In the background she heard Gronko swearing at the engine before finally being able to coax it to life. The jellyfish had come for Vinnie and now it didn’t need to keep them in thrall. Gronko steered the attack boat toward the far shore. He aimed for a small jetty backed by a wall of jungle.
Charley was numb as the pirates disembarked at the rickety jetty. Harry called everyone into the trees urgently.
Charley let herself be dragged into the shade of the jungle by her older lover. She was vaguely aware of the drone of a firebird passing high overhead. It was clearly giving the lake a wide berth.
“I don’t think they saw us,” said Harry. “They probably thought we’d all die when we took the boat across the lake.”
“We’re really in the shit now,” Gronko growled. “Our second best fighter beside me has gone down, and we’re miles away from our busted ship.”
“You’re such a beacon of positivity,” Charley said bleakly.
The renki grunted. “Well, at least there’s some women to enjoy while we wait to die.”
Harry threw Gronko a dark look. “Touch either of these women and you’ll die a lot sooner than that.”
Gronko snorted in derision and said no more. It wasn’t wise to upset a veteran pirate, no matter how old they were.
“Those firebirds chew up a lot of fuel,” Harry said thoughtfully. “They’re strictly planet bound too. They don’t have warp engines.”
Harry’s train of thought brought Charley back into the moment. Where she needed to be. She could mourn Vinnie Teks later.
“Which means there must be an airfield nearby,” she said. “We might be able to steal a firebird and fly some parts over to our crash site.”
Harry beamed at her. His face was lined with grief, but at least he was still planning their escape. “Precisely, my girl.”
“Remote, but better than standing around,” Gronko concluded.
Charley looked at Vanessa. The poor girl looked exhausted, but she nodded brightly anyway. Charley was beginning to really like this girl.
“Then let’s take five minutes to collect ourselves then move out,” Charley said. “Hopefully we reach the airfield by nightfall.”
The party moved into the shadowy trees as the mid afternoon sun beat down on them mercilessly. The jungle was low and hard. Gronko took point and swung a jungle machete with all his considerable might. Charley’s body was slick with sweat and seemed to be attracting every damn insect in the jungle. She was thoroughly exhausted by the time the sun disappeared in the west. The animals of the day quietened down and there was a period of eerie dusk silence as the night creatures prepared themselves for the hunt. Harry pointed to his wrist com and Charley checked her scanner. Wrist pad scanners were rudimentary but were able to detect heat with some accuracy. A huge heat signature could be detected around 300 yards to the north west. Charley nodded and had Gronko make a slight adjustment to his bearing. At length they saw the trees open out and huge floodlights towering above them. Thankfully the bright light was directed to the airfield and not to the jungle.
“That airfield isn’t set up defensively,” Harry said with disdain. “The Silent Runners wouldn’t be attacked here very often.”
“All the better for us,” Charley said. “We need to hit them and hit them hard.”
She was surprised by the vehemence in her voice. It seemed the loss of Vinnie was now triggering violent tendencies in her. It was easy to blame the Silent Runners for his death. If it wasn’t for their cowardly attack, they wouldn’t have crash landed on Bonesse in the first place.
Gronko was waiting for the others by a ten-yard high mesh fence. Harry threw a stick at it and it ricocheted away in a shower of sparks.
“No touching that, then,” Charley said. “How do we get in?”
“Show me the fuckin’ terminal and I’ll fuck it like a whore,” FIGJAM said with typical arrogance. “Bye bye electricity.”
“I don’t doubt you for a second, FIGJAM,” said Harry reasonably. “But the control terminal must be inside the airfield somewhere.”
“Fair point,” FIGJAM admitted.
Charley studied the airfield intently. There were rectangles of intense orange light over the other side of the wide expanse. Two firebirds with their cargo bays wide open. There was a small terminal building and a coms tower behind the craft. Around the fence to the south a guard hut was located at the only access point to the facility. Through her targeting computer she counted five guards stationed there. They seemed to be on high alert.
“No way we’re going in through the front door,” Charley said.
“And it would be suicide to run a front-on assault on that guard house,” added Harry.
“I will not tolerate being stuck here!” Gronko yelled, grabbing the fence and giving himself a good electric jolt in the process. The alien’s electrical resistance was admirable, but the alien himself was pretty fucking stupid and Charley felt like telling him all about it.
“Just shove me through one of those rat holes,” FIGJAM said mildly.
Charley looked down at her PalBot with a frown. “The hell you say?”
“While you fuckers have been bitch-slapping each other like little fairies, I’ve been scanning the fence and found quite a few giant rat burrows that run right under the fence.”
FIGJAM’s pronouncement caused a few moments of shock before Harry found his voice. “Any big enough for a man?”
“Nope,” was the reply.
“It will take all night to dig a hole big enough,” grumbled Gronko. We don’t have the tools.”
“Fuck that,” Charley said. “The Runners would find us here well before then. What are you suggesting exactly, FIGJAM?”
“Just put me in the fucking hole,” FIGJAM said irritably. “Sometimes I just gotta do it all myself.”
“Wait,” Charley said. “You want to crawl your way into that airfield and blast all those bandits with a bunch of swear words?”
“You’re so sexy when you’re angry,” purred FIGJAM. “But no, I was hoping to sneak around to the control panel and deactivate the fence.”
Charley looked at Harry, who nodded slowly. “It could work,” the old man admitted. “We should give it a try. But be prepared to lose your little bot.”
“This ‘little bot’ is gonna kick your ass old man,” said FIGJAM indignantly. Charley set the bot down on the grass. He trundled over the tussocks toward the nearest rat hole. “Don’t wait up for me,” he said moodily. And with that he was gone. Charley tried to spot him on the other side but he had obviously chosen to keep to the shadows of the night.
“Well then,” Charley said. “I guess we wait.”
“Spot on, Charley,” Harry said cheerfully, gathering her in his arms and giving her a bear hug. She responded with her own embrace, but she could see Vanessa lower her eyes in discomfort. She could tell Harry was hurting from the loss of his son and was just trying to put on a brave face. She stood in his arms for several minutes, glad to be distracted from their desperate situation. Besides, the jungle air was quite sharp and cold that night and Charley welcomed the close contact. At length the fence seemed to flare blue for a moment.
“Gronko,” Charley said, “Can you touch the fence again?”
The big renki punched the fence as hard as he could. Apart from laying a mighty dent in it, there was no telltale flare of energy conduction.
“The PalBot actually did it,” Harry said in wonder.
“He’s quite useful when you get past how much of an asshole he is,” Charley pointed out.
“Definitely more than meets the eye,” Vanessa said appreciatively.
“Let’s roll,” Harry said.
Gronko was already halfway up the fence. Charley climbed to the top with a little difficulty. Vanessa struggled also, and was visibly glad when they reached the top.
“We’re not fucking mountain goats,” Charley puffed as she dropped to the ground.
“I’m on point,” Gronko announced.
“I’m the only one with a night scope.”
That was true enough. Charley allowed the big renki to lead them through the tussocks toward the distant firebirds.
“Shouldn’t we take care of the guard house first?” she asked.
“That would be dangerous,” said Harry, jogging alongside her. “The firebirds might get spooked and launch.”
Charley could see the logic to that. She could see Gronko darting in between the bright prisms created by the floodlight towers. She tried to follow the same course, but it was only a matter of time before they were spotted. Sure enough, Gronko suddenly dropped to one knee and peeled of three shots from the long range rifle sitting on top of his heavy flak gun. It really was a marvelous all-purpose weapon. The rifle couldn’t really hit long range targets like a sniper rifle could, but at a range of up to four hundred yards it was lethal. Charley saw two bandits fall from the shots. More were running across the airstrip, presumably to climb into the firebirds.
Charley was keen to start firing as she found that only that could get her head into a battle sometimes. The problem was her blaster only had a limited range. Harry and Vanessa had the same problem. She could only hope that the renki led them to a sensible area of cover from which they could fire at the enemy. Right now the objective was speed and coverage. Gronko sprinted across hard tarmac, firing from his hip as he went. Another bandit fell. Several more poured from the terminal building. By this stage the pirates were just as far from the firebirds as the bandits.
Charley quickened her pace, knowing that she was reasonably fast. She kept up with Gronko and used the nearest firebird as cover. The pilot of that craft had engaged the engines but did not have time to turn the vessel in her direction. Instead the bandit dropped from the cockpit with a pistol raised. The man only got one shot in before Charley was on him. Luckily that shot fizzed over her head with inches to spare. Most people fired too high on the first shot. Charley had her scimitar raised and swung wildly, cracking the bandit’s breastplate with a well-timed slash. The second blow removed the man’s head from his shoulders. For some reason Charley noticed the sound of the man’s head as it bounced on the tarmac. She instinctively climbed the steps to the firebird’s cockpit and assessed the dashboard. The engines were running but the anchor brake was still engaged.
Charley released the brake and the big firebird attack ship started rolling across the tarmac. She was happy to be a moving target for now. She gripped the twin steerage joysticks and activated a weapons display by scrolling a dial on the top of the right joystick. There were two firing options - ballistic or laser. She chose ballistic and started firing at will. Twin streams of pellets coursed from guns mounted under the cockpit. Charley aimed for the terminal building and strafed it mercilessly. A clutch of bandits poured from the front building. She remembered that the pirates might need an intact garage later so moved her attention to the bandits running toward her. She picked them off easily. The force of these heavy duty pellets was enough to throw them off their feet and leave their armor riddled with bloody holes.
She could see Gronko, Harry and Vanessa taking the opportunity to find cover in the shattered terminal building. Harry gave her a thumbs-up with a broad smile.
There were the bandits at the front gate to think about. They had mustered an attack in a small quad buggy. Charley almost laughed as she concentrated her fire on the buggy, rupturing the fuel tank in quick time. The vehicle exploded nicely, flipping its occupants like rag dolls. Charley made sure they weren’t moving before moving on.
There didn’t seem to be too many bandits left on the airfield. Charley was daring to hope the battle might be over when her cockpit was peppered with scything laser fire. She activated her forward shields urgently. The other firebird was also on the move. There must’ve been one pilot left. Charley steered the craft in a tight circle and accelerated down the runway. The firebird was approaching the other way, also gaining speed. The two ships were set for an almighty collision.
Charley wasn’t about to back down. She engaged her ballistic guns again and gave the enemy firebird all she had. The pellets thrummed into the enemy cockpit but most were turned away by defensive shields. Charley realized there would be no victor in this jousting battle. She strapped herself in for impact.
The other firebird had lifted its landing gear and was rising off the ground. Charley looked on with disappointment as the firebird rose into the air. Her cockpit was scorched by the exhaust by the craft passing over her. She turned her bird around and watched as the firebird launched into the night sky. She didn’t want to go after it - she didn’t have the flying experience to match it in the air with that pilot.
A flaring purple object soared from the terminal building and followed the rising firebird. Charley’s eyes widened - it was a heatseeking missile. The missile spiraled into the closing cargo bay of the enemy vessel and smashed into its rear shields. Charley could see the energy flaring and shorting out. Those shields were now useless. Charley lifted her own gun mounts but she didn’t have the angle from the ground to hit the retreating firebird. In the end she didn’t need to. The enemy firebird dipped savagely, its engine haloed by fire. The missile had also penetrated the hull casing. The firebird lost altitude over the jungle, disappearing below the forest canopy. A dull orange glare and a sonic boom confirmed its demise. Charley watched until the explosion faded into darkness again, her breathing coming in shallow gasps. She heard footsteps behind her and spun around. It was Gronko, already poking through the equipment in her open cargo bay. It was strapped down and secured on pellets.
“Some ship parts will be useful,” he muttered. “There are more underground.”
Charley killed the engine and made her way to the shattered building. All she saw was a chaos of smashed circuitry and a few dead bandits. What was Gronko talking about?
Then she heard a whirring noise. A large service elevator rose through the central runway. Harry stood in the middle with a cheeky smile. It looked like he’d found the main garage that serviced the firebirds. She walked over and caught a ride with the older man down to the garage. Harry said nothing but pointed to a workshop down the far end of the large maintenance area. A fully stripped engine lay on a steel bench. Repair packs containing hull plating, rivets, soldering kits. Everything they would need for repairs to the Surprise.
“It’s all here,” Harry said triumphantly.
Charley sank to her knees, the trauma of losing Vinnie and the recent battle overwhelming her. Harry knelt beside her, a comforting arm around her shoulders. They stayed that way for several minutes. When Charley was ready, she helped the others load the service elevator with gear. Gronko positioned the firebird directly over the elevator shaft. The ship had a panel on the underside that opened and was able to admit the elevator into his cargo bay. That way, the pirates were able to easily transfer the ship parts into the firebird in one trip.
Within an hour they were ready to launch with what they hoped was a complete set of parts for their damaged ship.
Harry plugged in the coordinates of their damaged vessel and Charley noticed the waypoint disappearing off the nav computer. She didn’t think anything of it, assuming the waypoint had been registered by the firebird’s AI.
An automatic sequence was activated, and the firebird prepared itself for launch. Charley and the others settled into chairs in the cockpit. Harry had the pilot’s chair but didn’t need to do anything as the firebird thundered down the tarmac and rose into the air.
“Must be taking us to the Surprise,” he said with a shrug.
It soon became apparent that the firebird was not doing anything of the sort. It was rising steadily in a safe, gradual spiral.
“Where are we being taken?” Charley asked in a panicked voice.
“Further away from our ship, that’s for sure,” grumbled the renki.
“It’s a pre-programmed routine,” Harry said. “The firebirds must have been due to return to another base. Maybe to report back o
n the rampaging pirates …”
19
Charley grinned, but it was forced. They were in serious trouble. The firebird rose through the thick Bonesse atmosphere and broke orbit smoothly. The planet was a velvety green orb beneath them. A creeping sense of dread wormed its way through Charley’s spine. How were they going to survive this next challenge? Wherever the firebird was taking them, they were sure to be expected. The Runners at the airfield would have alerted their masters to the pirates’ attack.
Sure enough, around the curve of the planet, the firebird cruised to a blinking orbital facility deep on the planet’s night side. It was moderately sized as space stations went, with docking nodes for several ships and a stack of habitation wings. With a lurch of anxiety Charley saw the bandit cruiser that had shot the Surprise out of the sky in the first place. Harry saw it too, his hand closing over hers for comfort.
The pirates could only watch on helplessly as the firebird cruised to the Silent Runner space station.
“I think that place was once a research facility,” Harry said. “The Silent Runners have been busy. They probably use it now as a staging post for the entire sector.”
For what must have been the seventh or eighth time Harry tried to override the ship’s automatic sequence. It was no good - either the firebird was hard-coded to travel back and forth to the space station or someone was controlling their flight remotely. Either way they were in deep trouble.
The firebird adjusted its course and aligned itself with docking node six. The airlock door glowed green to show that air pressure had been equalized on both sides. The door hissed open to reveal a narrow docking tube. Charley took Harry’s hand and entered the tube warily, Gronko following behind them. Vanessa hesitated at the airlock.
The Pirate Captain (The Space Pirate Chronicles Book 2) Page 11
