AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You can stay here and rest.” I pushed her down, and she glared at me.
“I’m not a child.”
“I never said you were.”
The ship shuddered, and it felt like we were backing out of the cave. I felt torn between staying with Julia and going to help Andy. He could pilot the ship fine, but he needed orders. And someone should probably man the weapons.
“Look, I’m fine.” She glanced at the door and then back at me. “I can help.”
I knelt beside her. “Julia, you are going to be fine. But if you get up and start running around you will only hurt yourself. There is nothing more you can do right now. I’m going to go help Andy. Stay here.”
She gave me a mulish look but didn’t protest. “For now.”
Good enough.
Satisfied with her answer, I jogged down to the cockpit and dropped into the seat beside Andy. I pulled up the outboard sensors and scanned the data being transmitted from the sensors above the cave. I searched through the weather data, trying to pick out a safe place to go.
Andy steered us away from the other ship. The outboard sensors were still fighting major electromagnetic interference, but they showed the general area of the other ship, and it was far too close for my comfort. Andy banked and steered us in the same direction the storm was heading. I pulled up the old topographic maps we had. I had planned on taking scans after the storm had passed to compare the topography with the new landscape, but that wasn’t happening anytime soon. The old maps wouldn’t be the most accurate now, but they would have to do.
“Go this way and then loop around in the opposite direction.” I pointed out a path on the map. “Stay low. Hopefully we can hide behind these dunes. Stay away from this area,” I motioned to a section that was showing a high density of particles.
Andy made the necessary adjustments, and I started calibrating the weapons systems. All weapons would need to be aimed manually because of the storm, but it wouldn’t be impossible to do. I focused on breathing to calm my anxiety. I usually didn’t get stressed in high pressure situations, but this was about more than just the risk to my life; Julia’s life was in danger too.
I glanced over to where Andy had up the readings from the sensors, showing us the density of the particles overhead. The levels were still too high. At least the range of the sensors was broad. I knew if we ended up flying too far away from them, they’d be useless.
The terrain outside the window was still hilly, but it wasn’t going to give us enough cover. I spotted the other ship out the window and fought back a burst of panic. Andy dropped us lower, but I doubted they had missed us. “Are shields still up?”
“Affirmative.”
I scanned the windows to see if I could spot the ship anywhere but saw nothing. I checked the sensors, but the readings were wildly inaccurate. I growled in the back of my throat and kept my hands on the controls as I peered out at the hostile landscape.
Up ahead, there was some sort of hazy patch and I squinted at it, trying to figure out what it was. We were heading right for it.
“Bank left!” I yelled as soon as I realized it was the tail end of the storm. “Avoid the rain!” The shield would protect us, sure, but it would still drain the power, and we couldn’t afford that.
Andy instantly banked left, bringing us up and over a dune to avoid the rain. The other ship suddenly appeared a few hundred meters ahead and off to the left. “Andy, take us to the west.”
The android turned us in a neat circle, moving us away from the other ship and away from the storm. I tried to get a read on what kind of ship it was, but without the sensors I couldn’t tell. Visually, it didn’t seem like a large ship, but it was definitely bigger than us.
“Any idea what kind of ship that was?”
Andy blinked, a sign that he was processing information. “There is insufficient data to narrow down the list of possible models.”
The ship jolted, and an alarm went off. I slapped a button on the dashboard to silence it. “We’re taking fire.”
“Beginning evasive maneuvering.” Andy’s voice never changed, nor did his expression, and he began to weave and bob in the air. I watched him closely, feeling nervousness rise the longer he was silent. I started to wish that he was more like a human so I could have read from his expression how bad our situation was. On the other hand, having someone who could handle the situation calmly made me feel much less panicked.
We turned, and I caught sight of the other ship again. I engaged the missiles, following the manual aiming guides, and fired. The other ship’s shields were up as well, but they took a direct hit. I’d bet their scanners weren’t picking up anything either. That would come in handy for us.
Andy steered us towards the south and a hillier area. I frowned. “If you go too far, we’ll lose range of the sensors.”
He didn’t respond, but I knew he understood. More alarms went off and a more distinct shudder went through the ship. We were still taking fire. I checked the shields—they were holding, but we wouldn’t be able to take fire forever.
Andy suddenly pulled the ship straight up, as though we were going to leave the atmosphere, but he kept going so that we made an upside-down loop. The world spun outside the windows, but the artificial gravity compensated, and I barely felt anything. Suddenly, we were level with the horizon again and the other ship appeared in front of us. Immediately, I began firing on it.
They started evasive maneuvers, but I tracked them, anticipating their movements. They pulled a tight turn to the side, trying to circle around behind us again. Andy stayed doggedly behind them while we flew in between dunes and through deep valleys.
“Ethan?”
