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13 Leap Frog

Abby

Ash’s fingers flew over the console, kicking the cruiser into high gear. He was a brilliant pilot, and she’d seen a flyboy or two in action. She was in awe as he darted from satellite to satellite, playing hide and seek with the battleship. Just like they hoped, the giant cruiser didn’t fire on them for fear of hitting the satellites and betraying their presence to the world at large. The game of cat and mouse clearly wasn’t as easy as he made it look. Even in the bony armor she could see how tense his jaw and shoulders were. She kept her mouth shut so she didn’t distract him.

“We can’t do this forever. We need to get to Aculus’ vessel. He’s hiding near this planet beyond the asteroid belt.”

“Jupiter.” She nodded.

“The asteroids should slow a ship of that size down. But I need to time this just right.” Ash grit his jaw, the muscle flexing.

“You’ve got this.” She smiled, reached over and patted his arm.

Ash nodded grimly, circled the satellite acting as their shield one more time, then made a break for the moon. A barely noticeable beam of light was followed by a shockwave.

“Fuck,” Abby cried out then bit her lip. They’re firing at us. We’re leaving already, you bastards!

Ash snarled, his fingers moving faster over the controls. He didn’t travel in a straight line, instead veering about to avoid the laser blasts. The sound he made was positively feral when the one vessel was joined by the other two. They whipped past the moon, putting it between them and the pursuing spaceships, but the assholes just kept following. Her heart beat a million miles a minute as they rocketed toward the distant asteroid belt.

“I’m coming for you,” Aculus suddenly growled, making her jump.

“No! That will just piss them off further,” Ash bit out.

There was another blast and the cruiser shook, setting off a dozen strident alarms.

“Son of a metcor. We’ve been hit,” Ash bellowed.

“I’m coming. If these bastards want a fight,” Aculus barked and cut-off the transmission before Ash could argue.

“Dammit,” Ash growled.

“Is there some way we can try to talk to them and tell them we’re leaving?”

“It can’t hurt. I’m hailing them now.”

She screamed when another blast shook them, and their cruiser veered sharply to the right, throwing her hard against the seat. Abby glanced in concern at her mother, but she was still out cold.

“The propulsion system is compromised. I’m going to try to reach that red planet. Maybe we can hide in one of the storm clouds on the surface.”

The cruiser shook violently from another blast. This wasn’t how she imagined dying. Their ship continued to rattle as Ash attempted to guide it toward Mars. They were hobbling along and still the three battleships pursued, hell bent on making an example out of them. The pulsing light on the bow of one of the enemy ships began to glow brighter. They were gearing up to fire again.

“Talk to me, dammit. I know you answered our hail, so say something,” Ash snarled to whoever was listening in the attacking ships.

“Please,” she begged the unseen enemy. “We’re trying to leave. You don’t need to do this. If you’re good people, don’t do this, please. We’re not a threat.”

Abby held her breath and prayed as she stared at the ominous light on the opposing ship. With the damage they sustained there was no way they’d avoid this shot.

I can’t watch. She squeezed her eyes shut.

No shot came, and she opened her eyes.

“Fuck yeah!” she burst, seeing the three ships had broken off the chase. Maybe their theory about this being the Miran Sona was right after all.

“Hold on!” Ash bellowed as they careened toward the looming red planet.

They were no longer being chased but were hardly out of danger. They hit Mars’ atmosphere and the tremors grew violent. She gripped the armrests tight. Her poor mother rattled about in her seat like a rag doll, despite the armor.

“If systems weren’t compromised this wouldn’t be a problem,” Ash rumbled.