Chapter 12
Within five minutes of launching the Misfits found themselves pursued. The Naga’s six fighters immediately started to gain on their prey. Ahead, the malevolent glow of the brown dwarf filled Mervyn’s viewscreen offering them, if not salvation, at least a reprieve from their pursuers. Too massive to be a planet but not dense enough to be a sun, it still presented a formidable obstacle.
Mervyn studied Loren’s new star map, ‘If the alternative is certain death I say we go for it.’
‘Put like that,’ Aurora said, ‘how can I refuse?’
‘I agree,’ Tarun said, ‘and if we can save some lives by doing this I say we at least try, but I have to tell you, I’m glad I’m not driving.’
The sleds slowed to match Loren’s calculations: reeling in the fighters until committed to the false trajectory.
‘There’s something else we can do to improve the odds of success,’ Loren said.
‘What, from zero to just above zero, you mean?’ She ignored Aurora and called up a new schematic.
It took a while for Mervyn to work it all out, ‘Is this possible, Loren?’
‘Oh yes... theoretically. But I’ve never actually rigged it up,’ she said. ‘Remember all those evenings I spent in the sled bay while you lot played on the simulators? This is what I was working on.’
‘It looks fiddly,’ Tarun said, ‘do we have time to fit all this?’
‘I don’t know, but there’s only one way to find out.’
‘Ok, I’ll have a go, but I’m really not sure what I’m looking at here so you’ll have to talk me through it, Loren.’
‘We’ll do it together, Tarun, step by step.’
‘Uh oh, fighters engaging their weapons,’ Tarun reported, ‘I hope you know what you’re doing with this slowing down business.’ No one needed reminding about the earnestness of this race.
Without warning, a photon blast erupted behind them making everybody jump. The hunters were catching up.
‘It’s ok,’ Loren assured them, ‘just someone taking a pot-shot -- they’re nowhere near close enough to actually hit us -- so far.’ The hunters gained steadily, and every once in a while one of them tried a shot.
‘Those blasts are getting closer,’ Tarun commented as the Brown Dwarf loomed under them. Mervyn could clearly see the surface now; the Dwarf’s mantle broiled an angry red with orange flares licking up towards the minuscule sleds. Soon they would be mere specks crossing the vastness of the failed sun’s surface.
‘They’re just trying to unsettle us,’ Mervyn said, ‘get us to make a mistake. Stay focused, keep the speed steady, and trust Loren’s calculations.’ He wished he felt as confident as he sounded, but in the end what choice did he have? All that lay between them and death was Loren’s brilliance.
Another photon blast, the closest so far, shook the sled. Cubby holes and cupboards burst open spewing their contents into the cockpit. Mervyn tried to ignore a pen cart wheeling lazily in front of his nose.
Suddenly, an angry buzzing filled the sled.
‘Help. Mervyn, there’s something alive in here,’ Loren screamed. ‘It’s in my hair. Get it out. Get it out!’
He tried to ignore Loren’s frantic screams and concentrate on the sled’s trajectory: no way could he leave his seat and help her now. ‘Keep still, Loren. Calm down -- don’t antagonise it.’
‘What’s going on over there,’ Tarun demanded. ‘Are you hit, Mervyn? I repeat, are you hit?’
‘No, it’s your blasted Skitterbug. The blast shook it loose and it’s attacking Loren.’
‘Skitterbug!’ Loren screeched. ‘If we survive this, Tarun, I’m going to kill you.’ More buzzing greeted her outburst, but it soon died down so she must have sat still. A scratchy sound caught Mervyn’s attention and out of the corner of his eye he caught movement on the flight panel. The Skitterbug crawled slowly towards the main controls clicking its way from one pad to the next. Mervyn held his breath and watched it crawl within reach of his hand. Swiftly, he snatched it up, and holding its struggling wings closed, stuffed it into a pocket of his jumpsuit, ‘Got it.’
‘It was just a parting shot,’ Loren said regaining her composure. ‘See, the fighters are falling away below us already. A few more seconds and they’re committed to their course round the dwarf’s equator.’ She was right, the fighters dipped towards the dwarf’s surface as its massive gravity field took hold. They sped up too.
Mervyn felt his gut sink towards his seat. Gravity. ‘Hold the speed steady -- don’t raise any suspicions.’
‘On my mark,’ Loren instructed, ‘Three... two... one... dive!’
Mervyn piled on the power and accelerated towards the broiling mass below. No graceful slide towards the surface for them, instead a roller coaster ride towards hell. He felt the lurch of weightlessness again -- free fall. Their reckless dive took them below their pursuer's horizon, and for a few precious minutes they became invisible to the hunters.
The proximity alarm sounded and amber lights flashed, ‘Impact warning: altitude too low...,’ Mervyn ignored the computer and race on.
‘Ready for correction?’ Surprise was everything.
‘Affirmative.’
‘Yes.’
‘Three... two... one... execute!’
Mervyn wrestled the sled out of its dive and hauled it round to the new heading. Gravity reasserted itself with a vengeance slamming him against the back of his seat.
‘Red proximity breach imminent. Automated course adjustment standing by,’ the sled blared.
‘Whatever you do guys don’t go into the red zone. Any course correction could prove fatal,’ Loren warned. ‘Red means dead.’
Mervyn struggled to reach the controls and hold the sled just above the red zone as gravity accelerating them round the curve of the Dwarf. The new route took them away from the Dwarf’s equatorial plane towards its northern most pole. The speed continued to mount as gravity did its job. Then, without warning, the sled lurched alarmingly towards the red zone.
‘Gravity well,’ Aurora called. It was the first of many.
Mervyn fought to keep the sled out of the red zone. Besides the gravity wells they attracted magnetic flares from the dwarf’s surface. These would well up from below and blast them off course. Constant adjustments were needed to keep the sled heading on the right trajectory. Loren’s warning kept repeating in Mervyn’s head like a death knell, ‘Red is dead. Red is dead,’ until he was sick of it.
When they emerged over the Dwarf’s north pole Mervyn heaved a sigh of relief. The fight had exhausted him, but they were safe if somewhat battered and bruised.
‘There they are!’ Tarun shouted excitedly as the fighters emerged from behind the Brown Dwarf on a trajectory almost at right angles to their own. ‘Look, they stayed on the original heading -- they’re way off course. It’ll take them ages to pull back onto an intercept heading. Bunghoy -- what a team!’
The friends whooped and shouted their relief at escaping the fighters, except Loren, who sat quietly in thought.