"Well done, young, Brim," Calhoun said, glancing out at the bender, himself. "Now, I think, perhaps you are ready for your mission. Go to it, laddie."
Brim nodded and pursed his lips. "Thanks, Number One," be said. "I'll see what I can do."
Barbousse was directing a team of handlers at the launch when Brim arrived at a dead run. The chamber had already been evacuated, and everyone was wearing battle suits.
"She's unstrapped, Lieutenant," Barbousse's voice crackled through Brim's headset. "I've got the main bus energized, an' the disruptors are all checked out."
Brim noted that the protective tip covers had been removed, and he grinned in spite of his haste. "Good work, Chief," he chuckled. "Let's be at it." With that, he hoisted himself through the hatch and settled into the Helmsman's console.
Scant clicks later, Barbousse took his place in the right-hand seat, men pulled the door closed-just as the Prize's starboard hatch cover rolled into the open position. "Everybody's clear," he reported a few moments later.
Brim started the auxiliary power unit, then pressed the master switch and watched his instruments come alive. Next, he toggled the bright-orange energy-charge lever and gated the power impeller. Clicks later, the Grav panel read ENERGIZED.
"Plasma set," Barbousse reported.
"Stand by, then," Brim warned, switching the starter circuits to PORT, "here comes the port generator."
"Standing by port," Barbousse echoed.
Brim hit the start and energy boost in unison; instantly, me big spin-grav whined, its interrupter strobing.... One... two... three....The strobing began to speed up, reflecting from the chamber walls with a dazzling fireworks display. Eight... nine... ten.... He mashed the enable button-the spin-grav fired, then caught, shaking the launch's starframe with a steady rhythm while the interrupter became a bright blur and slid closed.
"Stand by starboard," Brim warned above the thunder of the idling spin-grav.
"Starboard," Barbousse echoed.
Brim switched the starter circuits, then hit start and energy boost. The starboard spin-grav whined, strobed... At the tenth flash of its interrupter, he mashed enable; it fired, but suddenly flashes from its interrupter slackened and almost stopped. More plasma!
Heart in his mouth, Brim worked the energy charge vigorously until the spin-grav started to fire again. This time, it caught-and ran. Brim moved the energy levers a fraction; the deck began to throb beneath his feet as the big generators synchronized and smoothed.
He nodded at Barbousse-who grinned and held his right thumb vertically in the Universal sign of total approval. "Stand by to switch insignia," he reminded the handlers in the control room. Then he lifted the little ship an iral or so above the deck and swiveled until her nosecap was a few irats short of Prize's port hatch cover with her tail protruding from the starboard side. For a moment, Brim chuckled to himself, imagined that the old ship must appear as if she were calving. Then-standing on the gravity brakes for all he was worth-he eased the power levers forward.
Moments later-long before the levers were even halfway along their arc-the launch began to totter and stumble forward toward the closed hatch. Grinding his teeth as he pushed harder on the brakes, Brim glanced at Barbousse. "Those disruptors enabled?" he asked tersely.
"They will be, Lieutenant," the big rating assured him, "soon as we're out of the hatch."
Brim made a final check of his instruments-all normal; the launch was as ready as he could make her.... He nodded to himself, then bellowed into his voice pickup. "Open the port hatch," he ordered, "NOW!"
As the hatch began to rise, Brim tested his grip on the power levers. No room to slip up right now, he reminded himself. At the high power settings he planned to use, if both levers didn't go forward at precisely equal rates, the resulting asymmetrical thrust would whirl the touchy little launch around like a child's pinwheel-probably overstressing its spaceframe; and certainly killing both himself and the chief. "Halfway raised, Lieutenant."
"Check halfway." The launch was bucking against its gravity brakes like something alive.
"Sixty percent raised...."
"Check sixty." He glanced at the door. A few more irals should clear their flight bridge. He could see the bender in the distance now. He knew they were watching closely, and wondered what they thought of this.
"Seventy..."
That was it. "Hang on, Chief!" Brim cried, his heart thudding in his chest. During the next moment, he shoved his power levers all the way forward to the stop at MAXIMUM, then clenched his teeth. The big spin-gravs spooled up swiftly until they sounded like two bull Gynnets in rutting season, shaking the launch's spaceframe wildly and vibrating the deck until it became difficult to keep his feet on the pedals. When Brim was certain the brakes would no longer hold, he lifted his feet and suddenly found himself and the Chief hurtling through space like projectiles from an old-fashioned chemical cannon.
"Disruptors energized, Lieutenant," Barbousse shouted a moment later, peering intently into the ranging display. "I'm givin' 'em all three rings on the sight to make sure!"
Ahead, the bender expanded in the windscreens like some shadowy insect of unbelievable dimensions and abhorrence. Close up, its surface was laced by a hideous network of gray tubes in various thicknesses-and the whole shrouded in glimmering, florid scales. In spite of himself, Brim felt an instinctive shudder start up his back. There was something obscene about benders-something that affected his most primitive emotions; he felt an insane urge to smash it.
Following what seemed like an eternity, the seventy-five began to fire. Within clicks, the 303s were also clattering beneath the deck. A string of glittering flashes appeared at the bender's Drive nacelle, where a number of the "scales" flew off in her wake. "Chief!" Brim cried over the discord and confusion, "get the KA'PPA tower first! We're almost past him."
"Aye sir," Barbousse shouted. "Soon as I can-I'm sort of calibratin' on the fly, so ta' speak!"
Immediately, the flashes began to "walk" up the hull, but it was nearly too late. The Leaguers had begun slowly turning away from them now, presenting a smaller target with each passing click. Abruptly-while Brim reflexively held his breath in anticipation-they flashed over the bender's control bridge. His last image was of a disintegrating KA'PPA tower, and two wicked-looking disruptors ponderously indexing around toward him.
"Good shot, Chief!" he cried jubilantly, hauling the launch around for a second strafing run. Then his heart suddenly leaped into his mouth. All he could see was the never-ending panorama of stars and the old ED-4 hurtling along toward them in the distance. The bender was gone!
"Voot's hairy ass!" he shouted in dismay. "We've got to get back to Prize! She's got the only N-rays!" Icy fingers gripped his chest as he strained his eyes toward the distant starship. What if the old transport couldn't keep up?... Very close to something that felt a lot like panic, he measured her rate of approach, then breathed a long sigh of relief. She was bowling along like a Sodeskayan avalanche!
Suddenly, space astern came alive with a torrent of powerful explosions that followed the launch's track in an erratic but determined fusillade. "The bastards aren't accurate, but they're sure determined-beggin' the lieutenant's pardon," Barbousse observed grimly, looking over his shoulder as Brim rolled into an even steeper bank and tightened his turn. "If you could point the nose a bit more to port, sir-an' about plus five apex-I think I can get a shot at where those volleys seem ta' be comin' from."
Brim gladly obliged.
Instantly, the seventy-five began to thunder again-with disastrous results for the bender.