Freedom's Fall (Freedom's Fire Book 5) by Bobby Adair

Author:Bobby Adair [Adair, Bobby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-03-16T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 37

The Arizona class makes its choice. It gives up on chasing the flaming remains of the Rusty Turd and changes course to come for us.

“If you have any more C4,” I comm to Silva, “blow up anything you think we can afford to lose.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No,” I tell her, “just be careful back there.”

“10-4, Chief.”

“Chief?” I ask.

Her and Peterson are laughing as they cut the comm.

“Is this a joke with you guys?” I ask Lenox.

“Can’t say, Skipper.” She grins at me. “That Arizona class can’t chase us at max acceleration, because it’s still down in the soup, but it can cut through the atmosphere faster than we did using its grav lens to clear the way, so to speak.”

“How long do you think we have?”

“Three? Four minutes? You know I’m guessing, right?”

“Me, too,” I say. “I just wanted to see if your guess was in line with mine.” We’re out of the atmosphere and picking up speed as Lenox pushes all the ship’s power to its grav plates.

“I’m gonna blow the rear door,” Silva tells me. “At the hinges.”

“She’s an overachiever,” says Lenox. “That’s a quick way to shed twenty tons. It’ll make us faster.”

I know the incremental increase won’t win us a race with our pursuer, yet it’ll pad our margin of error. “Be quick, Silva. We have maybe three minutes before we have to abandon ship.”

“Abandon ship?” Lenox asks, getting the reason even as she speaks. She knows we don’t stand a chance once that Arizona class ship breaches the atmosphere. “That could work.”

“So we’re on the same page.”

“Yes.”

“I’m going down to help out Silva and Peterson,” I tell her. “As soon as you have us on course. Autopilot if it still works, and then get down to the hangar with us.”

The ship lurches violently.

“Oh,” says Silva over the comm. “Brace for detonation, like, a second ago.”

“Thanks.” Sarcasm. “Did the hangar door break free?”

“Oh, yeah.” She’s proud of her work.

With my grav sense clearing up now that we’re out of the atmosphere, I see the massive hangar door falling away behind us. “Keep at it. I’m coming down to help.”

“I have the autopilot set,” says Lenox.

Damn, my people are good.

“Let’s go together,” I tell her, feeling better that I won’t be abandoning her on the bridge.

It only takes a few moments for us to race from the bridge down to the hangar bay. Lenox and Silva are busy throwing out every piece of equipment they can lift. Down the path our ship traveled, pieces of steel, tools, thick lengths of cable, pieces of crap I can’t even guess the purpose of are flying through the vacuum. Far back, the heavy door, its momentum significantly diverted when the C4 separated it from the tug, is glowing as it brushes along Jupiter’s upper atmosphere.

Past that, barreling toward us out of a cloud of fire, the Arizona class is passing it by. It’ll max grav any moment. Destruction of the tug will come seconds later.

“It’s time,” I tell the ladies. “Everybody out.

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