Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [222]
'I walked it half a dozen times, but I'm not sure.'
'I knew we should have taken the time to fix our local sensors.' He overcompensated, jumping upward when he saw a cluster of boulders. Crim Tylar sprawled on the deck, but quickly picked himself up again.
In less than ten minutes, they spotted the silhouettes of the sandstone bluffs pocked with caves and overhangs. 'I don't know if there's a good place to land, Brindle. Set down anywhere you can and we'll start cramming people in.' She turned to Crim Tylar. 'What's our total, if everybody makes it?'
'You think somebody might want to stay behind?'
'I think we might need to rush things.'
'Seventy-eight, I think. Some of them kids.'
'And UR,' DD said.
'That's well within our capacity,' Robb said. 'Don't worry about a thing.'
'Who's worried?'
He chose a bumpy patch of rocks and dirt in front of the main bluff and brought the Osquivel down with a blast of exhaust and thrown dust. Tasia was the first out of the hatch, and the others followed as Robb locked the struts down to temporarily stabilize the ship. He kept the engines rumbling.
'All aboard!' Tasia bellowed, already seeing people running toward the ship. 'This is the last transport off Llaro, and the bugs are right on our tails! We'll have to use express boarding procedures!'
'That means everybody run? Steinman yelled. He and Tasia sprinted to meet them.
Figures scrambled forward, some carrying packs and satchels, others just running as fast as they could. Mayor Ruis was in the middle of the group, shouting encouragement, nudging everyone along to the Osquivel. 'Where's Davlin? He should be helping us.'
'Sorry,' Tasia said. Ruis's face fell and he shook his head in disbelief. Feeling a need to explain, Tasia added, 'He bought us the time we needed to escape. He promised to find his own way off Llaro.'
Ruis seemed to grasp at that faint hope. 'Well, then, who am I to doubt him? He always manages to come out on top.'
Though she had only one arm, the Governess compy shepherded the children under her care. UR cajoled them to move as fast as they could. Though several children were crying, they had all lived in fear for a long time. DD hurried out to help the other compy. Orli took two of the younger children by the hands and rushed them up the ramp.
'No assigned seats,' Nikko said, standing next to his father. 'In fact, not enough seats at all. Just pile yourselves in and we'll sort it out once we get airborne.'
As the last ten people jostled toward the bottleneck of the hatch, DD stared out at the sky. Tasia Tamblyn, many more Klikiss are approaching. They must have followed us.'
'Didn't think we'd outrun them for long.' She shouted to the stragglers. 'Move it! Fifteen seconds and I'm closing the hatch. Anybody not aboard gets left behind. Dive headfirst if you have to.' Panicked, the remaining survivors dropped their packs and possessions, and thrust each other forward, frantic to get in. Everyone made it, and Tasia had to elbow two colonists aside so she could seal the hatch.
Climbing back into the pilot seat, Robb coaxed the repaired engines, watching the gauges, adjusting the controls. Tasia made her way to the cockpit, nearly deafened by the din of frightened passengers. Robb looked up at her with genuine concern. 'If we blow out something, we'll be stuck here forever. We never had time to do a real test flight, not even a full-fledged engine check.'
On the cockpit status screens, Tasia adjusted the sensor band to scan the sky overhead. Numerous blips circled closer. 'Sure, Robb. Take all the time you want. Five, ten seconds - whatever you need.'
Without waiting for a go-ahead, Nikko reached between them and punched the vertical take-off jets on the co-pilot's controls, and the Osquivel shuddered off the ground. The ship rose higher into the air just as the low-flying Klikiss ships swooped after