The Black Lung Captain - By Chris Wooding Page 0,100

gaze. 'You thank your stars for that tin guardian of yours,' he growled, and then he turned and ran for his craft. Crattle backed off a few steps, keeping them covered with his gun, and then he ran too.

Frey briefly thought about chasing after them, or at least shooting Grist in the back, but it was foolish. There were two dozen of the Storm Dog's men running towards their craft. No way his crew could get through a firefight like that without one of them dying, not even with Bess on their side.

'Back to the Ketty Jay!' he said. They sprinted through the long grass towards their aircraft. Rain lashed at their faces. Pounding concussions came from all around them. The Storm Dog was returning fire on the Delirium Trigger, but it was an easy target until it got into the air. A hole was blasted in its keel as the Delirium Trigger scored a direct hit.

Frey dug his silver earcuff out of his pocket and clipped it to his ear.

'—oody Equalisers coming from everywhere!' Pinn was yelling. 'Sons of bitches doubled back and the Storm Dog's outflyers are all docked up inside her!'

'Harkins! Pinn!'

'Cap'n!' said Harkins, perilously close to hysteria. 'We've been . . . that is ... I mean . . . Where've you been? Is Jez okay?'

'Listen up!'Frey snapped. 'Hightail it, both of you. You won't last two minutes against that many Equalisers.'

'You sure?' asked Pinn.

'Yes! Get to the rendezvous! We'll be right behind you.'

'See you later, then.'

By the time they reached the Ketty Jay, the Storm Dog was rising from the ground, thrusters already lit to push her forward. The Delirium Trigger was coming in fast, guns blazing. All the artillery was focused on the Storm Dog. The Ketty Jay was either unnoticed or considered unimportant. Either was fine with Frey.

He raced up the cargo ramp and headed for the cockpit. Malvery came panting along behind him while the rest of them bundled into the hold. The craft rocked with the force of nearby explosions as he flung himself into the pilot's seat, punched in the ignition code and boosted the aerium engines to maximum. She rose on her struts with the usual chorus of groans and squeaks, and lifted herself off the ground.

Malvery hurried into the cockpit, red-faced and sweating. 'Anything I can do?'

'Just hold on tight!' Frey said. Malvery clung to the doorframe and squeezed his eyes shut as Frey shoved the thrusters to maximum.

Nothing happened. Frey tried again. Still nothing. The Ketty Jay was gliding upward into the storm, but she had no way to push herself forward. The thrusters wouldn't light. The engines had finally broken down on him.

Malvery opened one eye. 'Did we escape?' he asked.

'Silo!' Frey yelled. 'Get up here!'

But it was too late. The cockpit flooded with blinding whiteness. Three Equalisers hove into view, their machine guns trained on him, lights shining.

'I think they've got us covered, Cap'n,' said Malvery.

'I think so too,' said Frey. He vented aerium until the Ketty Jay was heavier than air again. She stopped rising and began to sink gently to the ground.

In the distance he could see the Storm Dog lumbering away towards the rumbling clouds. The Delirium Trigger was harrying her the whole way, but it wasn't enough to stop her. He watched the Storm Dog disappear into the storm. With her went the sphere he'd worked so hard to obtain. Stolen from him. Again.

'Bugger,' said Malvery.

'Bugger,' Frey agreed, and they came down to earth with a bump.

Twenty-Two

Captive — Best Of Enemies —

Jez Awakes — Crake's Announcement

'Darian, Darian, Darian,' said Trinica Dracken, as if to a wayward child. 'What am I going to do with you?'

She was wearing a slight, contemplative smile. Lightning flickered outside: sharp shadows lunged across her ghost-white face.

Frey leaned back in his chair and took an idle survey of her cabin. Brass and dark wood. Electric lights, set low. A bookcase with novels and manuals and maps. Foreign tides were mixed in among them. Trinica had been schooled in Samarlan and Thacian from a young age. The advantages of a privileged upbringing, Frey supposed.

'You could start by giving me back all the money you stole from me outside Retribution Falls,' he suggested. Then he grinned. 'On second thoughts, keep it. It'll just about cover the damage to your aircraft.'

Trinica sat behind her desk, next to a cracked window of reinforced windglass. The cabin had been tidied and cleaned before his arrival -Trinica liked to be neat - but