Caitlin sat hunched at the little table in the galley, her hands over her ears as the gears squealed. Kralik and Tully were carrying on a conversation that seemed intended to distract her, while Aguilera drummed his fingers on the table’s gleaming surface, his face intent, apparently lost in thought.
A hollow boom sounded outside and something struck the water. The trawler, which had been idling, pitched hard to the right.
Aille looked past Yaut up the steps. “Are there predators in this area?”
“Nothing big enough to bother a ship this size,” Kralik said. He rose from the table and bounded up the stairs, two at a time.
Again, something whumped and the ship quivered.
A moment later, Kralik stuck his head in the doorway. “We’re under attack!”
* * *
Tully’s first impulse was to grin. The local Resistance was taking action, it seemed. Real action, not stupid rock-throwing and sign-waving. Good for them!
Then he caught Aguilera’s dark eyes on him. “Get a grip,” the older man said. “Even the densest Jao knows what a smile is and our Subcommandant is not exactly dense.”
Yaut had already dashed topside, followed by Aille. The Samsumaru’s engines roared back into life and the ship surged forward. Aguilera listened for a moment, then broke out his sidearm. “Damnation,” he said, “they’ll only get themselves killed, and half the folks back home too!”
That sobered Tully. It was indeed the custom of the Jao to retaliate against civilians who aided rebels—and they were none too discriminating about it. Down through the years, he had seen it happen over and over again. It made the rebels wary concerning sabotage or assassination, selecting only those targets that couldn’t be traced back to a particular town.
Aguilera started up the steps, then stopped and glared back at Tully. “Get your ass up on deck before anyone notices you’re not there!”
Yeah, that wouldn’t look good, Tully had to admit. And, besides, he couldn’t let Yaut and the locator control get too far away without suffering the consequences. With a sigh, he heaved to his feet, and, bracing himself with hands on the walls on either side of the narrow passageway, he followed Aguilera up into a confusing maelstrom of noise, wind, and rain.
The three Jao escort ships swung low out of the clouds, taking shots at four fiberglass powerboats fighting the waves. But these were just about the worst conditions possible for effective use of lasers. The wind had risen, driving the rain sideways, and it was hard enough just to stand on deck. Except at point-blank range, most of the energy of the lasers just went to vaporize raindrops.
Tully gripped the chill, wet rail and watched. The boats were fragile and undersized, laughable even. A handgun or rifle would do no good at this range and the craft were too tiny to carry anything much bigger. “Idiots!” he muttered and wiped the salt spray out of his eyes. “What do they think they’re going to do? Throw rocks at us until they manage to scratch the paint?”
Then he caught a glimpse of two men in the bow of the closest boat struggling to load something long, white, and slender into what he suddenly recognized was a rocket launcher. He leaned over the rail and squinted. Red stripes circled one end and he could make out a row of numbers. . . .
His grip tightened painfully. They weren’t so foolish, after all. “Oh, man!” He closed his eyes. With a weapon like that, they actually had a chance to do some real damage to this tub. Not smart. Not smart at all.
Normally, he would be all for retribution exacted against the Jao, but so many would pay for this—and after the demonstrations on shore this morning, Oppuk was already enraged.
Three Jao had switched on the newly mounted laser cannon and were taking methodical calibrations, conferring in low, unhurried voices. The Subcommandant and Yaut had drawn hand weapons and were both taking a bead on the lead ship, waiting for the jouncing boats to sweep closer.
One of the Jao escorts banked and fired at the little powerboat, which swerved aside and disappeared behind the immense swell of gray waves to the south. Underneath their feet, the trawler rumbled, accelerating with all the speed of a lumbering elephant as the crew navigated toward land.