In the eighteen hours since he’d carved the Rune of Power into his arm, he’d been feverishly hot as his body tried to adopt the new levels of thaumic energy swirling through him. The painkillers he was taking probably didn’t help, but that was the only way he’d been able to sleep.
He wasn’t on painkillers now. He couldn’t afford the dulled senses as he watched the Syndicate cruiser bear unswervingly down on his ship and hoped that everything he’d done would be enough. His arm hurt , but the heat burning through him suggested he hadn’t failed.
“They’ll try close to seven light seconds,” David reminded him over the intercom. “I’d really like if they didn’t make it that close, Damien.”
The young Mage rested the runes on his palms on the blank spaces on the Simulacrum meant for them. The power of his new rune and the amplifier linked together, and he looked at the stars through the lens of the Blue Jay ’s runes.
“I won’t guarantee more than eight light seconds,” he said softly. “And if I guess wrong, it might be enough for them to realize what’s going on – which I doubt we’ll survive.”
“Let them close then,” David replied quietly. They’d been watching the oncoming ship for fifteen minutes now. “You can take him? That ship is heavily armored.”
“I have no idea,” Damien admitted. “But there’s only one way to find out now.”
#
Time seemed to crawl as the Azure Gauntlet swept towards its prey. So close to victory now, Mikhail Azure was tempted to order Wong to pour on more speed. Of course, since the Gauntlet was now decelerating towards zero relative to Rice’s ship, that would have been counter-productive, but the almost childish urge ran in the back of his mind.
Instead, he gripped the edge of his chair tightly, watching the range figures drop and glancing around the bridge. Wong had pulled the same main bridge crew who had assaulted Darkport with to this shift for the attack. The petite woman Hu controlled sensors. The mohawked gunner Monroe sat at the weapons console, two separate firing plans laid out on his console, just waiting a command to fire.
Wong sat at the center of the bridge, and now Azure could be mentally magnanimous towards the Tracker. For all of the setbacks, the ex-bounty hunter had delivered Azure’s prey to him, and shortly they would return and complete the conquest of Darkport.
Almost an hour had passed since their arrival, and barely twenty minutes and a hundred thousand kilometers remained before they would fire on the Blue Jay and capture his prey.
Something shifted. He felt magic sweep through the ship, on a level he’d never personally experienced, and then felt the ship lurch.
“What the hell?” Wong demanded. “What’s happening?”
Everything seemed to move very slowly, and Azure knew what had happened. He could feel the energy rippling through the ship as magic ripped into the mighty cruisers antimatter tanks.
“We have a critical engine breach!” Hu shouted. “Containment is failing!”
Azure reached out with his magic and slammed a single button on Monroe’s console.
Behind him, the antimatter fuel tanks feeding Azure Gauntlet ’s immense engines lost containment. Hundreds of tons of matter met its opposite and disappeared in a flash of white light and unimaginable energy.
In front of him, every one of the Gauntlet ’s missile tubes fired. Fifty-two missiles blasted into space, seeking revenge for their mothership.
Azure had enough time to be certain the Go To Hell launch had succeeded, and then the antimatter explosion reached the bridge.
#
“Got him!” Amiri announced. “Stealey, get in here!”
The Hand was in the Star Mirror chamber before the Tracker had finished speaking.
“Give me the co-ordinates,” she ordered, but Amiri had already thrown them up in the holographic tank.
The Hand took a long moment to review them, committing the distances and angles involved into her
He wasn’t on painkillers now. He couldn’t afford the dulled senses as he watched the Syndicate cruiser bear unswervingly down on his ship and hoped that everything he’d done would be enough. His arm hurt , but the heat burning through him suggested he hadn’t failed.
“They’ll try close to seven light seconds,” David reminded him over the intercom. “I’d really like if they didn’t make it that close, Damien.”
The young Mage rested the runes on his palms on the blank spaces on the Simulacrum meant for them. The power of his new rune and the amplifier linked together, and he looked at the stars through the lens of the Blue Jay ’s runes.
“I won’t guarantee more than eight light seconds,” he said softly. “And if I guess wrong, it might be enough for them to realize what’s going on – which I doubt we’ll survive.”
“Let them close then,” David replied quietly. They’d been watching the oncoming ship for fifteen minutes now. “You can take him? That ship is heavily armored.”
“I have no idea,” Damien admitted. “But there’s only one way to find out now.”
#
Time seemed to crawl as the Azure Gauntlet swept towards its prey. So close to victory now, Mikhail Azure was tempted to order Wong to pour on more speed. Of course, since the Gauntlet was now decelerating towards zero relative to Rice’s ship, that would have been counter-productive, but the almost childish urge ran in the back of his mind.
Instead, he gripped the edge of his chair tightly, watching the range figures drop and glancing around the bridge. Wong had pulled the same main bridge crew who had assaulted Darkport with to this shift for the attack. The petite woman Hu controlled sensors. The mohawked gunner Monroe sat at the weapons console, two separate firing plans laid out on his console, just waiting a command to fire.
Wong sat at the center of the bridge, and now Azure could be mentally magnanimous towards the Tracker. For all of the setbacks, the ex-bounty hunter had delivered Azure’s prey to him, and shortly they would return and complete the conquest of Darkport.
Almost an hour had passed since their arrival, and barely twenty minutes and a hundred thousand kilometers remained before they would fire on the Blue Jay and capture his prey.
Something shifted. He felt magic sweep through the ship, on a level he’d never personally experienced, and then felt the ship lurch.
“What the hell?” Wong demanded. “What’s happening?”
Everything seemed to move very slowly, and Azure knew what had happened. He could feel the energy rippling through the ship as magic ripped into the mighty cruisers antimatter tanks.
“We have a critical engine breach!” Hu shouted. “Containment is failing!”
Azure reached out with his magic and slammed a single button on Monroe’s console.
Behind him, the antimatter fuel tanks feeding Azure Gauntlet ’s immense engines lost containment. Hundreds of tons of matter met its opposite and disappeared in a flash of white light and unimaginable energy.
In front of him, every one of the Gauntlet ’s missile tubes fired. Fifty-two missiles blasted into space, seeking revenge for their mothership.
Azure had enough time to be certain the Go To Hell launch had succeeded, and then the antimatter explosion reached the bridge.
#
“Got him!” Amiri announced. “Stealey, get in here!”
The Hand was in the Star Mirror chamber before the Tracker had finished speaking.
“Give me the co-ordinates,” she ordered, but Amiri had already thrown them up in the holographic tank.
The Hand took a long moment to review them, committing the distances and angles involved into her
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