Alpha One - Chris Burton [106]
Jake straightened out fifty meters above the rocky surface. Steve followed just seventy-five meters behind. He is close enough to smell me, thought Steve. He must catch Jake and pass him. Both ships took artillery fire, but this was no longer about avoidance; they both took direct hits, causing damage to their fuselage.
They could see the finish: the rocky hills ten kilometers ahead. They both pushed to their maximum. Steve was catching up, sixty meters, fifty-nine meters, but still Jake held off. Then, as if pre-ordained, Jake took a direct hit to his main engine manifold. Power loss was instantaneous, and Steve swept past him.
Jake knew he had lost, but his battle was not over yet. He fought to keep control of the Rapier as he was peppered by still more artillery fire from below. Bellamy came in sight, behind him. Jake took a deep breath and opened the throttle to maximum, this was do or die. If he lost second place to Bellamy, he would be devastated.
He need not have worried, Bellamy was in trouble himself and Jake’s sudden burst of power was enough to bring him close to the finish. He stuttered across the line with Bellamy at a standstill. Bellamy did finish, but there was no disputing the winner. Steve had won the South Downs Alpha Academy Top Gun tournament and Jake must settle for second best.
Chapter Forty-Six
To Seek Out Carla
Steve was in an ebullient mood. He somehow, against all the odds, came from last place to win the Top Gun final, albeit by the slimmest of margins. He didn’t view his win as ‘lucky’; piloting a jump ship was about more than flying. It was about tactics. It was about exceeding your limitations and about avoiding enemy fire. Jake was caught out by enemy fire, pure and simple. He fell and Steve came through to win legitimately.
Jake’s view was somewhat different. He wanted Steve to get back into second place, but behind him. He didn’t want to finish second, after having come so far. He earned the victory. He had lead for the best part of five laps, and was unlucky to have been caught in the last few kilometers. Jake allowed Steve to take the glory. He knew finishing in second still qualified him with Steve as the two representatives from the Academy who would compete in the main Alpha Top Gun competition. He could put this matter to bed and concentrated on more pressing issues.
The Top Gun reception commenced as soon as the finalists touched down, and most of the twelve felt a little jaded. Jake made his apologies and crept away before 9 p.m. This was Steve’s party and Jake needed to rest. He would need to muster all of his strength over the following days if he were to make fast progress to the Tri-Star system.
He spoke to his tutor, via comm link during the reception. His explanation was brief but truthful. He needed to take leave of absence to seek Carla and bring her home. She was in big trouble and he needed to be with her. The tutor was reticent at first, but then realized Jake would go with or without his permission. He reluctantly granted leave for a maximum of one month. Jake knew that his career was on a knife’s edge. If he didn’t return within the month, he needed a damn good excuse to persuade the Academy to keep him in the course. That was not important right now.
* * * *
True to his word, Carla’s father delivered his yacht to Jake. His biological scan reading was held on the vessel’s hard drive. Recognition and approval granted him access to the yacht. Carla’s father had once again been busy. He installed various software upgrades, a new exhaust manifold and a geoscope.
The geoscope was the most fascinating piece of equipment. On the one hand, it helped to pull a ship into a standard orbit; on the other, it was a sophisticated stabilizer which allowed the vessel to be hit, knocked off course and still maintain equilibrium.
He also equipped the yacht with a vast arsenal, including high yield cluster bombs and miniature teutonic torpedoes,