"Wilf?" a weak but unmistakable voice answered in surprise.
"Margot! Universe!"
"Jubal," Ursis growled, "perhaps you could take the controls while..."
"Oh...ah...yes. Right away, Nik," Theada said as he raced for the right-hand Helmsman's seat.
Heartbeats later, Brim lifted the Leaguer space helmet to reveal a tumble of golden curls. Margot's face was streaked with dust and perspiration. "Universe," he whispered again in amazement. "If I'd had any...."
She smiled—and frowned. "If I'd had any idea." She shook her head. "I still can't believe it's you, Wilf." She was silent for a moment as if she were gathering strength. "No sleep..." she said, "...four days.
I'm all right. Need to rest though."
"Wilf!" Theada called shakily from the helm. "I think we're going to need you up here right away at the controls. Company's arrived."
"What's the best way Out of here?" Brim asked, taking Margot's arms and looking into her tired eyes.
She thought a moment. "Zone 5 here isn't usually patrolled much during daylight." She shrugged. "A few light picket ships. But there's talk about some crazy old cruiser. I tried to get some information about that, but I had to leave."
"We've seen that one," Brim assured her. "It's real." Then be frowned. "Best bet's up, then?"
"Straight up, Wilf," she said. "And keep on going right out into deep space. That's what I'd do, anyway."
"Sounds good to me," he said. "We'll try it."
While Brim made his way forward to the helm, Barbousse swept Margot into a spare recliner beside the unconscious Amherst and helped reseal her helmet at the neck. "Just in case, Lieutenant Effer'wyck," he said grimly as he took his place at the weapons console.
Brim turned in his seat and squinted through the aft Hyperscreens—as Theada warned, two flying objects were in pursuit, but still too distant for him to determine a type.
"What now?" the younger Helmsman asked.
As he took over the controls, Brim shook his bead and smiled. "We are going home, Jubal," he said simply. "Right away." With that, he set the generators to "EMERGENCY MILITARY" and pulled the powerful little scout into a vertical climb with Ursis working the power consoles in an orderly frenzy of movement.
The two ships following also pulled into a climb, but whatever their make, the scout handily outdistanced them, and they soon disappeared into the ground clutter below.
"Left those two nicely enough," Theada commented.
"Too bad we couldn't outrun their KA'PPAs," Brim said. "We'll have a welcoming committee waiting for us out there ahead."
"I see them in the long-distance target scanner already, Lieutenant," Barbousse said calmly.
"As I am sure they have us in theirs," Ursis growled.
Just then, the authentication key sounded, but this time with an ominous clanging like an alarm—which it was.
Brim shook his head. "That's it for the authentication system," he warned. "The key's run out."
"The tank was onto us anyway," Theada snorted just as space flashed violently in a rolling ball of pure energy that detonated just off the port beam.
"Authentication is now a very moot point," Ursis rumbled. "Let us see how well that 60-mmi projector forward works against this new enemy."
"Looks like four of those little N-81 picket ships Lieutenant Effer'wyck warned us about," Barbousse reported. " A lot thinner skinned than the tank."
Theada concentrated on the firing controls. Brim watched the turret index across the forward deck.
Moments later, a stream of energy blazed from the disruptor, accompanied by a rumble that vibrated the deck. A flash in the far distance ahead blossomed into a glowing orange puffball, then subsided.
"Missed!" Theada fumed amid a welter of return fire that smashed at the scout's thin hullmetal sides like rolling thunder. The ship bounced sharply as a jagged section of hullmetal railing was carried away with an ear-jarring crash and a cloud of sparkling radiation. "Sure wish Anastasia were here to run this thing."
Brim frantically zigzagged all over the sky trying to avoid the bursts. "Thank Voot they only carry a couple of 70-mmi's on board," be said through gritted teeth. "But eight of 'em can mean real trouble."
A second volley of fire burst from he scout's nose, resulting in a brief flare-up ahead. "Make that three N-81s," Theada said proudly—and with a little surprise in his voice as well. He was immediately drowned out as he sent off another volley of discharges. He peered into the target scanner. "Scattered the bastards that time," he said. Outside, the return fire slackened considerably.
"That's the way, Jubal!" Brim exclaimed. He listened to the miraculously steady beat of the two rugged Klaipper-Hiss generators blasting them ever faster through space, then glanced back at Margot in the recliner and felt his heart soar. Dirty and tired beyond all reason, she was anything but the sensuous woman with whom he rather goatishly desired to share a bed. He sensed his feelings toward her had developed a lot farther than that. Glancing at Ursis, he was rewarded by a wink. As usual, the Bear seemed to read his mind.
Soon, Theada began to index his disruptor again. "What do you think?" he asked Brim.
The Cacescrian smiled and scanned the heavens. "I think we're going to catch it from all sides pretty soon, Jubal," he said. "So keep an eye peeled. And make every shot count—because it will. If we can break out into open space, we'll be all right. Not much the League builds can catch this tub running flat out on its Drive crystal." He felt the ship tremble as Ursis dumped their emergency power cell into the energy supply.
"If we do not need it now," the Bear explained with a grin, "we probably will never need it."
And abruptly the enemy returned—their patrol vessels rushing in this time from all sides. Space came alive with flashing detonations. The scout bounced through volley after volley, shouldering aside a succession of hits, but the punishment soon began to tell. A whole section of port Hyperscreens suddenly dissolved into a network of flaming cracks, then went dark. A direct hit carried away the three aft repulsion rings from the open utility deck. Five simultaneous flare-ups smashed their bow off course and blew the cowling from the starboard plasma injectors—though the generator miraculously continued to function normally. Theada had the 60-mmi back in action immediately. Now, however, the attackers were widely separated. Desperately, he fired this way and that, but to little avail—he had no time to aim before he was forced to change his target. Outside the remaining Hyperscreens space was now alive with explosions of dazzling light and radiation. The little ship bounced and bucketed through the concussions as Brim desperately zigzagged in all directions.
Moments later, the Hyperscreens pulsed again—this time remaining dark for a full five ticks while the whole control room shook with a massive series of thunderous tremors. Loose gear clattered to the deck as the bow erupted in a cloud of sparks and debris that smashed back along the deck and grated deafeningly along the walls of the control cabin. Green sparkling radiation cascaded over the control cabin and vomited into the wake—when it cleared, the 60-mmi was completely gone, replaced by a jagged, glowing hole.
"Where did that come from?" Brim exclaimed over the din of the straining generators. "Wasn't even a direct hit!" Two more stupendous explosions erupted off to starboard, smashing the scout off course again and pulsing what was left of the Hyperscreens.
"Sweet thraggling Universe," Theada exclaimed. "I see it! Over there, just coming up from the shadow of the planet."
"The old cruiser!" Brim yelled as he suddenly realized he had flown into a classic trap. The little patrol craft were actually herding him like a grazing animal. His mind raced furiously as he crankled wildly through the sky. With no more disruptors to use against the patrol craft, escape was virtually impossible—any way he might choose to go, the huge disruptors of the cruiser could easily destroy him.