Stranded with the Alien (Starbound #1)

One

The Merlin canted to one side as Kara yanked it hard to starboard. Cannon-fire screeched past, scorching the hull.

“Son of a bitch!”

That was going to leave a mark.

She gave the S-23 more throttle and the distance between them closed. Vipers were bigger and sturdier but her Merlin was faster. Prettier too.

On the dashboard, the little plastic doll wiggled and jiggled in its Hawaiian skirt as the fighter swerved through space. Kara glanced at it.

“Hold on, Gloria. Any second now.”

She checked the weapons screen. The targeting system blinked red, trying to lock-on. Her finger rested on the trigger, ready to fire the nanosecond it turned green.

She’d been chasing this bastard for the best part of an hour, ever since the troop carrier had come under attack. Two dozen snakes had ambushed them as they’d headed for their refueling stop. No-one had expected them to be this deep in Terran space. They were getting cocky.

“Lieutenant Singh, do you read?” She started as the radio crackled into life. “Singh, you there?”

Captain Koenig, checking up on her.

“Alive and kicking, cap. Chasing a bogey.”

“You need to get back to the Idaho. There’s an asteroid shower heading our way. Rendezvous with the carrier ASAP.”

Kara frowned.

“I have the snake in my sights, cap. Give me five minutes and I’ll…”

He didn’t let her finish.

“Negative, lieutenant. Even the Vraxians are pulling back. Get your ass back here, Kara.”

The gruff voice of her superior officer brooked no argument. Kara glanced at the targeting screen again. She was close. So close. Just another second…

As if sensing her proximity, the Viper broke to port and boosted its speed, trying to shake her.

“Oh no you don’t.”

She matched the velocity and started to gain.

“Lieutenant, I gave you an order. Return to the Idaho now!”

Kara grimaced.

“What was that, cap? I can’t hear you… you’re breaking up...”

“Singh, you insubordinate piece of crap, you’re going to get yourself killed!”

“See you back at base, captain.”

She flipped off the transmitter. Koenig was going to have her up on charges but what the hell. Every snake she shot down was one less alien trying to conquer Earth.

Not that this one was making it easy. The Viper weaved erratically through the blackness of space, keeping her weapons system from getting a lock. She was grudgingly impressed. The pilot might have been a cold-blooded alien shithead, but he was pretty good.

Another burst of cannon-fire spat at her but she was ready for it this time, gracefully skimming to one side and letting the shrapnel disappear into the blackness beyond.

The targeting scope turned green.

With a whoop of triumph, Kara depressed the trigger and let loose both missiles. She watched them streak towards the Viper.

“Three, two one…”

At the last moment, the enemy fighter dropped like a stone, plummeting a thousand meters as the missiles passed harmlessly above.

“What the fuck?” Kara twisted frantically in the cockpit, trying to get a visual on the Viper.

How the hell had he done that? Vipers were built to go in one direction only, and that was forward. They couldn’t just stop in mid-flight and descend on the spot… could they? If so, the Vraxians had some new tech that was going to be a pain in the butt.

The area around her suddenly lit up like a firework display. The snake was firing his guns at her. Well, two could play at that game.

“You want to see some fancy flying?” she snarled. “Get a load of this.”

She hauled back on the throttle and took the Merlin up in a sharp loop, ignoring the warning lights telling her the rapid ascent was exceeding safety limits. As she came round, she saw the Viper below her. She didn’t bother with the targeting screen this time. She did it the old fashioned way; like shooting a rat in a barrel.

“End of the road, motherfucker,” she muttered.

Her missiles exploded on the starboard side of the enemy craft, smashing through the hull and ripping off its stabilizers. The ship bucked wildly as all its systems fried at once. The engines cut out. With nothing to stop its momentum, the Viper started whirling in a flat spin.

Kara watched it spiral away through space, shedding shrapnel as it went like confetti. She knew the pilot wouldn’t activate an escape pod, for the simple reason that his ship didn’t have an escape pod.

Vraxians fought and won, or they fought and died. They didn’t run. Kara grinned mirthlessly. The alien was as good as dead.

She turned the Merlin back towards the carrier and reached for the radio. Maybe cap would forgive her insubordination if she let him know she’d bagged a snake. Ha. Who was she kidding? Of course he wouldn’t.

A shadow passed over head. She glanced out of the cockpit window and froze.

Shit. Shit. Shit!

The asteroids. She’d left it too late.

Something slammed into the side of the Merlin, rocking it violently. Kara stabbed at the controls but the thrusters were down. There was another impact. Then another. A crack appeared in the top corner of the cockpit window.

“Fuck.”

She tried the radio but all she got was static. The antenna array must have taken a hit. Another violent jolt threw her against the hull, smacking her head hard enough to leave her disorientated. Through blurry eyes she saw the crack on the window spider outwards. That wasn’t good.

“Time to go, Gloria.”

Stumbling to her feet, she staggered back to the pilot seat. Fastened the harness with shaking fingers. Grabbed the doll from the dashboard. And hit the eject button.

The seat dropped into the escape pod with a suddenness that took her breath. It rotated backwards and locked in with a click . A transparent blast shield closed over her head, cocooning her in a space little bigger than a coffin. Her heart rate ratcheted as she fought a moment of claustrophobia. Then the whole thing detached and fell away.

Kara looked straight up at the belly of the Merlin as she receded from it. The fighter was thrashing like a wounded animal, pounded and pummeled on all sides by the space rocks. The onslaught only lasted seconds.

She blinked back tears as her ship exploded into an inferno. She’d loved that Merlin. Held together with spit and tape, sure, but she knew every inch of it. Knew how to coax it into ever faster speeds and tighter turns. It had carried her safely through countless combat missions – and now it was gone.

A sharp jolt reminded her she was still in danger. The escape pod was built to withstand some punishment but not the impact of repeated asteroid strikes.

Rocks were streaming past at incredible velocity. She knew from her training the fastest ones could travel at more than seventy kilometers a second. Most were small, maybe the size of her fist. But there were some that could comfortably crush a battle cruiser.

She braced as the little vessel was smacked around like a pinball. The Hawaiian doll was clutched tightly in her hand and she glanced down at it.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re smiling about.”

Just a few seconds more and she’d be clear of the field. The escape pod was programmed to take her to the nearest Terran base, which in this case was the E.S.V. Idaho. Home sweet home.

Koenig would be furious at her for losing a space-jet. But at least she’d get to watch that vein throbbing in his temple while he yelled at her. Small pleasures.

The pod bucked violently as something way, way bigger than her fist smashed into the hull. Her head ricocheted off a wall panel.

The last thing she remembered was seeing the distant stars merge into a stream of white as the pod accelerated. Then darkness closed in.