Star Wars_ X-Wing 06_ Iron Fist - Aaron Allston [78]
He goosed the repulsorlifts, driving him forward, and the lake water rose. He continued, shoving his interceptor forward, until the water rose to the height of the top of his front viewport.
He used the emergency power switch to power down, then manually cranked his access hatch open and clambered halfway out.
There was a lot of splashing going on in the lake, and he got half visions of large amphibious things entering the water. Not his problem now.
One of the huge leaf pads was within reach. He leaned over and grabbed its veined surface, then dragged it across the top of his interceptor.
Then he settled back into his cockpit to wait.
Either their sensors would pick him up, or they’d be baffled by the presence of other life-forms, by the shielding effects of the water, by the fact that his interceptor was completely powered down. Either way, he’d know soon.
The expanding cloud of fiery gas enveloped Narra and shook her harder than the tractor beam ever had.
Runt let out an exultant whoop. “We are free.”
“Punch it. Get us out of here,” Kell said. He was jarred as something heavy and metallic slammed into the shuttle’s rear. “Nine, are you all right?”
No answer.
Kell grabbed at the buckle on his harness and started to pull it free, but thought better of it. As much as he wanted to get back and see how Donos was doing, this explosive turbulence would take him off his feet and perhaps pound him to death. He had to wait until they were clear of it. “Nine, acknowledge.”
His comlink crackled. “Nine here. Dogging the hatch closed. I’m a little toasty.”
“Great shot, Nine. Stay where you are until the ride is smooth.”
“Acknowledged.”
They shot out of the explosive cloud like a proton torpedo leaving an X-wing. Behind them, visual sensors showed Iron Fist’s keel enveloped in black-and-orange-glowing debris.
Kell kept his eye on that image even as it got smaller. “Come on, come on, give us a present—break up!”
But the eight-kilometer-long capital ship stayed sturdily in one piece.
“No tractors, no pursuit,” Runt said.
“Let’s hope it stays that way. Castin, plot us an escape vector and hyperspace jump, any direction.”
“Already working on it, Chief.”
12
Face could see the sky brighten through the leaf pad above. As time passed, his cockpit grew warm and humid, and he could hear the distant moan of TIE fighters overhead. He sweated and waited.
Then there was nothing but the sound of wildlife, musical tweets he ascribed to some sort of birdlike creatures, coughing grunts he couldn’t associate with any animal he knew, splashes that seemed consistent with the human-sized amphibians he’d seen earlier.
Blaster in hand, he emerged through his hatch and dogged it closed, all the while keeping the leaf pad in place atop him, and then slid off the dome of his interceptor and into the water. The shore was a few dozen meters away, a challenging swim in his pilot’s suit.
He’d marked the sensor location of Phanan’s crash and compared it with his own landing position. He was certain he could find Phanan’s TIE fighter. He was certain he would cut down anything that tried to keep him from reaching it.
They were a gloomy group, gathered in the conference module at Hawk-bat Base.
No injuries among them, except for something like a sunburn on Donos’s face. Yet they wore the expression of defeated soldiers.
Wedge said, “We’re all concerned about Face and Phanan, and we have to face the possibilities that they didn’t make it. But I want you all to understand this. It’s very important. Today, tactically, was a victory, a tremendous one. We cost them far more than they cost us. We also led them into this situation, and if the Hawk-bat identities remain uncompromised, we can continue with our plan. If we’re going to have any perspective on what this has cost us, we have to remember that.”
Tyria said, “What are we going to do about finding them?”
“We’ll put a team on the ground as soon as it’s feasible.