Read Online My Other Car is a Spaceship by Mark Terence Chapman - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mark Terence Chapman
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limited power? What systems are still working?
Let’s see. We can have minimal shielding. The magnetic docking grapples are operational. Whoopee. Yeah, those’ll be a big help.
Life support is online. That’s good.
No weapons, though. What the hell am I supposed to do without weapons? Open a window and spit at them? He grimaced in frustration.
All the while, the pirate ship continued to close the gap.
“How’s the power situation, Jerry?”
“ I can give you six percent power now, maybe twenty percent in another ten to twelve minutes.”
“We don’t have that long. The pirates will be alongside in six or seven minutes, tops. I’ll need whatever you can manage before that. How about weapons?”
“There isn’t enough power for the APCs to damage their hull, let alone penetrate their shields. We could launch a missile, but the pirates are too close to us. We might just barely fire a slug, but it wouldn’t have enough kinetic energy to get through their shields. Face it, we’re not going to be able to fight back in the next few minutes.”
Hal sighed. “Acknowledged. Thanks, Jerry. Do what you can.”
“Will do.”
There has to be something we can do! Hal thought furiously, discarding idea after idea as impractical or impossible.
Two minutes to docking.
Then Hal had another thought. He checked the archives to see if anyone had ever attempted it before. As far as he could tell, no one had. That’s okay; I’m a test pilot. I’m used to being the first to do something. Then he checked the schematics for various stock ships. Could it work? Maybe—if we’re very, very lucky.
“Jerry?”
“Yes sir?”
“I have the glimmer of an idea. It’s going to take split-second timing, and maybe more power than we have. Tell me if you think you can do it.”
He explained his plan. Kalen, over the intercom, injected several suggestions to fine-tune the procedure.
Jerry whistled. “I don’t know if it’s doable, but what the hell.”
“My thoughts exactly. I’ll need all the power you can give me in the next thirty seconds.”
Jerry spoke now with determination in his voice. “You’ll have it.”
“Don’t increase the power output until I say so. We don’t want to alert the raider.”
“Acknowledged.”
Hal counted down the seconds, brows drawn together in concentration. A trickle of sweat meandered down his left cheek.
I have to time this just right so we don’t give anything away.
“Everyone, brace for impact.”
He watched until the pirate was only sixty meters away. It dropped its shields as it drifted closer and closer to Adventurer .
Now!
Hal restored power to the necessary systems. He triggered the forward magnetic docking grapples. The focused magnetic fields latched onto the stern of the bogey and Hal pulled with all the power available to him. The stern of the pirate ship slewed around toward Adventurer’s prow, which likewise swung toward the other’s stern. Within three seconds they were aligned nose to tail, twenty meters apart.
“Simmons! What’s happening?”
“I-I don’t know, sir. They’ve latched on with their grapples for some reason. ”
“They’re up to something. Shields up! Get my ship out of here!”
“Yes sir! Shields activated. Initiating main engines.”
“Go!”
“Firing!” Hal shouted.
The raider belatedly attempted to flee, but it was already too late. The grapples had held firm for the final split second Hal needed. He initialized the mass driver and fired a slug directly into the other ship. Two ten-thousandths of a second after firing, as Hal had specified, the computer activated Adventurer’s fore-shields with full remaining power, shutting down everything else, even sensors and life support. After all, if the shields failed, there wouldn’t be enough left of Adventurer for life support to be an issue.
The 108-kilo slug of depleted uranium blasted into the rear of the pirate ship at more than 1,600 kilometers per
Let’s see. We can have minimal shielding. The magnetic docking grapples are operational. Whoopee. Yeah, those’ll be a big help.
Life support is online. That’s good.
No weapons, though. What the hell am I supposed to do without weapons? Open a window and spit at them? He grimaced in frustration.
All the while, the pirate ship continued to close the gap.
“How’s the power situation, Jerry?”
“ I can give you six percent power now, maybe twenty percent in another ten to twelve minutes.”
“We don’t have that long. The pirates will be alongside in six or seven minutes, tops. I’ll need whatever you can manage before that. How about weapons?”
“There isn’t enough power for the APCs to damage their hull, let alone penetrate their shields. We could launch a missile, but the pirates are too close to us. We might just barely fire a slug, but it wouldn’t have enough kinetic energy to get through their shields. Face it, we’re not going to be able to fight back in the next few minutes.”
Hal sighed. “Acknowledged. Thanks, Jerry. Do what you can.”
“Will do.”
There has to be something we can do! Hal thought furiously, discarding idea after idea as impractical or impossible.
Two minutes to docking.
Then Hal had another thought. He checked the archives to see if anyone had ever attempted it before. As far as he could tell, no one had. That’s okay; I’m a test pilot. I’m used to being the first to do something. Then he checked the schematics for various stock ships. Could it work? Maybe—if we’re very, very lucky.
“Jerry?”
“Yes sir?”
“I have the glimmer of an idea. It’s going to take split-second timing, and maybe more power than we have. Tell me if you think you can do it.”
He explained his plan. Kalen, over the intercom, injected several suggestions to fine-tune the procedure.
Jerry whistled. “I don’t know if it’s doable, but what the hell.”
“My thoughts exactly. I’ll need all the power you can give me in the next thirty seconds.”
Jerry spoke now with determination in his voice. “You’ll have it.”
“Don’t increase the power output until I say so. We don’t want to alert the raider.”
“Acknowledged.”
Hal counted down the seconds, brows drawn together in concentration. A trickle of sweat meandered down his left cheek.
I have to time this just right so we don’t give anything away.
“Everyone, brace for impact.”
He watched until the pirate was only sixty meters away. It dropped its shields as it drifted closer and closer to Adventurer .
Now!
Hal restored power to the necessary systems. He triggered the forward magnetic docking grapples. The focused magnetic fields latched onto the stern of the bogey and Hal pulled with all the power available to him. The stern of the pirate ship slewed around toward Adventurer’s prow, which likewise swung toward the other’s stern. Within three seconds they were aligned nose to tail, twenty meters apart.
“Simmons! What’s happening?”
“I-I don’t know, sir. They’ve latched on with their grapples for some reason. ”
“They’re up to something. Shields up! Get my ship out of here!”
“Yes sir! Shields activated. Initiating main engines.”
“Go!”
“Firing!” Hal shouted.
The raider belatedly attempted to flee, but it was already too late. The grapples had held firm for the final split second Hal needed. He initialized the mass driver and fired a slug directly into the other ship. Two ten-thousandths of a second after firing, as Hal had specified, the computer activated Adventurer’s fore-shields with full remaining power, shutting down everything else, even sensors and life support. After all, if the shields failed, there wouldn’t be enough left of Adventurer for life support to be an issue.
The 108-kilo slug of depleted uranium blasted into the rear of the pirate ship at more than 1,600 kilometers per
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