The Plasma Master

  Chapter 26

  “Jenara, you’re not going to like this.” X could hardly believe it himself even though he was looking right at the warp range monitor.

  “What is it?”

  “Jenara, it’s Black Fang. It’s coming after us.”

  Jenara went pale. “No.”

  “I’m afraid so. I’ll get the fighters ready.”

  “X …”

  “I know. Don’t worry.”

  Jenara put her arm on X’s shoulder to restrain him. “Six starfighters against that thing can’t do anything. Stay here. We’ll try to talk our way out of this.”

  “Any ideas, Jenara?”

  “I have a couple of minutes to think one up.”

  “We’re in communications range. Thirteen minutes until Malignus catches up with us.”

  “Open a channel.”

  The main viewscreen showed the pricom of the Chelaris, and Kayleen Rax smiled. Princess Trennon looked like she was on the brink of collapse. Good. “Greetings, Princess. I’ll make this brief. I have quadralexic particle beams; you have type-two laser cannons. I have thermophyric Sidewinder torpedoes; you have Mark 5 Hunters. I have triple-reinforced shields. You don’t. Unfortunately, Dark Viper wasn’t very happy about what happened back on Brenaria, so I also have a Sweeper-class battleship four minutes behind me.”

  “What do you want?”

  “It’s simple. You see, Malignus is only the first ship in line, the only one that can beat us in a warp chase. There are four slower ships behind it, and maybe sixteen more after that. I can beat Malignus, but it might not be soon enough. If the others show up before I can go to warp, it’s all over. With your help, things might go a little more quickly.”

  “So we help you, and then we get left for the others to rip apart.”

  “Actually, I was hoping you’d agree to join me on Black Fang. We could easily make it to Palandora before the others, and I’m sure you can appreciate how easy it would be to defend the corridor into the Uraxis Nebula from inside – that is, it would be easy if you had my ship. Alone you’d be, as you said, ripped apart.”

  “And then what?”

  “And then I have a deal to make with you. If you refuse it, I’ll be on my way.”

  “Why not make it now?”

  “No time. Besides, I want to make sure I get to Palandora safely before I start handing things over to you.”

  “You’re not making a lot of sense, Rax.”

  “Princess, if you don’t launch those starfighters of yours and help me beat Malignus, I’ll simply have to rip you apart and then start running again. That’s all you need to know for now.”

  Jenara muted the volume and turned to X. “What do you think?”

  “I think we’d better send a distress signal to Gerran Marnax, and then help her out. I think she’s telling the truth about ripping us apart if we don’t help. The part about the ships behind her is probably also true.”

  “Princess,” the communications officer called, “Black Fang is jamming us. We can’t send a distress signal.”

  Jenara sighed and restored the volume. “All right, Rax. We’re going to battle stations now.”

  “I had a feeling you might say that,” Mirana said.

  Now that he had made a decision, Ned felt some of his tension lifting. “So what do we do now? Go tell General Marnax, I guess. I really should say something to Smardwurst, even if I don’t tell him where I’m going.”

  “Smardwurst Varlon is smart. He’ll figure it out. So will Gerran. Come with me to the pricom. We’re leaving.”

  “Now? I don’t have my things!”

  “Your things?” Mirana had a point. There was nothing excuse-worthy back there.

  “But what if someone saw you pick me up? Won’t they be suspicious?”

  “No. The Telarian security perimeter is completely reliable, and there’s not much of a tactical significance to this planet anyway. Anyone who saw me pick you up will assume I dropped you off on Galactron later, some other time. Or if not, they’ll think I’ve taken you to Nembis Four. Room six is ready for you. We’re leaving now.”

  Just moments later, the journey to Venom was underway.

  The Chelaris was no small ship, but Black Fang was five or six times larger. As it dropped out of warp, X was glad that for the moment they were on the same side. “We’re ready, Jenara. Just give the word and we go thundering heroically into space.” He did not try to mask his sarcasm.

  “Play it safe, X. Let Rax do the hard work. It’s the least she owes us.”

  “Right.”

  X spent the minutes remaining studying the specs and battle tactics of Malignus that Kayleen Rax had transmitted. He was anxious to get this matter over with so the former Plasma Master could be on her way. Something told him, though, that things would not be that simple.

  “Rax to Dragon Leader. Are you ready?”

  “You’re asking the leader of a six-ship squadron who’s about to take on a Sweeper-class starship alone if he’s ready?”

  “Hardly alone, X. I have a pair of fighter squadrons to help you out. You just distract the enemies and keep yourselves alive. We wouldn’t want to anger the Princess, would we?”

  “Whatever. How long until they’re here?”

  “Sixteen seconds. My fighters are deployed and ready. Get out here.”

  “Jenara?”

  “Do it,” Jenara confirmed.

  “Right. Dragon Force, launch.”

  X, Straker Dantorn, Liora Fenn, Garfsmunkle Ingeldorfus, Imbelsmift NooFrinchinSminchin, and Zhin Smud streaked out of their launch tubes and dodged laser fire for all they were worth. Malignus was not as heavily armed as Devastator or even Galactron, but it had enough firepower to put six starfighters on the run. Malignus launched three squadrons of fighters of its own, and X found himself desperately hoping that Kayleen Rax knew what she was doing.

  Then Black Fang attacked, hammering into Malignus with more kinds of weapons than X could count quickly. It struck so hard that Malignus, its engines temporarily powered down, was actually knocked backward by the attack. Its shields held, though. Still, Black Fang’s onslaught drew most of the other battleship’s attention, so X was able to concentrate on the starfighters. His and Rax’s squadrons were outnumbered, but Rax had apparently reserved some of Anacron’s finest pilots for her ship. Their black and red fighters swept into the midst of the enemy ships with the same fury that Black Fang had thrown onto Malignus, and the enemy fighters scattered. X targeted a particularly small group of them and attacked. Jenara brought the Chelaris up behind him for support.

  It had been a long time since X had fought a real battle, not counting the invincible one of Moldrona Kren, but his skills were still there. Dragon Force swept away its first few targets in a matter of minutes, and X surveyed the battle. At a glance, it seemed that Black Fang was winning.

  “X, this is Rax. Nice job, but see if you can draw some more fire from my fighters so they can hit Malignus again. The next wave of Anacronian ships is just ten minutes away, and we have to at least get rid of Malignus’s warp drive before they get here. You’ll die too if we fail, you know.”

  X regrouped with his squadron and attacked again. This time, though, he was more severely outnumbered, and Dragon Force took serious damage. X was fairly skilled at dodging, but Zhin’s shields failed after one too many torpedo blasts, and he was forced to eject in order to escape its imminent explosion. After making sure he was picked up by the Chelaris, X contacted Kayleen Rax.

  “This isn’t working. I don’t think we’re helping you out here.”

  “You’re going to have to do better, X. They’re coming.” Rax seemed almost panicked.

  X thought for a moment. “Rax, I have an idea. But I have to have your word that you’ll take us safely to Palandora. Really.”

  “That is the deal, isn’t it?” She didn’t need to say that X had no choice.

  “Whatever. Open your shuttle bays and prepare to receive the Chelaris
’s crew. I’m going to call Jenara and tell her my plan.”

  The crew on Malignus must have been slightly relieved as Black Fang pulled off its attack and flew over toward the Palandoran freighter. Malignus pursued, of course, but it stayed far enough back to allow it to make repairs, so the fire fight died down slightly. After all, a delay would favor Malignus. Meanwhile, Jenara Trennon was shuttling her crew over to Black Fang as quickly as she could. It was a difficult process, since it was necessary to keep enemy fighters away from the transports, but soon everyone was aboard Black Fang or a starfighter, and the Chelaris was being controlled remotely from Rax’s ship.

  “Enemy warships closing. Five minutes,” came the report.

  Rax punched in one final command to Jenara’s freighter, then turned to her tactical officer. “Call in the fighters. We’re ready.”

  As Black Fang moved away to expose the Chelaris to the guns of Malignus, the Palandoran freighter powered its warp drive. Then, when the warp coils were fully charged, it pivoted directly toward Malignus. The thrusters fired at full power, and the Chelaris barreled into Malignus’s aft at full speed. There was no time for Malignus to evade the collision; the ships were simply too close. The impact caused the Chelaris’s warp drive to explode in a searing burst of energy, and Malignus’s aft shields failed completely. Before Malignus’s crew could prevent it, Black Fang spewed weapons fire into the other ship’s exposed drive section, and Malignus disappeared in a blast of fiery light.

  Less than twenty seconds before the approaching ships arrived to disable and destroy Black Fang, Kayleen Rax and her companions thundered into hyperspace and were gone.