'Instruct me in its operation,' the dragon said, the top of his head rising up out of Jack's skin for a better look.
Jack shook his head. 'No, that's all right,' he said, risking a quick look at the aft sensor display. Was that a small ship rising from the forest near the wrecked freighter?
'Instruct me in its operation,' Draycos insisted. 'I am a warrior of the K'da—'
'Yeah, yeah, I remember,' Jack cut him off. No, it wasn't a small ship coming up from the forest. It was two small ships. Terrific. 'No offense, but so far all I've seen you do is grab other people's weapons. Any good pickpocket could do that.'
'Have you ever engaged in combat?' Draycos countered. 'Have you ever flown this spacecraft in combat?'
'No, and no,' Jack ground out. Already the two ships were gaining on him. Fighter-sized, he could see now. Probably fighter-armed, too. 'Now shut up and let me fly. This is hard enough as it is.'
In answer, his open shirt was suddenly shoved back off his left shoulder, and a pair of golden legs sprouted from his skin there. 'Hey!' he snapped as the unexpected weight translated into a brief wobble of the control yoke. 'Watch it!'
'You cannot fly and defend together,' Draycos said firmly, the extended paws poised over the weapons panel. 'You are not trained, and these controls are not well laid out. Now instruct me.'
Jack muttered a word that had once cost him a week of desserts. To trust his life to someone else, and an alien newcomer at that...
But the dragon was right. Besides, he could hardly be any worse at this than Jack was. 'All right, fine,' he said, trying to coax a little more speed out of the engines. 'The left section handles targeting. The way you work it...'
The quick course took a minute and a half, about the same time it took the two fighters to close to firing range. Jack could only hope the dragon was a quick study.
'Interesting,' Draycos commented as the fighters approached. 'They are using a classic chiv-nez maneuver.'
'I guess word gets around,' Jack said, squeezing the control yoke hard as he studied the aft display. The fighters weren't going to wait long before making their move, he knew. Probably deciding how best to disable the Essenay without blowing it completely out of the sky.
Unless, of course, Snake Voice had changed his mind about wanting his prisoners undamaged. In that case, the fighters' job was going to be a whole lot easier.
'You mistake my point,' Draycos said. 'I do not know whether they borrowed the maneuver from the K'da or created it themselves. What I do know is how to deal with it. At my command, make the tightest turn to the left this ship is capable of.'
Jack frowned. Turning left would put them directly into the path of one of the fighters. 'Uncle Virge?'
'Sorry, lad, but I can't see anything better to suggest,' Uncle Virge said. 'We'll never make it out of the atmosphere before they catch us. Let's see what tricks our K'da warrior can pull out of his hat.'
Jack took a deep breath. 'Okay,' he said. 'Okay, I'm ready.'
'Very well,' Draycos said, his breath uncomfortably hot on Jack's cheek. On the aft display the fighters had finished their study of the situation and were starting to move in. 'Prepare... now.'
Jack twisted the yoke all the way to the left, leaning into the turn as the Essenay skidded hard to the side. At the same time, he heard the short spitting hiss of one of their missiles being launched.
'Draycos!' Uncle Virge shouted. 'Idiot—you fired too low!'
Draycos didn't reply. The Essenay started to buck inside its own shock wave; Jack leaned hard on the yoke to control it, his full attention on the wind-skid indicators. If they went into a stall now, the ship would be a sitting duck.
From the weapons board came another spitting hiss, followed immediately by the flicker of the cockpit lights that meant the lasers were firing. 'Draycos, either learn to shoot straight or stop wasting our missiles,' Uncle Virge snapped. 'All you're doing is—'
He broke off suddenly. Jack had just enough time to frown; and then, from the corner of his eye he saw a brilliant flash. 'What happened?' he snapped, shifting his attention back to the aft display. The explosion was already starting to fade, and in its light he could see scattered bits of debris flying outward in all directions.
'I will be dipped in butter and rolled in bread crumbs,' Uncle Virge said, sounding awed. 'It worked. It actually worked.'
'What worked?' Jack demanded. 'I wasn't watching. What happened?'
'Your gold-plated friend and his near-misses suckered one of the fighters into flying straight into his friend, that's all,' Uncle Virge said. 'Amazing.'
'They were too close together,' Draycos added, his forelegs pulling back and settling flat onto Jack's skin. 'The chiv-nez maneuver has always had that weakness.'
On the ECHO section of the board, a green light flashed. 'We're clear of atmosphere,' Jack announced. 'Should I put us on ECHO?'
'By all means,' Uncle Virge said. 'Before they get something else into the air after us.'
Jack nodded and pulled the short lever. The shimmering rainbow effect flashed in front of them and became the blue of hyperspace.
For the moment, at least, they were safe.
Chapter 7
