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opened fire on the remaining pair. His blasters raked across the nearer
target, which came apart under the savage force of the beams.
The second fighter looped up, turning away from the battle and accelerating
fast. Evidently the pilot had decided against a glorious death today&
"
There's more of the bastards up ahead, Colonel
," Marshall reported as he finished off his last opponent and swung back into
formation. "
Looks like we're not welcome around here
."
"As long as they're just conventional aircraft, they shouldn't be much
trouble," Blair said. "Stay focused, though. You can bet they'll bring in the
big guns soon enough& "
"
Targets! Targets! Targets
!" Flint chanted. "
I've got six& eight targets on my board. Coming in from orbit
!"
They weren't showing on Blair's sensors yet, so they were still at extreme
range. "Watch 'em, Flint," he ordered. A whole squadron of space-based
fighters would be a lot harder to handle than the aircraft ahead, but they'd
be hard-pressed to close the range as long as the Terrans could keep moving.
The second wave of interceptors closed in from below, eight high-performance
jet aircraft in a tight formation. They broke just as
Maniac opened fire, scattering, curving in on the Terrans and engaging with
missiles and beam weapons. Once again Maniac and Blair had to engage them, and
by the time the attackers had been destroyed or forced to flee Blair realized
what the enemy strategy was. Each time the Terrans got caught in a dogfight,
however short, the orbital fighters closed the range a little more&
Excalibur 3O3
Kilrah
A near miss by a missile buffeted her fighter, and lieutenant Robin
Peters had to fight her steering yoke to maintain control. It had been years
since she'd last had to fight a battle in a planetary atmosphere, where all
the rules were different from those she was used to in deep space fighting.
Shock waves carried& and shields were weakened by the energy they
absorbed from friction in high-speed maneuvers.
"They're firing," Flint reported. "One Vaktoth& and a Bloodfang, both of them
in combat range. More Vaktoth coming up fast behind them."
"
Bloodfang& Thrakhath's personal fighter
." Blair's voice was grim. "
Damn it all
!"
She nodded. Intelligence reports on the Prince's personal fighter, code-named
Bloodfang by the Confederation, suggested it would be one hell of a tough
opponent. "Don't know if I can take the bastard, skipper,"
she said. "You have any bright ideas?"
"
Go to afterburners
," Blair ordered. "
Let's see if we can outrun them
."
She kicked in the extra power, but the Vaktoth matched her&
continued closing the range. Another missile detonated, even closer this time.
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"No joy, skipper," she said. "Looks like there's going to be a fight& "
Kilrathi blaster fire probed at her rear shields, sapping the power levels
with each hit. Cursing, she pulled up in a sharp loop and opened fire on one
of her two pursuers with blasters and a spread of four missiles. The two
fighters were having as much trouble fighting in atmosphere as she was, and
the weakened forward shields of her target went down under the fury of her
attack. The Vaktoth exploded in a shower of debris, and Flint let out a whoop
of triumph.
It died on her lips as the Bloodfang opened fire. She tried to roll out, but
blasters pounded at her shields. They were going down& and a pair of heat
seekers were already on the way.
"He's got me, skipper!" she called. "Can't& evade. Don't forget& I could have
loved "
She didn't live to finish the sentence.
Excalibur 3OO
Kilrah
"Flint!" Blair shouted, but it was too late. The rearmost Excalibur went up in
a dazzling fireball, and Robin Peters was gone.
A new voice crackled in his headphones. "
So it shall be with you as well, Heart of the Tiger
." He recognized the harsh, sibilant voice.
Thrakhath& "
You are foolhardy, to venture with so few against my
Homeworld. Once before you lacked the courage to fight me. This time, you
shall not escape. Welcome, Heart of the Tiger, to Kilrah& and to your death
!"
"
The canyon's in sight ahead, Colonel
," Marshall reported. "
I'll drop back and have the next dance. You get in there and do your stuff
!"
Blair hesitated. Thrakhath had challenged him once again& and he couldn't
stand and fight. It took every bit of his self-control to grit his teeth and
acknowledge Marshall's call.
Maniac executed a tight Immelman loop, swinging up and around to head back
toward the on-coming Kilrathi fighters. Thrakhath's Bloodfang was still well
in the lead, but there were two others closing fast.
Blair saw the canyon ahead, a long, jagged scar on the surface of Kilrah.
His target was there, at the far end of the deep trench&
"
Watch your tail, Colonel
!" Maniac called suddenly. "
Don't know if I
can cover you
!"
His sensor board told the story. Thrakhath had ignored Maniac's
Excalibur entirely, refusing to be drawn into a dogfight. Instead he had
plunged past Marshall, and the two trailing Vaktoth were all over the
Terran pilot now. Blair cursed aloud. Maniac couldn't last long against two
heavy fighters&
And his underarmed Excalibur was no match for Thrakhath's
Bloodfang.
He swung sharply left, away from the canyon, as the Kilrathi prince opened
fire. The blaster shots went wide, but the Bloodfang followed his turn, still
clinging stubbornly to his tail. All the advantages lay with
Thrakhath now.
Blair was only dimly aware of the explosion higher up and off to his right.
His monitor told him it was one of the Vaktoth facing Maniac.
Page 181 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
opened fire on the remaining pair. His blasters raked across the nearer
target, which came apart under the savage force of the beams.
The second fighter looped up, turning away from the battle and accelerating
fast. Evidently the pilot had decided against a glorious death today&
"
There's more of the bastards up ahead, Colonel
," Marshall reported as he finished off his last opponent and swung back into
formation. "
Looks like we're not welcome around here
."
"As long as they're just conventional aircraft, they shouldn't be much
trouble," Blair said. "Stay focused, though. You can bet they'll bring in the
big guns soon enough& "
"
Targets! Targets! Targets
!" Flint chanted. "
I've got six& eight targets on my board. Coming in from orbit
!"
They weren't showing on Blair's sensors yet, so they were still at extreme
range. "Watch 'em, Flint," he ordered. A whole squadron of space-based
fighters would be a lot harder to handle than the aircraft ahead, but they'd
be hard-pressed to close the range as long as the Terrans could keep moving.
The second wave of interceptors closed in from below, eight high-performance
jet aircraft in a tight formation. They broke just as
Maniac opened fire, scattering, curving in on the Terrans and engaging with
missiles and beam weapons. Once again Maniac and Blair had to engage them, and
by the time the attackers had been destroyed or forced to flee Blair realized
what the enemy strategy was. Each time the Terrans got caught in a dogfight,
however short, the orbital fighters closed the range a little more&
Excalibur 3O3
Kilrah
A near miss by a missile buffeted her fighter, and lieutenant Robin
Peters had to fight her steering yoke to maintain control. It had been years
since she'd last had to fight a battle in a planetary atmosphere, where all
the rules were different from those she was used to in deep space fighting.
Shock waves carried& and shields were weakened by the energy they
absorbed from friction in high-speed maneuvers.
"They're firing," Flint reported. "One Vaktoth& and a Bloodfang, both of them
in combat range. More Vaktoth coming up fast behind them."
"
Bloodfang& Thrakhath's personal fighter
." Blair's voice was grim. "
Damn it all
!"
She nodded. Intelligence reports on the Prince's personal fighter, code-named
Bloodfang by the Confederation, suggested it would be one hell of a tough
opponent. "Don't know if I can take the bastard, skipper,"
she said. "You have any bright ideas?"
"
Go to afterburners
," Blair ordered. "
Let's see if we can outrun them
."
She kicked in the extra power, but the Vaktoth matched her&
continued closing the range. Another missile detonated, even closer this time.
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"No joy, skipper," she said. "Looks like there's going to be a fight& "
Kilrathi blaster fire probed at her rear shields, sapping the power levels
with each hit. Cursing, she pulled up in a sharp loop and opened fire on one
of her two pursuers with blasters and a spread of four missiles. The two
fighters were having as much trouble fighting in atmosphere as she was, and
the weakened forward shields of her target went down under the fury of her
attack. The Vaktoth exploded in a shower of debris, and Flint let out a whoop
of triumph.
It died on her lips as the Bloodfang opened fire. She tried to roll out, but
blasters pounded at her shields. They were going down& and a pair of heat
seekers were already on the way.
"He's got me, skipper!" she called. "Can't& evade. Don't forget& I could have
loved "
She didn't live to finish the sentence.
Excalibur 3OO
Kilrah
"Flint!" Blair shouted, but it was too late. The rearmost Excalibur went up in
a dazzling fireball, and Robin Peters was gone.
A new voice crackled in his headphones. "
So it shall be with you as well, Heart of the Tiger
." He recognized the harsh, sibilant voice.
Thrakhath& "
You are foolhardy, to venture with so few against my
Homeworld. Once before you lacked the courage to fight me. This time, you
shall not escape. Welcome, Heart of the Tiger, to Kilrah& and to your death
!"
"
The canyon's in sight ahead, Colonel
," Marshall reported. "
I'll drop back and have the next dance. You get in there and do your stuff
!"
Blair hesitated. Thrakhath had challenged him once again& and he couldn't
stand and fight. It took every bit of his self-control to grit his teeth and
acknowledge Marshall's call.
Maniac executed a tight Immelman loop, swinging up and around to head back
toward the on-coming Kilrathi fighters. Thrakhath's Bloodfang was still well
in the lead, but there were two others closing fast.
Blair saw the canyon ahead, a long, jagged scar on the surface of Kilrah.
His target was there, at the far end of the deep trench&
"
Watch your tail, Colonel
!" Maniac called suddenly. "
Don't know if I
can cover you
!"
His sensor board told the story. Thrakhath had ignored Maniac's
Excalibur entirely, refusing to be drawn into a dogfight. Instead he had
plunged past Marshall, and the two trailing Vaktoth were all over the
Terran pilot now. Blair cursed aloud. Maniac couldn't last long against two
heavy fighters&
And his underarmed Excalibur was no match for Thrakhath's
Bloodfang.
He swung sharply left, away from the canyon, as the Kilrathi prince opened
fire. The blaster shots went wide, but the Bloodfang followed his turn, still
clinging stubbornly to his tail. All the advantages lay with
Thrakhath now.
Blair was only dimly aware of the explosion higher up and off to his right.
His monitor told him it was one of the Vaktoth facing Maniac.
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