HAWK

CHAPTER SIX: DESCENT (3/5)

Worm ran out of the room while Kas tightened her seatbelt.

A stream of code washed over Hik's face. 'I thought our plan was to try multiple cruisers in the hope of finding someone more accommodating.'

'I've changed my mind,' Kas replied as she flicked a switch on the control panel. 'You ready, Worm?'

A double beep came back: Worm's response for yes.

'You ready, Hik?'

'I am ready, though I maintain that we should--'

'Shut up, Hik.'

Kas pressed the control column, sending the Calista zooming towards the cruiser. Through the viewport, she could see it swivelling to face her.

Come get me, flight lieutenant...

Kas threw the control column forwards and sent the Calista nosediving into Lysan's atmosphere. The roar of resistance surrounded her ship in a chorus of flame as if she was penetrating the first circle of hell and it was clawing at her to drag her in.

But Kas wanted it to take her.

The Calista continued to accelerate until it started to shake and vibrate with increasing intensity. She hoped Worm was doing OK in the engine room.

The kid knows what she's doing...

Kas glanced at the Holo-HUD and confirmed the cruiser was giving chase and closing on her. Unlike the Calista, cap cruisers were designed for orbital chases like this.

The Calista tore through the atmosphere like an arrow piercing the heavens, no longer flying, but falling - falling at ever increasing speeds towards the inky blue skin of Lysan's watery surface. Kas had trained for this kind of thing plenty of times in the academy, and always done very well.

But that was in a simulation...

A loud thunk hit the Calista. Kas slammed her hand on the tannoy switch.

'BRACE!' But before the word had died in her throat, the Calista jerked violently and Kas was thrown hard against the restraints of her seat. The Calista groaned as it twisted and swung sideways through the air, threatening to bring up Kas's last three meals. At the peak of its swing, Kas caught a brief glimpse of the cap cruiser through the viewport and the glimmer of a long cable running from the underside of the cruiser straight to her own like a silver umbilical cord.

The Calista had been harpooned.

'NOW HIK!' she screamed.

Hik, who had miraculously managed to stay perfectly balanced throughout the turbulence, did nothing but seemingly gaze out of the viewport and summon a fresh page of digits to flutter across his dome.

'Both ships are in freefall,' he said calmly.

Kas grabbed the control column and battled to retake control of the Calista from the elements. She checked the HUD and saw they were travelling at just over seventeen-thousand miles-per-hour - and still accelerating. For once, Kas wished she could hand control over to the autopilot, but at that speed, it wouldn't stand a chance. She punched the tannoy switch and had to yell at the top of her voice to hear herself.

'WORM! DE-THRUSTERS! SLOW US DOWN!'

She released the switch and grabbed the control column with both hands. She'd managed to get the Calista a little more under her control but she was still plummeting towards the ground at an alarming rate. If Kas didn't get its nose up soon, they'd crash into the ocean in little under thirty seconds.

She teased the column towards her, only too aware she was fighting the gravity of an entire planet.

'Twenty seconds until impact,' Hik said.

The ship lurched suddenly as if they'd hit a cloud of tar. Kas's eyes darted to the HUD: twelve-thousand miles-per-hour and falling.

That kid's a genius...

With the slowing speed came slightly more control. Kas coaxed the control column back a little further and the nose began to lift timidly.

That's it, baby...

But she'd have to be very careful; if she raised the nose too far too fast, the ship would go into a death spin that she wouldn't have time to come back from. She inched the column back another few notches.

'Ten seconds until impact.'

A quick look at the HUD told her they were travelling at just under eight-thousand miles-per-hour. She decided that was good enough for her and gave the control column a firm tug. The Calista responded like a huge bird of prey that she'd saddled mid-flight.

Suddenly, the ship wasn't falling, but gliding. The distant curve of the horizon levelled itself in the viewport and Kas took her first proper breath since she'd broken through the atmosphere. She looked at the HUD and saw their speed was plummeting and was now down to just over three-thousand miles-per-hour. Once they were under a thousand, Kas would be able to re-engage the thrusters and see if she could remember how to do a sea landing. But before that, she had one more loose end to tie up. She brought up the Holo-HUD and saw the cruiser trailing behind her like a balloon.

'What's the flight lieutenant's status?' she asked Hik.

'She is angry but uninjured.'

Kas smiled. 'Better help her bring it in to land.'

'Yes, Ms Balera.'