underneath him. Al, Asta, follow Mag’s lead and pound the daylights out of that bastard. We’ll hit him from above.”
“Got it!” Magnus confirmed, shifting his mic to a channel with the Appin and Loki. “Rhona, keep us on track a few more seconds. Steady—now! Head for Salaal’s ship and bring us up next to the closest rim.”
The Zephyr peeled away from the Tarsian line, bulleting toward one of the discs just off center in the formation as the Corum raced downward, feinting toward the far edge of the diamond before shifting course abruptly to come in for a strike on the opposite side of the flagship.
“Rob, fire everything you’ve got, single point!” Magnus bellowed as the Zephyr shot up from below a few hundred feet from the bulky dark warship. “Ari, aft cannons, same point!”
The Zephyr shook from the vibrations of its cannons as well as a sudden blitz of fire from the Drahkian vessel. As the ship tore up and away, the Corum pounded a stream of blasts at the apex of the disc while the Appin launched its few seconds of heavy assault on the rim and followed close behind the Zephyr.
The warship rocked as a piece of the rim exploded and broke away. The Loki came on right behind the Appin, hammering steadily at the gaping hole in the warship’s hull for several seconds before the damaged vessel and the rest of the warband vanished from the field.
“Level us out, Rhona,” Magnus ordered, scanning the holo for the reappearance of the warband.
“There,” Hurik exclaimed the instant the cluster reappeared behind them just outside the portal zone.
The Corum circled with the seven other Tarsian starships in tow. “Well, we took a bite out of him,” Miros remarked over the com. “If we hit Salaal, I’m sure he’ll be coming after us. Stay sharp, people.”
“They’ll be back any second—” Magnus predicted just as six dark discs appeared right in front of the Zephyr and opened fire. “Rob, lock on and fire! Rhona, hard to port!” he shouted, grabbing hold of the console as the ship quaked under the thunder of continuous blasts. “Ari, hit them as they pass!”
“The shields are taking a beating, Captain!” Thora cried out. “If they dip any further, they may rupture.”
“They’re sweeping right over us!” Hurik wailed over the rumbling noise. “The Appin’s taking heavy fire! So is the Loki!”
Magnus’s eyes flew to his rear viewscreen which flashed with the bright light of multiple beams raining destruction over the Appin’s frame.
“Al! Hayk!” he screeched over the link, “Drop your altitude! Get out of there!”
“No good! Another group just appeared below us off starboard!” Al yelled. “They’re coming on hard! Shit!”
The sound of explosions echoed over the channel before they abruptly ceased. The viewscreen blazed with light as the Appin burst into pieces.
“Al!” Magnus screamed, clutching his console as his chest constricted and his stomach turned inside out. The Zephyr shook from the onslaught of the second set of warships. From somewhere far away, he heard himself issuing brisk orders. “Ari, fire aft cannons! Rhona, bring us back around starboard and climb five hundred feet. We’ve got to go back and help the Loki.”
A flash of gold zoomed across his screens an instant before one of the warships exploded and he heard Miros’s voice shouting something about the Loki’s heavy damage. The pounding seemed to stop all of a sudden and the warships disappeared from his screens. He sat back and listened to Thora’s report of the damage to the Zephyr and watched Ari slump over his console. Beside him, Hurik’s shaking voice put in a call to the Zephyr’s deathwalker, asking the man to help take care of the people from the Appin.
The hideous sound of Salaal’s angry shrieking pierced Magnus’s floating awareness and he looked up at the reptile’s loathsome image looming above them in the holo display Hurik must have opened.
“How dare you touch me, filthy human! How dare you!!” the warlord raged, obviously only interested in addressing Miros. “I’ve had enough of this tiresome game. You’ve cost me far too much in this campaign—ships, crews, property, equipment. This world is mine! Do you hear me? And I’m coming for Dashen and Sahara. You tell them to be ready to submit or they will die. There is no other choice. And if you
get in my way again, Miros of Alcyone, I will crush you and all of your paltry vessels.” The Drahk waved an angry hand and the transmission instantly snapped off.
Magnus dropped his gaze to the bright holo of the portal space where the images of the Drahkian vessels blinked out, only to reappear a moment later in a formation of concentric circles contracting downward toward the grid. At the center of the top circle, Salaal’s damaged flagship appeared, hanging in suspension for several heartbeats before it slowly, insolently descended through the ranks of protection. Just above the grid, the ship paused and hovered while a soft, barely perceptible glow formed across the hull. As the dark disc dropped into the locks, the glow blazed into white-hot heat, searing through the energetic weavings set by the orbiting stations. The circles of warships shifted into motion, spiraling downward after the flagship and disappeared through the rewoven grid.
Tanamar Rimstrider’s frustrated voice broke in over the admirals’ channel. “They just shot past us and burned through the secondary portal. Bandu’s gone.”
Kirian stood in the ruined courtyard of the Namkha Sanctuary, tucked away in an offshoot at the far end of the Tangra Valley. Like the other Makhás sanctuaries, it had been built into the sheer rock face of a mountainside high above the valley floor, accessible only by teleportation, vulnerable only from the air.
“It’s just like all the others,” Selina said in a hollow voice beside him. “It’s hard to look at this.”
The tall yeshe laid a comforting hand on his twin’s shoulder. “I know,” he acknowledged, sending his eyes gliding over the piles of blackened rubble, broken roof tiles, and charred pieces of wood that had once been graceful eves that lay strewn across the remnants of the outermost rooms of the small mountain retreat.
“Man, they really bombed the hell out of this one,” Asti observed, kicking a rock and sending it skittering across the pitted paving stones. “I think it’s worse than the others we’ve seen. There’s barely anything recognizable left in this front part.”
Descent of the Maw Page 11