The Luminal fighters swarmed all about her now, firing shot after shot into the defenceless ship.
And then, from within the great Luminal battleship, a glow began to form. A green light intensified, as though a sun were burning inside the heart of the ship.
With a blinding flash, a bright beam of plasma shot out across the darkness of space, engulfing the Ibis.
It erupted in a mass of flames, the hull splitting clean in two. Smaller explosions spread out in a chain of destruction as the Luminal drone-ships were also caught in the blast. The fragments span off into space, burning intensely.
And then, in a moment the flames had died away to nothing and there was no longer any sign of the Ibis in the darkness.
Ryann stared in disbelief, unable to move. He felt the tears running freely down his cheeks, and he waited, breath held for some glimpse of life signs — escape capsules, lifeboats. But there was nothing.
Dimly, he heard the familiar warning alarms as incoming fire shook the Interceptor, but it felt distant, as though perhaps he were still back aboard the Ibis with Jean-Baptiste, and he too had perished in those flames.
But then an image of the Reliquary in Grande’s hand came to him. The thought of keeping this memory safe sent him crashing back into the present, and he jumped as another burst of gunfire struck his tortured shields.
Ryann didn’t attempt to turn and fight his pursuers. He fled for his life now, racing back towards the glowing mass of the Halion Belt in the distance.
He willed his ship on faster towards the safety of the ice as he checked his scanners and saw the Luminal battleship turning ponderously back to follow him.
He tried hailing anybody that might be within range, and to his relief a faint voice drifted in through the static in his earpiece. He almost cried out as he realised it was Angelique.
“Ryann? Ryann, thank god — we’ve been trying to reach you!”
“I’m okay Angelique!” he called back, throwing his ship into a roll as another streak of laser-fire tore past his cockpit. “I’m coming in hot — two drones on my tail!”
“We see you Ryann!” came back Angelique’s voice full of concern. “Hurry! We’re all heading back to the Defiance — get to the Defiance! It’s meeting us at the entrance to the Halion Belt!”
“I’m on my way!” called Ryann, pushing his engines further into the red, just praying that the little Interceptor would hold together. The two drones were falling behind now, their laser-fire becoming more intermittent, allowing Ryann to head in a direct course for the mouth of the corridor that led into the Halion Belt.
He could make out the distant specks of the Ghost-Runner ships waiting, silhouetted against the glowing green clouds. And then the great shape of the Defiance broke out into the open, her launch-tunnel already opening up as the Ghost-Runner ships approached. One by one the fighters disappeared inside the Defiance and were gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
AN OLD FRIEND
Ryann gave a sigh of relief to see his friends safely back aboard the Defiance. The great vessel waited for him upon the edge of the ice-field but he was still some distance away and the Luminal battleship was beginning to close in on him from behind.
“Ryann? Ryann, can you hear me?”
His father’s voice cut in over the scream of the Interceptor’s engines.
“Just keep going full speed — that battleship’s closing in on you fast!”
“Get the Defiance out of there dad!” shouted Ryann. “Don’t wait! I can lose them in the Halion Belt!”
“We’re not leaving here without you — just hurry dammit!”
Ryann looked to his scanners in alarm as the Defiance began to register a huge power surge. The bright rectangle of its launch tunnel shone out like a beacon of hope, and he willed his ship towards it.
“What are you doing dad?” he called, as the readouts rose off the scale.
“Just get here fast!” replied Grayell. “We’re powering up the hyperspace drives — we’re going to jump this system!”
“What?” exclaimed Ryann in shock. “But, there aren’t any navigation lanes left in this sector — you’ll fly straight through the nearest uncharted asteroid, or —”
“Shut up and fly faster!” cut in Angelique’s frantic voice. “They’re almost upon you!”
Ryann risked a glance back over his shoulder and saw the towering shape of the Luminal battleship filling his view.
He turned back in fear, staring out to the Defiance. The clouds around her were already white, reflecting the intensifying glare of her drives.
“Hurry!” shouted Grayell, urging his son on. Ryann desperately routed his shield boosters into the drive systems, bypassing the safety protocols in an attempt to gain more speed. Alarms blared out as a panel on his control console burst out in a shower of sparks, his systems overloading under the strain.
“Close the launch tunnel!” screamed Ryann, his ship surging forwards, eating up the space to the Defiance.
“We’re not leaving without you!”
“I’m coming dammit! But you can’t jump with the tunnel doors open — close the damn doors — I’ll make it!”
He saw the slit of the launch tunnel begin to narrow as the great blast doors slid ponderously closed.
“Ryann, the Luminal ship is powering up her weapons! Ryann!”
He was almost there now, but the doors were closing too fast and he wasn’t sure if he would make it in time. He cried out in fury, throwing the little Interceptor on its side as the tunnel streaked towards him in a blur.
He heard a crash as one of his navigation antennae clipped the closing door, dragging the ship around violently. But he was through, spinning down the tunnel at full speed as the gates slammed shut behind him.
“I’m in! Punch it!” he yelled, and even as his ship careered down the tunnel he felt
