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starboard quarter . As David pushed the stick fully forward and left he
kicked on full left rudder, ducking under the blast of ca
the Mirage went down in a spiralling dive. The blood which gravity had
sucked from his head was now flung upwards through his body, filling his
head and his vision with bright redness, the red-out of inverted
gravitational force. A vein in his nose popped under the pressure and
suddenly his oxygen mask was filled with a flood of warm choking blood.
The Russian was after him, following him into the dive, lining him up
for his second burst.
David screamed with the metallic salty taste of blood in his mouth and
hauled back on the stick with all his strength, the nose came up and
over, climbing out of the dive, and again the blood drained from his
head going from red-out to black-out in the fraction of a second and be
saw the Russian following him up, drawn up by the ploy. At the top
David kicked it out in a breakaway roll. It caught the Russian, he was
one-hundredth of a second slow in countering and he swung giddily
through David's gunsight, an almost impossible deflection shot that
sluiced ca
garden hose. The MIG was in David's sights for perhaps one-tenth of a
second, but in that time David saw a flash of light, a bright wink of it
below the pilot's canopy, and then David rolled and turned out, coming
around hard and finding the Russian still hanging in the circuit, but
losing air space, swaying out with a feather of white vapour streaming
back from below his cockpit canopy.
I've hit him, David exulted, and his fear was gone, become anger again,
a fierce triumphant anger. He took the Mirage up in another soaring
yo-yo and this time the MIG could not hold station on him and David
flickrolled off the top and came out with the Russian centred in his
gunsight.
He fired a one-second burst and saw the incendiary shells lace in and
burst in quick little stabbing stars in the silver fuselage of the MIG.
The Russian came out of his turn, in a gentle dive, flying straight, no
longer taking evasive action, probably dead at his controls, and David
sat on his tail, and settled the pipper of his gunsight.
He fired another one-second burst and the MIG began to break up. Small
unidentifiable pieces of wreckage flew back at David, but the Russian
stayed with his machine.
Again David hit him with a two-second burst, and now the MIG's nose sank
until she was in a vertical dive still under full power and she went
down like a silver javelin. David could not follow her without tearing
off his own wings. He pulled out and watched the Russian fly into the
earth at a speed that must have exceeded mach 2_ He burst like a bomb in
a tall tower of dust and smoke that stood for long seconds on the brown
plains of Syria.
David shut down his afterburners and looked to his fuel gauges. They
were all showing only a narrow strip above the empty notch, and David
realized that the last screaming dive after the MIG had taken him
down'to an altitude of five thousand, he was over enemy territory and
too low, much too low.
Expending precious fuel he came around on a westerly heading and went to
interception speed, climbing swiftly out of range of flak and searching
the heavens about him for sign of either Joe or the other MIGs, although
he guessed that the Syrians were either with Allah in the garden of the
Houris, or back home with mother by this time. Bright Lance Two, this
is leader. Do you read me? 'Leader, this is Two, Joe's voice answered
him immediately. have you visual. In the name of God, get out of
there! What is my position? We are fifty miles within Syrian
territory, our course for base is 2 5 O How did you go? I took out one
of mine. The other one ran for it, after that I was too busy keeping an
eye on you David blinked his eyes and was surprised to find that sweat
was pouring down his forehead from under his helmet and his mask was
stick and sticky with blood from his nose-bleed. His arms and shoulders
still ached, and he felt drLmken and light-headed from the effects of
gravity and combat and his hands on the control column were shaky and
weak.
I got two he said, two of the swines, one for Debra, and one for Ha
Shut up, Davey, Joe's voice was stiff with tension. Concentrate on
getting out of here. You are within range of both flak and ground
missiles. Light your tail - and let's go.
Negative, David answered him. I'm low on fuel.
Where are you?
Six o'clock high at 25, 000. 'As he answered, Joe sat up in his seat,
leaning forward against his shoulder straps to watch the tiny wedge
shape of David's machine far below. it was climbing slowly up to meet
him, slowly too slowly, and low, too low. David was vulnerable and Joe
was afraid for him, frowning heavily into his face mask and searching
restlessly, sweeping heaven and earth for the first hint of danger. Two
minutes would see them clear, but they would be two long, slow minutes.
He almost missed the first missile. The ground crew must have allowed
David to overfly their launch pad before they put it up in pursuit, for
Joe picked up its vapour trail as it streaked in from behind David,
closing rapidly with him.
Missile, break left, Joe yelled into his mask. Go! Go!
Go! and he saw David begin his turn instantly, steeply, side-stepping
the sizzling attack of the missile.
It's lost you! Joe called, as the missile continued its crazy career
through space, begi
target and at last bursting in self -destruction.
Keep going, Davey, Joe encouraged him, but keep awake, there will be
more. They both saw the next one leave the ground from its camouflaged
vehicle. There was a nest of them on a rocky ridge above a sun-blasted
plain. The Serpent slid off the rock and lifted into the sky, climbing
rapidly towards David's little machine.
Light your tail, Joe told him, and wait for it! He watched the missile
boring in, converging with dazzling speed on David's Mirage.
Break right! Go! Go! Go! Joe yelled and David twisted violently
aside. Again the Serpent slid past him, over-shooting, but this time
not losing contact and coming around to attack again, its seekers locked
to David's machine.
He's still on you, Joe was screaming now. Go for the sun, Davey. Try
for the sun, and the Mirage pointed its nose at the great blazing orb
that burned above the mountain ranges of dark cloud. The Serpent
followed him upwards, hunting him with the dreadful singlemindedness of
the automaton. He's on to you, Davey. Flip out now! Go! Go! Go!
David flicked the Mirage out of her vertical climb, and fell like a
stone, while the Serpent fastened its attention upon the vast infra-red
output from the sun and streaked on towards it, losing the Mirage.
You've lost it. Get out, Davey, get out! Joe pleaded with him, but for
the moment the Mirage was helpless.
In her desperate climb for the sun she had lost manoeuvring speed and
was wallowing clumsily now. It would be many seconds before she became
agile and lithe once more, and by then it would be too late, for Joe saw
the third missile become airborne and dart upwards on its feather of
flame and smoke aiming at David's Mirage.
Joe did not consciously realise what he was going to do until he had