Maverick

They were just test-fitting a new memory cube when the first explosion rocked the ship.

“All ‘ands!” Wolruf barked over the intercom. “We’re und’r attack!”

. Derec invoked his internal commlink and patched into the ship’s intercom. In a flash he was looking out through the ship’s main optics and talking to Wolruf on the bridge. Aranimas again?

“ ‘Oo else?”

Where is he? 1 can ’ t see him.

“Dorsal port quarter. ‘Bout 25 degrees above the ecliptic. ” Derec flipped through the ship’s optic feeds until he found the correct one, and then he gasped. The multi-hulled Erani pirate ship was huge-and close. Tiny pinpricks of actinic light seared his eyes as the gu

How ’ d he manage to sneak up on us like this?

“ ‘U took Mandelbrot off the sca

The jump. How close are we to the jump point?

“ ‘Bout ten minutes. Not close enough,” she barked sharply, and growled something unintelligible in her native tongue. Another blast rocked the ship.

Can you take evasive action?

“What do ‘u thinkI’m doin’, you stupid ‘airless ape!” Wolruf broke off her end of the commlink. Derec withdrew himself from the ship’s optic feed.

“What’s going on?” Avery demanded. He was still crouched over Mandelbrot’s open chest, a sonic welder in his hands.

“ Aranimas!” Throwing aside his tools, Derec stripped off his goggles and darted toward the lift. “I’ve got to get down to the bridge!”

Avery dropped the sonic welder into Mandelbrot’s chest and started after Derec. “Wait for me!” The lift doors hissed open; Derec dashed in and started pushing buttons. The ship shuddered under another explosion. The lights flickered for a moment, the monitor robot went crashing into the wall, and Avery was thrown off his feet. But he recovered his balance and made it into the lift an instant before the doors slid shut. The bottom dropped out of the lift car.

Seconds later, the lift doors opened, spilling Derec and Avery onto the bridge. “Wolruf!” Derec barked.

“I’m busy,” she growled back at him. The little alien was standing before the control panel, balanced on one foot like a Burmese dancer. Her other foot was up on the throttle lever, her thick, sausage-like fingers were flying over the fine control knobs and buttons, and her teeth were clamped on the yawl pitch joystick. Somehow, she was managing to control the ship.

“Damage report!” Derec yelled.

She let go of the joystick for a moment. “Th’ first ‘it took out the gym. Th’ rest ‘ave all been glancing blows. ” Wolruf bit the joystick again.

“The gym?” Derec blanched. “Where’s Ariel?”

“Locked in the Deck 3 Personal,” Ariel’s voice came over the intercom. “I was taking a shower when the attack started. I’m okay, but I’m afraid that the trainer robot is a total loss. ”

“If we get out of this, I’ll build you another one. ” Derec broke off the conversation and turned to Wolruf. “Okay, I’ll take over now. ”

Wolruf flattened her ears, let go of the joystick, and growled at Derec. “ ‘ V a combat pilot?”

“No, but the automatics will be helping me, not fighting you. ”

Wolruf grabbed the joystick again and threw it hard over, just as another blast grazed the hull. “No offense,” she said around the control, “but I’m willin’ t’ bet ‘at me on crippled manual is still a better pilot’ an ‘ u with full automatics. ” A second later she went flying across the cabin as a massive explosion rocked the ship. The viewing screen flickered and went dead. The cabin lights went out and stayed out.

“ ‘Course,” Wolruf whined, somewhere in the dark, “I could be wrong. ”

What seemed an eternity later, dim red emergency lighting came up slowly and a pleasant little bell chimed. “I’m sorry,” the ship said in a soft, feminine voice of the sort usually reserved for elevators and recorded phone messages, “but all main power feeds have been severed. Repairs are in progress, and I expect to restore full function in about five minutes. Sorry for the inconvenience. “ The bell chimed again, and the speakers went silent.

For some time, there was utter silence on the bridge. No reassuring hum or robotic activity; no soft whirring of ventilation fans. The air recirculation system had gone out with the lights, and already the atmosphere on the bridge was growing thick and fetid. There were no sounds at all, save for Avery’s heavy breathing, Wolruf’s frightened whine, and the occasional thud of a low-power hit on the hull.

“What’s he waiting for?” Avery whispered, as if afraid that his voice would carry through the vacuum to the Erani ship. “Why isn’t he hitting us with everything he’s got?”

“I don’t know,” Derec whispered back. “He didn’t stop firing on the asteroid until it was a smoking mass of gravel. Do you know, Wolruf?” Her only answer was a frightened whine. “Come on. You do know, don’t you?”

“Old Erani slaving technique,” she said through a whimper. “Suppression fire. Make ‘u keep ‘ur ‘ead down while th’ boarding party jets across. ”

Avery’s head jerked up. “Boarding party?”

. Derec leapt to his feet. “Viewscreens are still out. I’m going to activate my internal commlink and see if I can tap an optic feed. ” He closed his eyes in concentration, but the moment he did so a deafening barrage erupted on the surface of the hull.

“Stop it, Derec!” Derec broke concentration, and the barrage stopped.

“Your internal commlink,” Avery whispered. “You said the Erani know a lot more about hyperwave than we do. They must be able to monitor your commlink!”

. Derec’s face sank. “Oh, great. Now what do we do?”

Avery rolled over so that he was facing Wolruf. “Wolruf, you were part of his crew. Will he fire on us if the boarding party is on the hull?”

Wolruf gave it some thought. “Depends on ‘oo’s in the boarding party. Probably won’t use ‘is ‘eavy guns. ”

“ And how far are we from the jump point?”

Wolruf brought a hind foot up and gave her right ear a scratch. “, Ard to tell. We lost propulsion, rem’mber?”

Avery patted her on the head. “But we haven’t lost our momentum. We’re still on course and drifting towards the jump point at 2,000 kilometers per second. ”

“’At’s right!” Wolruf got to her feet and staggered over to the control panel. The panel clock had its own backup power cell and was still ru

“Provided we can get jump power back in time,” Avery added. He got to his feet and joined Wolruf before the control console. “Ship, what is the status of the hyperdrive?”

“Main power will be reco

“Frost! That’s not soon enough. ” Then Avery had another thought. “Ship? What happens if we divert all repair resources to the hyperdrive?”

The ship considered it a moment. “Main power can be restored in approximately two minutes. Repairs to the control systems are still contingent on the cessation of hostile fire. ”

“Divert all resources to the hyperdrive,” Avery ordered. He turned to Derec. “Now, how do we persuade them to stop shooting at us?” Derec shrugged.

Hesitantly, tentatively, Wolruf stepped forward. “Among my people we ‘ave an old tradition,” she said. “Roll over an’ play dead. ”

. Derec gave a frustrated snort and sneered at the little alien. “What kind of idea is that?”