by a pair of lopsided rings circling an equally lopsided planetoid, he split his attention between the salvage ship and the empty space beyond it, waiting for Firrg to appear.
“Captain, the salvage ship’s engines have come on-line.” Dysun transferred the information to Cho’s screen. “I think they’re getting ready to move out.”
“No one asked for your opinion,” Huirre growled, hands and feet ready over his board.
The di’Taykan’s hair flipped up on the side closest to the Krai. “Who tied your kayt in a knot?”
“Gren sa talamec!”
“If someone stuffed it up yours, you’d be in a better mood,” she snorted.
“Shut up. Both of you.” Fingers digging into the edge of his screen, Cho willed Firrg to make her move.
“Net’s are away, Captain!”
“I don’t see them.”
“We’re not picking them up on visuals, but there’s a ripple in the data.” Hair flicking quickly back and forth, Dysun bent over her board. I’m boosting magnification. Give them a minute or two to show . . . There!”
“I see them.”
She drummed her fingers on the inert edging. “If that ship starts to move before the nets . . .”
“We know,” Huirre interrupted. “For horon’s sake, we all know.”
Twenty kilometers.
Fifteen kilometers.
Five.
Contact.
“Anchor lines have caught. Dargonar has powered the buoys. They’ve dumped their pen, Captain! They’re moving!”
“Get them, Huirre.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
Huirre moved the Heart of Stone out of concealment directly toward the fleeing ship.
Suddenly faced with another ship, the salvage operator did the unexpected and went straight up the Y-axis.
“Son of a fukking bitch!” Cho shifted forward on his seat as though the movement would bring them into alignment. Huirre had them perfectly positioned had the other ship been where it was supposed to be. It just figured that today, when it meant so much, he’d run into the one original thinker in the entire fukking salvage fleet. “Almon!”
“Captain?”
“Get the grapples into that ship!”
“It’s not . . .”
“I know it’s not! Huirre, bring the aft end around!” In spite of the inertial dampeners, his stomach lurched as Huirre flipped the Heart vertically. “Almon, do it!”
“But . .”
“Now!” He was not letting this salvage operator get away. Not when he was so close to getting that armory open.
“Aye, aye, Captain. Grapples away!”
Cho watched the signals from the grapple ends close in on the smaller ship, willing them to make contact and dig in. He’d haul that CSO’s ass inboard so fast it would . . . Contact! “Huirre!”
“Aye, Captain.” Eyes locked on his own screens, Huirre worked the lateral thrusters with both hands. “Adjusting angles.”
“Shit!”
“Talk to me, Almon.”
“Looks like the Susumi drive’s punctured!”
The silence in the control room was so complete Cho could have sworn he heard half the light receptors in Dysun’s eyes snap closed. “Looks like?” he growled. “Be sure!”
“I tried to warn . .”
“Cover your own ass, why don’t you,” Huirre muttered.
“Captain! Energy leakage.” Dysun’s voice had risen half an octave. “There’s a puncture for sure.”
A punctured Susumi drive meant they were, at best, moments away from being caught in a blast wave of Susumi energy. At worst, they’d go up with the other ship.
“Release grapples!”
“Released! But it’ll take twenty-seven seconds to bring them in!”
“Huirre! Get us out of here!”
“Captain! The grapples!”
“Fuk the grapples! Let them swing!” Being smacked about by their own lines was the least of their worries. Susumi explosions twisted space. “Huirre, get us back behind that rock!” The planetoid that had hidden them earlier offered their best chance of survival; its bulk would deflect most of the Susumi wave.
Huirre burned everything they had. They were still too close.
“What the fuk is going on up there?” Krisk had bypassed the comm protocols again.
Before Cho could answer, Huirre snarled a fast sentence in Krai at the engineer, who growled back, “Not on my watch.”
The Heart of Stone surged forward. Swearing, Huirre worked his board with all four extremities, fighting to maintain course while riding the unexpected burst of power. They’d just passed the planetoid’s rings and were rounding the horizon when the salvage ship blew. In the 2.73 seconds it took for the blast wave to hit, Huirre managed to get most of the Heart to safety. Cho made a mental note to give him a really big gun when they got the armory open.
If they survived.
The blast hit the aft end just behind the cargo hold, flinging the Heart end over end. Huirre danced both hands and feet across his board, firing microsecond bursts on one thruster after another to keep them clear of the rings. Rock slammed into the hull. The