Providence Ch. 09

They now hovered close to the ground, the Rumigan awkwardly attempting to break gravity with the added weight. For a second Alec feared he had calculated wrong, and that the ship would crash into the ground below them, sending them all into a painful death. Either by his hands or by Cyrus's, and he wasn't sure which one would be worse.

But then the thrusters came to full life, glowing bright blue in the engine room, and the Rumigan broke gravity, sending them into the atmosphere of Aevar.

"Go, go, go," William said to himself, willing the small ship to go faster.

He reached quickly to his left on the board in front of him and switched on the surveillance scanner, and the images of the two Midori ships came into view.

Alec saw the holographic image, and his eyes widened again. "Oh shit."

"I know," Will said grimly.

Just then the ship shook radically with the impact of a direct hit.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Damn it, they broke gravity," Lamar said to himself, while watching the Rumigan's attempted retreat through the large window in the Neroan ship. "Brody, come back," he said through the comlink attached to his head, with the microphone positioned at his mouth.

"We're on our way. The Prince is on the ship!" he yelled through his communicator.

"Copy that," Lamar responded, and moved swiftly to the young man stationed at a desk in front of the window.

He leaned close to his ear, intimidating the poor young cadet to death with the fierceness of his words. "I don't care what you do," he growled. "But get that ship the fuck out of the sky."

"Yes sir," his voice managed to squeak out.

Lamar turned his grim face to the window, acknowledging Brody's hovercraft returning to the ship's gate. His hands gripped the railing in front of him tightly, his knuckles turning red, and then white. He'd be damned if he failed this mission a second time.

He half listened as the cadet reported a direct hit on the Rumigan. It didn't matter. They weren't out of the sky yet.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Screams were all that were heard in the cargo area. The light flickered off and then on. Steam and smoke began to emit from secret placed in the floor and ceiling panels.

Devlin moved to put out the small fire.

All the civilians were huddled together, silently praying for their lives. Their heads were lowered, Koen's looming figure covering Isabel and Mabyn, while Devlin moved to cover Rylie.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Direct hit," Alec's broken voice reported dutifully after the tremor faded.

"No shit," Will retorted, and then bellowed into the comlink, "Dominic, keep them off our ass!"

"I'm trying!" he replied, busily firing at the ship.

His red lasers continued to hit the ship in front of him, but with little success. He watched the target holograph in front of him expectantly, as the computer scanned for the optimum target of the looming Midori. It locked on the front, bottom panel of the silver-green ship, and Nic unleashed his fury, aiming and rapidly firing at the panel. Seconds later the ship blew from inside out into a million pieces, fire and smoke billowing from the impact.

Will and Alec both witnessed the explosion, and cheered into the comlink.

Nic sagged in a short-lived relief. He turned in his seat quickly as yelled to Bo, "The bottom panel! The bottom panel!"

"What?" Bo asked absently, as he continued to fire at the ship, which in turn continued to shoot at him.

He entered Bo's adjacent gunner room, giving him the extra comlink to report to Will.

"Try the bottom panel in the front! Its weak," he suggested.

Bo reacted, and shot several times, with no success.

"Shit!" he cursed, raking his hands through his hair in frustration. "They centered their shield on the panel."

"Looks that way," Bo replied, while continuing to shoot frantically.

"One ship left, sir." Bo's voice reported to Will, and Nic stood watch as the computer frantically searched for a target. He clung tightly to Bo's seat as the ship changed direction suddenly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Copy that," Will responded, as he watched Alec guide the ship over and under the green lasers from the remaining ship.

The green blasts trailed the Rumigan in the air, as Alec moved the Rumigan down and then took a hard right, trying to out run the laser shots. Will's stomach dropped with the sudden altitude change.

"Jesus," he said nauseously. "Where did you learn to drive?"

Alec didn't bother responding. "Damn it," he cursed to himself, instead. "I can't out run their gunners. They're too quick," he told Will.

Will sat in frantic thought for a moment, scouring his brain for the answer. They were so close to escaping; it was literally in the palm of their hand. But they didn't have much going for them in a Rumigan, its primary use being military transport. Not combat. If they could only find a way ...

Alec had thought that maybe he could outrun the guns of the Neroan ship. The opposing craft was much larger, and while it gave them added firepower, it also slowed them down, allowing the Rumigan at least one advantage. Agility.

As if a light bulb went off above his head, "Will, adjust the gravity-pull forty five degrees to the left."

Will looked at him quickly in confusion. "What?!"

"Just do it. I got an idea."

He rolled his eyes, but adjusted the knob nonetheless. Oh what the hell, he thought. "Adjusting forty five degrees left. Complete."

"Okay." Alec took a steadying breath, preparing himself. "Nic," he said through the comlink. "Make sure the survivors are secure. They're going to be jostled a bit."

"Copy," he heard through his earpiece, and soon after footsteps traveling down the corridor.

"Bo, continue rapid fire until I say."

"Copy that," he heard from the soldier.

"What are you planning, exactly?" Will couldn't help but ask, as he felt the gravity pull adjust to the new setting, pulling the front of their ship to sit directly in front of the Neroan, reminiscent of a face off. Alec continued to dodge laser shots, and then motioned to the thruster latch next to him.

"When I say, thrust full throttle."

"What?!"

Alec turned to Will as he readied himself and the ship, "Trust me."

Will turned away, staring with his mouth slightly open in shock at what Alec was implying.

"Adjust shield to front cabin, 100%," Alec reported, as William hit two more buttons, moving the defense shield to completely cover the front of their ship.

"Oh shit," he mumbled for not the first time under his breath. He grasped his armrest tightly on his right side, his left hand grasping the thruster firmly.

"Bo, cease fire."

"Acknowledged," Bo reported, removing his hands from his gunner. With that, all the extra energy in the Rumigan moved to the defense shield.

"Will, now!"

William thrust forward, giving the thrusters in the engine room full power.

They hurtled toward the Neroan ship, the nose of the Rumigan seemingly plummeting toward the earth. The Neroan gunners could not get a lock, and their laser blasts missed their target widely.

Their pace grew, faster and faster and faster ...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What the hell are they doing?" Brody turned and asked over his shoulder to Lamar, as they watched the Rumigan hover in the air, dodging green lasers. Soon they circled around and centered themselves in front of the Neroan ship, the Rumigan's front cabin aimed directly at theirs, only suspended hundreds of feet in the air.

Lamar looked up from his post at a computer, and watched the large window intently.

And then the image of the smaller ship started to grow bigger in their window. Bigger and bigger and bigger ...

The young cadet shook his head in frustration and fear. "Sir, the computer can't get a lock."

Brody didn't respond to the cadet as he and Lamar witnessed the Rumigan nose-dive right at them.

Lamar's expression was complete confusion. "They're charging."

Brody turned quickly, "What?! Why?"

Lamar shook his head. "I don't know. Our shield is 100% front. We won't feel a thing."

The Neroan soldiers on board continued to frantically gain a lock on the small ship. Brody and Lamar stood side by side in front of the window, watching as the Rumigan continued their descent.

As an after thought, Brody near whispered, "But ... they aren't even shooting."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The cabin in the Rumigan began to shake with the force of the decent, and soon the lasers missed them completely.

"Alec ... Alec! Pull up! PULL UP!" Will yelled.

"Retract thrusters!" Alec said suddenly, and Will was quick to comply.

The ship slowed and allowed Alec just enough time to change direction without stalling, pulling the controls up and guiding the Rumigan into the sky, away from the Neroan ship.

"Thrust, full throttle!"

Once again, Will thrust forward, shooting the Rumigan into the air.

"Did you see that?" Alec asked breathlessly, as his hands firmly gripped the control bar, attempting to keep its direction steady.

Will nodded.

"We missed them by inches."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Everyone in the Neroan cabin ducked as the ship shook. The Rumigan had nearly grazed the top of the larger ship as they changed direction, and the pressure had caused their cabin to shake violently.

Brody took over the controls and slowly, the ship turned in the direction that the smaller ship was retreating.

"Engage, damn it! Engage!" Lamar ordered the gunners in front of him, watching as Brody moved the ship to face the withdrawing Rumigan.

Green lasers once again littered the air.

Lamar had been so sure they would have fired at them as they charged ...

"Sir, we have incoming."

Lamar turned to a young cadet behind him, with a questioning look in his eyes. The Rumigan ships didn't carry torpedoes. He turned to the window in front of him and searched the sky.

"No," Lamar said, as he saw purple blast heading their way.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Almost there."

"Adjust shield to rear dock, 100%," Alec ordered. Will responded again.

Clouds passed them in a haze. William could feel the pull of gravity giving away as they began to enter space, and he was just about to let himself believe that they had successfully escaped.

And suddenly, they both saw it ... the purple image up ahead. It was almost like a lavender blemish in the clear blue-black sky. It hurtled at them, growing larger in the view window, passing stars and planets.

No, Will thought, realizing he had just moved their defense shield to the back of their ship to protect against the Midori blasts. If it hit them, and it was looking like it would, they would be destroyed. But he didn't even know what 'it' was.

When they were about to prepare for a direct hit, the purple haze engulfed them, guiding them, wrapping them in the plum-colored cloud. No harm came to the Rumigan, instead Alec and Will registered the thrusters' power reaching unchartable strength, and the small ship hurtled through space at an alarming rate.

Just as quickly as it caught them, it left, flying ... plunging to the Neroan ship.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

All felt and heard the impact and explosion as the purple cloud hit the Midori directly.