“One bogey down,” Nance said. “Two more are out of control.”
“How close are we to the atmosphere?” Kim said, rotating the engines again to slow them down.
“Four hundred miles.”
“Can we slow down enough?”
Kim heard Nance’s fingers on the keyboard. “We’re within the acceptable range. Just barely, but we should be okay.”
“Those fighters are coming back,” Liachov said.
“Shift our shields back to the rear,” Kim said. “Reroute all available power to the engines. We have to slow down.”
“The fighters will catch us if we slow down,” Ike said.
“They won’t come close to the planet’s atmo,” Kim said. “They aren’t capable of switching over to atmospheric flight like we are.”
“But they can still shoot at us?” Liachov said.
“So let’s hope the shields hold up,” Kim said.
“One hundred miles to atmosphere,” Nance said.
Kim looked at the radar. The fighters had panicked over the missiles, flying for safety at full speed. They had to slow down to make a full one hundred eighty–degree turn. Only two would get in range of the Echo before she slipped past them into the planet’s atmosphere.
“They’re getting closer,” Liachov said.
“But not close enough,” Kim said.
“Fifty miles to atmosphere,” Nance said. “We need to slow down.”
“Roger that,” Kim said.
She angled the wing engines at opposite angles toward the planet and throttled up the retro burn. The ship shifted course, beginning to spiral.
“Enemy ships in range,” Nance said.
Kim wanted to swivel her engines and fire at them again, but she knew they didn’t have the power for that. The ships were still at the extreme range of their lasers, and slowing to keep from shooting into the pull of the planet’s gravitation field where they might not escape.
“Incoming fire,” Liachov said.
There were flashes around the ship, but none hit her. Kim altered course again from a spiral into a long loop.
“They’re hailing us again,” Nance said.
“Let me guess, demanding our surrender?” Kim said in a cocky tone, as if the suggestion was beneath her.
“No,” Nance said. “They’re saying the rebellion has surrendered and we have no place to go.”
Chapter 25
“They’re lying,” Liachov said.
“We can’t stay here,” Kim said.
“Jump point is two minutes out,” Nance said.
“Two minutes is too far,” Kim said. “The rest of those fighters are headed this way.”
“We would never surrender,” Liachov said. “It’s not possible.”
“Anything is possible,” Kim said, as she sent the Echo diving toward the planet.
She rotated the wing engines and set the main drive to slow their descent. The fighters were content to circle from above, like buzzards waiting for their prey to die.
“Kim, we’re down to less than half a tank of Zexum,” Nance said. “Auxiliary batteries are down to a third.”
“What does that mean?” Liachov said.
“It means that if we try to make a run for it now, we might run out of power,” Kim said. “We need a place to hide.”
“I know a place,” Liachov said. “Here, I’m sending you the GPS coordinates.”
“If your people surrendered, any base you have could be crawling with Imperium soldiers.”
“Not this place. It’s more of a refuge than a base, deep in the mountains. It’s hidden, and even if some of the rebels have given up, not all of them will have. Trust me.”
“It’s a little late for that,” Kim said. “Maybe if you hadn’t shot Ben and Magnum...”
She let the thought trail off as the ship began to rattle. They were entering the planet’s atmosphere, and gravity was trying to speed them up.
“What’s happening?” Liachov demanded.
“We’re in the atmosphere,” Nance said calmly. “With our artificial gravity turned down, the pull from your planet can be felt.”
Kim could feel the planet’s gravity tugging at them, trying to pull them down. The friction from the atmosphere was nudging the heat shield on the old ship toward the red, and the vibrations were threatening to shake her apart.
“Dial it up,” Kim said. “Lose the deflectors.”
“What if we run into enemy fighters?” Ike asked.
“They’ll probably be using missiles or bullets of some kind,” Kim replied. “The defector shields won’t be any good against them.”
“Bring the artificial gravity up to match the planet,” Nance said, as the shaking stopped.
It felt to Kim as if the ship were falling instead of flying, and she was having trouble keeping control. They needed to slow down and get some air under the ship’s wings, but air was thin in the upper atmosphere. They hit a thick bank of clouds, and the feed from the external cameras was blocked.
“The good news is,” Kim declared, “they can’t see us.”
“Shutting down the radar,” Nance declared. “Life support too. Rerouting power to the main drive.”
Kim felt the increase in power to the engines, and they were finally able to slow down. Kim had no idea how far the cloud cover continued, so she brought them to a hover.
“We have a decision to make,” Kim said.
“Get us on the ground,” Liachov said. “I don’t care what you do after that.”
“That may not be a good idea,” Nance said.
“Don’t!” Liachov shouted, waving her laser pistol like a child having a tantrum. “We didn’t come this far to turn back now.”
“Lieutenant,” Ike said, moving to her side.
“I’m alright,” Liachov said, but her voice was husky. “I’m just tired of being told what can’t be done.”
“I can land,” Kim said. “In fact, I’d prefer it.”
“But?” Liachov asked.
“There are no Imperium ships within a hundred miles,” Nance said. “Not even a blip on the radar before I turned it off.”
“See, I told you it was a bluff,” Liachov said. “The rebellion would never surrender.”
“Check the coms,” Kim said.
Nance’s fingers tapped away on her keyboard and then a voice boomed from the ship’s speakers.
...repeat, this is Colonel Evan Tragger, of the Killburn Mountain Brigade, ordering all rebel forces to stand down. This is an unconditional surrender, which includes amnesty for any rebel who reports to the nearest Imperium checkpoint. Turn in your weapons and declare your allegiance to the Royal Imperium. That’s an order. This message will repeat...
Nance cut the communication feed, and the bridge fell silent. It didn’t take long for every member of the freedom fighters to arrive on the bridge. Kim couldn’t swivel her chair around while she was flying the ship, but a glance over her shoulder showed the look of shock on their faces.
“Maybe it wasn’t him,” Ike said.
“No,” Liachov said. “I recognize his voice. That was Colonel Tragger. He betrayed us.”
“We still need to replace the Zexum gas canister,” Nance said.
“So do it,” Liachov snapped.
“We can’t,” Kim said, trying to keep the disdain in her voice to a minimum. “We don’t know how. You shot the two people who did, Lieutenant.”
“They’re only stunned,” she said angrily. “Besides, my people can change the Zexum tank. Where is it?”
“Well, since it fuels the fusion reactor, I’d say somewhere close to that,” Kim said in a patronizing tone. “But I really have no idea. What I do know is that if your people screw it up, they could blow us all to outer space and back. It’s not something for amateurs to go poking around hoping to figure out.”
“We have half a tank,” Liachov said. “That’s more than enough to land.”
“You still want to risk putting down whe
n your people have all given up?” Kim asked.
“They haven’t all given up,” Liachov said. “I can guarantee you that.”
“Look, we came here to take you back to your people and deliver the munitions you purchased, but I don’t think that amnesty will apply to us,” Kim said. “If we land and the ship is overrun with Imperium forces, we’ll be executed.”
“That’s a chance you have to take,” Liachov said.
She made a show of changing the power on her pistol from stun to kill.
“We can’t hide here forever,” Nance said. “Odds are, even if we can’t see them, the Imperium has us on their radar.”
“So head south,” Liachov said. “I gave you the coordinates.”
“Maybe it would be better if we tried to sneak away,” Kim said. “Perhaps circle around and slip off from one of the poles.”
“Why aren’t the Imperium fighters approaching?” Ike said. “If they know we’re here, why wait?”
“They could be on top of us and we wouldn’t know it,” Kim said. “Not without our radar.”
“Or they could be tracking us,” Nance said. “If the lieutenant is right, and there is a rebel base they haven’t found yet, they may be hoping we’d lead them right to it.”
There was a groan from Ben, who was still splayed on the deck behind his console. Kim wanted to get up and go to him, but she still couldn’t leave her pilot’s seat. She was beginning to feel nervous about being blind in the clouds.
“What are we doing here?” Kim asked.
“Go south,” Liachov said. “And turn the radar back on. If they can see, we should see them too. There’s no hiding this hulk forever.”
“Roger that,” Kim said.
“Radar is up,” Nance announced.
Kim flew through the clouds. The altimeter had them at eighty thousand feet. She used her instruments to keep the ship level and moved at a brisk pace, but not so fast that it might draw attention from the ground.
“Do the Imperium forces have air to ground capabilities?” Nance asked.
“Yes,” Liachov said. “They have a presence in all the major cities. But we should be over the Selujian Sea by now.”
“Nance, how low would I have to go to drop off their radar?” Kim asked.
“Below a hundred feet should do it,” Nance said. “If you can get under fifty, that would be safest. Unless they have ships and satellites in the area.”
“The radar is clear, right?” Ike said.
“There are no atmospheric craft in a hundred-mile range,” Nance said.
“But that doesn’t read what’s in orbit,” Kim said.
“Can they track us from orbit?” Liachov asked.
“Not if I get low enough,” Kim said.
She wasn’t sure if that was true or not. A satellite directly overhead could certainly pick them up under the right conditions, but getting low and slow was their best bet.
“Descending,” Kim said. “We’ll know if we’re successful because they’ll scramble their own ships to come looking for us.”
“I’ll have to shut down our radar,” Nance said.
A few seconds later, they dropped out of the clouds. Nance killed the radar and opened video feeds from all the exterior cameras so that the freedom fighters could help with visual scanning. Kim could see the deep blue of ocean water far below. They were passing fifteen thousand feet, and the skies were clear between them and the water.
“How big do the waves get on this planet?” Kim asked.
“I don’t know,” Liachov said.
“They can get high in storms,” Ike said. “My great-uncle was a fisherman. He told me stories of waves getting over a hundred feet in storms, but the seas are manageable for small ships under normal conditions.”
“Great,” Kim said. “Let’s just pray the conditions are normal.”
“Passing ten thousand feet,” Nance said.
“What’s... what’s going... on?” Ben asked.
“Don’t move,” Kim said. “The bitch shot you.”
“What?”
“You were stunned,” Liachov said. “Just be happy you’re still breathing.”
“Five thousand feet,” Nance said. “Visual scans are clear.”
“We made it?” Ben said in a groggy voice.
“Not yet,” Kim said. “It seems the rebellion on Brigton surrendered to the Royal Imperium.”
“That’s not been proven yet,” Liachov said.
“Our fearless leader thinks she can get us on the ground,” Kim went on. “We’re trying to get off the Imperium’s radar.”
“Two thousand feet,” Nance said.
“We’re under half a tank of Zexum and the auxiliary batteries are nearly used up,” Kim went on. “We need to regroup before we make a run for it.”
“Where?” Ben asked.
“We have a base in the mountains,” Liachov said. “It’s more of a refuge than a base, but there’s room to land.”
“And it might be filled with soldiers,” Kim said.
“Passing five hundred feet,” Nance said.
“Help me up,” Ben said.
Kim had no idea whom he was talking to, but she felt relieved that he was up and aware of what was going on.
“Magnum, you okay?” Ben asked.
“She shot him too,” Kim said. “I think she’s losing it.”
“You’re next,” Liachov said, “if you don’t shut your big mouth.”
Kim started to reply, but then remembered that the lieutenant seemed on the verge of a breakdown and had switched her pistol from stun to kill. There was no sense in taking chances that she might slag Kim just to prove she was in charge.
“Passing one hundred feet,” Nance said. “We should be off their radar by now.”
Kim could see the undulations of the water below them, but she kept descending. They needed to be high enough that their downdraft didn’t leave a trail on the water, but low enough that radar waves would bounce over them.
“Where are we going?” Ben asked. “What direction?”
“South,” Kim said.
“Are we headed straight for the base?” Ben said.
“That’s right. We need to land,” Liachov said.
“That’s a bad idea,” Ben said.
“She switched her pistol from stun to kill,” Kim warned him.
“Don’t countermand my orders, Ben,” Liachov said, her voice trembling slightly.
Kim looked over and saw that the lieutenant had the pistol pointing back toward Ben’s station. Ike was near his commanding officer and looked conflicted.
“I’m not trying to countermand anything,” Ben said calmly. “But if we drop off radar, then they will backtrack to see what our heading was and keep searching in that direction. If we keep going that way, they’ll find us when we pop back up.”
“So we stay low,” Liachov said.
“Unfortunately, that’s not how radar works,” Ben said.
“Then why don’t you explain it to us!” Liachov suddenly screamed angrily. “Tell us all about it. We’re just idiots who know nothing at all, Ben. Tell us how it works!”
“I’m sorry,” Ben said.
Kim heard sobbing and knew something had to give. The lieutenant was on the verge of either killing them all or dissolving into a mess of nerves.
“Lieutenant,” Ike said. “Why don’t you holster that pistol. Whatever happens now, we’re all in it together.”
Kim glanced over. Ike had his hands on Rena’s arms, and she was red-faced with rage. Tears were running freely down her cheeks. Flying less than fifty feet from the surface of the ocean took almost all of Kim’s concentration, yet she could hardly pull herself away from the drama going on around her.
“Nance,” Ben said gently. “Maybe you can plot a course that keeps us over the water, but that will bring us to the base from a different direction.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Nance said.
“Here, sit down, Lieutenant,�
� Ike said. “There you are. Everything will be okay.”
A new trajectory came up on Kim’s plot, and she turned the ship without saying a word. They went from traveling south to moving west, staying low and watching the skies.
“We need to find a place to lay low for a while,” Ben said.
“The refuge is the perfect place,” Ike said. “There’s food, water, resources, and friends to help us.”
“But odds are, if we go straight to your people, we’ll be leading the Imperium straight there,” Ben said.
“You have a better idea?” Ike countered. “Let me guess, you want to change the Zexum tanks and make a run for it?”
“No,” Ben said. “With our auxiliary batteries so low, we can’t risk shutting down the fusion reactor. Not while we’re in the air.”
“So what are you thinking?” Ike said. “Does this ship float too?”
“What’s that?” Nance asked.
“What?” Kim wanted to know. She couldn’t help but feel like she was missing something important and had to fight the urge to pull up.
“Looks like an island,” Ben said.
“There are hundreds of islands in the stretch of the south Selujian Sea.”
“Are they inhabited?” Ben asked.
“Most of them aren’t,” Ike said. “Why?”
“Start looking for one with room to land,” Ben said. “We can set the ship down and hide for a few days.”
“The Imperium won’t just forget about us,” Ike said.
“No, but they’ll stop looking,” Ben said. “Rena said they were lazy. We’re off their radar for now, but if we stay off long enough, they’ll give up the search.”
“They’ll think we crashed into the ocean,” Kim said.
“So we let them think it,” Ben said. “Maybe you can even get word to your people, Ike. That way, we don’t give away your bases, and we don’t fall into an Imperium trap.”
Kim saw an island in the distance. It had towering trees that swayed back and forth, but also what looked like a sizable cavern. She turned toward the island.
“We could also stash the weapons,” Ike said. “Hide them so that no one finds them, but we can get to them if we need to.”
Jump Point: Kestrel Class Saga Book 2 Page 17
