Torchship by Karl K. Gallagher Read Free Book Online

slapped his
intercom switch, flinching as his hand came down hard on it. “Do it.” He
couldn’t have forced out a longer speech.
    Guo didn’t reply. Fives
Full pushed a few gravs harder, a loud CRACK and scream of air announced a
cannon shot penetrating the bridge window. Mitchie felt a splinter land on her
face before the escaping air blew it away.
    The captain gasped “Cut ac!
Patch!” She grimaced and pulled the throttle back to 10 gravs.
    Nine seconds later he yelled “GO!”
in the sudden relative quiet and she pushed the knob to the end again. An
audible thump told her the captain hadn’t laid down in his control couch before
he gave the word.
    “One patch hole?” she asked.
    “Yep.” He sounded amused “Poor.
Bing. Got. Bunk.” The shot had put a hole in the bridge deck and gone into
Bing’s cabin.
    The ship’s acceleration
dropped. Guo had taken back some of the extra thrust. Mitchie thought It
must be hot as a volcano down there. She kept steering for the interceptor.
A cannon shell flashing past the window made her flinch but not change course. She
ignored the blood trickling down her face too.
    The interceptor autopilot
matched the Fives Full’s straight line acceleration and extrapolated as
it was taught to. When that vector reached the same time and place of its own, it
took the proper action–120 gravs of acceleration for five seconds.
    Mitchie yelled “Ha! Computers
can’t play chicken!” as the plume in front of her turned ninety degrees and
brightened. She shifted her course to follow. Less than half a minute later
she’d forced it into another maneuver. She grinned wolfishly as she shifted
after it again. With thoroughly predictable results. “It’s like kicking a can
down the road!”
    Captain Schwartzenberger let
her have two more kicks before stopping her. “Enough, Michigan. We’ve won. He’s
gotta be out cold.”
    “Yeah, but if I let up he’ll
recover.”
    “Not soon. And we can’t take
much more of this. The ship’s not designed for this kind of maneuvering. The
passengers haven’t had the health checks we’ve had. We’ve got to stop.”
    She cut their thrust. The
captain luxuriated in taking full breaths of air. With the torch stilled they
could hear a whistle around the ill-fitting patch. “Now what?” Mitchie asked.
    “Now we go to ground. Hide. Find
an iceberg with a crack we can fit into. Wait for the Navy to come.” He thought
a minute. “We’ve probably got a few hours. That’s a damn rough ride you gave
him.”
    “Okay.” She got the mechanic
on the line. “Hey. We’re safe for a bit. What thrust can I use to get us to a
hiding spot?”
    Guo sounded tired too. “Safe.
I like that word. If we stay ballistic for twenty minutes and then go at six
gravs I can have everything back in the yellow.” He coughed harshly. Probably
needed a drink.
    “Works.” She unbelted and
went to the plotting table. The hardest part of this maneuver would be slowing
down to the speed of the rings.
    Schwartzenberger switched on
the PA. “All hands. We have broken contact with pirate vessel. We will be
moving to a safe place to await assistance. Once we’ve done so I will give you
a full briefing. Captain out.”
     
    ***
     
    The captain left the hatch
open as he climbed back into the bridge. He poked at the sealant he’d put
around the window patch to make sure it had cured properly. Mitchie thought he
looked calm considering how frustrating his talk with Bobbie and her “uncle” was.
She’d used the corridor intercom to eavesdrop. Other than admitting John was a
professional bodyguard they hadn’t given up a single bit of solid information. “My
father is rich and well connected” had to be true for anyone worth kidnapping.
    Schwartzenberger pulled out
another patch and started sealing the hole in the deck. “I’ll take the con for
a bit. Go get yourself a sandwich or something.”
    “All right.” Mitchie
unstrapped and started down the ladder.
    “Oh,