“I know – but do me afavor and avoid that as much as possible?”
“You bet!”
When they were in sight ofthe shuttle it was immediately obvious that the two peerazu wereattacking it savagely; a front corner was crumbling away under theonslaught of acidic saliva and their powerful talons. Decker boredown on them at a furious pace while Kennedy peppered their bodieswith a steady stream of particle blasts.
Naiche had expected bothanimals to turn their attack on the Alba, leaving the shuttle behind tochase after the more active prey. To her surprise, the peerazusplit up, with one staying behind to continue battering theshuttle. “Son of a bitch,” she whispered, growing ever moreconcerned about the occupants of the shuttle. “You’d almost thinkthey’re capable of strategy. Well – we’re gonna have to do this thehard way,” Decker announced. She swung around and put theAlba into a deep dive,heading straight for the shuttle at high speed.
“What are you doing?” Conyelled.
“That other one is gonnabreach the shuttle any minute. You can strafe ‘em both thisway.”
“Are you going to be ableto pull up in time?”
Prettysure, is what Deck thought – “Absolutely!”is what she said.
Naiche did manage to pivotout of the dive, skimming the agile ship over the top of theshuttle. Her ploy worked and both peerazu were now within firingrange, though it became immediately obvious that fighting off twopeerazu with one particle rifle was a near impossible task. Deckdid what she could to help Con – constantly readjusting to keepboth animals in roughly the same area but the peerazu provedthemselves wily opponents. They kept attacking theAlba from differentangles, forcing Con to divide his attention and his blasts. “Thisisn’t gonna work,” he yelled.
Busy dodging streams ofcorrosive saliva, Decker answered, “I know. What’s theplan?”
“I need to concentrate onone of them first. I’ll take out the bigger one and you keepdodging the other one as long as possible.”
Naiche knew Con’s plan hadpossible flaws but she couldn’t think of a better one. “I’m on it.”She zipped the Alba around, evading the smaller peerazu while trying to giveKennedy the opportunity to concentrate on the other.
Striving to keep the twopeerazu focused on them, rather than the shuttle, and still stayairborne was a harrowing task. The Alba was alternately jolted by theweighty animals and peppered with droplets of acidic spit shecouldn’t completely evade; Decker was keeping them in the fight bythe thinnest of margins. It soon became evident that Con couldn’tget a clear shot at his target with her continually whipping theship about in her attempts to avoid either the peerazu or itssaliva. He’d already been forced to switch to Decker’s rifle, sincehis own had been irreparably damaged by a spray of causticslaver.
Deck knew she had to try anew tactic and called out, “Hang on tight.” As soon Con had heardher, Deck swung the Albahard to starboard, crashing into one of thepeerazu. She almost lost control of the ship in the maneuver but itworked as she’d intended – momentarily knocking one opponententirely out of the fight and giving them some breathingroom.
Kennedy jumped on hischance – stepping up a blistering attack on the remaining peerazu.“Deck, get us in position – I wanta go right down its throat.” Hewas obviously taking a cue from Naiche’s successful kill of thelast peerazu. Decker accommodated him, swooping down on the animalas he fired at its face. She put her trust in Kennedy, not slowingat all as the Alba headed straight for the deadly animal. On her screen shecould see the other peerazu preparing to rejoin thefight.
Kennedy cried, “Bullseye!”firing down the gullet. The peerazu spewed one last shower ofliquid fire at them, missing the Alba by inches – then fell backdead. Decker was swinging the ship around to face the remainingpeerazu, jubilant at their success when she heard Con gasp, “Ohshit.”
“What? What’swrong?”
“It got therifle!”
Decker spared a glance athim – the barrel of the particle rifle was covered with droplets ofliquid. She jolted the ship up and away from the remaining peerazuto give Kennedy a chance to examine their remaining weapon. “Can itstill fire?”
“No.” Kennedy closed hiseyes in frustration as he tossed the useless weapondown.
Without a word, in onefluid motion, Decker closed the ship’s canopy and swiped her handacross the power drive controls. The ship flew away from theshuttle and to her immense relief, the peerazu followed.
“Now what’re we gonna do?”Con muttered.
She didn’t answer at first,frantically formulating a desperate plan. “I’ve got an idea,” sheannounced as she steered the ship towards the deserted canyonsthey’d been in days before. Before they left the area entirely,Decker spotted Moira, Kay, and two small Maykure emerge from theshuttle, apparently unscathed.
Kennedy exhaled an audiblesigh of satisfaction. “At least they’re safe.” Silently, Naicheagreed, while hoping that they could achieve the samefate.
When they reached thecanyons, Decker started blazing circles around the narrow chasms,harrying the peerazu with every turn. More comfortable withthe Alba witheach maneuver, Deck started pushing the little ship to itslimits.
Kennedy asked, “Are youtrying to wear it out?”
“I’m trying to piss itoff.”
The peerazu roared towardsthem, talons out; Decker flank flipped into a sharp loop, dodgingcertain contact by a millisecond.
“You’re doing a great jobof infuriating it, all right. Can I ask why?”
“Because,” Deck explained,“peerazu get really sloppy and unfocused when they’re angry. And ifmy plan is gonna work I need that thing completely out of its mindwith rage.” Naiche half-expected Con to demand further explanationbut he’d either already read her mind or trusted in her enough togo along with whatever she had planned.
Con proved his usualclairvoyance when it came to her, by observing, “This will probablywork – unless we attract a few more on the way up.”
“Yeah, if thathappens…then we’re dead meat. But if I time it just
