Renegades

CHAPTER 21 

     "Ramp sealed!" Xandra announced.

     "Accelerating to maximum safe speeds. Approaching mach seven," Gray stated. "Everyone, hold on!"

     Gray grabbed the pilot's straps and slid them over his shoulder. Even without them, he was shoved back into his seat by the acceleration forces as the Freedom's Call accelerated. The ship shuddered, even as Athena's image stood unwavering at the door to the cockpit.

     "Come on! Come on! Stay together, girl!" Gray muttered, fighting the G-forces to keep his fingers on the console.

     His eyes darted between the console, window, and the screens above his chair. The John Thomas slid into view just aft of the Call. He pursed his lips, tapping commands into the console, keeping an eye on the Thomas as it maintained course, gaining on the Call.

     "So much for your estimates, Athena," Gray muttered.

     "It would have been accurate if we'd departed without incident," Athena replied. The klaxons changed to red and Athena's hologram flickered, replaced with her combat image. "John Thomas closing to railgun range."

     Xandra glanced at Athena, then to Gray. "They wouldn't. They'd risk us crashing into a city."

     "Only a dumbass teases the croc," Gray countered.

     Xandra admitted it was true, quickly strapping herself in. She flipped on the intercom. "Get into your suits, people!" 

     "John Thomas has fired a warning shot," Athena stated impassively. "They are requesting our surrender."

     "Fuck them," Gray replied. "Atmo in ten!"

     "Caution, Gray!" Xandra warned.

     "No time!"

     An alarm sounded. Xandra looked at Gray. "Hull temp increasing!"

     "She can take it!" Gray replied.

     "Temp approaching critical levels!" Xandra countered. The length of the Call shrieked. "Damn it, Gray, that was a railgun cover!"

     Gray gritted his teeth, ignoring Xandra's alarm. "Keep it together, Athena!" He glanced in Xandra's direction. "Repairs?"

     "Holding," Xandra answered.  "Don't know how long, though."

     "Bow hull temperatures exceeding maximum," Athena coolly announced from behind them as the rumbling increased. The screen over the copilot's position showed the blackened port side exterior camera, the protective casing sealing it away, before it glowed bright orange, then went black again. "Port side view destroyed."

     "Almost there, Athena, just hold yourself together a little longer," Gray said. "Xandra, watch the bow thrusters, number three is running hot."

     "We're running hot across the board, Gray!" Xandra ran her fingers through her pink hair. "Athena, take control of weapons. Target any weak point the Thomas has and hit them hard if they get too close."

     "Yes, Miss Bjornsson," Athena replied. Xandra was sure she heard a touch of glee in doing it, not that she blamed Athena. The plates covering the gunboat's many railguns lifted. "Railguns operational and ready."

     The orange glow on the windows gave way to the blackness of space, broken only by the gray of the moons and Sif Station. The Call twisted away from Sif Station, directing itself towards the nearest FTL entry vector. The ship jerked.

     "Glancing shot, starboard nacelle. Repairs holding," Athena stated. 

     "For now," Xandra muttered. "Gray, move our ass!"

     "I'm trying, Xandra!" Gray shot back as his fingers rapidly danced across his console. "Everyone, hold on!"

     Even with the artificial gravity, the turn Gray forced from the ship tossed him and Xandra against their straps. Outside, in the silence, Athena pounded the ventral hull of the John Thomas with her railguns, her target akin to a pinprick of a weak point. A spout of flame erupted from the back of the John Thomas as the Call pushed onwards, though the destroyer escort they'd just battered lazily turned. The Call jerked as the escort's railguns scored a few hits, most missing thanks to Gray's piloting.

     "Thruster assemblies 13 through 16 offline," Athena announced. "Railgun 12 cover destroyed."

     "Gray, we can't go to Carpenter, not yet," Karl's voice broke in from behind the two pilots. Xandra looked over her shoulder, seeing the battered Karl and Zara. "We have a stowaway aboard."

     "Fucking… Goddamn it! Where to, then?" Gray snapped.

     Silence enveloped them as the ship rocked. Karl had no answer for that, pain searing his mind, burning it. Xandra's fingers flew over the console.

     "Course set," Xandra said.

     "Accepted," Gray confirmed. "FTL vector, ETA fifty seconds." He tapped his console. "Noor, grab a hold of something!"

     "Torpedo lock," Xandra cried.

     "Activating point defense turrets," Athena said. 

     Along her ventral hull and keel, the tiny domes, looking like acne along the otherwise graceful and sleek hull, popped up. In the cockpit, Athena's eyes went white as she adjusted her targets in a three hundred sixty degree bubble around the Freedom's Call. She slammed the staff on the ground as the turrets opened fire at the streaks from the Thomas' torpedoes, ripping them apart, rounds dismantling them into harmless components.

     "Christ, how many does that bastard have?" Xandra cursed as Athena's turrets tore through more, parts bouncing off the Call's exterior.

     "She's still a destroyer," Gray muttered. He glanced over his shoulder. "Take a seat."

     Zara pushed Karl into it, despite his objections. She grabbed the chair's straps, securing the wounded man as Gray counted down. She barely grabbed the handle by the door as the blinding white light flashed in front of the Call.