The Trouble Run

5

The second sensor array was 180 degrees around the ship. Li Jie laid on the jets, guiding his own mass smoothly over the hull. The chances of another array still being exposed were slim, but at the moment he didn't have a better play.

The instrument package was closing-up as he approached—lowering into the hull so only the armored cover would be exposed. Now, he was forced to fire on a moment's notice, without the benefit of target lock. He brought the rifle to bear as he drifted past, lining it up with the narrowing gap where he could still see the delicate equipment as it descended into the hull. He depressed the firing stud and held it. Li Jie thought he just barely saw a red glow, shading into yellow, before the protective hatch closed entirely.

Well, maybe he had done some damage, but there was no sense worrying about it now. He rotated his mass to orient himself for a push toward the aft array—a long-shot for certain.

As he spun, he came face-to-face with a suited figure sailing his way from the remains of the Shàngbān. Li Jie's few seconds were up—his assailant had jetted across from the other ship to finish what he had started.

Li Jie began to bring his own beamer into firing position—how had he let it wander in the first place? He had time to think "Too slow..." before he felt his opponent's beam burn through his left shoulder.

The small puff of atmosphere emerging from his suit was enough to send him spinning around his own axis. Time to worry about the hole later. If he didn't deal with his attacker, he wouldn't be around to miss the escaping air.

Li Jie still held the beamer in his right hand. He had one small advantage—his assailant might not consider him a threat as long as his spin appeared to be out of control.

Allowing his momentum to carry him through a full backward rotation and into firing position once again, he was already pressing the beamer's stud when his corneal display announced a lock. The beam drilled the other suited figure through the chest unit, and the chest. Li Jie saw a pinkish mist of atmosphere emerge from the resulting hole.

He didn't take time to celebrate. With his left hand, he groped for the tube of sealant on his belt. Holed suits were an occupational hazard for spacers; they often relied on spot-applications of sealant. Usually this worked pretty well, as long as you weren't alone, or the hole wasn't on your back. Unfortunately, he had holes in the front, back, and everywhere in between.

The front was easy. A squirt of the sealant and he was no longer losing atmosphere that way. For the back, Li Jie had to stow his beamer, allowing him to squeeze a thick, wide pancake of sealant into his gloved right hand. Reaching up and over his left shoulder was awkward in the suit. He strained to force his hand into the proper position, then slapped the sealant as hard as he could against the back of his shoulder. He held his breath, listened for two or three seconds, and was finally satisfied the barely audible hiss caused by the leak had stopped. He checked the pressure readout in his corneal display, watching it climb back toward one full atmosphere while he corrected his spin and re-oriented himself.

He had just resumed progress toward the aft sensor array when, ahead of him, hatches in the hull opened to both port and starboard.

Li Jie didn't wait to learn how many figures emerged from the ship. He increased thrust, feeling the hard kick of jet gas as the maneuvering pack propelled him along the length of the vessel, toward the aft array, at ever increasing speed.

Now he looked to his right. Two suited figures with maneuvering packs kept pace with him. Both were bringing rifles into firing position.

Li Jie, however, had learned his lesson from his close call with the previous attacker—his rifle was already lined up. A target indicator glowed red in his corneal, he depressed the firing stud, and the left-hand attacker spasmed, then spun slowly away, tether trailing behind them.

Li Jie turned his weapon on the other figure, whose rifle was already pointed straight at him. He forced himself to wait for target-lock and fired. He would never know why his opponent didn't manage to burn him. The timing of the lock must have been a split second in his favor. All he knew was his finger pressed the firing stud, then suddenly the other rifle wasn't pointing in his direction any longer.

He had no time. No time at all. He looked to his left, but saw nothing. That bothered him—a lot—but he wasn't going to stop to investigate. He continued down the long axis of the ship, until he was about halfway to the aft array. Then he cut the jet, spun on his own axis, used his attitude jets to arrest the spin, and resumed firing the main thruster to reduce his velocity.

That was when he saw them. Three metal "spiders", each a full meter in diameter, skittering swiftly across the hull from the direction of the starboard hatch. The one in the center was moving the slowest. The other two were skating across the hull faster than he was moving, now that he was using the thruster to decelerate.

Li Jie would have rather faced six human attackers than the three kill-bots now maneuvering to put him into a fatal crossfire.

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