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enough to rock the fighter as Hunter desperately dodged the deadly
attack.
The last Jalthi, which he'd thought had been incapacitated, came after
him at top speed, trying to stay on Hunter's tail for a killing shot. 'James!
Get out of here, I'll handle this guy!" Hunter called.
The other Rapier accelerated toward the distant freighter, and Hunter
followed, the Jalthi close on him. And those other ships aren't far behind
him, Hunter thought, glancing back. Hell, I always wanted to go out in a
blaze of glory. This could be my big chance.
At least I won't have to worry about being taken prisoner if that
cruiser gets a cannon shot on this little Rapier, there won't be enough of
me left for them to capture with a spoon!
The Heather has to be close to the jump point by now, if I can just
shake this one fighter and land, maybe I'll survive this.
He watched as Paladin's Rapier slowed to dock in the Heather's cargo
hold, and glanced back again at the Jalthi on his tail. All right, mate, now
we'll see which of us is the better pilot&
The Rapier was faster and more maneuverable than the Jalthi, but the
Jalthi had heavier firepower and armor. If the Kilrathi caught Hunter in
his target sights for full burst, that would probably ice Hunter's Rapier on
the spot. So the tactic would be to out fly the Kilrathi pilot until he could
get a clear missile lock.
Hunter rolled the Rapier to the right, and the Jalthi awkwardly
followed. Hunter followed the roll with an Immelmann followed by another
diving roll. "Follow that, furball!" he yelled, smiling grimly.
The Jalthi pilot tried hard to recover his original firing solution,
maneuvering as tightly as he could to regain his position on Hunter's tail,
but Hunter knew he had the upper hand now, all he had to do was force
the Jalthi into his targeting sights.
Another tight turn with full brakes, and then the Jalthi was directly
ahead of him, overshadowed by the bulk of the Bonnie Heather.
You're history, mate. Hunter grinned, and held onto his position on the
Jalthi's tail for the kill. I should get missile tone any second now.&
With a start, Hunter realized that the Jalthi wasn't trying any more
evasives, but holding to a single course directly for the Bonnie Heather.
Hell! He's going for a collision course! If he hits the Heather, it'll go up
like a tinderbox!
"K'Kai, full evasive!" he shouted into the vid. "Do it now, he's trying to
ram the ship!"
Hunter forced every last iota of speed out of the Rapier's engines that
he could, bringing the fighter up directly behind the plummeting Jalthi
and firing all guns. At the last instant, he heard the tone of a missile lock,
and fired the missile as well.
Oh God, he's going to hit the freighter&
The Heather suddenly twisted away in a tighter roll than any civilian
freighter had ever done before, just as the Jalthi was about to impact. The
Jalthi missed the ship by a handful of meters, and Hunter's missile arced
into it a split-second later. The Jalthi disintegrated into a million pieces&
& but there was no way he could avoid the cloud of deadly debris
directly ahead of him.
The Rapier plunged through the remnants of the Jalthi, and Hunter
instinctively ducked back in his pilot's chair, even though he knew it
wouldn't make any difference. Debris screamed and clanged against the
hull of the Rapier as Hunter fought to keep control of the craft. Just as
quickly as it had begun, the metal hailstorm was over, and he was in open
space again, in a ship that had more holes in it than swiss cheese.
Hold together, lady, just a little bit more. He felt the engines
spluttering and dying as he brought the Rapier around, heading directly
for the Heather's cargo hold. The cargo hold door was already sliding
shut. They're getting ready to jump, I've got to get aboard now. Come
on, lady, come on&
The Rapier's engines died as he dived into the hold, sliding across the
deck toward the opposite wall. Hunter braced for impact, even as he felt
the familiar dizzying twinge of Jump.
With an awful crunching noise, the Rapier slammed into the wall,
coming to a complete stop in that moment. Hunter sat in the cockpit for a
moment, shaking his head, then yanked off his helmet and clambered out,
staggering slightly as his feet landed on the deck.
He glanced back at the Rapier, and winced at the sight of the two silver
wings crumpled like tinfoil, the nose of the fighter bent at a ninety-degree
angle toward the deck. Poor old girl. They just don't make fighters tough
enough to withstand what I can put them through, I guess.
The airlock opened, and several Firekkans ran out to greet him,
surrounding him and grooming his hair with their beaks. He laughed and
tried to duck out from beneath their welcoming ritual.
Amazing. We're alive and on our way out of Kilrathi territory. We
survived it, we succeeded, against all the odds.
All except for Given&
"Good work, Hunter!" Paladin called, striding in through the airlock.
"Though if you ever break from my wing like that again, I'll kill you before
the Kilrathi can!"
"You're just getting old, James." Hunter grinned. "Leave the fighting to
young turks like myself, mate!"
"Hah!" Paladin clapped him on the shoulder. "Not a chance, laddie!"
K'Kai emerged from the airlock, her eyes bright as she limped toward
Hunter and Paladin. Kirha walked beside her into the hold. "We are now
in human space, and are progressing toward the next jump coordinates,"
K'Kai said. "The sensors say there are no Kilrathi in this system, so I have
placed the ship on AutoNav."
"You handled the ship beautifully, K'Kai," Hunter said. "That last
maneuver to avoid the Jalthi, that was amazing! I told you that you'd be
an awesome combat pilot!"
K'Kai ducked her head in embarrassment. "Thank you, Hun-ter."
"And you, Kirha& " Hunter searched for the right words to say. "You've
served me well, sworn warrior. You've, ah, brought honor to me and my
hrai."
"I am pleased that I have served my lord well," the young Kilrathi said,
straightening to stand tall and proud.
"Hmmph," Paladin said, giving Hunter an odd look. He turned to K'Kai.
"It was a good trick,
K'Kai, but it's going to take weeks to repair the internal damage.
Freighters aren't supposed to roll at high gees, ye know!"
"Quit hassling her, mate!" Hunter protested. "She did a terrific job!"
"I know, but " Paladin paused, looking back toward the airlock.
"What's that?"
Hunter turned; there was a line of Firekkans, carrying improvised
torches made of fabric and pipes. Even at this distance, he could smell the
engine fuel that they'd used to saturate the cloth. The torches burned
smokily, the light reflecting off the metal of the deck.
"It is a fire ceremony," K'Kai explained. "To honor our dead, and
Lieutenant Gwen Lar-son."
The Firekkans carrying the torches took flight a moment later, circling
near the ceiling of the cargo hold. Then, with graceful, studied
movements, they began a series of flying maneuvers, using the torches to
create a brilliant pattern of burning fire between them. Hunter watched in
awe as the pattern became more and more complex, the Firekkans
weaving and gliding into their ritual movements.
K'Kai spoke in the Firekkan language, ceremonial words that matched
the rhythm of the flight, then spoke in English. "And so we honor our
dead, and remember their glorious last flight."
Their glorious last flight& Hunter thought of Gwen, the laughter in her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]