by Tom Larcombe
{Nimue, where are we to go? Our pilot is fretful.}
{See if he knows where Attlebridge, Norfolk is. Or if he can find it on a map. They've offered to send out planes to guide you in.}
{So the British are eager to have us then?}
{No, this airstrip is manned by Americans.}
Merlin was lost for a moment.
{Who are the Americans?}
{Another force involved in this war. They have an occult branch and the person I could contact on short notice is a member of it. He's an officer in their USO.}
{I'll relay the location to our pilot. May I come and visit you should I get the chance?}
{I doubt you'd have a chance. They will be loathe to allow you to return to German controlled territory anytime soon. They would fear it was a trick of some sort. It doesn't matter though, I'll meet you there. Things are dangerous around where I am now, so it's probably time for me to leave.}
{I look forward to it. I must go now and tell my pilot where our destination is.}
{It may take me as long as a week to get there but after all this time, a week is nothing.}
{I hope to see you soon.} Merlin sent.
He regretfully withdrew from the conversation.
“Johann, do you know where Attlebridge, Norfolk is?”
“I know where Norfolk is at least, but that's a big area.”
“Have we a map?”
“We do, but it may not list it. The German maps don't show where all the British airstrips are located.”
“Check then? I may need to tell Nimue we'll need that escort after all.”
Merlin waited a short while. Curses floated back from the pilot's seat but finally he got an answer.
“I think I have the location for it. If not, there's an airstrip there that we can land on at least.”
Merlin tucked the crystal back into his satchel, reassured that he wouldn't have to ask Nimue for the escort.
“Head for that.”
* * *
Chapter 22
Despite Anguis' infusion of energy, Merlin was still tired. As the airplane droned on, he tried to maintain a half-awake condition. His efforts to stay that way failed and he drifted into full sleep.
He jerked awake to a shout.
“We've got fighters on our tail, closing fast,” Gunter called.
Johann cursed.
“Another ten minutes and we would've been over the channel. Damn them.”
Merlin blinked the sleep from his eyes.
“Can we fight them off? Shall I shield us?” he asked.
“Maybe and yes. Gunter, how many are there?”
“Six, that I can see. But they're sure to send reinforcements now that they've found us.”
“How quickly are they closing?” Johann asked.
“We've got about two minutes until they're in range I think, maybe less. I can't tell how fast they're moving.”
Merlin prepared to set a shield on the plane. He separated a small portion of his awareness and moved it outside so he could see the threat. Then he determined where he could anchor shields to the plane to provide protection from different directions.
“I've got enough energy to shield us for possibly two attacks, so we'd better make our own shots count. Oh, Johann? The shields work both ways, while they're up, we can't shoot through them if they block our own guns,” Merlin said.
“You could've told me that last time.”
“Sorry, I didn't think of it at the time. I also didn't know where the guns were located. I do now.”
“Thirty seconds,” Gunter called, “it looks like six Messerschmitts.”
“What are those?” Merlin asked.
“One of the more common fighter planes that Germany uses,” Johann said.
Merlin focused his attention outside the plane. It looked as though the six fighter planes were breaking into two formations of three each. The two formations spread out to either side of the fugitives' plane, closing the distance between them.
Fire lanced out from Gunter's guns, streaking through the air behind the fighter planes. The fighters held formation and continued to close.
Once again Gunter fired. This time the streaks struck one of the fighters and it started to smoke. The wounded plane fell out of formation. The others adjusted their angle and began to return fire.
When Merlin saw them start to fire he created a half sphere of a shield behind the plane,. He anchored it to the tailplane, the small wings in back. The shield came into being and Merlin felt himself jerked about in his straps.
“Merlin, I hope that was something you did. We're about to stall, so undo it if it was,” Johann yelled.
Merlin looked out to see the fighter planes racing past him. He dropped the shield and the plane lurched forward again.
Merlin leaned into the targeting sights. He knew how to use them from Johann's memories but doing so was slightly different than knowing how. A burst of bullets raced from his guns. He tried to adjust their flight with nudges of power but found that they were moving too quickly to work with.
Merlin tried tracking the guns onto the fighter planes and was rewarded by seeing the fiery tracers strike the fuselage of one. He was sure he got several bullets to strike that plane. He noticed Johann targeting the same plane and it shortly pulled out of formation. The other four fighters raced forward out of range.
“I can see the channel,” Johann said.
“Does that help us?” Merlin asked.
“No, but it means we're almost out of German held territory.”
Merlin went back to examining the area outside of the plane. The fighters were turning for another pass after gaining enough headway that they wouldn't be caught broadsides in the turn.
“This time I'll shield the front. Do you want the bullets angled up or down?”
“Up, that'll leave my guns clear to fire if you only shield the upper portion of the plane.”
Merlin watched and waited. After this shield he would be too drained to create another. He wanted to time it so he would have a little energy left for other things.
The fighters closed and began to fire. When Merlin brought the shield into being, the plane lurched down before Johann compensated. When the plane steadied, Johann began to fire. Merlin could feel the impact of the fighters' bullets on his shield. Johann's return fire came too late due to the time spent compensating. He cursed and Merlin noticed him turning the plane.
“How strong is your shield?” Johann asked.
Merlin saw that Johann was aiming the entire plane at one of the fighters.
“I can hold it if you strike their plane, but only for a moment. Then it'll be gone.”
“Good enough, that'll take another one down,” Johann said.
The fighter pilot thought it was a game of chicken and held his course. Johann allowed the plane to drop a little altitude just before the two planes collided and the fighter's pilot probably thought he'd won the game.
Then Johann pulled back on the throttle. As the Ju 88 raised its nose towards the fighter plane, the fighter banked away from the, apparently, suicidal pilot. The entire underbelly of the fighter was exposed and Johann raked it with his gun.
The fighter pilot was unlucky, Johann's fire destroyed the controls of his plane. It flipped over and then began plunging straight down. When the pilot tried to pull out of the dive, a wing tore away and the plane continued its downward spiral.
The other fighter pilots backed off and Merlin could picture them thinking that their opponent was suicidal and lucky to boot. They reformed into a single formation and began the chase from behind again.
This time when they closed into range Gunter was right on with his aim. The engine of the lead fighter went up in flames and the other two in the formation split wide to go around the lead plane as it burned.
The two remaining fighters began to fire and Merlin felt the plane rock with impacts as it was struck. Johann slowed the plane quickly in an attempt to get the fighters to overshoot
but was only partially successful. One of the fighter planes came into range of Merlin's guns and he opened fire.
The second fighter slowed to stay behind the Junkers and Merlin felt the plane shudder as it was struck by more bullets.
His own fire opened a line of bullet holes along the fighter in range. It slowed, apparently attempting to drop back to where the other fighter was. Johann was fighting to keep control of the plane and Merlin felt it shudder and shake as it began to lose altitude.
The two fighters took the opportunity to reform into a close formation high above and began a dive that would allow them to strafe the entire fuselage of the plane.
Merlin saw Ernst poke his head up to where he could see through the canopy. His hand clutched the silver feather as tightly as his mind gripped his power.
Moments later the undamaged fighter exploded in a fiery ball. Because of the tight formation, the second plane found itself showered with chunks of debris from the one that was destroyed.
The remaining Messerschmitt, damaged and flying erratically, broke off pursuit.
“What did you do Ernst?” Merlin asked.
“There were pieces of something loose on the plane in front. When I saw that I thought I might be able to use the feather to tear them off and guide them into the rear plane. I don't know what they were but they did the job.”
“Well done Ernst, well done.”
Ernst looked uncomfortable for a moment.
“Thank you. I can't do the things you can but I decided I should do what I could. I just didn't think it would work as well as it did.”
“You did well. If I'd thought of that idea I would've asked you to do it. I'm glad that you thought of it on your own.”
“If you're done there Merlin, we have a problem,” Johann interjected.
“What's wrong?”
“They damaged the plane. More specifically, they damaged the right wing. I can't fly the plane as fast as I should for fear of destroying it. We also have to stay lower for the same reason. It won't take any additional stress.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Can you fix it or patch it somehow?”
“I don't have anything left. I used the last of my energy on those two shields.”
“How about your student then?”
“I don't know, I'll ask him. He took down that last plane with his own idea so maybe...”
“Do that. We're over the channel but we aren't safe yet.”
Merlin went and explained the situation to Ernst. Ernst thought for a moment.
“How much longer will we be flying?”
“I don't know,” Merlin said.
“I don't know how to fix the wing but if we're going to crash I can try to use the feather to let us down gently. It might be too much weight though.”
“That's an idea.”
Merlin went back to Johann.
“If we took some of the weight off the plane, would the wing handle better?”
“It certainly wouldn't hurt and might help enough to get us there.”
“We'll try it then, let me know if it helps.”
Merlin returned to Ernst.
“Ernst, can you keep putting a trickle of power into the feather for a long time?”
“For a while at least. Why?”
“Use the feather on the plane, take as much weight on the feather as you can and hold it for as long as you can. Johann says that might help keep the wing intact.”
Ernst's face paled.
“Is that going to be enough?”
“It's what we can do right now, let's see if it works.”
Ernst touched the feather to the roof and closed his eyes.
“Johann, is that helping at all?”
“A little, we can go a bit faster at least.”
“Keep it up for as long as you can Ernst, Johann says it's helping,” Merlin said.
He returned to his seat and racked his brain trying to think of a way to repair the wing.
* * *
Chapter 23
Merlin was drawn from his thoughts by a shout from Gunter.
“More fighters incoming.”
This will be painful and I don't know how long it will last but it's the only thing I can think of, Merlin thought.
He rummaged through his satchel and withdrew the empty crystal, clutching it in his hands.
Anguis tapped his head against Merlin's throat. The movement was accompanied by a feeling of inquisitiveness.
{I need more energy Anguis, so I'll take it from the plane. The crystal will give me a buffer so that the energy doesn't kill me.}
Merlin sent a picture of him tapping the electrical wiring of the plane for energy.
The inquisitive feeling intensified.
{One of the wings is damaged. I'm going to anchor a shield around the damaged area and leave the shield in place to function as part of the wing.}
A series of images appeared in Merlin's mind. Anguis feeding him power, Anguis channeling power to him, Anguis using power to send the dreams.
{You think you can channel the power to me better than the crystal? There's a lot, I don't want you to damage yourself.}
A nod from the dragon was accompanied by one of the images repeating itself; Anguis using power to send the dreams.
{You can do more than just channel for me?}
Another series of images struck Merlin's mind. Anguis wrapped around the wire and feeding him power, Merlin using the power to construct a shield, Merlin giving the power that controlled the shield back to Anguis.
{Are you sure Anguis? I'm sure you could hold the spell but won't the energy damage you?}
Anguis uncoiled from Merlin's neck. He slithered down into Merlin's lap and raised a claw. The ting of metal on metal rang out as Anguis tapped the claw against his scales.
{That's right, you aren't a normal living creature. You're made of metal. That might protect you some.}
Anguis nodded his head.
{We've no time, we need to do this now. They're attacking again.}
Anguis launched himself into Merlin's hand, wrapping his tail around Merlin's wrist like a bracelet. Merlin stood and approached the main electrical wire for the plane.
“Johann, you might get your wing fully functional again in a minute.”
“That'd be a good thing right about now.”
“They'll be in range of us in another minute,” Gunter called.
Merlin reached for the wire and Anguis stretched his neck out. He closed his jaws on the wire gently until his teeth pierced the outer layer. Then he went rigid and Merlin felt power flooding into himself. This time the power wasn't overwhelming him and he guessed that Anguis was taking the bite out of it.
Merlin flung his awareness to the damaged section of the wing. He crafted the thinnest impermeable shield he could over the damage, anchoring it to the surrounding, undamaged, portions of the wing. Then he offered the strings of power controlling the shield back to Anguis. He could feel himself lose control of them right before Anguis' tail released his wrist.
Gunter cursed.
“Johann, looks like we have a full squadron chasing us. I see three flights of four planes behind us. I'll open fire shortly.”
“Merlin, whatever you did is working. I have full control again, close to it anyway. Is there anything you can do about the fighters behind us?” Johann asked.
Merlin considered for a moment. His energy level was high, Anguis had filled his energies up in the brief time they were connected to the wire.
“Destroy or discourage?” he asked.
“I'd prefer discouraging them but that might not work. It seems they want us pretty bad.”
“I'll try to discourage them first.”
Merlin set to work. The area to the rear of their plane disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He hoped it disconcerted the fighter pilots when the smoke traveled right along with the plane they were chasing.
“What's going on? I can't see anything back here,” Gun
ter called.
“Trying to discourage pursuit without having to kill the pilots,” Merlin replied.
“I can't see them so they can't see us, but won't they just fire into the smoke?”
“Probably, but I'm hoping they think that's a bad plan. You just gave me another idea though.”
Merlin sent his awareness into the cloud of smoke. He linked the outer edges of it together with a loosely knit shield.
Alright, now I just set a trigger so if they fire at it, the shield responds by solidifying to keep the bullets out, he thought.
Moments later the shield was tested as the pursuing Messerschmitts opened fire. The shield worked to keep the bullets out but there were unforeseen side effects. When the shield snapped into place to keep the bullets out, the plane jerked backwards, its speed slowed by the additional drag.
“Merlin, we're going to stall out if we don't regain some speed.”
Merlin's awareness, still out with the cloud, saw the fighters shoot by due to the difference in speed. He released his control on the smoke and they flew out of it, accelerating as they left the extra drag behind.
“I'm sorry Johann, I don't have time to try to discourage them. I'm afraid I'll need to destroy the planes.”
“Whatever you need to do Merlin, they're turning and coming back at us.”
“The propellers, they provide the speed the airplanes need for lift?”
Now that he was used to Merlin's seemingly pointless questions at times of crisis, Johann answered.
“Yes, they provide the speed.”
“If they were to stop, would the plane simply fall or glide?”
“A good pilot can get some glide.”
“A chance for them to survive then.”
Merlin reached out his awareness to the lead plane. He examined the shaft that turned the propeller. With a surge of power, he changed the lubricant on the shaft into an adhesive.
Merlin returned his awareness to his body and watched as the lead plane fell out of formation. He nodded to himself and repeated the process on as many planes as he could while they approached.
When the attacking fighter planes reached the Ju 88 there was only one flight of four planes remaining. Johann opened fire on them but missed. The fighters strafed the length of the plane but Merlin threw up a shield to protect it after the first few bullets struck. Once again the German fighters turned to take up the chase.
