I might have let myself get cornered. I can’t lead the enemy into our ambush; see if he and the others are willing to come help me instead.”
“Finally,” M-Bot said.
I dodged some more, tracking the enemy ace on my proximity monitor. Scud. I wished I could hear them like I could the drones.
No, this is good, I thought. I need to be careful never to let my gift become a crutch.
I gritted my teeth and made a snap decision. I couldn’t get back to the main battle, so instead I dove toward Detritus. The defense shells surrounding it weren’t solid; they were made up of large platforms that had housed living quarters, shipyards, and weapons. Though we’d begun reclaiming the ones closest to the planet, these outer layers were still set to automatically fire at anything that got close.
I hit my overburn, accelerating to speeds that—in atmosphere—would have caused most starfighters to rattle or even rip apart. Up here I only felt the acceleration, not the speed.
I quickly reached the nearest space platform. Long and thin, it curved slightly, like a chunk of broken eggshell. The remaining drones and the single ace were still on my tail. At these speeds, dogfighting was much more dangerous. The time for me to react before colliding with something would be much smaller, and the smallest touch on my control sphere could veer me off course faster than I might be able to deal with.
“Spensa?” M-Bot said.
“I know what I’m doing,” I muttered back, concentrating.
“Yes, I’m sure,” M-Bot answered. “But . . . just in case . . . you do remember that we don’t have control of these outer platforms yet, right?”
I focused my full attention on sweeping down close to the surface of the metal platform without running into anything. The gun emplacements here tracked me and started firing—but they also started firing on the enemy.
I concentrated on dodging. Or really just weaving erratically—I could outfly the drones in a raw contest of skill, but they had superior numbers. Down near the platform, that translated into a liability for my enemies—because to the guns, we were all targets.
Several of the drones flared up in explosions—which vanished almost immediately, flames smothered by the vacuum of space.
“I wonder if those guns feel fulfilled, finally getting to shoot something down after all these years up here,” M-Bot said.
“Jealous?” I asked with a grunt, dodging.
“From what Rodge says, they don’t have true AIs, merely some simple targeting functions. So that would be like you being jealous of a rat.”
Another drone fell. Just a little longer. I wanted to even the odds a bit while I waited for my friends to arrive.
I sank into another trance as I flew. I couldn’t hear the controls of the gun emplacements, but in moments like these—moments of pure concentration—I felt as if I were becoming one with my ship.
I could feel the attention of the eyes back on me. My heart thundered inside my chest. With those guns trained on me . . . tails giving chase and still firing . . .
A little further . . .
My mind sank down, and I felt as if I could sense M-Bot’s very workings. I was in severe danger. I needed to escape.
Surely I could do it now. “Engage cytonic hyperdrive!” I said, then tried to do what I’d done once before, teleporting my ship.
“Cytonic hyperdrive is offline,” M-Bot said.
Scud. The one time it had worked, he’d been able to tell me it was online. I tried again, but . . . I didn’t even know what it was I’d done that once. I had been in danger, about to die. And then I . . . I’d done . . .
Something?
A blast from a nearby gun nearly blinded me, and with gritted teeth I pulled up and zipped out of the defensive guns’ range. The ace had survived, though they had taken a hit or two, so maybe their shield was weakened. Plus, only three drones remained.
I cut my thrust and spun my ship on its axis—still moving forward, but pointed backward—a maneuver that indicated I was going to try shooting behind me. Sure enough, the ace dodged away immediately. They weren’t so brave with a weakened shield. Instead of firing, I boosted after the ace—escaping the drones, which swarmed toward my former position.
I got on the ace’s tail and tried to draw in close enough for a shot—but whoever they were, they were good. They spun into a complex series