Space Rats

by Jacqueline Kirk

  SIXTEEN

  Troy was trying desperately to keep Star Chaser ducking and weaving amongst the fighting, avoiding getting too close to any of them. The strain of watching the ships and trying not to get blasted themselves was hard and Troy was so focused he never heard the shouts and cries coming from the others as they yet again narrowly missed a laser blast.

  They weren’t always lucky though. Twice now the ship had received a direct hit and Krista worriedly told them that the shields were beginning to fail. Troy never heard her.

  The smaller ships of the merchant fleet and the ISF were flying in swooping patterns as they avoided the weapon fire coming from Red Raven’s fleet, which consisted of four other ships. These four were not as large as Red Raven’s war ship but they were equipped with laser cannons that continually blasted at the smaller ships.

  The whole battle was an intricate pattern of weaving ships and lethal laser fire. It was a wonder that the enemy ships had not managed to shoot each other as they tried to keep track of the smaller ones that continually bombarded them with their own laser blasts.

  It was only a matter of time before a co-ordinated effort from the ISF ships left one of the larger enemy ships in flames and it careened out of control to smash into the side of one of its companions.

  There was a cheer from behind Troy at the sight of two enemy ships destroyed but the mood was short-lived as they realised their path was taking them toward the flaming wreckage.

  “What are you doing?” Lena cried.

  “Trying not to get shot!” Troy shouted, “Red Raven is right behind us!”

  The children gasped and craned their necks to look at the screen on Troy’s console that showed him what was behind. There, filling the whole screen, was Red Raven’s large spearhead-shaped vessel coming directly towards them, seemingly unaffected by the laser blasts that peppered its hull.

  Troy quickly formed a dangerous plan that would get rid of Red Raven, while also hopefully getting them away from the fight they had got caught up in. The wreckage of the two enemy ships was slowly spinning towards them scattering the smaller ships out of their way except for Star Chaser.

  “Troy, no!” Lena called out.

  “Yes!”

  “No!” both Ziggy and Lena called out.

  But too late. Troy steered the ship between the two flaming wreckages, skilfully avoiding pieces of twisted metal as he did so. Flames washed over the front windshield from both sides but Troy gritted his teeth and pushed the ship faster. For one horrible moment as the flames continued to burn them he thought he might have made a mistake but suddenly they were past and out into open space.

  “Yes!” Ziggy shouted in joyful relief.

  Troy sagged in his seat, briefly letting go of the helm so he could wipe his sweating palms on his trousers. He looked over his shoulder and grinned at his friends but that grin disappeared quickly when he checked his screen and saw Red Raven’s ship still following.

  “Oh no!” he said to himself.

  “What?” Ziggy asked.

  Troy looked around at them. “He’s still following us!”

  A warning shout from Krista had him turning to the front again and he just managed to avoid the laser blast that came their way.

  “Tristan! We need more power!” Troy shouted in to the COM.

  “I’ll try!” came the reply.

  “Krista?” Troy said but Krista had already been checking her computer.

  “There’s nothing close enough,” she told him, “Nowhere we can take cover! The only place we can go is back the way!”

  “Back to the fight?” Lena asked incredulous, “Are you mad? We barely got out of there alive!”

  “We can’t,” Troy said quietly.

  “What do you mean?” Ziggy asked him.

  “He’s stopping us,” Troy explained as he avoided another weapon blast. “He’s not even trying to hit us that much. All he has to do is keep chasing and eventually he’ll catch us. His ship has much more power than ours. It’s just a matter of time.”

  No one spoke after Troy’s little speech. There was nothing they could say.

  Troy continued to push Star Chaser as much as he could and they felt the little ship beginning to shudder as the strain began to get too much. Suddenly Troy began to slow down slightly and the others looked at each other worriedly as Red Raven’s ship loomed in Troy’s screen as it came closer.

  “What are you doing, Troy?” Krista asked him.

  “He has more power,” Troy explained, “but we can manoeuvre a lot better. All we need is the chance to get behind him and we should get away.”

  Keeping an eye on his console screen Troy reduced the speed slowly so as not to make it too obvious. Easily avoiding the occasional laser blast, Troy let Red Raven get closer still. Suddenly his screen hissed and Red Raven appeared once again, his face twisted with anger and hatred.

  “So, little space rat, did you really think you could escape me?” Red Raven demanded, saliva flecking his lips in his anger.

  “Yeah, we did,” Troy replied calmly and almost laughed aloud at the look on Red Raven’s face at that answer.

  He had obviously been expecting them to plead and cry but Troy wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Red Raven’s face smoothed as he put on an almost friendly expression.

  “Why don’t you come on board and we can talk,” he cajoled, “Someone of your ingenuity would be handy on my crew.”

  “No, thanks,” Troy replied reasonably letting his speed drop a little more.

  Red Raven looked angry and then he smiled maliciously, “Tell me, children, where are your parents?”

  Troy paused only a moment before answering, “Why do you want to know?”

  “So I can kill them after I’m finished with you!” Red Raven laughed, a spiteful noise.

  Troy looked at Red Raven directly, “Sorry,” he said mildly, “you already killed them.”

  Leaning over he switched off his screen and with a sudden burst of speed he twisted the helm sending Star Chaser spiralling over the top of Red Raven’s ship. The two were so close that Troy was positive he heard the high-pitched shriek of metal upon metal.

  There was a moment when the guns had swung around to try and get them that one of them had nearly swung right into the front of the ship but a deft move of the helm had them flying over the top and off back to the merchant fleet.

  Quickly switching his console screen back on he smiled when he saw how Red Raven’s ship had indeed taken a lot longer to turn around and they had a good lead. But Red Raven seemed to no longer want to capture them. Blast after blast came their way and it was all Troy could do to avoid them.

  Suddenly the little ship was struck on the back and side from a blast that came too quickly to avoid, spinning her out of control. Lena screamed, clutching the arms of her seat tightly and closing her eyes. Ziggy was pale but seemed to be keeping calm, watching Troy as his friend battled to get the ship back under control.

  No sooner had Star Chaser straightened out than her speed began to slow dramatically and the engines were making a strange whining noise. Leaning forward Troy shouted into the com while watching Red Raven’s ship get closer and closer.

  “Tristan! Can you hear me? Tristan?” Troy felt his breath catch as he remembered another time like this.

  In the engine room Tristan lay unconscious on the floor. Orla stepped inside and glanced at him before turning her attention to the engines. She had never been in here since they had first come on board and gazed at the large sphere that dominated the room.

  Its glowing blue light was flickering and the engines were still making a whining noise that grated on the ears.

  She placed both hands against the sphere and closed her eyes. At first nothing seemed to happen and then the flickering stopped and the light intensified. It began where Orla’s hands touched it and quickly spread through all of it. The sphere glowed so brightly no one would have been able to look at it and Star Chaser leapt forward.
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br />   Back in the bridge there were cheers as Red Raven slowly fell behind.

  “Thanks, Tristan!” Troy cried gratefully.

  The little ship sped along with Red Raven still behind them but they were at least out of range of his weapons.

  “Wait!” Lena suddenly cried, unbuckling her straps, “Where’s Orla?”

  Just a she jumped out of the seat Orla came wandering back into the bridge.

  “Had to go to the bathroom,” she explained casually, clambering back into her own seat.

  Lena fussed with her straps and then her own to hide her moment of panic but Troy and Ziggy didn’t say anything. It had all been scary and wasn’t over yet.

  Troy was so occupied with keeping an eye on what was behind him that he never noticed what was coming towards them until Ziggy spoke.

  “What is that?” Ziggy asked squinting out the front windshield.

  At first Troy couldn’t make anything out but then as they got closer he could see several small ships heading their way. Before he could decide if it would be wise to avoid them as well they were already past and he could see on his console screen that they had engaged Red Raven in battle.

  Without his other ships Red Raven was finding it hard to keep the small ships at bay and it wasn’t long before their concerted effort had the large ship disabled and a glowing security net had been placed around it.

  “Maybe we should get out of here,” Krista suggested when they had stopped cheering.

  “Good idea,” Troy agreed but before he could steer Star Chaser away her engines died and they were held in place by a traction beam.