Page 37 of Journey to the Forbidden Zone

Carmen blinked. How the hell did she know that?

“Looks like it,” she said. “Why?”

“Kestrel variants of that generation,” Mila continued, her eyes scanning the schematic rapidly, “often utilize a shared coolant loop between their primary plasma cannon and their auxiliary maneuvering thrusters. A design flaw to save mass. Under sustained high-output fire, the loop can overheat, causing thruster response lag or even localized shutdowns if the safeties trip.”

The words registered, cutting through Carmen’s adrenaline haze. A shared coolant loop. A vulnerability. Her tactical mind latched onto it.

“Letitia!” she barked. “Forget the engines! Target their portside maneuvering thrusters! Specifically, the coupling nodes! Saturate the area!

“Sark, the second their thrusters stutter, I want a hard burn straight down, into the planet’s upper atmosphere! Use the density for cover!”

Letitia didn’t question it. Her hands flew.

“Switching target! Firing!”

TheAntillesshuddered as her remaining functional turrets spat coherent energy. Beams lanced out, not towards the pirate’s main body, but towards the clusters of smaller thrusters along its port flank. The pirate ship, caught mid-maneuver to tighten its net, seemed to ignore the seemingly illogical attack. Until a series of small, bright flares erupted along its side.

“Direct hits!” Norvik reported, his usually impassive voice tight with surprise. “Energy signature fluctuations. Their portside thrusters are sputtering! Efficiency dropping rapidly!”

“Now, Sark!” Carmen roared. “Down! Hard!”

Sark slammed the controls. TheAntilles’s engines screamed in protest, the inertial dampeners groaning as the ship pivoted violently and plunged nose-first towards the swirling, ochre depths of the gas giant’s upper atmosphere. The g-forces slammed Carmen back into her chair, pressing the air from her lungs. Outside, the stars vanished, replaced by churning, toxic clouds that streamed past the viewscreen like liquid fire.

“They’re altering course!” Norvik called out. “Attempting pursuit! But their thrusters are unstable; they’re lagging!”

The pirate ship, a dark silhouette against the vibrant gas, wobbled as it tried to follow theAntilles’s desperate dive. Its portside thrusters flickered erratically.

“Letitia! Keep peppering those thrusters! Don’t let them stabilize!” Carmen ordered, fighting against the crushing pressure.

The ship groaned louder, vibrations rattling through the deck plates. Alarms wailed – hull stress, atmospheric friction.

“Zed!” she cried. “Status!”

“Atmospheric ingress,” Zed reported. “Hull temperature rising. Structural integrity field holding in critical sections, but stress on longitudinal members L-19 and L-20 is exceedingtolerance. Estimated time to critical failure: 8 minutes at current descent profile. Shields ineffective against atmospheric compression.”

Eight minutes. They needed to lose their tail faster. The thick atmosphere was blinding on sensors, but it worked both ways.

“Sark, level us out! Skim the thermocline!

“Norvik, passive sensors only! Look for a density pocket, something we can hide in!”

“Aye, Cap!” Sark grunted, wrestling with the controls.

The descent angle shallowed, the brutal g-forces easing slightly, though the ship still shuddered violently as it plowed through the dense, turbulent gases. The viewscreen showed only swirling, oppressive yellow and orange.

Silence descended on the bridge, punctuated only by the ship’s tortured groans, the steady scream of the klaxons, and the frantic tapping of controls. Carmen’s heart pounded against her ribs. Every nerve screamed. She risked a glance at Mila. The XenX woman was still braced against the bulkhead, her green eyes fixed on the external feed, her expression one of intense concentration. No fear. Just focus.

“Captain,” Norvik said quietly, breaking the tense silence. “Passive sensors detect a significant energy signature fading astern. The pursuing vessel appears to be breaking off. Ascending out of the atmosphere.”

Relief, sharp and sudden, warred with suspicion.

“Confirm that, Norvik. Are they leaving, or just gaining altitude for another run?”

“Trajectory analysis indicates a climb towards clear space, Captain. Their thruster signature remains erratic. It is likely they are withdrawing to effect repairs and reassess.”

“Or they think we’re done for down here,” Letitia muttered, wiping sweat from her brow. She kept her hands near her controls, ready.

Carmen let out a slow breath. The immediate threat was gone. For now. But they were still deep inside a gas giant’s crushing embrace, their ship spawning stress fractures.