Overdrive (42 page)

Fortunately, at
exactly the same time as Gabriella uttered these fateful words, the ships
Templar Captain, already under a great deal of stress, panicked upon seeing the
size of the latest slipmissile barrage and attempted to override the AI using
the manual controls. Two Angels made a jump for him and missed.

For a man of
dubious mental stability, the Captain seemed remarkably adroit at wresting
control of the ship from the AI. The ship tilted sideways dramatically as the
Captain took manual control. Even Angels, caught unawares, struggled to keep
their balance. With a prearranged signal, Logan and Bruce took advantage of the
situation.

“Here, catch,"
said Bruce, tossing the Overdrive to an Angel 10 meters away. The Angel caught
the device instinctively and looked pleased with himself for about half a
second. Then it exploded, sending bits of Angel in every direction. Some of the
command crew were thrown to the ground by the blast. Others, mostly Templars,
got down in an effort not to be covered in Angelic remains.

Bruce grabbed the
Angel next to him and broke his neck in one clean movement. Logan, using one of
Sammael’s wings for leverage, brought the Angel close enough to place his index
figure at Sammael’s temple.

“I have a biodart
loaded into my finger. Move and I’ll use it; your fields will be no use to you
at this range.” He gestured towards Tarquin. “Get over here." When the
Angels holding Tarquin refused to budge, Logan pressed his finger harder into
Sammael.

“Tell them to
release him or your brain gets fried.” Sammael nodded at his men. Tarquin shook
himself free and ran over to Logan and Bruce.

Meanwhile, a group
of burly Angels had finally wrestled the Captain to the floor, enabling the AI
to again take control of the ship. The damage had been done however. The
Gitanians had taken advantage of the situation and were moving in for the kill.
Another barrage of slipmissiles hit the ship, rocking it wildly.

Gabriella decided
to take command of the situation. Activating her personal field, she extended
her wings and leapt over the railing, landing only a few meters from the would
be escapees. She reached out with her field as the three men bounded into the
open lift, missing as the ship rocked violently again; upsetting her aim.

“Stop them,"
she screamed.

Sammael, in
communication with the ship tried to order the lift to stop. “The lift is in
autonomous mode; the ship still hasn’t regained control of all its minor
functions yet.”

Gabriella, about
to kill someone, finally noticed who was lying at her feet. She bent down,
raising the almost comatose man to his feet.

“And who do we
have here? Some friends eh? Left behind the most important one of all."
She tilted the man’s head back revealing his bruised and damaged face.

The dazed man
looked blearily at Gabriella. “Felix? Felix? Who’s Felix? Name’s Tynan. Yes,
definitely. My names Tynan," he muttered before lapsing into
unconsciousness again.

Gabriella let the
man drop to the floor where she gave him a hearty kick. She turned to Sammael.
“Find them Sammael. Find them now," she said in a voice that was eerily
calm.

Scared witless,
Sammael hastened to comply.

◊

Felix donned his
vacuum suit and picked up a large plasma cannon that felt all too uncomfortable
in his tool accustomed hands.

“Will you be
alright here Walter?," he said addressing the former events organizer.

Walter stood
before Ram Terry and the Shepherds holding a plasma cannon in one hand and an
Afer in the other. For some strange reason, the man had suddenly taken to
military hardware like a duck to water and looked far more competent than Felix
felt.

“Don’t do this
Felix," pleaded Ram Terry. “You’re handing the Overdrive to them on a
plate.”

Felix nodded but
he wasn’t really listening. He had to find out where Crystal was. He’d seen the
PDS station explode and had almost gone mad. His one hope was that she was on
board Gabriella’s ship.

Ignoring further
pleas from Ram Terry, he entered the airlock and ordered it to cycle. The
airlock opened directly onto a corridor leading into the mammoth Valkyrie’s
interior. A vacuum suit wasn’t really necessary but Felix considered it to be a
wise investment.

He glanced around
cautiously and then set off. He didn’t really know where he was going but that
wasn’t important. What was important was finding Crystal.

He made a few
turns down some long and strangely empty corridors, bracing himself
occasionally as the ship rocked dramatically. A few more turns and he realized
he was hopelessly lost. He tried to back track which confused him even further.
Coming to a door, he pressed the open panel and revealed a room full of
Templars playing cards. A few yelled in surprise when he pointed his plasma
cannon at them.

“Where’s Crystal?”
he demanded.

The Templars
looked at each other in confusion. “Who?," one asked.

“Crystal. About
this high," he said, holding his hand up to his neck, “long brown hair,
green eyes, carries a sword. Come on you idiots; you must know who I’m talking
about.”

He started to
berate them further, pointing his plasma cannon in a threatening fashion. Wide
eyed and rapidly loosing patience, he contemplated shooting one of them when he
felt a large hand on his shoulder. He turned around, coming face to face, or
rather face to chest with Sammael.

He looked up at
the winged figure, desperately trying to bring his plasma cannon to bear.
Sammael knocked it aside easily and grabbed Felix’s arms.

He smiled down at
his captive. “The real Felix, I presume?”

Felix tried not to
look scared. “No, no. The real Felix just ran off down the corridor. You can
catch him if you hurry.”

Sammael grinned
evilly. “Ah, humor. Can’t say I’ve been burdened with it myself. Come now,"
he said turning Felix around. “I have someone who desperately wants to meet
with you.”

◊

“What’s our
status?” demanded Asel.

The Nephillum
before his command chair gave a short, perfunctory bow before answering.

“The Ion drive is
now functional my Lord. Fields and weapon systems are not yet operational and
it may be some time before they are.”

Asel tapped his
fingers nervously. All the other ships in the vicinity were leaving them alone
at the moment considering they posed no threat. If the ship were fully
repaired, the Gitanians would probably consider them a threat again, taking the
predictable actions. Probably a blessing in disguise.

“How long?” he
asked finally.

“About two hours,
my Lord.”

Asel nodded his
head thoughtfully. He waved his fingers at the Nephillum, dismissing him and
watched dispassionately as the man gave another short bow and departed.

Now that he had
the Ion drive functioning, options were starting to open up. According to the
reports coming in, Gabriella was under heavy attack. She had intercepted the
small yacht and was currently docked with it. Asel’s hunch that the Overdrive
was contained within the small ship was probably right. Even now, Gabriella was
probably in possession of it.

Dirty
backstabbing bitch
. His
father had finally told him that he had made a deal with Gabriella; his help in
exchange for a share of the information. It seems she had reneged on the deal.

Once again, he had
to play a waiting game. He’d made a mistake by entering the game too early and
almost paid the ultimate price. He’d also misjudged Gabriella once; he wouldn’t
do it again.

◊

Logan, Tarquin and
Bruce entered the airlock, cycled it and hurried into the lounge of the
Puritan. Logan sealed the door as Tarquin made his way to the small bridge.

In the corner,
Walter still had Ram Terry and the Shepherds under guard. He turned and eyed
Logan quizzically.

“How did it go?”

Logan smiled,
reaching out a hand to steady himself as the ship rocked.

“Without a hitch.
That bully boy Sammael believed Tynan was Felix and that bomb we rigged up to
be the Overdrive. Got Tarquin out safely. He’s prepping the ship now. If the
Gitanians keep up the bombardment on Gabriella, we might just be able to slip
out of here without anyone being the wiser.”

“Did you see Felix
anywhere in your travels?," enquired Walter innocently.

Logan gave a
start. “What did you just say?”

“I said…”

“I know what you
said. Why did Felix leave the ship?”
Walter shrugged helplessly. “He went to rescue Crystal.”

Logan looked
around the lounge despairingly. “But we don’t even know she’s on the ship in
the first place."

Ram Terry spoke
for the first time since the three had come back to the ship. “I know that and
you know that but I think Felix is thinking with his heart at the moment.”

Logan spared the
sheep a withering glance. “Thanks for that genius."

“I’d say its a
given that he is now in the hands of Gabriella," put in Bruce.

“Look," said
Logan. “Has anyone got anything positive to say?”

“I haven’t,"
yelled Tarquin from the bridge. “I’ve got a slipmissile aiming right for us.
Have to launch now." Even the AG compensators weren’t quite prepared for
the acceleration. Most of the occupants in the lounge area were thrown to the
floor as the
Puritan
leapt away from the huge Valkyrie. Gases leaked out
of the rent in the Valkyrie’s side where the airlock was ripped out.

Three seconds
after their hasty departure, a slipmissile slammed into the spot just vacated.
More gases and plasma boiled out into the vacuum as a huge rift was opened up
in the Valkyrie's hull. Under normal circumstances, the slipmissile would have
never penetrated. Unfortunately, with the sudden departure of the Puritan, a
small breach was created in the Valkyrie's field coverage.

Behind them, the
massive ship rolled, trying to cover its Achilles heel from more attacks.
Moments later, the AG compensators on board the Puritan finally came on line.
To those within the tiny ship, it seemed significantly longer as they picked
themselves tenderly off the floor.

Walter heaved a
sigh of relief as normal gravity returned. His weapons had fallen from his
grasp during the brief time he had been smashed by the immense surge of
gravity. He groped for these as he staggered to his feet, only to find that
they were no longer where they had fallen. He looked up. All four Shepherds
surrounded him, two of them cradling his misplaced weapons. Behind them stood
Ram Terry, looking to Walter’s eye a bit regretful.

“Logan, Tarquin,"
he said quietly. “Turn the ship around. We’re going back.”

Logan got to his
feet and eyed the Holy Ram seriously. “You’ll get no complaints from me on that
front, however, just for the record, I reckon this is a bit of suicide
mission.”

Ram Terry nodded
sadly. “For you, no. For Felix, yes.”

Logan froze. “What
do you mean?”

Ram Terry took a
long breath before answering. “In order to safeguard the Overdrive, I had one
of my men install a tiny explosive device within Felix’s AI. We have to get
closer for me to fire the detonation code at it.”

“What!” exploded
Logan. He took a step towards the Shepherds and Ram Terry.

“I can’t afford
for the likes of Gabriella to get their hands on this technology. They would
gain control of the galaxy. Small religious groups like ours would never
survive.” He looked at Logan shamefacedly. “I don’t like it anymore than you do
Logan. However, I have no choice. I have to sacrifice Felix to save the
galaxy.”

“Oh yes,” snarled
Logan. “You’re so pure. Always taking the moral high ground and talking of
sacrifices that you personally never have to make. I’ve met countless people
like you in my line of work. They often go around, blowing up things, killing
innocents and talking of ‘higher purposes’ and the ‘cause’. Well fuck you, Ram
Terry. Felix is not going to be one of your innocents.”

Logan readied his
biodart and prepared to charge. The two Shepherds holding the weapons sensed as
much and moved protectively in front of Ram Terry.

Just as he was
about to spring, an explosion rocked the ship. Outside, in the vacuum of space,
a rogue slipmissile appeared and launched itself at the Puritan. It struck the
outer field and exploded through, ripping a hole in the superstructure of the
ship itself.

The hull breach
occurred directly behind Ram Terry. Before he could erect his personal field,
he was sucked out of the rift along with his four screaming Shepherds. Seeing
this, Logan, Walter and Bruce grabbed a corner of a couch before they too were
sucked out. Moments later, Tarquin brought the fields back on line, sealing the
breach.

Logan got
cautiously to his feet. Beyond the glowing blue of the ship’s field, he could
look directly out into space through the hole in the ship’s hull.