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While she caught her breath she asked in jolting syllables, “What…happened…to the bay doors…?”
To which he replied, “I shot them off. Come on. Get up, and get onto the bridge. I went to the trouble of getting you on board, and I won’t have you falling back out again. ”
“Yes sir. But, oh—did you understand me? The Valkyrie—someone’s trying to take off with it. I sent the red-haired pirate outside before I dealt with Steen; did you catch him?”
“No,” he said as he retreated back onto the deck. “So I appreciate the tip. That’s him on board, you can bet your sweet…you can bet your mother’s life. But that’s fine. We’ll just knock him out of the sky. ”
She entered the bridge behind him and nodded politely to Lamar and Simeon, neither one of whom saw her do it.
“But the Valkyrie…can you do that? With this ship? It’s so heavily armored, I thought…”
Lamar turned around then, and he said with a full-toothed grin, “We made some modifications before we left it. Hold onto your hat,” he said, and then seeing that she’d lost hers somewhere along the way, “Or, hold onto your knickers. Or whatever you’re still wearing. We’re going to make a very big bang. ”
“There it is!” she said, indicating a black shape out the western side of the windshield.
“I see it,” Simeon said. “And look at that. Well, credit where it’s due—I would’ve bet that he’d never get it off the ground, not alone. ”
“Where’s the rest of his crew?” Maria asked, but no one answered her.
“Stay away from the dashboard,” the captain said. “Don’t touch anything, and just stand back. I can’t offer you another seat up here; this ain’t a big bird like that one, and we’ve only got sitting space for the three of us. ”
“All right. But look, he did get it off the ground. Not very far,” she observed. “He’s rising, though. He’s nearly crested the next hill over. ”
“He’s a sitting duck,” Hainey crowed.
“In that warship?” Maria asked, still dubious.
“Oh yes,” the captain told her. “Like Lamar said. Modifications. Sim, swing us west and around. Lamar, hold us tight and ready that right front gun. ”
“The left one has more ammo,” the engineer said. “We sprayed most of the rest covering her,” he bounced a thumb at the spy.
Maria said, “And for what it’s worth, thank you—from the bottom of my heart. ”
“You’re welcome,” Hainey said. “Fine, Lamar. Take the right gun and send us into position, but back us up. ”
“How far, sir?”
“How far away do you think I can aim it from?” he asked.
Lamar didn’t give him a number or a measurement, but he said, “All right. I’ll take us back that far. ”
The Free Crow retreated on a slick, easy path, holding the Valkyrie in its sights. As the ship withdrew, the bright-haired figure on the bridge grew tinier and tinier, and its frantic struggles with the controls grew harder and harder to see.
Hainey said, “Swing us back; bring us point forward with the Valkyrie’s tail. ”
And Simeon made it happen.
“Lamar, let me have your seat for a minute. ”
The engineer rose and let the captain sit. He pulled the trigger for the front right gun into his lap and flexed his fingers around the molded grip. And, taking his time, he said to Maria, “You see that back armor panel, over the hydrogen tanks?”
Puzzled, she said, “No. ”
And he replied, “That’s because we pulled it off. ”
He squeezed the trigger and the ship jumped as the big guns fired, squirting shells across the sky in a deadly arc that pitted the side of the Valkyrie…and then stabbed into the hydrogen tanks.
In the span of two seconds, the Valkyrie shook, shimmered, and exploded into a nova of fire that seemed to stretch across the entire windscreen of the Free Crow.
