by A A Warren
Must be a life support spell, he thought. A protective bubble of dark energy, cast by Salena.
Turning back to the spinning propellers, Talon rotated his body in the water. He was crouched before the churning blades, planting his feet against the sides of the pipe. Heart pounding, lungs heaving, he grit his teeth and grabbed the handle of his axe with both hands. He forced the sizzling blade forward, fighting the raging current with every fiber of muscle in his body.
White-hot sparks danced though the pressurized water, as the energy blade made contact with the metal grill of the pump. A burst of bubbles exploded from Talon’s mouth. He ignored the pain in his chest, and forced the blade farther down. An implosion of white water swirled before him as the axe sliced through the pump's blades. The sudden reverse in pressure tore the machinery into pieces. Metal fragments spun in the violent water, then shot away from him, flying down the pipe into darkness.
Talon felt the reversed current grab hold, yanking him forward as well. He barely had time to deactivate his axe before he too was spinning and rolling through the dark water.
Tumbling forward, he shot through the pipe like a bullet. He felt his stomach lurch as he dropped down a bend in the tube. His head slammed against the curved metal wall of the narrow passageway. A red haze replaced the darkness that filled his vision.
He saw a glimmer of motion through the shadows and bubbles ahead. It was a valve of some kind… The shimmering metal fangs of a circular iris, opening and closing, diverting water to different sections of the pipe system. There was nothing he could do to control his hurtling speed. No way to slow himself in the raging torrent of water that carried him forward. If the valve ahead closed while he was between those sharp metal curves, it would tear him in half and spit him out.
He sped closer. The blades opened and closed. A metal clank echoed through the raging water.
He kept his eyes open and clenched his jaw.
Whatever happened, he would face it head on, as he had always done in the arena… he did not pray, nor did he bemoan his fate to the gods.
Victory or death.
The valve scissored open. He shot through, and tumbled down another section of pipe.
His head broke the surface of the water. Gasping for breath, he shook his sopping hair out of his face. He glanced around, finally able to see his surroundings clearly. The pipe had dumped him into a large, concrete drainage trough. The current still bore him forward, but it was slowing. Rock walls curved above his head, and dim light shone from an opening in the distance. He heard the muted crash of falling water, somewhere beyond the tunnel.
“Salena!” he shouted, his voice echoing off the rocks overhead. “Salena, are you alright? Do you have Avra?”
He heard her splashing behind him. “I’m here,” she shouted back. “Avra is unconscious, but she’s alive!”
The water around them grew shallow as the spillway widened. Talon felt his back scrape against the rough concrete. He staggered to his feet and turned around. Salena sputtered and gasped for air as she surfaced again behind him. Droplets of water streamed through her hair. Her thin garments clung to her flesh, and the crimson liquid gave her skin a dark purple sheen.
Talon helped her hoist Avra out of the water. He slung the unconscious woman over his shoulder, and sloshed through the knee-deep water. They headed towards the light ahead of them. The rumbling of the waterfall grew louder as they approached the exit of the tunnel. The shallow water swept past their shins, then their ankles.
Peering out the opening of the tunnel, Talon saw a chasm, plummeting down thousands of feet into darkness. To either side of them, more tunnels jutted from the side of the canyon. The giant pipes sent streams of water cascading down the rocks. A damp mist filled the air, and a cold breeze whipped through his dripping clothes and hair.
A metal gangway was bolted to the rocks, a couple meters below the pipes. Talon’s feet clanged on the grating as he leapt down to the platform. Reaching up, he helped Salena lower Avra to the ledge. Then he grabbed her waist and gently lifted her from the pipe.
She fell against his chest, her long, wet hair whipping behind her in the wind. Her chest heaved, and he felt the curves of her body pressing against him through the thin fabric of her soaking clothes.
“We made it!” she panted. “We’re alive!”
Before he could answer, a thundering roar boomed from the canyon, drowning out the crashing water. A pair of spotlights beamed down on them, as a sleek, crimson ship swooped towards them.
It was a Dominion blood hawk.
Salena stepped away from him, but kept her hand on his arm. The ship hovered before them, only a few meters away. The muzzles of its forward canyons looked huge at this short range. Talon stared down their barrels, as the weapons pivoted in their mounts.
He turned to Salena. She was hunched over, and her face looked pale in the harsh light. A shiver ran through her body as the wind picked up.
She looked exhausted. He knew there was little hope she could summon enough dark energy to disable the ship… And even if she could, she would never be able to power up their portal drive afterwards. They would be trapped in this system. Easy pickings for the Dominion fleet.
“I don’t suppose this Sartarus takes prisoners?” he shouted.
She shook her head. “He does. But it’s not a fate I would wish on anyone.”
“Glory to the dead,” Talon snarled to himself.
He raised his arm, preparing to trigger the axe and hurl it at the ship. He knew there was no way such an attack could penetrate the fighter’s shields… It was a futile gesture of defiance, but it was all that was left to him.
Suddenly the canyon lit up with flashes of light. Canon-fire strafed down from the skies, striking the Dominion fighter. Energy bolts crackled across the ship's hull. The fighter rocked in the air as another bolt slammed into its stern. Then with a loud groan, it listed sideways, and spiraled through the air.
Talon threw his body over Salena, as the spinning ship collided with the steep walls of the canon. Rocks and debris pelted them from above, and a fire-ball erupted into the dark sky. The remains of the fighter plummeted into the dark depths below.
More lights beamed down from above. Talon shielded his eyes as another ship lowered into view. He recognized the sloped, angular wing, and the domed cockpit instantly…
“It’s the Star Claw!” he shouted.
“Zobo,” Salena gasped. “He found us!”
Talon lifted her to her feet, as the ship hovered before them. The ramp lowered, and extended towards the gangway.
Zobo stood in the entrance, holding one of the ramp’s struts. He held out his hand, and helped Salena cross over into the ship.
Talon lifted Avra in his arms, and carried her onto the ramp. He turned to Zobo as the ramp hummed closed behind them.
"Good timing, old man."
“I leave you three alone for a few minutes, and look at the trouble you get into,” Zobo growled. His nose wrinkled, and he sniffed the air. “What is that smell?”
“All I know is, there’s a reason they’re pumping that water out instead of in,” Talon replied.
The ramp thudded closed behind them.
Salena directed Talon to a hover stretcher. He laid Avra on the floating plank, and she pushed it down the narrow corridor. “I’ll get her to the med unit in sickbay,” Salena called back over her shoulder. “That should keep her stable until we can jump out of the system.”
Talon slapped Zobo on the back and grinned. “Many thanks, my friend. I owe you a drink.”
Zobo nodded as they made their way to the bridge. “Don’t thank me yet. There’s more fighters inbound, only a few minutes out. And sensors show two capital ships moving in. But I’ll still take you up on that drink…”
Suddenly, the ship shook and rattled. A high-pitched alarm wailed, and the corridor lights flickered.
Talon braced his arm against the low, curved roof as the ship shuddered again.
&nb
sp; “Iberon's Harem… what was that?” he shouted.
Zobo snarled. “Remember when I said those fighters were a few minutes away?”
Talon narrowed his eyes as another impact vibrated through the hull. “I remember.”
Zobo hurried down the corridor towards the bridge. “Well, looks like they got here early!”
Chapter Nineteen
The bridge off the Star Claw shook as more canon-fire thudded into the ship. Talon glanced up with alarm. Crackling energy bolts danced over the clear panels of the cockpit… The shields were overloading, causing feedback across the hull.
Zobo’s command chair hummed as he tilted back into combat mode. Staring up at the tactical display, his furry fingers darted over the controls in his chair. “Three blood hawks,” he growled. “Coming in fast.”
“You’re flying straight and level,” Talon shouted as another impact rattled the ship. “We’re easy prey out here, might as well be standing still!”
“Until Avra gets back in the chair, this is the best I an do, Fledge! I can’t adjust the shields, run damage control, and track the sensor array… Not while I’m pulling evasive maneuvers!”
“Fine," Talon muttered. "If you can’t save our hides, let’s see what a fledge can do.”
He lowered himself into Avra’s piloting chair, and buckled the harness across his chest.
Zobo leaned over in his chair, and gave Talon a quizzical glance. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Talon gripped the control sticks in his hands. “Avra showed me how to fly the ship before we opened the star-path here.”
“Practicing a few basic maneuvers isn’t the same as flying a combat mission, boy!”
Talon took a deep breath. He flipped a series of glowing switches, routing the pilot controls from Zobo’s station to his chair.
“I can do this, Zobo… I think I’ve done it before. Avra even said so.”
“You think? But, you don’t know the—”
Talon pulled on the control sticks, sending the ship into a spiraling dive. Glowing pulse bolts screamed past the windows, missing the ship by a few meters.
Zobo yelped in surprise as the ship dove under a curved arch of rock. The lead blood hawk fired, but the shots went wild and slammed into the rocks. As Talon pulled up, the archway collapsed behind him. A hail of rocks tumbled through the air.
The lead pursuer dipped down, as the falling debris slammed into the fighter's nose. The ship went into an uncontrolled spin, and struck the side of the canyon. It disintegrated in an explosive ball of fire. The other two ships veered off to either side, skirting through the falling rocks.
Talon pulled up and shot toward the energy dome covering the colony. The two remaining blood hawks screamed after him.
Zobo raised a single furry brow over his yellow eyes. “By the gods… maybe you can do this, Fledge!”
Talon grinned. He banked the ship left, as more weapons’ fire lit up the dark sky.
“If I do, you have to promise not to call me fledge any more.”
Zobo turned back to his display. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Increase power to your main thrusters… They’re closing the energy shield!”
Talon ran his fingers over a colored panel, diverting power from secondary systems to the main engines. He increased the throttle, and they leapt forward. They raced towards the rectangular opening in the energy dome. Talon narrowed his eyes, as he saw the opening glowing smaller and smaller… A pair of towering metal gates hovered in the opening, supported by anti-gravity rails. Each slab of metal was plastered with warning symbols, and red lights blinked along their edges. They were drifting towards each other, closing off the gap in the shield dome.
Weapons’ fire sparked off the ship’s hull, and the craft was buffeted by the impact. A warning light flashed on Talon’s holographic display, and an alert beeped in his ears.
“Those blood hawks are closing in,” Talon shouted. “They have us in their sites!”
“Let me worry about them,” Zobo growled. “You just get us though that shield!”
Zobo’s chair rotated backwards, and he activated the ship’s secondary guns. Talon felt a thud as the turret weapons lowered into place, then spun towards the rear of the ship. On his display, he saw the enemy fighters dart left and right. The nimble ships evaded the energy barrage Zobo had fired in their direction.
Ahead of them, the opening between the gates grew even smaller. Talon narrowed his eyes and focused on his heads-up display... There were only a few meters of clearance on either side of the ship. The gap was growing narrower by the second. More energy bolts crackled around their shields. Cursing, Talon juked the ship left and right, evading the enemy fire as best he could. He increased thrusters to maximum power, siphoning energy from anywhere he could.
On the tactical display, he saw a line of Zobo’s weapons’ fire strafing towards one of the fighters. It veered to the right, but the pilot was too slow… The barrage of pulse bolts struck the tiny craft, shearing off its left wing. The ship spun off course and disappeared from the display.
The glowing shield wall loomed closer. The gap was still closing. A proximity alarm wailed through the bridge.
“Brace yourself,” Talon shouted. “It’s going to be close…”
“I can live with close,” Zobo called back, as he triggered another burst from the rear-facing guns. The last blood hawk swung left and right, evading the pulse bolts but losing valuable speed.
Beads of sweat dripped down Talon’s forehead. He glanced one more time at the display… the proximity warnings were flashing red.
This damned ship is too wide, he thought. We’re not going to fit!
As the two gates slid closer, Talon eyed the sensor readings… Horizontally, the ship was too wide to fit through the narrow opening. But vertically…
Talon adjusted his speed, and spun the craft 180 degrees on its axis. The view out the windows rolled to the side as he stood the ship on its wingtips. There were only millimeters to spare between the top and bottom of the energy field.
With a metallic shriek, the Star Claw shot between the gates. The edges of the energy field scraped against the hull. Sparks exploded through the bridge as the shields overloaded, but the ship made it through.
Behind them, the metal gates slammed closed, blocking the opening. A fireball exploded behind them as the fighter struck the barrier at full speed.
“We lost main canon control,” Zobo called out, reading down the list of damaged systems. “Shield power is fluctuating. But we made it!”
As the ship righted itself, Talon glanced out the cockpit windows. “Orion’s blazing bow!” he gasped.
Two massive Dominion battleships bore down on them, blotting out the view of the stars beyond. A cluster of tiny dots filled the space between them. As they flew closer, Talon could see they were blood hawk fighters swarming towards them. More warning sirens blared.
“Perhaps I spoke to soon,” Zobo shouted. “Now would be a good time to move, boy!”
Talon threw the ship into a tight-banked turn. The inertia compensator fields whined under the strain. The ship vibrated as massive glowing blasts exploded around them.
Salena staggered into the bridge. She grabbed the edge of the doorway for support as the ship listed wildly. “What in the stars is—” She saw Talon and hurried over to the cockpit.
Flashing him a quick smile, she lowered herself in the navigator’s chair. “Looks like your time with Avra paid off well, warrior.” Her holo display glowed to life.
Talon dipped the ship’s wing, narrowly evading another massive blast. “How is Avra?” he asked, not taking his eyes off his instruments.
Salena tapped some keys on her wrist display, transferring the coordinates she had copied from the tablets. “She took a direct hit, and her nervous system is still scrambled. But she’s stable for now.”
“I’ll bring her flowers after you get us out of here, my dear,” Zobo growled.
Salena’s
eyes began to glow, as she slid her hands into the control pods. “Powering up portal drive. Downloading coordinates.”
The ship rattled as another blast skimmed off the starboard wing.
Zobo snarled, then began tapping his holographic display. “Fighters closing in. Transferring power to rear shields. Talon, we need to buy her some time!”
Talon threw the ship into a steep dive. The debris field swirled around them, backlit by the infernal glow of the dying red sun. Fragments of rock and mangled metal pelted the cockpit windows. A stray shot from behind struck a tumbling shard of metal, sending it cascading towards them.
Talon veered around the debris, missing it by millimeters. An explosion rocked the rear of the ship. One of the fighters blinked off the display… It had struck the tumbling metal fragment.
His lips curled into a grim smile. “You want to pursue us, you mangy cowards? Then follow us into hell!”
A blinding glow filled the windows. The ship rattled, as canon-fire from the battleships reduced a swathe of the debris field to atoms.
“Salena…” Talon snarled.
“Portal drive powering up.” She had entered her strange trance, and spoke in a monotone voice. “My energy reserves are low, and these coordinates are complex. It will take longer than usual to open the star-path.”
Zobo snarled, and fired another barrage at the fighters behind them. “Not what I wanted to hear.”
Another canon bolt vaporized the rocks on their port side. Talon veered away from the glowing particles left behind. On his display, he saw the blood hawk formation following his every move. Behind them, the massive battleships lumbered through the debris, slowly closing the gap.
“This debris may hide us from the fighters, but it’s useless against those battleships,” Zobo shouted. “Their armor can plow right through these rocks, and they can saturate the entire area with canon-fire.”
Talon narrowed his eyes, as a large blinking dot floated into view on his display. He looked up… Through the cockpit window he saw the remains of the old mining ship drifting before them. Even in pieces, what was left of the craft was massive, dwarfing the Star Claw, and the battleships, in size.
