Chapter 30 (Ax)
The mechanics ran, knowing themselves outnumbered. They were obviously not trained warriors, as were all the Kelbrid we had fought before. Prince Jake called out orders in thought-speak, <Ax and Marco, get us into one of those ships! Tobias, you and I are going after those two, try to catch them before they can call for back-up. Go!>
Prince Jake and Tobias took off after the fleeing mechanics, while Marco and I headed for the nearest ship, powering our wings for altitude to reach the hatch. As soon as we got there, I looked for a control pad to open it. I ran my hands over the hull of the ship, searching.
Nothing, nothing . . . there! My hands slid across a tiny groove in the metal, and I pried it open. Underneath the lid, there was an assortment of buttons and knobs, and a screen. I worked the controls, trying to find the code that would open the door. I deactivated the error message, and quickly hacked the system. The hatch opened.
<Hey, forget those two!> Marco called to Prince Jake. <Ax got the door open! Get in, get in!> Prince Jake and Tobias turned around, abandoning their chase, and powered toward the ship. They reached us just as the first few Kelbrid warriors began to appear at the hangar door.
<Geez, they got here fast,> Marco commented as he spotted them.
<They were probably expecting us,> Tobias pointed out.
Marco and I flew inside the ship, with Prince Jake and Tobias close behind. I went immediately to the main controls of the ship, puzzling over the unfamiliar interface to find the controls for the hatch. I flipped a blue switch, and the hatch closed.
Marco was helping now to power up the ship, which made me a little uneasy. Where had he learned to fly a ship like this? I recalled that he had piloted Yeerk ships during the war, and that he had done fairly well for a human, but I wasn't sure I trusted a human behind controls that I myself barely understood.
Still, he seemed to know what he was doing. Perhaps he had learned a little about piloting alien craft in the years since the war. In any case, the ship was now hovering above the ground, and turning to face the exit. Which was, of course, rapidly closing.
<Ax!> Prince Jake said shrilly, as though letting me hear his anxiety would cause me to work faster.
I pulled a lever.
FWOOOM!
The ship kicked forward, lunging at the closing opening.
As we blew past, I thought I saw other ships powering up and lifting off, ready to give chase as we tried to escape.
We dove, the belly of the ship nearly scraping the ground as we tried to fit into the opening below the hangar door.
SCREEEEEEEeeee . . .
The top of our ship scraped against the door, nearly stopping for a terrifying moment that must have felt much longer than it was, as I wondered whether the door might close with enough force to crush us. I turned a knob to give more thrust to the engines, and we powered through. We were free!
But now the door was opening again, and the other fighters were quickly catching up to us.
<Marco, take weapons,> I ordered, indicating the area I believed the weapons controls to be. He saluted me and took the joystick.
I steered our ship for the nearest cluster of Kelbrid dwellings. We were all in the same model of ship, it seemed, so I reasoned that just as they wouldn't be able to outrun us in a straight chase, neither could we outrun them. So the trick would be to fly through areas that the Kelbrid would be hesitant to follow. I took advantage of the open design of the Kelbrid buildings, darting in and out of the open spaces, flying perilously close to walls, columns, and the occasional Kelbrid passerby. And it was working; the Kelbrid ships were slowing down, being far more careful than I not to hit their fellow citizens.
Perhaps this was a 'dirty' move, as a human might say. Perhaps I should have been more respectful of the lives of Kelbrid civilians, myself. But at that point, I was entirely too aggravated by all that their species had put me through to care.
"
Kuldir, we order you to halt immediately!" came a voice over the ship's intercom. Prince Jake stepped forward and shut it off without even bothering with a response.
We flew for a long time, twisting and turning through the Kelbrid city, putting a little more distance between ourselves and our pursuers with each passing moment. We knew they wouldn't fire with so many Kelbrid citizens and structures so close, and they couldn't catch up to us for the same reason. There was nothing they could do except watch our ship getting slowly smaller in their viewscreen.
I had to admit that it felt very satisfying to finally see the Kelbrid rendered helpless against us. 'The tables had turned,' as the nonsensical human expression goes.
Once we had put enough distance between us and the Kelbrid ships to be out of their firing range, I angled upwards and we shot into the sky.
