* * * *
He slumped into the co-pilots chair, tilted his head back, and let out a heavy sigh as he pinched his forehead with his thumb and forefinger.
“Now is not a good time to practice your relaxation techniques. I'd strap in if I were you it’s going to get bumpy.” Lucy spoke with a calm confidence that belied her age as they thundered down the valley at breakneck speed, weaving frantically to try and shake off the missiles behind them.
“You do know what’s at the end of this valley?”
“That?” added the petite 23 year-old brunet, her blue eyes sparkling, as she pointed at the three-hundred meter high wall of solid granite racing towards them. “I'm relying on it.”
Calmly pulling back on the controls as the proximity alarms sounded she hit the afterburners and they climbed steeply upwards, even with the inertial dampers he could feel the G-force pinning him back into his seat.
The first two missiles slammed harmlessly into the rock face beneath them. Just as they looked set to clear it the third erupted under them. The shock-wave tipping them forward onto the lip of the cliff edge. The cockpit was filled with sickening grinding of metal against rock for what seemed like an eternity as Lucy wrestled with the controls before finally pulling them free and out into the open sky beyond.
“Remind me again where did you learn to fly?”
“Didn't. Pop use to take me with him when hauling freight. When he got to drunk or lazy to do it himself he let me take the controls. Do you want the good or bad news first?”
“You mean there's good news?”
Lucy kissed the lucky rabbit’s foot she’d hung from the roof of the cabin after taking the ship. “Well we're still flying. Bad news is shields are gone, landing gears fragged, inertial dampers are off-line and I'm going to have to shut engine one down to stop it venting and leaving an ion trail a blind man could follow.”
“Well better than expected then. Did you follow my instructions with the ships transponder?”
“To the letter.”