Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [219]
Rlinda activated the ship’s intercom. “Everybody hold on tight. Evasive maneuvers coming up.” She rolled the Curiosity, looping down, while the Blind Faith flew in a different direction, diving back toward Crenna, as if hoping to find a place to hide there. Despite her teasing, Rlinda knew BeBob had outrun many an enemy and was an expert at getting himself out of trouble through fast flying. But local security forces were easily duped. She didn’t know how readily fooled a hydrogue would be.
Rlinda took her own ship on a hard turn and accelerated recklessly. “I’m going to duck behind the planet. Maybe in the shadow…or what would have been the shadow if there was any sun left—”
Davlin looked at her. “I don’t have any better ideas.”
As Rlinda flew a corkscrew maneuver, the rescued colonists couldn’t tell the difference between the deck and the ceiling. She was strapped in and concentrated on flying, but her passengers yelled as they were thrown from side to side. Both ships converged where the planetary mass would at least block them from the warglobes’ sensors.
To their surprise, the hydrogues shot past on a determined course, intent on something else. The diamond-hulled ships ignored the Curiosity and the Faith and continued like guided missiles toward the dead ember of the sun. Orbiting the dark star, the drogues shot their weapons, pounding immense energy discharges into ruddy patches where leftover stellar heat continued to escape.
“What are they doing now?” BeBob asked. “Not that I’m complaining…”
A few sputtering flares flickered out from the extinguished sun, spouting in the infrared. “They’re trying to flush out the last few faeros survivors,” Davlin said. “Finishing the job.”
Suddenly a group of ellipsoidal fireballs spurted away from the cooling solar material. Like hungry wolves, the hydrogues raced after them.
“Now’s our chance,” Rlinda said. “Come on, BeBob!” The two ships moved out of the shelter of the cold planet and accelerated toward open space, away from the titanic fight.
Warglobes surrounded the fleeing faeros one at a time. Energy discharges hammered the flaming elementals, bleeding their power dry. Under the relentless attack, one of the faeros flickered, then winked out, a dead cinder in cold space.
BeBob transmitted, “Better increase acceleration, Rlinda. Doesn’t look like we have much longer before the drogues finish mopping up.”
“With all these people aboard, this is as fast as the Curiosity will go.”
Davlin watched on the screens as the vengeful warglobes methodically trapped and killed another of the fireballs. Then another.
Before long, when the last of the flaming elementals had been snuffed, the warglobes accelerated back down along the path they had traveled. Rlinda heaved a brief sigh of relief—but now the four diamond spheres hesitated and altered course. They moved toward the two fleeing cargo ships, as if finally noticing them.
“This isn’t good,” BeBob said. “It’s not a coincidence.”
Rlinda wrestled with the controls, but her ship was already at maximum speed. Since even EDF Juggernauts and Ildiran warliners couldn’t fight the hydrogues, the Curiosity didn’t stand a chance.
The ominous diamond spheres quickly reached them and surrounded the two ships just as they had when vanquishing the faeros. Rlinda swallowed hard. The alien globes looked as big as planets in front of her. She didn’t even consider powering up her minimal weapons. “Anybody got a white flag?” she asked.
The spiked globes shimmered, looming there, but making no move. Rlinda wondered what they were waiting for. She and her passengers—as well as all those aboard the Blind Faith—were certainly doomed.
Finally, with typical incomprehensibility, the hydrogues separated and streaked off at high speed, as if responding to some unheard signal. They left Rlinda shaking inside her cockpit.
“What the hell?” BeBob transmitted.
She just shook her head and took deep breaths, unable to speak.
Davlin stared out the cockpit window and finally said, “I’m all done with this system—and my sabbatical.”
Chapter