*
Gan paused, his attention caught by a panel on the wall of the corridor. It looked as though it might be an access panel to the wiring conduits, maybe an important point like a control box. He studied the panel, trying to see whether he could remove it to check his theory, and maybe to plant a bomb directly against the circuits, rather than on the wall.
Avon had pointed out, the compact bombs they had were not sufficient to do serious damage to the main pursuit ship production lines. Instead, Blake’s team were to attack the subsidiary production areas. Gan had left Blake and Vila planting bombs in a specialised area that assembled the electronic components of the ships’ systems. Most of his own bombs had gone in what Gan thought was the control room for the various computerised systems that ran the largely automated plant. The room hadn’t been very large, so he’d saved a couple of bombs to plant elsewhere.
The wall panel was clearly designed to be removed, but Gan didn’t have the tools to do it. He pried at it with his strong fingers, feeling it give just a little. As he prepared to try again, he became aware of multiple footsteps approaching. Gan turned quickly to the sound, his hand automatically going to the handle of his gun. The corridor ahead was empty, but he could tell now that the sounds were coming from a cross corridor, a short distance away. The only doors he could see were closer to the junction than to himself, so hiding in those rooms would potentially put the group now approaching between himself and Blake. As Gan stepped back, preparing to turn and run, the first security guards appeared around the corner.
‘Halt!’
The leading guard raised his rifle. Gan instinctively drew his handgun and aimed.
The guard’s hasty shot scorched past Gan’s shoulder as he tried to fire. A blaze of pain through his head made Gan stagger. Another rifle shot narrowly missed as he lurched to one side. Gasping, Gan pulled himself together. Holstering the gun he couldn’t fire, he slipped the tube of explosives off the other shoulder. Dodging in the opposite direction, he hurled the black tube as hard as he could towards the guards. He saw the two in front duck aside as he turned and sprinted for the open door at the far end of the corridor.
The flare and splutter of rifle shots filled the corridor as Gan ran for his life, dodging as best he could. He yelped at a burst of pain from his right shoulder, but it was no more than a graze that melted clothing and scorched skin. Ahead was a T-junction. If he could reach it, he’d have a few moments to call for help. Longer, if he closed and somehow locked the emergency door. Gan was bulky but powerful, strength and long legs let him move faster than people expected. He pounded towards the end of the corridor, not frightened, but determined. Three more strides, two more…
It happened very fast. Burning agony in his left leg, just as his foot was coming down. His leg buckled and he sprawled forwards, throwing his hands out to break his fall. Gan landed just at the junction and rolled, trying to make cover. As he turned, he glimpsed Blake, racing along the corridor he’d just landed in, and almost on top of him.
‘Keep moving,’ Blake urged breathlessly, as he hurdled Gan’s body. Gan rolled again, snapping his head around fast to see what Blake was doing.
Blake landed almost at the end of the corridor the guards were in, halting himself by throwing his free hand against the wall. Without pausing, he thrust his handgun around the corner and fired a few blind shots towards the guards. There was a cry of pain and the sound of their movement came to a disorganised halt at this unexpected retaliation. Blake withdrew his gun, and slapped at the wall control for the emergency doors. The metal door slammed down from the ceiling, closing off the junction and separating Blake and Gan from the guards. Blake blasted the control, which erupted in a shower of sparks.
Gan had managed to push himself into a sitting position, leaning against the wall. Blake turned to him, crouching down.
‘How bad is it?’ Blake looked at the wound on Gan’s thigh.
‘Painful,’ Gan admitted, baring his teeth in a grimace. ‘Thanks for the save.’
‘Timing is everything,’ Blake replied, with a brief flash of a smile. He glanced at the emergency door. ‘That will hold them for a little while, but we don’t know how many more there are in the plant.’
Gan pressed his hand over the wound. There was so much adrenalin in his body that he didn’t feel too much pain.
‘Where’s Vila?’ he asked.
Blake rose. ‘He’s coming now.’
Gan turned his head and saw Vila hurrying towards them, looking anxious. ‘Any trouble your way?’ he called.
Vila shook his head. ‘I didn’t see anyone. Can we get out of here now?’ he asked Blake, almost in the same breath.
The question was drowned out by the sound of guards hammering on the door from the other side as they tried to force it open.
Blake activated his communicator. ‘Jenna, get a fix on our position and stand by to pick us up very shortly.’
‘Understood,’ she answered crisply.
Blake changed channels. ‘Cally? We’ve run into trouble here. How are things where you are?’
‘There are no sirens or alerts here.’ Her voice was just audible to Gan and Vila above the noises from the door
‘Our bombs are all set so we’re about to pull out,’ Blake said. ‘Is Avon getting the data?’
There was a brief pause before Avon’s clipped voice replied. ‘I’ve got into the computer systems without setting off any alarms. Technical data on the pursuit ships is nearly downloaded, but I’ve also found some interesting files on Greerson.’
How interesting?’ Blake sounded fairly calm, but he glanced in the direction of the closed door as a new shower of sparks erupted from the lock panel.
‘Given a little time, I think I could find something to raise interesting questions about how he’s used his powers as President,’ Avon replied coolly.
‘We don’t have any more time here.’
‘Cally and I are not in immediate danger,’ Avon said. ‘Security will be tightened after our attacks. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get into this level of secure files again, not without some months of work. The information I’m getting could do as much damage as any bombs. I need another ten minutes to get it.’
‘They’ll be through that door in less than ten minutes!’ Vila stage-whispered in alarm. ‘We’ve got to teleport back to the ship, Blake!’
Blake nodded to Vila and spoke to Avon again. ‘We’ll teleport up, but keep in contact with you and Cally, and bring you up too, when you’re ready. Good work, Avon.’
‘As always.’ Avon cut the connection.
As Blake changed comms channels again, Gan struggled to his feet, then propped himself against the wall. He caught his balance as Blake asked Jenna for teleport, and a few moments later, the corridor disappeared from around them as they dematerialised.
THREE
Blake was getting used to the strange, non-event of teleporting. It was like blinking, and opening your eyes again to find yourself in a different place. There was no sense of movement, or change. He was immediately ready to grab Gan’s arm and support him when they reappeared in the Liberator’s teleport room.
‘Thanks, I can manage,’ Gan claimed. His face was starting to look strained as the shock of his wound began to set in, but he refused to lean on Blake’s shoulder.
‘Blake!’ Jenna interrupted before Blake could argue with Gan, ‘Zen’s been intercepting messages from the security forces on Belzanko. They’ve seen the Liberator and are scrambling three pursuit ships to intercept.’
Blake muttered a curse. ‘Vila, help Gan to the medical unit and take care of him.’
Vila set down his box of tools and gallantly shouldered some of Gan’s weight.
‘Oof, what do they feed you on, wherever it is you come from?’ Vila grumbled, steering Gan up the steps to the corridor. ‘And steps – in a spaceship! Who has steps everywhere in a spaceship? They built Zen, and a teleport – and steps!’ The complaints faded away as they lef
t.
Blake wasn’t really listening to him. He strode across the room to lean over the console, where Jenna was studying displays.
‘PURSUIT SHIPS WILL BE IN FIRING RANGE IN FOUR MINUTES.’ Zen’s voice came from the speaker in the wall.
Jenna glanced at the corridor, and Blake knew that she wanted to be on the flight deck, at the ship’s controls.
‘Can we fight them?’ he asked.
Jenna shook her head. ‘We could fight two, but I’m not really sure about three. And three is just what they’ve sent up now. They can send reinforcements.’
Blake frowned as he thought. ‘Do you have a fix on Avon and Cally? We’ll have to bring them back now.’
Jenna nodded. She pressed a button and a light showed on the green locator grid set into the console. ‘Three minutes until the pursuit ships arrive,’ she added.
Blake slid onto the seats on the other side of the console. ‘Get ready to take us out of orbit,’ he ordered, gesturing to the exit as he moved. ‘I’ll retrieve the others.’
‘OK.’ Jenna left at a run, blonde hair flowing with the speed of her movement.
Blake hit the communicator button. ‘Avon, we’ve got pursuit ships on the way, too many to fight. I’m going to bring you and Cally back now.’
‘I haven’t got all the data yet,’ Avon snapped. ‘Buy us some time. Orbit Belzanko a couple of times,’ he suggested.
Blake considered the idea for a moment. ‘That’ll give them enough time to scramble more pursuit ships,’ he pointed out. ‘And I’m not sure if we can pick you up while we’re moving.’ Another idea occurred to him. ‘Are there any alarms where you are yet?’
‘No.’
‘So Greerson’s forces don’t know you’re there. If the Liberator leaves, they’ll assume we’ve retrieved everyone from the ground and won’t be looking for you.’ Blake was pretty sure Avon would refuse his next suggestion, but decided to try it anyway. ‘We’ll leave Belzanko, outrun or destroy the pursuit ships, and come back for you in about twenty hours. You finish getting the data, then make contact with Allston and hide with them until we return. It’s that, or we all leave right now.’
‘Two minutes until intercept.’ Jenna’s voice came over the speakers on cue.
‘We’ll stay,’ Avon said decisively.
Blake was surprised and pleased at Avon’s willingness to take risks to accomplish the mission. ‘That’s great,’ he said warmly. ‘I knew I could rely on you, Avon.’
‘I just hope I can rely on you to evade the pursuit ships,’ Avon answered tartly.
Blake snorted. ‘I’ll see you both in twenty hours,’ he promised. ‘Liberator out.’
Cutting the connection, he switched to internal communications. ‘Jenna, take her out.’
‘We’re on our way.’
Blake paused long enough to remove his teleport bracelet and replace it in the rack, before heading for the flight deck. As he moved, the quiet hum of the engines changed as the powerful ship left orbit and turned for deep space.
*
Cally was also surprised, and more suspicious. She stalked over to the terminal where Avon sat.
‘You trust Blake to come back for us?’ she asked.
‘Of course.’ Avon offered a confident smile. ‘He needs my skills, and if he deserted us, the others would be wondering how long before he abandoned them too. They might decide to desert him first.’
Cally tilted her head to one side as she studied him. ‘So your trust in Blake is founded purely on logic and practicality.’
‘Those, and the knowledge that Blake is reassuringly, almost idiotically, loyal to his companions.’
Cally looked as though she didn’t know whether to be cross or pleased at that. Avon’s eyes glittered with amusement at her dilemma.
‘It’s better that they never know we were in here,’ he said, more practically. ‘We should leave things intact.’
Cally nodded, knowing Avon was right, but no less annoyed with him for being so. Picking up the black tube, she set about retrieving the bombs she had planted in readiness.
*
Jenna looked up as Blake trotted briskly onto the flight deck. After a few moments, she realised that there was no-one with him.
‘Where are Avon and Cally?’ she asked, leaning forward at her station.
‘On Belzanko.’ Blake explained the reason for the separation as he unbuckled his gun-belt and dropped it onto a seat. He paused to look at the main screen. ‘Where are we going?’
‘Centero,’ Jenna said in the tone of someone pointing out the obvious.
Blake turned to face Zen’s fascia. ‘Zen, cancel the flight to Centero.’
‘CONFIRMED.’
Zen was indifferent to the sudden change of plans, but Jenna had questions.
‘How are we going to get back for Cally and Avon with three pursuit ships on our tail?’
‘How far away are they?’ Blake asked, taking up Avon’s usual station.
Jenna brought up a display on the main screen, adjusting the graphic to show the Liberator, the local planets and the pursuit ships in relation to one another.
‘Not yet in firing range,’ Jenna said. ‘We should be able to outrun them in a few hours, less if they give up the chase before leaving their system.’
Blake looked at her, challenging her with his eyes. ‘The Liberator‘s capable of doing more than running. We want to weaken Greerson’s position, so why not take out a couple of his pursuit ships if possible? If we’re away from the planet they won’t be able to send up reinforcements.’
Jenna touched the instrument panel in front of her, almost caressing it. It would be risky, even with the full crew on station, but the temptation of really flying this ship, and using it as the war machine it was designed to be, appealed to her piloting instincts. She knew Blake was using her love of flying for his own ends, but then he’d given her the chance to fly this beautiful ship, and she was grateful for that. The desire to pit her skill and her ship against the enemy prevailed.
‘Zen.’ Jenna’s voice was clear and decisive. ‘Set course to 299 by 45, speed Standard by two. Execute course on command.’
‘CONFIRMED.’
Blake looked across at her. ‘You already had something in mind?’
Jenna smiled. ‘A good smuggler always has plans ready for either flight or fight.’ Setting the ship to manual, Jenna took hold of the controls either side of her seat.
As Liberator left orbit, the pursuit ships turned to follow. Jenna gradually increased speed to Standard by four. The pursuit ships gave chase, getting closer and closer to firing range. Vila arrived on the flight deck, reporting that Gan was comfortable. He settled at his station, his eyes anxiously following the visual of the pursuit ships, and his finger hovering close to the firing button of the neutron blasters. Jenna noticed Blake looking her way, but he didn’t ask what she intended to do. He trusted her to solve the problem. It was a good feeling, to be trusted. Smiling slightly, Jenna pulled back on the flight controls and sent the Liberator up from her flight path.
The pursuit ships followed, widening their triangular formation. Two were flying level with one another and echoed the Liberator‘s course. The third flew above them. It accelerated into a steeper climb, cutting across the arc of Liberator‘s manoeuvre.
‘Stand by,’ Jenna warned the other two. Her eyes were fixed on the screen, gauging distances and timings. ‘Be ready to fire, Vila.’
‘They’re behind us!’ he protested, keeping his eyes on his instruments nonetheless.
‘Not now!’ Jenna hit full reverse thrust and pushed the ship into a dive so hard it spun around its own axis.
The view on the screen swooped as Liberator turned 180 degrees almost in place. The crew held on to controls and consoles as the inertial dampers fought to protect them from the sudden manoeuvre. Momentum kept them going backwards in the same direction for a few moments, though Jenna switched to forward thrust again immediately.
Vila gaspe
d, but he remained alert enough to let off a shot as the paired pursuit ships came into sight. As Liberator finished her turn, Jenna levelled her to aim through the centre of the enemy formation. There was a bright flare from the screen as Vila’s shot hit the lower left pursuit ship.
‘I got it!’ he whooped.
‘ENEMY SHIP HAS SUSTAINED MINOR DAMAGE,’ Zen informed them uninterestedly.
‘Party pooper,’ Vila muttered.
The Liberator‘s powerful engines overcame the momentum of the previous course, and thrust her forward in the new direction. In the next moment, Liberator was through the triangle of pursuit ships and heading into clear space. Blake switched the view to rear scanners and Jenna began to slow the big ship. All three of the pursuit ships were turning to follow.
‘Good work,’ said Blake.
‘There’s still three of them after us though,’ Vila pointed out. ‘It’s not my fault, I did damn well to hit one at all after being spun around like that. My stomach’s still upside-down.’
‘I know,’ Jenna sounded confident. She rolled the ship so it returned to the previous alignment with the solar ecliptic, bringing them the ‘right way up’ again. She also kept watching her displays, and as the pursuit ships began to catch up, she gradually increased the Liberator‘s speed.
Blake studied the screens for a moment, then his face lit up in understanding. ‘You weren’t really intending to destroy any of them, were you? We just poked them with a stick to get them to chase us.’
Jenna nodded. ‘We’ll get them well away from Belzanko, and any reinforcements, before we actually stand and fight,’ she explained for Vila’s benefit. ‘We’ll make them use up power before we get into a fight,’ she added. ‘Liberator can outlast any pursuit ship before she needs to recharge.’
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