"Not on the computer, but I've seen them twice... I think." She knew the dot behind her on the scope was Jack approaching. "Glad you're here, I was beginning to get a little lonely."
Jack pulled the throttle all the way back and coasted, firing a short burst on his braking jets. "So what were they?"
"Well it was hard to tell, they were kinda far off..." She could see the other Warthog sliding up even with hers about a hundred yards off her starboard wing. She felt better. "One sort of looked like maybe a shuttle, the other... I don't know." She shook her head, "Like an egg?"
■ ■ ■
"Pass the salt will ya'?" Derrik slid the shaker across the galley table to Brian. "Thanks." He sprinkled it liberally across his hash browns. The galley had a few people in it, but it was not the normal full breakfast crowd.
"What do you suppose we're on yellow for?" wondered Derrik aloud.
"Probably asteroids or somethin' like that," answered Brian, sipping his juice. The announcement of their names over the paging system caught him mid-swallow. "Hey!" he said coughing. "That's us!" They jumped up from the table, upsetting glasses and plates of food. "Sorry!" Yelled Brian over his shoulder as the two pilots hustled out. They jogged down the corridor towards the elevators to the flight bay.
“All hands to battle stations! All hands to battle stations!”
The screaming alarm horn sounded red alert as the corridors were bathed in red flashing light. Without hesitation, the two pilots broke out into an all-out run. Brian, a little faster than Derrik, collided twice with other crew members heading for their own battle stations.
■ ■ ■
There were four pirate light fighters and an armed shuttle. A split second before they emerged, Jack's computer grabbed recognition and the identity screen flashed a picture of it in red. An enemy. They roughly looked like slightly flattened eggs with forward canted wings. Their guns were mounted on the wingtips. It was a practiced pirate tactic, to use debris as cover and draw prey into an ambush. The Fallken fighters charged from the field of debris like angry hornets, firing wildly as they advanced.
"Break! Break!" yelled Jack. He slammed the throttle forward and rolled right. Maria rolled left. Jack felt the fighter buck as laser shots hit his shields. "Leader to tower, launch fighters! Launch fighters!"
"We're on our way Leader One!" came the reply.
Jack threw the Warthog into a corkscrew from the roll and tried to lead the last fighter as it passed. He squeezed the trigger and heard the rapid thump-thump-thump of the single Mercury Gatling gun and the high pulsing whistle of the twin Laser cannons. Red and silver streaks raced from the nose of the Warthog but passed behind the speeding Fallken. He'd allowed too short of a lead. The fighter passed untouched. "Shit."
“Jaaaack!" Maria was zig-zagging violently but couldn't shake two of the nimble fighters who had latched onto her tail.
"Hold on!" He thumbed the boost button and looped tightly back the way he came. A pair of crimson streaks flashed close across his bow. He ignored them. "Almost there..." he reassured her. Still a little too far to be accurate, he fired once to get their attention. It struck the first fighter. The two pilots hesitated just long enough... "Break right!" They were slow in responding to Maria's evasion and Jack held down the trigger. He watched the red and silver streaks pound on the rear pirate fighter, decimating its shields and tearing into its plating.
Feeling the kick as a Fallken fired at his tail from point blank range, Jack broke off, easing back on the stick and cutting throttle. The other fighter shot by below him. "Hurry up, Pappy!"
"Right behind you, Jack!" A Warthog screamed by Jack's right wing at full throttle, guns blazing. The Fallken Jack had damaged, disappeared in a hot white flash and a spray of debris. "Freedom one, Pirates zero!" claimed Paul, as he winged over and swung right.
Jack nosed down and rammed the throttle open in hot pursuit of the pirate who had knocked on his back door. He thumbed the boost button but the pirate was still pulling away. "Damn..." Hearing a lock tone, he thumbed off the safety and fired a missile. "Outrun that, shithead..."
"Get this son-of-a-bitch off me!" screamed Maria. She couldn't shake the other fighter.
"Relax," said Mike, "I'm right here..." He squeezed the trigger, a long, steady burst. "Guns, guns, guns," he announced. The pirate broke off but never finished his turn. Mike had throttled back and stayed with him. The Fallken blew in half, spinning slowly outwards. "Gotcha!"
Jack closed on his prey as it spun out of control from the missile hit. When it finally stopped spinning, the pirate was facing him. The Fallken, half its shields down, charged, guns firing. Jack throttled back and squeezed the trigger, holding it down. The pirate was unsteady and firing wildly. He only hit Jack's Warthog twice, barely enough to affect its hefty forward shields before his own shields disappeared. Breaking off, the pirate nosed his fighter down to avoid destruction as a stream of charged Mercury balls from Jack's Gatling gun, smashed through his canopy and exploded in his cockpit. Jack did a wing-over and let the Fallken with the crater in its center, drift away. "Scratch one!"
After a deep breath, Steele saw a flash in the distance, below him and to his left. "Adios, dirtbag!" He recognized Paul's voice.
"Is that all of them?" Jack had lost track.
"No," answered Maria, "I could use a hand with this shuttle..." She was having a hard time getting a clear shot. The rear gunner was taking pot shots at her and she was weaving back and forth to avoid being hit.
She was all the way on the other side of the debris field and the only one in range of the fleeing pirate. "Back off a bit," coached Paul. "Lay off your guns and let your shields recharge. Hit him with a missile then close in and finish him off."
In all the excitement, she'd forgotten the missiles. "Right!" She pulled back hard and reduced power, getting a missile lock a heartbeat later. She thumbed off the safety and fired one, paused, then fired another one. She jinked to avoid the rear gunner's fire but it was easier from a distance. She didn't have to do it again. Two thirds of the craft disappeared in a double yellow flash. "Adios, pendejo," she sneered.
"Good shot'!" Maria could hear the three men cheering her on across the comm as they rounded the debris field.
"Where do you suppose these jokers came from, Pappy?"
"I don't know, Mad Dog..."
"When you get to this side you'll see it," advised Maria. "It's almost at the edge of my sensor range."
"How big?" asked Jack.
"About the same size as the Freedom, I guess," she answered.
When the Warthogs regrouped, it was still there. "Let's see if they want to play," said Paul. He switched to long range frequency as the four fighters coasted wingtip to wingtip toward the distant ship. Paul used his best authoritative voice, "Unidentified ship... this is Squadron Leader Paul Smiley, of the UFW strike-carrier Freedom. What are your intentions? Do you wish to engage?" The ship quickly moved out of their sensor range without replying. "I didn't think so," added Paul.
"Think we should see if they're really leaving?" Jack didn't want to take any chances.
Paul switched back to a local frequency. "Nah. They'll go lick their wounds after a sound beating like that. The Freedom's behind us, outside their sensor range. They won't be curious enough to come back and check."
It made sense to Jack. "Then let's go see what they were after."
■ ■ ■
The pilots carefully maneuvered through the drifting debris to its center. It was a large ship but so damaged it was difficult to determine what kind. They could find no markings or identification on it. "Think it's worth doing a walk through?" asked Mike.
Jack looked over at Paul. At about thirty feet away, Jack could see his face clearly through
the canopy perspex. "As long as you're sure they won't be back."
Paul shook his head. "I wouldn't. Not if I thought I had to face a carrier."
Jack nodded and smiled. "Pretty slick."
"Hey," called Maria, "I've got bingo fuel!"
Jack quickly checked his, he was half full. "You must have a leak, we'd better head back." Jack advised the tower and the four fighters started back to the Freedom in formation. Halfway there, Maria reported flame-out on her port engine. "Shut it down," advised Jack. She lifted the safety cover and toggled off its power.
With gear down and anti-grav on, Maria's starboard engine began to sputter on final approach. "Uh oh..."
"What's uh oh?" asked Jack.
"Zero fuel," responded Maria.
"That's Ok, Lieutenant," said the tower, "you're lined up, just shut it down and coast in." She acknowledged and toggled off the power for the starboard engine. Jack throttled down and cut off his engines to stay even with her.
As instructed by the tower, Jack applied breaking jets as he neared the stern of the Freedom. Maria's fighter passed him by. "Uh oh..."
"What uh oh?!" shouted Jack.
"No brakes." said Maria calmly.
The man in the flight tower sprang to his feet and slammed his hand down on a large red button on his console, sounding an alarm. "Crash crews! Crash crews!" Huge snag nets dropped from the ceiling of the flight bay and stretched across the landing strip. "Shut down everything but your anti-grav and comm," he told Maria. She complied.
Jack was too close to abort his landing, he braked hard and cut off his anti-grav as Maria's fighter buried itself in the snag nets. After thumping hard, Jack's fighter skidded off the landing strip in a shower of sparks stopping in the taxiing lane. After tearing off its nose gear, Maria's fighter came to rest in the third net.
Jack yanked the canopy release handle and tore at his harness. He tossed his helmet on the dash, not bothering to shut down all the systems and stood in his seat, pulling all the power and comm leads free. Jumping to the deck, he rolled, bounced to his feet and leaned into a full run towards the netted Warthog. It was a long run, but he got there fast, the ground crew was still pulling her from the cockpit. Two missiles lay scattered on the deck and one hung in the netting. "Watch those, sir," pointed a crewman. Jack stepped around them.
Paul and Mike braked early on their approach and coasted slowly in for a short, cautious landing. They could see Maria on a stretcher, surrounded by CABL M7, a medic, Jack, Derrik and Brian. But they couldn't tell if she was moving or not. Exchanging glances from their cockpits about forty feet apart, they too jumped to the deck without waiting for ground personnel or a ladder.
The medic wiped the blood from her forehead while M7 adjusted the sensor pads to monitor her vitals. "How many fingers do you see?" asked Jack holding up three fingers for her to see.
"How many am I supposed to see...?" groaned Maria. "Why does my head hurt?" She ran her hand lazily through her hair and touched blood. "Ichh, what's thisss stuffff...?" M7 glanced around and shook his head, making it clear they were not to tell her.
Derrik changed the subject. "That was a spiffy landing, love..."
"What landing?" Her eyes rolled around.
"Time to go..." urged M7, punching the keys on the electric gurney.
Paul and Mike skidded to a stop next to Jack as the medic and M7 trotted off alongside the whirring electric gurney carrying Maria. Paul grabbed Jack's elbow. "Is she Ok?" he said breathlessly.
Jack was watching them go. His arms folded tightly across his chest, he was battling his emotions. He thought about the friend he lost on the police department. "Maybe I shouldn't have taken her out..." He stared at the floor and toyed with the head of a rivet on the deck with the toe of his boot.
"She wouldn't have had it any other way," said Brian. "You couldn't have grounded her if you wanted to..."
Mike nodded, "He's right, she would've never stood for that."
"Stop talking past tense," said Derrik. "She's not bloody dead... she'll be fine!"
A mechanic ran up to Jack and handed him a wireless headset. "It's Commander Edgars, sir."
Jack held the headset to his ear, "What's up, Walt?"
"We're reading several small power sources in that debris out there, Jack..."
"Damn! They're back?"
"No, no, screens are clear. These originated in the debris. Maybe you'd like to take another look?"
Jack nodded, "Yeah we've already talked about it. Listen, get a shopping list from M7, if we go aboard, we might see something he needs."
"Right-o." He paused, his voice was quieter, "Um, how's Miss Arroyo?"
Jack cleared his throat and blinked hard. "Uh well, um, they took her to the infirmary. We don't know yet."
"I'll ask when I call for that list."
"Thanks, Walt."
Jack turned to the other pilots who stood by. "We need to go out and take another look around, who wants to go?" They all did. "Ok, how about this... Mike and Pappy in fighters for cover. And me, Bri and Derrik in the shuttle?" It seemed to be agreeable to all.
A ground crewman walked up to Jack with Maria's helmet in his hand. It had a sizable crack in it. "I don't get it, sir, we just can't figure out what she hit. There's no marks on anything in the cockpit, nothing's broken..." The pilots huddled around and examined it. Someone gave out a low whistle. Jack handed it back to the frowning lineman. "Is she going to be Ok, sir?"
Jack smiled at him. He was pleased with the concern. "I hope so."
The Crew Chief for Maria's fighter strolled up. "Well it's fixable, but it'll be a couple of days." The fighter's nose was sitting on an anti-grav pad and a group of men began pushing it to its maintenance bay for repairs. The snag nets had been retracted back to the ceiling. "She took a couple of hits with no shields," he continued, "that caused her fuel leak. Another hit or two and she wouldn't have come back." He scratched the sparse hair on the top of his head. "She's lucky..."
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
BAHIA SYSTEM, DEBRIS FIELD: GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL
Being that the shuttle was slower than the fighters, Brian had a much easier time winding through the debris than Mike and Paul. Some of the pieces were as small as a bread box, the largest, the size of a good-sized American car. Striking a small piece was of little consequence, hitting something sizeable could damage a craft, even with its shields up. "I got something here to the left," said Derrik who copiloted for Brian.
Jack sat behind them at a detailed sensor array panel. He examined the oblong shape on his view screen. "Say's here it's an escape pod. Can you get closer?"
"No problem," said Brian. He maneuvered closer. "How's this?"
"Just fine..." Jack was concentrating on reaching it with an extended mechanical arm. "Gotcha..." he said, succeeding in grabbing a tow ring. Working the remote control, he drew it in close to the shuttle's hull and secured it with one of the many grapple claws on the outside of the hull. "Done," he announced.
"There's another one over here," called Mike. Derrik pointed out Mike's position on the scope and Brian swung the nose of the shuttle in his direction. All in all, they recovered four of the pods, three with power, one without. Everyone agreed it would be best to return to the Freedom and deposit the pods, before returning to the wreck for a walk through exploration.
Brian maneuvered the loaded shuttle slowly through the field. With its added girth, Brian was finding it more difficult to navigate. He armed the single Mercury Gatling gun and flipped off the safety. Derrik looked curiously at him. Brian smiled, pulled the trigger and wiggled the nose of the shuttle. The stream of silver balls swept everything from their path, destroying smaller pieces and hurling larger things out of the wa
y.
Derrik smiled in appreciation and nodded. “Nice...”
■ ■ ■
Aware of the life pod recoveries, the Professor had arranged for an armed security team to meet the shuttle as it landed, since the origin and loyalties of the ship and its crew was unknown. It was also unknown if the pods contained survivors or not, there was no way to tell until they were opened.
Brian brought the shuttle to a stop in front of the tower and shut down the anti-grav system, it settled to the deck with a thump. As he busied himself with the task of shutting down all it's systems, Jack popped the port hatch. It hissed like a leaking tire before releasing and swinging open. He jumped to the deck before the short boarding ramp had dropped all the way down. Raulya, leading the security team, greeted him. "Hi Jack," she said quietly, taking him off to one side. "I talked to CABLE M7 while we were waiting for you..."
"Yeah?" Jack moved closer. "How is she?"
"She's got a concussion and some swelling, but he said she'd be Ok in about a week." Raulya adjusted her tunic absent-mindedly. "He said she's grounded for about a month though..."
Jack sighed, "Who cares, as long as she's gonna' be Ok." He relaxed, his stomach had been in knots since M7 and the medic, took her away. Brian and Derrik stepped out of the shuttle and over to where Jack and Raulya stood. "Raulya talked to the Doc," he began, "Maria's going to be Ok, but she's grounded."
They both expressed a sigh of relief. "Mind if I pop up to see her?" inquired Derrik.
"Nah, go ahead, we got this covered." Jack glanced at the mechanics who were working on releasing the escape hatches on two of the pods. "Tell her we'll be up a little later." Derrik nodded and trotted off. One of the pods was sweating condensation profusely, creating a puddle of water underneath. "That doesn't look good," commented Jack.
Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) Page 34
