Wanted

Josh, the Captain and Lemmy quickly interrogated the shills in the three rooms. They were not much help simply because they didn't have access to the information that could be helpful. Still, they confirmed two or three things Josh needed to know.

  After they finished, Josh helped Cherry instruct four robots to start moving supplies to the Captain's ship. When the Captain asked why, Josh told him they were going to leave him, Lemmy and the shills on it.

  The Captain exploded, "I won't stay here. I promised my people I would protect them. I can't do it from here. Besides, you two can't run a spaceship and fight a battle by yourself. I'm going and the only way you can stop me is to disable that ship and use a stingerray on me."

  Cherry gave Josh a look that said I told you so. Josh blew out his breath in exasperation. He said, "OK, you can come along. Lemmy, are you alright staying here with the two prisoners over there and the shills?"

  The Captain said, "Why don't you set another shield over the shuttle and just leave that scum in there? We could do a quick check to see how much food they have. Then she doesn't have to worry about them. You could handle the shills, couldn't you?"

  "I can handle the shills but I don't like the other two."

  Cherry said, "I'll disable the engines and comm units. If we grab the spacesuits, that should keep them there."

  Josh said, "Go get the spacesuits and put them on the Captain's ship. Then fix the engines. I'll get another shield generator out. We'll need it to make a tunnel over to the Captain's ship. The shills don't have any spacesuits."

  Before he ran out, Josh stopped long enough to see what the three ships were doing. He saw the two smaller ones fly to the opposite side of the planet. The larger one took up a geosynchronous orbit over the spaceport. A few minutes later, the other two took up their orbit. Josh guessed from their location that they were over two of the larger cities.

  He rushed to the cargo bay to manhandle a shield generator over to the airlock. Two of the robots moving food supplies trudged around him like he was a statue. They shoved the supplies in and cycled the airlock for the two outside. Josh quickly climbed into his spacesuit.

  As soon as the airlock became empty, he cycled the air and entered it. Tapping his foot, he impatiently waited for it to cycle again. When the outer door opened, he pulled the generator outside. Spotting Cherry working on the shuttle's engines, he called on the comm, "Cherry, we need to move it. Those ships are setting right over two of the biggest cities and the spaceport. I don't think they are just sitting there for the view."

  "I'm moving as fast as I can. Are the robots about finished?"

  "I don't know. I'll get the shield set up and get them into high gear."

  Once Josh had a seal between the two ships, he opened both airlocks. The robots started moving supplies much faster. Stopping for a moment, he checked on the three spaceships again. He saw them hovering over the same location on the planet.

  He muttered, "What are they doing there? I'd sure like to hear communications between those ships."

  Cherry asked, "What did you say?"

  Josh's eyes widened as he realized he had been muttering over an open comm channel. "I just looked at the remote sensor by Orlowa. Those three spaceships are just hanging there. I'd like to know what they're up to."

  "No good, that's for sure. I'm almost finished here."

  "I'll go get the shills moving toward the Captain's ship."

  As he walked down the passageway, he spotted the Captain talking on his comm. His arms waved in the air and his face twisted in anger. As Josh watched, he cut off the comm and stomped toward him.

  The Captain almost shouted, "We have to get back to Orlowa. I just got a call from one of my widows. She said the government just announced they are looking for me. Said I had four hours to turn myself in or those ships are going to start blasting the planet."

  "Then let's get those shills and Lemmy in the other ship. Cherry's about finished with his part."

  The two rushed back to the rooms to hustle the shills into the other spaceship. The shills cowered and pushed against moving toward the airlock. The Captain finally grabbed two by the arm and drug them into the other spaceship. The others followed.

  Josh strode behind the others to hurry them. He called to the Captain on the comm, "Make sure no one can activate your ship and take off."

  Cherry stepped up as the last shill entered the Captain's spaceship. He said, "The shuttle won't go anywhere until I bring these back." He held up two pieces in each hand.

  Josh nodded and said, "Time to start taking this shield down and get the robots secured. Those goons are going to blast the planet in a little less than four hours. We've got to get moving."

  The Captain rushed out of the spaceship and locked the airlock. When he stepped aboard Belle, Cherry pulled the shield generator. Josh had the last of the robots secured when he walked in. They both walked rapidly to the cockpit to take off.

  They joined the Captain who had already found a seat in the cockpit. He was strapping in as they sat down. Cherry said, "Josh, give me a second to check the other detector. We need to make sure those thugs down there don't have friends at the backdoor. We've already been through that."

  Josh strapped in and started the pre-flight checklist. Cherry said, "The one out here shows all clear. OH NO! One of those smaller ships just fired a laser cannon at the planet."

  The Captain yelled, "Come on. Let's get to Orlowa."

  Josh said, "Easy. If we go blasting in there, we'll all be dead. Let's see if my plan will work."

  Josh lifted out of the shield and eased away from the asteroid. He glanced back to see nothing but rock. The shield was working. The Captain didn't notice. His attention was focused on the 3D image of the ships hanging over Orlowa.

  A few seconds after they cleared the asteroid, the Nagini swarmed around Belle. Josh worked his way to clear space. Cherry reported, "They're staying with us. Now, can we get a shield around them?"

  When Josh hit the switch to turn on the shield, the Nagini bolted away. Once the shield stabilized, they returned to swirl around the spaceship. After turning off the shield, they swam closer.

  Waiting longer, he tried again. The snakes fled. The Captain let out an exasperated breath, "We need to go. It'll take at least three hours to get there."

  Josh said, "What do we do when we get there? If we don't have those things, we can't stop three warships from blasting the planet."

  Cherry said, "Try keeping the shield tight to the ship. Maybe they'll stay with us."

  He spoke to the computer to rearrange the shield. The animals swarmed back to the ship. When they established a pattern, Cherry said, "Now, let's ease ahead to see if they'll stay with us."

  The Nagini stayed with them until Josh reached jump speed and then they moved back to the asteroid field. Josh spun Belle and went back. He tried for another thirty minutes with no success.

  The Captain muttered and mumbled the entire time. At last Cherry said, "We aren't going to get them to stay with us. We've got to do something different."

  Josh asked, "What do you suggest? We can't hit three different places at the same time. If we fire on one, the other two will blast the planet before they come after us."

  Cherry said, "Or come after us and then blast the planet. They'll want to make this place an example to not cross them."

  The Captain said, "Go back and get the other ship. I'll fly it at the big one there —"

  Josh said, "And do what? Crash into them? They wouldn't let you get within fifty thousand miles. They'd blast you to little pieces."

  "We've got to do something."

  "What?"

  "I don't know. Pick up some rocks and throw at them. Call for – I don't know who."

  Cherry said, "That might work. Let me see…"

  Josh asked, "What might work?"

  Cherry waved at him to be quiet. The Captain asked, "What are you lookin
g at?"

  Cherry snapped, "Be quiet. I need time to think and calculate. It'll be close…"

  Tense minutes ticked by as Cherry worked. The Captain opened his mouth to speak several times, but Josh glared at him to be quiet. As the minutes ticked by like hours, Josh and the Captain fidgeted in their chairs. Josh looked out to see the Nagini doing their intricate dance around Belle. He pointed it out to the Captain, hoping to ease some of his strain.

  At last Cherry said, "We can do it. Josh, we need to pick up twelve rocks."

  "How big? How are we going to carry them?"

  "There, that should be about the right size. Although size won't matter too much. We'll put velocity behind them which will do the damage."

  The Captain asked, "What are you going to do?"

  Cherry said, "We'll grab these rocks then jump to hyperspace. We'll come out here on the pole of the planet. Those ships are in orbit just north of the equator where ships would normally enter the atmosphere to land."

  Staring at Josh, he carefully continued, "We'll sneak as close as we can, then shove the rocks at all three ships. I'll send two to each of the smaller ships —"

  The Captain said, "Then why do we need twelve?"

  "Let me finish. The others will be spread out a little. One rock won't hurt that big ship's shield much. I'm sure they'll move a little too. I just don't know which direction. One of the remaining seven will get another chance."

  The Captain cried, "You can't do that. The ones that miss will crash into the planet."

  "No, by coming in over the pole, the ones that miss will go off into space."

  "Yeah, I see that now."

  Cherry said, "Josh, once all the rocks are gone, we need to target that small ship there. If the rocks destroy it, go after the other. We need both of those ships out of the way. Then we can go after the big one."

  "Set the detectors to watch our backs."

  "Already done. I don't want to go through our previous experience again."

  While the Captain watched Cherry, Josh switched the shield to invisible. Cherry gathered twelve rocks about four feet in diameter. He pulled them under the shield next to the hull. An hour later, they jumped to hyperspace.

  Cherry said, "Be ready, Josh. We'll come out fairly close. Let Belle fly the coordinates I've already set. Just be ready to grab control and switch if one of those ships does something unexpected."

  The Captain said, "You know you're crazy to jump this close to a planet. What about the gravity? What about junk they've sent into space? Those ships could have —"

  Cherry snarled, "Could have, should have. There's no going back and this is all we could think of. That planet is depending on us. Do you know how to work these weapons?"

  "Yes."

  "Then you get ready to fire on the ones I'll target. Don't ask questions once we start. Just shoot until they can't shoot back at us."

  The Captain gave him a strange look but didn't say anything. He looked at all the controls and moved his hands over them but didn't touch them. Josh said, "Everyone better buckle in. Pull them tight. This could get rough."

  Josh wiped the palms of his hands on his pant legs. He glanced over at Cherry out of the corner of his eyes. The android sat there like a statue but Josh could see the lights under his skin burning a bright red with flashes of yellow. He hadn't seen the lights under his friend's skin before, but somehow, he knew the android was as nervous as he was.

  The Captain spoke with a quaver in his voice, "How close will we be to the time deadline?"

  Cherry said, "Close. We'll only get one chance to disrupt them."

  A noisy sigh escaped from the Captain. He rubbed his hands across his chest. Cherry began the countdown as they neared the point to come back to normal space. When he said zero, the stars, the sun and the planet popped into view on their screens. Cherry's hands flew across the computer controls as he launched rock after rock.

  In less than thirty seconds, twelve rocks blasted at the three spaceships. Belle banked toward the smaller one to the right. Cherry said, "Wait, wait, I'm marking the target now. We need to get into range. Wait, wait."

  The Captain didn't look up at the main view screens to see how far away they were. He kept his eyes locked on the small screen in front of him. His hands hovered over the controls. When Cherry yelled fire, he grabbed them and opened up.

  He only made two shots before the rocks impacted the ship and sent it into a fiery dive into the atmosphere. It left a burning streak across the sky below them. Josh yelled, "They're going to crash. I'm taking control to go after the other one."

  The lurch from the change in direction shoved the three deep into their seats. The Captain reached up to pull his belts a little tighter. Ten seconds later, Cherry yelled, "Fire at that one."

  On his screen, the Captain saw one rock hit the smaller spaceship. The shield flared a blazing white. He pulled the trigger to send laser cannon fire its way. As the first bolt tore into the ship, it lurched toward deep space. Cherry yelled, "Keep firing. Don't let it get away."

  The Captain followed the ship and continued to fire. The ship started to fire wildly in their direction. Suddenly, Cherry yelled, "Cease fire. The Nagini are there."

  Josh and the Captain stared at the front view screen. The five huge snakes were boring in on the stricken vessel. Blasters shot at them with no effect. The biggest one reached the ship first. Firing stopped when its mouth grabbed it.

  The Nagini shook its head back and forth like a dog shaking a rag. After a few seconds, it stopped and the others swarmed the ship. Soon all lights faded. Cherry said, "We need to go see about the big one. They should be getting pounded by the rocks about now."

  Josh flashed across the planet as fast as he could. As soon as the big ship came into sight, two big flashes of light hit the top of the shield. The cannons near the top of the Zlata ship flared. Explosions flashed in space as the vessel shot the incoming rocks. Cherry yelled for the Captain to open fire. His first shot missed because the big ship shot deeper into space. Correcting his aim, he fired again. This shot hit but did no damage to the shield.

  Cherry said, "Uh, oh, I don't think this is going to be good. Captain, fire at the bridge. We need to disable that ship before they take us apart."

  As Josh maneuvered Belle to keep the crosshairs on the other warship, the Captain fired as rapidly as he could. A spot began to grow on the other ship's shield. It opened fire in their general direction. Plasma blasts and laser bolts flew all around Belle.

  Cherry yelled, "Try our blaster cannons. The lasers aren't doing much."

  A plasma blast from the other ship hit the rear of Belle's shield, jolting the entire ship. A laser bolt quickly followed, causing another violent lurch. An alarm rang in Belle. The Captain screamed, "What's that?"

  Josh shouted, "We just lost the rear portion of our shield. I'm turning…"

  The bolts and blasts hit all around. Several hit the nose of the shield driving Belle off at an angle. Josh fought the steering to keep her nose pointed at the big ship. Using the thrusters, he brought the crosshairs back on the ship.

  Cherry selected a different firing sequence and shouted, "Hit them, Captain. Their shield is weaker."

  When he started firing, the other ship moved their aim much closer to Belle. Two hits in quick succession jolted Belle again. The Captain bellowed, "I don't have any power to the weapons. My screen is blank."

  Cherry said, "That's not all. I've got indications the patches are leaking. I'm going back to see if I can stop them."

  Josh shouted, "Wait. Every time one of those blasts or bolts hit us, it knocks us around. You'll be bouncing around back there like a BB in a barrel."

  Cherry bawled, "I've got to go back to the computer room to get things started again. Keep moving so they can't guess where we're at. I'll magnetize my feet to stay on the deck."

  Josh tried to move Belle in different
directions to stay out of the random shots that were being fired, but a few continued to hit the shield. One shot ricocheted off the side of the shield as he hit the thrusters. The combined energy shot them a half mile from the target zone.

  A few minutes later, the Captain said, "I've got one of the cannons back. Should I use it?"

  Josh said, "No, give Cherry a chance to get them all back on line and to check for leaks. I don't want to have to fly in our spacesuits. They only have limited air. We don't know how long this battle will last."

  "If it lasts too long, we won't make it. Look at the damage this old girl has already taken. I don't understand why those goons haven't got us zeroed in. They look like they are just shooting wild."

  "Maybe the rocks or one of your shots took out their targeting system."

  The Captain raised his right eyebrow, then said, "Maybe…"

  Fifteen minutes later, the Captain said, "All the weapons are back on line."

  Cherry called over the comm, "I can't stop the leaks from inside so I'm moving a shield generator near them to seal off that part of the ship. I'll be back in the cockpit in a couple of minutes."

  Josh used the time to maneuver farther away from the other ship's fire. When Cherry settled in the co-pilot's seat, he gave him a minute to buckle his seat belts again. As he finished, Josh hit the thrusters again, moving them above the other ship.

  Concentrating on the other ship, Josh said, "When you're ready, open fire."

  As soon as the Captain opened fire, the other ship shifted its fire zone. Belle started taking hits. Cherry yelled, "We can't take much more of this. It'll burn out what little shield we have left. Captain, hit something."

  The comm chimed and Cherry slapped the receive. Lemmy's face appeared. She whispered, "Twinkles, where's Josh. I need to talk to him."

  Cherry snarled, "What did you say? Speak up. What do you want?"

  She said in a little louder voice, "I want to talk to Josh."

  "We're a little busy here. That battleship is pounding the snot out of us. Go eat something."

  "Twinkles, shut up and listen for a minute. Two Zlata ships just came into the asteroid field. They shoved five or six big rocks out into space and now they are moving the one we're on."

  Cherry quickly set a view screen to the remote detector in the asteroid field. He saw the two ships shoving rocks out into space. As soon as they had one moving, they went back to another and gave it a push. The rock Lemmy and the shills were on received their attention.

  Cherry yelled, "Josh, the thugs are shoving rocks. Wait a minute, I'll get some trajectories."

  He furiously worked the computer. He groaned, "OH, NO."

  Josh and the Captain broke their concentration to look at him. Cherry continued, "Those jerks are sending rocks at Orlowa – including the one Lemmy's on. They'll hit the atmosphere in four hours."

  Chapter 25