Natural Selection

"Roger, Raven Leader," Carew responded. "We pick them up in ten, and you close the door on them."

"Roger, Vulture Leader. Good luck." Caitlin shifted her radio back to her own tactical frequency and realized she was smiling. She was proud that her brother's plan had worked out. The asteroid field just outside Zanderij IV had provided ample hiding places for her fighter wing. The asteroids, while a nasty hazard for fighters going full-bore, were much more dangerous for the larger DropShips, and forced them into some fairly specific and narrow cha

The ambush plan was simple and would have been perfect had there not been two equally accessible pirate points in the Zanderij system. Two of the three Kell Hound fighter squadrons had been stationed at a point roughly 1.6 million kilometers away. With her, Caitlin had the First Fighter Squadron and the ten Clan fliers in the Honor Guard Star that had come with Phelan.

She knew that twenty-eight fighters were insufficient to engage two OverlordClass DropShips, but the DropShips' transit through an asteroid field made them especially vulnerable. The Red Corsair's ships would have no choice but to run the gauntlet. She would hit them as they went in, but if the Corsair failed to reverse and jump out, the Hounds would join them in-system and engage on the ground. The key for Caitlin's fighter group was to do the DropShips as much damage as possible. If one or both of the DropShips smashed into the asteroids and died, everyone would consider that a bonus.

Caitlin watched the video feed coming from the sensor pod mounted atop the abandoned mining office on the asteroid where her aerospace squadron had been stationed. The two DropShips were coming in fast and dangerously close to each other, with the ship designated the Tigresscoming first. The Lionesslingered behind a bit, but their port and starboard fields of fire overlapped. The zone between them, instead of being a death zone, would be fairly open because neither ship could fire for fear of hitting its sister.

"Raven Leader, prep launch in 1.5 minutes. Velocity adjustment for run to plus fifty-two percent."

"Acknowledged, Vulture Leader." Caitlin relayed the information to her Raven squadron and knew that Crow and Blackbird squadrons were getting similar orders from Carew. The Kell Hounds were in command of the overall operation against the Clans, but Phelan and Dan Allard had. agreed that having Carew command at least this part of the ambush would give Conal Ward less to complain about. The assignment would satisfy the Wolf Clan's sense of honor.

She punched up her engines and let them build up to 110 percent of military power. They came online quickly and pushed power to her Stingray'swing-mounted large and medium laser pairs and the PPC mounted in the nose. She vectored the thrust up so it would keep her on the asteroid, but she knew that the second she shifted it the other way, the asteroid's vestigial gravity would release her fighter and send it out into the fray.

The clock on her auxiliary screen counted down to zero. "Raven Flight, go!"

As Caitlin pulled the stick back and eased the throttle forward, the Stingrayleaped from the asteroid like a falcon freed for flight. Punching both feet down on the overthrust pedals spiked the power output and jammed her back into her command couch as the fighter shot up and away. Glancing at her holographic combat display, she saw another Stingraypull in beside her. "Glad you're here, Mulligan."

The pair of swept-wing fighters threaded their way through the asteroid field and broke into the cylinder the DropShips had used to make their passage in toward the planet. Caitlin kicked her fighter up on its right wing in a looping turn that centered her in the cylinder. As the craft's nose pointed in at Zanderij IV, she spotted the two bright dots that were the bandit DropShips.

"Bandits at twelve o'clock," she radioed her squadron. "Fire at will."

* * *

Nelson stumbled against a bulkhead as the Tigressshuddered with the first hit. The blaring klaxons summoning bandits to battle stations had already told him something was wrong, but the hit confirmed it. Fighters. They jumped us with fighters.He hit the button to open the hatch to the corridor and stepped through it as another explosion rocked the DropShip.

In the corridor he could feel the thrumming rhythm of the Overlord'sautoca

As a MechWarrior, Nelson felt a mixture of joy and dread concerning fighters. He knew they could easily devastate ground-bound forces and even cripple Drop-Ships. Though such an action would mean his death, the idea made him happy because it would also bring the Red Corsair's predations to an end. That fed into the optimistic feelings in his heart, and spawned a desperate plan.

I don't have to die.Nelson knew it was true with the conviction of a madman or a prophet, and he knew two other things without a doubt. The first was that he would survive whatever happened at Zanderij.

The second was that he would finally be free of the Red Corsair!

* * *

"Watch it, Raven Deuce, open up," Caitlin snarled into her radio as Mulligan's Stingraystrayed in close to her fighter. Seeing his fighter jerk ahead as he hit the overthrusters, she dropped back to cover him in case the bandits launched fighters of their own. Spi

"I'm in!" Mulligan's words echoed through her helmet as he flipped his Stingrayup on its canopy in a tight roll, and made a run on the Lioness.His wing-mounted medium and large lasers flashed out with competing red and green shafts of energy, raking like claws through the armor of the egg-shaped DropShip, then the PPC in the Stingray'snose jolted the larger ship with an azure bolt of artificial lightning.

Caitlin had less than a second to appreciate Mulligan's handiwork before her own attack run started. She dropped her golden crosshairs onto the ship and, immediately got the gold dot in the center, confirming a target lock. She punched her thumb down on the joystick's firing stud, and heat spiked colorfully on her auxiliary monitor. The PPC sent a jagged blue line of lightning into the Lioness.

Hitting the trigger under her index finger, Caitlin next fired both large lasers, pushing her ship's heat higher. The fighter's green beams bracketed the PPC blast and melted away yet more armor on the DropShip's hull.

"Nice shooting, Cait!" Mulligan corkscrewed his fighter down through the death alley between the two DropShips, and she followed in his wake. "Another run?"

"Roger, Raven Two." She remembered Phelan's instructions to the pilots. "Whatever it takes."

* * *

Nelson ran as hard as he could through the corridor, the klaxons harrying him like hunting horns after a fox. I will escape!He threaded his way through the ship, ru

Suddenly a huge explosion rocked the Tigress,smashing him against the interior bulkhead. He saw stars when he hit his forehead, then rebounded and sprawled on the deck? Darkness wanted to close around him, but he forced it away. Pushing himself to a sitting position, Nelson felt blood dripping down from the gash on his head, but his adrenaline and sense of urgency blocked any pain.