Both sat up and looked around—only a handful of spacesuited troopers surrounded them. But hovering high overhead, a Gunship floated with its weapons powered up, at the ready, and aimed directly at them.
Ericca spoke in a calm, businesslike tone. “I’m not eating anything. Are you, Archer?”
“Nope. Not me. Why do you ask?”
“Hmmm,” she mused. “Captain Kori says they always come knocking at dinner time. Think we missed a meal?”
“I could use another burger,” Riley said. “If you don’t mind?”
The trooper butted Viper’s side harder, but with his visor down Riley couldn’t see his face. “Is he scowling?”
Riley motioned with his hand for the trooper to raise his visor, who in turn did so. “Yep. He’s scowling alright.”
Ericca pulled a sheet of paper from her notebook and wrote a message on it then held it up for the trooper to read. “Surrender now and we’ll go easy on you.”
“He does not look amused, sis.
Ericca sighed. “Why do they always choose the hard way?”
“I don’t know, sis. After all we’ve done for them you’d think they’d be more appreciative.”
“You’d think.” Ericca touched a button. Viper lurched left. Hitting all three troopers that side knee high, they flipped headlong over the little ship. Ericca tabbed another button—Viper bolted right, slid the downed men across the deck to cream the troopers standing on that side as well.
Riley smirked. “Very nice, sis. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a deck swabbed quite that way.”
“Thank you, Archer,” Ericca said cheerfully.
“And for an encore, what? You going to clean their clocks?”
“Let’s see, for an encore, what to do, what to do? I say we just let these guys be our muse.”
Riley spoke as if he and his sister were in the comfort of their own home. “Would you care for a snack while you wait? I’m sure you’ll want to address their grievances once they’ve regained consciousness. Maybe we’re in a no parking zone, but I’m sure I saw no sign.”
“I’ll take a burger if you got one,” she answered nonchalantly. “Viper, evasive maneuvers right and left ten feet as needed.”
“Aye, Captain,” Viper responded.
Riley popped a ready-made burger into the MicroFix, and, in a moment, while the lettuce, tomato, pickles, and bun stayed cool, the burger came out piping hot with the cheese on it melted to perfection. He handed it to Ericca, and then set one in for himself.
The men staggered to their feet just in time to see Ericca and Riley enjoy their burgers. Riley took another bite, and gave the Confederate leader a happy wave to mock him.
One officer looked up at the Kodiak, which hovered above them, then motioned to it.
Suddenly, the Gunship opened up on Ericca’s ship.
Viper shifted leftward hard. The 50cal. charged bullets tore open a huge fissure in Prince Rutherford’s hull. Air exploding out knocked some troopers down. Internal hardware shot into space: consoles, conduit, computers, chairs, and a body.
The gunship bucked, but held its position in spite of the torrent of air and debris—a twisted console or some such thing, collided with the Kodiak and ripped a skid from its belly. Inside the large ship’s protective shield which surrounded her like a big bubble, there was nothing to stop the Kodiak’s guns.
The troopers scrambled to their feet.
Ericca’s new note, written big and bold to the captain of the Kodiak, “Nice shot! You got it.” The Prince Rutherford was a big ship. How could they miss?
The gunship dropped down just above the deck to level itself with Viper. The men within aimed to shoot Viper’s side panel.
Ericca moved Viper forward a bit.
The Gunship turned toward it to keep all guns to bear.
“Viper, evade vertically as needed.” Ericca said.
“Aye, Captain.”
The Kodiak gunship again opened fire.
Viper instantly jumped skyward thirty feet without nosing up.
Fifty calibers ripped open Prince Rutherford’s conning tower. Again air and wreckage rushed out of the ship, as did three more bodies. Again the Kodiak thrashed.
As Ericca brought Viper back down to the deck, she held up a new message. “Renovating? New door perhaps?”
“Sis, sis, sis. You know you’re ticking them off, don’t you?”
“Angry men make mistakes, little brother.”
“Yes, but do you need them stumbling all over themselves?”
“I do, actually. Now it’s your turn, Archer.”
“Okay. Hand me some paper.”
“No, gunboy! You’ve been aching to shoot something. Now’s your chance.”
“Oh! Right!” Riley brought his guns around.
Those in the Kodiak saw Viper’s right turret turn toward them. The men laughed and pointed. To them, Viper’s puny peashooters must have seemed a joke. Clearly, the believed Riley’s small guns would do little harm. They were wrong.
Riley smirked deviously and pulled the trigger.
The Gunship’s right weapons racks exploded into small bits of metal and fire. As their ship began to list to port, the wide-eyed men inside watched Riley turn his guns toward their left wing. The guns on that side vanished in a hail of fire. The Kodiak staggered back like a dazed prizefighter, spun around, and crashed into the pipes behind it. The sudden release of gas from the pipes flipped the gunship onto its back, and there it lay. Held by their restraints, the men inside dangled from their seats upside-down.
Riley’s smirk grew. Interlacing his fingers behind his head, he leaned back in his seat. “That wiped the smiles off their faces. You just got to love Rachel’s Phiton-charged particle cannons.”
“I’ll say,” answered Ericca. “With all these guys standing around staring at us, I’m beginning to think our cover is blown.”
“You think?”
“Sequence of events, little brother. Did you notice?”
“What? You mean the part where as soon as we get off the phone with Captain Kori, these guys show up? Can’t say I haven’t noticed, actually.”
“It could be just a coincidence, Archer, but it certainly looks suspicious.”
“You may have something there.”
“Oh, look. A door. Shall we see what’s inside?”
But before he could answer, she slipped Viper through the gaping hole created by the Kodiak. Inside, the lights were out. She hit her floodlights and turned Viper to see which room they had entered. The monitors, cut from their power source, were dark. One body, wedged between two consoles, was bloody and blistered from the sudden decompression. His vacant eyes stared at their ship accusingly.
Ericca’s smile fell away. She killed her light and turned back to the opening.
Chapter Twenty
Stone-faced, Ericca pushed Viper through the hole and back out onto Rutherford’s deck. “What say we take’er for a spin, Archer?”
“I’m with you, sis. You lead; I’ll follow.”
Seeing that man abruptly brought to an end Ericca’s every desire for fun and games. But as she took Viper up and away from Rutherford, a hail of gunfire—charged bullets—sprayed the canopy.
Archer turned his weapons on the Prince Rutherford. Under the onslaught of his guns, the hull burst open. The immediate outrush of air violently flung the foot-soldier gunmen into space.
“Well,” Archer said solemnly, “at least we know our shields will hold against hand-cannons.”
“So,” said Ericca in an effort to shake that guy’s face from her brother’s mind, and hopefully hers. “I guess now they know we’re here for real, huh?”
“I did my best to make that clear to them, sis.”
“What say we test those guns of Rachel’s? You up for a little target practice?”
“Nope,” Archer answered. “I’m up for a lot of target practice. Bring it!”
“You’ve been bristling to shoot something. Okay, Gunnery one. N
ow’s your chance. Roger?”
“Roger, Cap.”
“Target practice is a ‘go’! Scanner arrays and weapons systems are your targets today. High score is twenty-nine bazillion. Can you beat that score, Gunnery?”
“Roger, Dodger,” Riley responded. “Gunnery is a go.”
Then, as Viper pulled away, an idea struck him.
“Now that I’ve said it, I think Dodger is an excellent handle for you, sis.”
Ericca throttled forward. Viper responded like a bullet. “What was it, Dodger?”
Archer spun his guns around. “Yep. What do you think of ‘Dodger’ as a handle?”
“No, thank you.” Ericca headed for the next ship over. Try as she might, she couldn’t force a change in her mood. Why did death have to be so blasted real, so blasted permanent?
“All pilots have a tag. What’s wrong with Dodger?”
“What?” She scoffed.
Flashes of gunfire exploded all around them.
“Look, Archer, can we just focus on this?” Ericca dodged each projectile, but it took some effort. She looped Viper and zeroed in on the HMS Protius’s scanner array.
Quickly, Archer aimed and fired. The Phiton charged particles ripped through the Protius’s shields to instantly obliterate the scanner dish. He fired again. The shield emitter vaporized. He focused on the ship’s big guns and fired once more. The huge explosion caught the attention of the other big ships, and they, too, began to fire at the little troublemaker.
Ericca pulled back hard and brought Viper back to another large ship. “Good gravy! Looks like we stirred up that hornet’s nest again. Look at your scope!”
Ericca’s scanner showed small blips pouring from a larger one—Talons from the carrier.
“It looks like you’ll have your hands full, Dodger.”
“Archer, can we just not do this now? Turn your attention back to the task at hand like that big ship over there.”
“Sure. Fine.” Thwarted, he shook his head. Targeting the scanner array and cannons, he let fly. Tiny but bright sparklers zoomed toward the large ship.
Flames spewed bits of metal from HMS Gorgon.
“Hey, Archer. You want to trade jobs for a little bit? I’ll show you an easy way to take down a Talon or two.”
“Sure, Dodger. I’m game.”
“Stop it.” She said sternly. “I’m in no mood to play!” Ericca tabbed her console, and its display switched with Archer’s. “First, little brother, you want to get a few Talon’s lined up behind you. Make easy, graceful sweeps. Viper turns sharper than those chasing us, so keep your arc just a little tighter than that of the Talons.”
“Got it, Dodger. And then?”
“And then you stop calling me Dodger. I happen to like my name. Can’t you just respect that?”
“Yeah, sure,” he said sullenly.
“You don’t like your name, Archer?”
He sighed. “Riley? You don’t seem to like it.”
“Fine. Point taken. You want me to call you Riley, Riley is what I’ll call you. But for now, let’s just set that aside and focus on the Talons behind us.”
“Oh, alright! What do you want me to do?”
“Just before you lose them turn back. Snake your way back and forth with the Talons strung behind you like a pearl necklace. They’ll struggle to stay with you, so be careful you don’t lose them. Leaving them in the dust is itself a game ender. If you can get the pilots to focus on Viper, they’ll forget about their surroundings.”
“Got it, Ericca. I’ve picked up a few tails now, but I’ll stay out of pistol shot.” As Archer eased the ship back and forth, Ericca could see that he began to understand the little ship’s abilities better.
“Good. Very good job, umm Riley. Now pick a target ahead of us, like a conning tower or the broad side of a ship. Swing back and forth as you make your way to it. Just before you reach it, veer away at the last second. The idea is to get the Talons to modify your chosen target, a conning tower or something. But be careful. Don’t you hit it.”
“Hey, cool. Get them to do the heavy lifting, huh?”
Like a giant snake a string of Talons did their best to follow Viper.
“You got it,” Ericca answered. “In the meantime I’ll just amuse myself by making these guys madder.”
She swiveled the guns around at the string of Talons following serpentine. When compared to agile Viper, the Talons maneuvered like sluggish trucks.
“Hey, Archer, you catch on quick. Your piloting is perfect.”
Ericca took careful aim and . . .
. . . and froze.
Her thoughts immediately went back to that lifeless body caught between the consoles, and to those staring eyes. Shaking it off, she quickly considered her options. She could kill some faceless dillweed chasing them . . . or she could aim to wound.
“Sis?” Archer said. His face in the monitor showed concern for her hesitation.
She squeezed the trigger. One tiny but surprisingly bright dot flashed out of the gun to slice off a wing two Talons back. As it spiraled out of control, she pulled the trigger again, ripping the wounded Talon in half. This was a firefight. It wasn’t the time to go wobbly.
“Sis?”
“I’ll be okay, Archer,” she whispered. “Neat toy you have here.”
Archer forced a smile. “You hesitated.”
“What? Did I?”
“You had second thoughts, huh? First shot crippled his ship. You could have let him go. That would have taken him out of the fight.”
“I’ve always believed one had to be tough in war, Archer. I forgot for one brief moment that my job is to make sure things brake and men die.”
“Some say good guys try never to kill, sis.”
She fired again. A Talon six ships back exploded.
“Archer, I understand. They call it, ‘Being civilized.’ They hope the survivor will just go on back home.” She paused. “Idiots.”
Archer continued with his back and forth sweeps. “You don’t believe that?”
“I don’t. Those that say such stuff don’t understand that Confed soldiers are insane. Being brutal is a religion to them. Let ’em live, and they’d see you as weak, and come back at you again and again. Screw that. The smart money is on putting Confederates down like the dogs they are.”
Flashes of gunfire started to come at them from every direction as one Talon after the next converged on Viper. Archer pulled the ship into a loose turn, picked up a few more followers, then found his mark and turned back toward it.
Ericca was mindful of each shot she took. She was careful to choose her target and take it out with lethal force. Cripple one ship, wound another? What the . . .? She knew her aim was to turn one Talon after the next into a violently exploding fireball. But blast! That dead man’s accusing stare wouldn’t leave her alone. Fine. Determined to be stronger, she wouldn’t be frightened by the memory and dissuaded from doing what she knew was right.
She could tell at a glance the better pilots among those that followed. She’d take them down, and leave the inferior pilots to Archer.
The HMS Ventura’s scanner array loomed large before them. Archer jerked left to turn hard over. Behind him, several ships, unable to make the turn, collided with the Ventura’s hardware and hull. The enemy ship was severely damaged. Archer turned back and headed for the HMS Tall Man.
“I think the best targets on these big ships are the scanner arrays, sis.”
“Good call, Archer. Blinding them is always a good choice. But I’ll take it from here. The sky is getting pretty hairy with gunfire.”
Archer seemed stressed and was clearly glad to give control back to Ericca.
“Roger, Dodger. She’s all yours.” He checked his scanner.
“Just had to sneak that in, huh?” Ericca said, as she picked up another string of followers, found Archer’s target of choice, and headed for it. And, just as she had instructed Archer, she lured these Talons right into the big ship’s conning
tower. Thrummed by a half-dozen Talons, the tower’s base exploded. The massive structure tore away from the ship’s main body.
“Hmm. Tall Man seems a little shorter these days, sis.”
She chuckled. “An apparent quarrel with Talons recently cut it down to size.”
“So, who won the argument?”
Ericca laughed. “Between the Talons and him? I think we did.”
Archer snickered. “Time to head home, sis?”
Suddenly Viper jerked and spun around. Ericca recovered control and checked for damage. A lucky shot had clipped a port panel. Sparks and smoke coughed from the new gash in Viper’s left flank.
“Port engine is down,” Archer called out. “Redirecting fuel lines.”
Ericca turned away from the fleet and pushed the remaining engine up to full capacity. Where did that crippling shot come from? She gnashed her teeth. She had only taken her mind off those shooting at them for one microsecond. That’s all it took to let that shot get through. She cursed herself under her breath and refocused on the job of keeping them alive.
“We have Talons gaining on us, sis.”
“We’re accelerating, Archer, but Viper’s sluggish. Shift power to the rear shields.”
“They’re closing within gunshot, Ericca. Can you get any more out of her?”
Ericca took a breath. “I’m trying.”
“They’ve launched rockets. Ah crap! They’re HvM180’s.” He dropped chaff.
Ignoring it, the rockets began to close the gap between Viper and them.
Archer laid down a spread of gunfire. Several rockets exploded, but not all. One had slipped through and was gaining fast. He fired again. Viper bucked from the too near explosion. Flashes of the blast streaked past the canopy.
“The Talons are still closing, sis.” He spun his guns around and vaporized the leader. But the others, still advancing, seemed determined. He pulled the trigger again. The second in line exploded into a ball of fire.
Viper pitched. Struggling to keep it together, Ericca fought to hold the little ship on course.
Archer fired again. Another Talon exploded and the rest began to peel away. “That did it. They’re turning back to the fleet.” Archer breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “It’s over.”
Living in Freefall (Living on the Run Book 1) Page 14