Their errant shots peppered the spaceport deck, taking out half of the troopers that had been gathered around the Pendragon and causing the other half to scatter for cover. Because it was their own ships firing on the Vonnegan troops and not the Griffin Fire, the Thunderbolt pilots still hadn’t taken notice of the Pendragon.
Quickly adjusted the Griffin Fire’s trajectory so it was pitched slightly forward. Now, he would miss colliding with the Pendragon but was once again on a course straight into the molten seas. The Thunderbolts continued to follow him. Alarms began blaring, alerting him that the Griffin Fire would burn up if he didn’t do something fast. He was only seconds from plunging directly into the lava when he released an ion depth charge and brought the ship up as sharply as the controls would allow. The Griffin Fire was parallel with the lava for a split second, alarms screaming, then was racing up toward the sky again.
The Thunderbolts followed right behind. But just as they began to climb up and away from the lava, the depth charge triggered from just beneath the sea’s surface and sprayed lava fifty yards in the air. Two Thunderbolts had superheated liquid rock splash across their wings. One was able to angle away from the lava fields, but with its wings melting, it could only maintain course for a few moments before losing control. The Thunderbolt crashed into the far side of the spaceport, erupting in a mighty explosion. The other melting Thunderbolt careened out over the vast lava sea. The pilot could have ejected but that would have only shot him up into the air and, after the thrusters in his navigator’s space armor were deployed, the pilot would have only fallen toward the lave more slowly, giving him a minute or two to watch death creeping up toward him. Better to crash and dissolve in an instant, which is exactly what the Thunderbolt pilot did.
Cade’s voice came across the ship’s comm: “They’re coming back.”
Quickly looked out the side window of the Griffin Fire’s cockpit. The remaining four armored Vonnegans had regrouped and were in front of the Pendragon again.
Quickly’s first instinct was to ask, “What do you want me to do about it?” His second was to say, “Hey, I’m doing my best here.” What he actually said was, “Give me a minute. I’ll figure something out.”
Before he could do anything else, though, another round of beeps began chiming on the navigational display in front of him. Twelve more Thunderbolts were approaching from the Athens Destroyer that had just arrived.
24
Le Savage paced back and forth across the command center. There was no point looking out the windows at the prison yards; the raiders would have to be insane to go back out there. At the same time, it was pointless to watch the display monitors.
“How could you lose them?” he shouted at no one in particular.
None of the officers acknowledged him because whoever did would be accepting responsibility for what had happened. Meanwhile, Le Savage had every possible guard and trooper, all in full armor and all with assault blasters, combing every part of the facility.
“We’ve found them,” a voice said, crackling through the speaker beside the monitors.
“And?” he said, staring at the officers on the other side of the room, daring any of them to say something.
“They’re in the explosives depot, sir.”
“The explosives depot?” Le Savage said, not knowing whether he should laugh or cry or throw someone else through the broken window.
The room where the raiders had trapped themselves contained enough explosives to destroy the entire facility. The mining colony, the prison—all of it. But on the bright side, the people inside there would be the first to die. It was possible that if one of the raiders thought they were going to be captured, they could ensure a quick death and take everyone else with them. If that were the case, it would be better to have died along with
Quickly adjusted the Griffin Fire’s trajectory so it was pitched slightly forward. Now, he would miss colliding with the Pendragon but was once again on a course straight into the molten seas. The Thunderbolts continued to follow him. Alarms began blaring, alerting him that the Griffin Fire would burn up if he didn’t do something fast. He was only seconds from plunging directly into the lava when he released an ion depth charge and brought the ship up as sharply as the controls would allow. The Griffin Fire was parallel with the lava for a split second, alarms screaming, then was racing up toward the sky again.
The Thunderbolts followed right behind. But just as they began to climb up and away from the lava, the depth charge triggered from just beneath the sea’s surface and sprayed lava fifty yards in the air. Two Thunderbolts had superheated liquid rock splash across their wings. One was able to angle away from the lava fields, but with its wings melting, it could only maintain course for a few moments before losing control. The Thunderbolt crashed into the far side of the spaceport, erupting in a mighty explosion. The other melting Thunderbolt careened out over the vast lava sea. The pilot could have ejected but that would have only shot him up into the air and, after the thrusters in his navigator’s space armor were deployed, the pilot would have only fallen toward the lave more slowly, giving him a minute or two to watch death creeping up toward him. Better to crash and dissolve in an instant, which is exactly what the Thunderbolt pilot did.
Cade’s voice came across the ship’s comm: “They’re coming back.”
Quickly looked out the side window of the Griffin Fire’s cockpit. The remaining four armored Vonnegans had regrouped and were in front of the Pendragon again.
Quickly’s first instinct was to ask, “What do you want me to do about it?” His second was to say, “Hey, I’m doing my best here.” What he actually said was, “Give me a minute. I’ll figure something out.”
Before he could do anything else, though, another round of beeps began chiming on the navigational display in front of him. Twelve more Thunderbolts were approaching from the Athens Destroyer that had just arrived.
24
Le Savage paced back and forth across the command center. There was no point looking out the windows at the prison yards; the raiders would have to be insane to go back out there. At the same time, it was pointless to watch the display monitors.
“How could you lose them?” he shouted at no one in particular.
None of the officers acknowledged him because whoever did would be accepting responsibility for what had happened. Meanwhile, Le Savage had every possible guard and trooper, all in full armor and all with assault blasters, combing every part of the facility.
“We’ve found them,” a voice said, crackling through the speaker beside the monitors.
“And?” he said, staring at the officers on the other side of the room, daring any of them to say something.
“They’re in the explosives depot, sir.”
“The explosives depot?” Le Savage said, not knowing whether he should laugh or cry or throw someone else through the broken window.
The room where the raiders had trapped themselves contained enough explosives to destroy the entire facility. The mining colony, the prison—all of it. But on the bright side, the people inside there would be the first to die. It was possible that if one of the raiders thought they were going to be captured, they could ensure a quick death and take everyone else with them. If that were the case, it would be better to have died along with
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