Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) (57 page)

"They're
gettin' kinda' close Jack. You mind telling me what you got
in
mind?"

"Do
you think," Jack's mind was racing, "you could make them
think
there
is more of you than there really is? Like spreading out and maybe
popping in and out of the field?"

If
Paul hadn't had his helmet on he would've liked to scratch his
head.
"You're kidding right?" Jack admitted he wasn't. "Well,
maybe... I don't know," shrugged Paul. "Sounds kinda'
lame, but we'll try it."

"Thanks,"
said Jack. He wanted to avoid an engagement. Three to one
was
lousy odds, not to mention being severely short on crew and ship
readiness. He dropped to the deck from the shuttle to see Trigoss
and the ground crew, now loading
it
.
"What are you doing?! We need to get out of here! Let's go!"

"Just
another minute, Captain," said Trigoss, we're almost done. You
go,
we'll be alright."

Jack
just then realized Brian and Walrick were nowhere to be seen.
"Where'd
they go?" He looked around frantically.

The
engineer thumbed over his shoulder. "Took two Lancias and
headed
back, you should too..." He never stopped loading the shuttle.
"Go on, get out of here. Myomerr's got the other one, I'll get
this one." Jack looked up as the loaded shuttle lifted off the
deck, Myomerr waved through the cockpit perspex before rotating
towards the bay door.

Jack
looked around at the fighters. "Which one?"

"That
one..." Trigoss pointed at a Zulu gunship. "These two
wouldn't
start,"
he motioned toward the next two Lancias in line. "So we warmed
up that one. Get going Captain."

Steele
trotted across the bay to the boarding ladder hanging from
the
belly of the gunship. "Hurry up, Chief," he urged before
ascending the ladder. The Engineer watched the ladder retract as he
loaded the shuttle.

The
Zulu had a two man cockpit but one man could fly it without any
assistance.
The second officer acted as an offensive weapons officer, and other
two crewmen operated the defensive gun turrets. One turret was on
the bottom at the stern of the ship, the other on the top of the
hull, forward of the center.

Jack
glanced around at the panels, all the systems were on and the
engine
burners warmed up. He flipped on the anti-grav and started his taxi
glide as he secured his harness. He steered clear of the parked
Lancias and, pushing the stick forward, accelerated past the shuttle
and toward the open bay door. Once outside, he retracted the gear,
fired the four engines and headed toward the Freedom. As he cleared
the debris field, he saw two fighters emerge from under the nose of
the Freedom.

"Warthog
Leader, this is Flight Two, vector us to your locale." Jack
recognized
Brian's voice.

"Roger,
Flight Two, here are the co-ordinates..." Paul read off
the
numbers. "Where's Leader One?"

"He'll
be along shortly," answered Brian.

The
three ships had advanced about halfway into Paul's sensor screen and
stopped.
He contemplated contact to see if he could determine what their
alliance might be. His identification screen gave him a technical
two-view line picture, but it was in white which meant the computer
received ambiguous information about the target's identity. He
decided to wait.

Jack
rounded the stern of the Freedom, lowered his gear and fired
breaking
jets. "On my final approach, tower..." The tower cleared
his approach.

"This
is Shuttle Two," called Trigoss. "We're clear of the
freighter
and
on our way back." The tower acknowledged the transmission.

"Well
done, Chief," injected Jack, “did you remember to leave
behind our party favors...?”

“
That's
affirmative...”

"Excellent.
Hustle up, Shuttle Two, it's starting to warm
up
out here..." He passed through the stasis field, braked early
and bounced hard on the deck. He quickly adjusted the pressure up on
the anti-grav, he'd forgotten this was a much heavier ship than the
others.

"Warthog
Leader to tower, one of these ships is a light carrier. It
has
just launched! Please advise!"

Jack
tore at his harness and flipped off the Zulu's anti-grav. He was
out
of his seat before it had stopped sliding on the deck. Popping the
belly hatch, he slid down the ladder holding its sides and dropped
to the deck. A crewman struggled to keep pace with the pilot's long
legs as he ran towards the Lancia waiting on the port launch tube.
"Tell him to engage!" shouted Jack as they ran. "Hit
and run! We need time to recover the shuttle and take up the new
heading!" The lineman repeated the orders into his headset as
they ran, falling behind the faster pilot.

■ ■ ■

"Roger,
Freedom." Pappy did a wing over and broke toward the enemy
formation.
"Let's go, boys. Time to mix it up." he throttled up to
half, waiting for the others to group up. "Derrik, you're
Leader Two, keep the fighters busy."

"Right-o."

"Mad
Dog," continued Paul, "you're with me. We're going
straight
through
to that carrier and ruin their day." Mike gave his wing leader
a vigorous thumbs up.

The
eight Fallken fighters spread out in a line abreast. Derrik
sent
the two Lancias wide, he stayed in the center. Paul and Mike, some
distance behind him, were ready to take advantage of any hole in the
line and dash for the carrier.

Derrik
nosed up, rolled and increasing throttle, came down on the
Fallkens
from above. "Tally-Ho, boys! Give em' hell!" Brian and
Walrick swung inwards and screamed in from the flanks, firing their
laser cannons at range. Derrik switched to full guns and waited for
the distance to close for his Gatling gun. He lead the first Fallken
perfectly and hammered it soundly. It rolled to one side to evade,
its shields utterly decimated.

Brian
had hit the fighter on his end with four laser cannons. While
not
as powerful as the Gatling, they had twice the range. So by the time
the Fallken was in range of Brian's Gatling gun, its shields were
gone. The pirate turned his fighter away from Brian, offering an
irresistible shot. Brian squeezed the trigger and watched the
strikes walk down the side of the Fallken's hull. Tiny flashes of
flame appeared, then disappeared, unable to burn on in space. Brian
released the trigger only when he realized the guns had exhausted
their charge. He winged off, disappointed to not see the pirate
fighter die. It was only momentary. There was a brief flicker of
light below him, and a lone Fallken wing sailed past. "Hasta la
vista, dude..." He throttled up and headed back toward the
melee.

Derrik
had put some serious damage to his first strike-victim but
couldn't
seem to get behind him long enough to finish him off. He kept having
to shake off other fighters. "I say, die you filthy little
rodent!" He squeezed off a brief shot as the pirate zigzagged
his damaged fighter.

Changing
tactics, he backed off to get a missile lock. The sudden
vibration
coming from his stern told him he had other problems. He twisted
around in his seat to see two Fallkens scissoring behind him. Laser
streaks flashed by his cockpit. "Oh bloody hell!" He
glanced down at his defense screen, his stern shield was gone. The
computer toned, indicating a lock and he thumbed off a missile. At
almost the same time, the Warthog bucked hard. Warning bells rang
and he fought the stick as the Warthog spun flatly sideways. He
thumbed the boost button and the instant thrust snapped him back
into straight flight, blowing the forcing cone out of his damaged
port engine. The middle of his engine glowed red hot as ruptured
fuel lines sprayed fuel over the outside of the thrust burners.

Walrick
was just behind the pirates on Derrik's tail but he couldn't
get
there fast enough. His heart sank as he saw the damaged Warthog spin
away. He picked a fighter and locked on. Clearing the safety, he
fired two missiles and broke off, winging after the second one. If
Derrik was still alive, Walrick knew he needed to keep the pirates
away. He chased down the second fighter and destroyed it with a long
burst from all guns. The pirate made no attempt to evade, he
foolishly tried to outrun the faster Lancia.

As
Jack emerged from the Freedom's launch tube, he flew straight into
the guns
of
an approaching Fallken. "
SHIT!"
He squeezed the trigger out of reflex and yanked back hard on the
stick. His guns did nothing, he hadn't had a chance to arm them yet.
But he felt the impact of the pirates lasers on his own shields. He
thumbed the boost and reached for the gun switches.

The
pirate didn't follow, instead he broke off and attacked the
Freedom.
Gun batteries opened up on him, drawing from their charges. Once
empty, they would not be able to recharge, as all power would be
dedicated to the ship's defensive shields.

Jack
winged over, guns armed, pursuing the pirate low over the
surface
of the Freedom's hull. "Warthog One to Freedom, looks like
they're launching a second wave..."

"Damn!
Bridge, this is the Captain, take up the new course heading
and
shove off. Now!" Jack powered back and jinked to line up his
guns. He squeezed the trigger and watched the Fallken disintegrate,
its shields already damaged by the Freedom's gunners. "Clear!"
He pulled back on the stick and looped back, heading toward the far
side of the debris field. Jack looked at his watch, there wasn't
much time left. He shoved the throttle open and fired boost.

Paul
and Mike could see the first two Fallkens emerge from the
center
launch tubes on the pirate carrier as the cruiser and destroyer
moved forward to protect it. Paul and Mike jinked and weaved their
Warthogs through the increasing veil of laser fire. "I have
lock, I have lock..."

"Then
let `em go!" shouted Paul. Mike was slightly ahead of him. Paul
watched
as Mike fired missile after missile, with only a slight pause in
between. Paul had lock now and was waiting his turn. "Inbound!
Inbound! Break! Break!" The threat lamp was lit, the alarm
whistling as the computer tracked two missiles on the screen. Pappy
rolled left and Mike broke right, with only one of his own missiles
remaining on each wingtip.

The
in-bounds passed between, one going straight the other arcing to
follow
Paul's fighter. Paul boosted, cut a ninety degree turn and facing
the carrier again, cut power. The inbound arced wide, searching for
his exhaust heat. Paul got lock tone again and fired missiles at the
carrier, four in all, before the advancing destroyer forced him to
break off. When he boosted to evade, the inbound recognized his
fighters profile and resumed pursuit. He jinked to avoid laser fire,
but the missile detonated on the edge of his shields sending his
fighter tumbling end over end. He wrestled control back somewhere
between the carrier and destroyer. The defensive fire was thick
enough to walk on and Paul's shields were almost non-existent. He
flipped off power to his guns, hoping it would help his shield
generator restore protection. He thumbed boost and held it down,
ducking his head out of reflex. The Warthog bucked and rocked, he
held the boost.

Mike
was in a roll when the two Fallkens latched onto his tail. He'd
shake
one, only to regain the other. He looked for Pappy but couldn't see
him anywhere. "This is Mad Dog, a little help out here..?"

"Cut
power Mike, break right!" Mike did as he was told and the two
pirates
shot by him on his left, closely followed by a blurred Lancia, guns
blazing. The rearmost Fallken blew in half, its wings spinning
outwards. Another Lancia screamed by and peeled off to pursue the
first pirate, out of Mike's line of sight. He swung his Warthog
around just in time to see Paul's four missiles hit the front of the
carrier, just as two more pirate fighters emerged from the launch
tubes.