**********
Adrian quickly banked the hovercraft to the right as he saw one of the Gnol Chaties fire a plasma bolt in his direction. He managed to dodge the blast, but Jake was thrown to the left of the vehicle and cracked the back of his head against the window. "You better get buckled in, son. Like I said before, this is going to be a bumpy ride."
Jake rubbed the bump that was beginning to form on the back of his head and hurriedly buckled himself in. He glanced back and noticed that two black Chaties were within ten feet of the vehicle. The other two weren't far behind. One of the Chaties fired. "Look out!" yelled Jake.
But it was too late. The blast hit the right end of the vehicle. Adrian lost control for a moment and almost struck a large pine tree. He managed to veer to his left. The right side of the vehicle scraped along the bark of the tree.
"Hey, can't you hold it together up there?" Doc yelled.
"Doin' the best I can, big guy," Adrian replied. "Sean, where are those Chaties that I ordered you to send out?"
"They should be at your position now, General. We only had two pilots that were ready to send out immediately."
"Well, I don't see them. Where are they?"
"We're here, Dad."
Adrian looked ahead into the darkness and saw two lights approaching. "Bantyr. Is that you?"
"Yes, and Captain Shaonal ? Dad ? I have a lock on one of the Gnols. On my mark, bank to your right."
"You got it."
"Now!"
Adrian banked to his right just as Bantyr fired two hot red flashes of plasma. The bolts nailed the Gnol Chati that was closest to Adrian's tail, and it exploded into a brilliant orange fireball.
Adrian looked left and then right. He saw the two silver Chaties dart by. He noticed that two of the three remaining Gnol Chaties veered off and chased the two rebels. The other Gnol Chati was closing the gap and maneuvering for a position to fire. "Sean, we're almost to the doors. When I tell y-"
"No!"
Adrian stopped and looked at his rearview monitor and caught a glimpse of one of the Chati's wings clip a tree, which sent it hurling out of control and crashing into a small clearing. "Bantyr! What happened?"
"General, this is Captain Shaonal. Bantyr is down. ? I repeat. ? Bantyr is down."
"Adrian, you're almost on top of the base. I'm opening the bay doors," said Sean.
Adrian was in a trance. He had heard Sean, but couldn't register what he had said. He couldn't bear the thought of losing Bantyr.
"General! I repeat! I am opening the bay doors now!"
Adrian felt a slap on his shoulder.
"Dad!" Jake yelled.
Adrian shook his head and snapped out of his despair. He looked up and saw the bay doors beginning to open. The artificial trees, rock, and soil that had been placed on top of the doors as a camouflage split in two. Adrian glanced at the rearview monitor to check where the remaining Gnol Chati was.
The Chati fired and then veered off to avoid crashing into the bay doors. Adrian frantically looked up and noticed that he would not be able to bank left or right or he would slam into the bay doors. He took a direct hit in the backside of the hover vehicle. Because of the superior shielding of the larger hovercraft, the plasma blast didn't penetrate, but the force of it threw the vehicle into the left bay door.
Adrian tried to regain control, but the force of the collision with the bay door flipped the hovercraft upside down. It began its two hundred-yard descent down to the floor of the base.
Adrian could barely move his arm to grab the controls and flip the vehicle back over. He heard Celeste scream in pain and Doc curse. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of fighting with the controls, he was able to regain control. But, it was too late. He managed to flip the large hovercraft over just enough to have it impact the floor of the base on its right side.
Adrian felt the impact and his shoulder harness snapped. His body hurled into the right side of the vehicle, with his shoulder hitting first, then his head, and then darkness.
Worlds Without End: The Mission (Book 1) Page 47