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vultures, the the shark s moved just enough off centerline that those vultures
aren t the ones directly between us any more.
Demonstrating once again the creature s ability to learn. It had recognized
Amity as being the more dangerous of its two targets and was exerting all its
force in the ship s direction.
Apparently ignoring Man o War entirely&
What about structural integrity? Roman asked, his eyes flicking again to the
red stress numbers.
Getting some stretching, Stolt said tightly. Both linear and
transverse like tidal effects, only stronger. Probably the shark trying to
pull us apart.
And given the fight
Amity was putting up, the shark could reasonably be expected to put as much
effort into the job as it could spare. Estimated time to damage?
At this strength, we ll start popping seams in maybe thirty minutes, Stolt
said.
But the strain will probably go up as the shark gets closer.
Roman nodded grimly, indecision tearing at him. If Tenzing was right about the
shark being a low-stamina sprinter, then it might still be possible to hold to
the current status quo and try to wear the predator out.
But if Tenzing was wrong, any delay might well forfeit them their only other
chance to get away.
It was a gamble they had to take. Laser crew, cease firing, he ordered.
Charge all pulse capacitors and stand by. Yamoto, ease up on the drive, just
a little. Rrin-
saa, I need to get a message in to Hhom-jee can that be done?
He can hear you, Rro-maa, the Tampy s voice came faintly.
Good. Hhom-jee, when I give you the word, I want you to have Man o War reach
back and telekene away as many of the vultures between us and the shark that
it can.
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Your wishes are ours, Rrin-saa replied.
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Timothy Zahn - Warhorse
Yeah, Roman muttered under his breath. Yamoto? Range?
To the shark, twenty-four kilometers, Captain, she said promptly. The
leading edge of vulture cloud is just over eighteen.
At least two kilometers inside Man o War s telekene range; maybe more. Laser
crew, stand by, he ordered, shifting his attention to the internal stress
indicators.
They would have exactly one shot at this. A little closer; just a little
closer&
Captain, tether stress is redlining, Yamoto said abruptly. Another minute
and we re going to lose Man o War.
Roman s hands curled into fists. This was it. Hhom-jee:
now
.
For a single, awful second he thought the gamble had failed. And then, as if
by magic, a circle of black suddenly appeared in the hazy white cloud of
vultures and rocks behind them. The hole spread outward like the negative of
an explosion
And behind it, clearly visible in the reflected light of the drive emissions,
was the shark.
Laser:
fire!
Roman snapped. The faint line lanced out
And without any warning at all Roman was slammed hard back into his chair.
There was no time to shout warnings or orders; but Yamoto was ready. A split-
instant of weightlessness as she cut the drive was followed by a second back-
wrenching slam of high acceleration as Man o War took up the slack in the
rein lines and leaped forward.
And they were free.
Keep firing, Roman managed to shout.
Shark falling back, Marlowe called: Range, fifty kilometers& sixty&
seventy& I don t think it s even trying to follow us, Captain.
It doesn t have to, Yamoto put in. The optical net is back with us.
Roman pushed against the acceleration to take a deep breath. Laser crew:
cease fire. As soon as you can, I want a maintenance check started on your
equipment we may need to use it again. Leaden hands fought unsuccessfully to
switch displays Marlowe, did the lander get away?
Negative, the other said. They re about 230 kilometers ahead of us; bearing
twenty port, five nadir.
With an effort, Roman reached up and keyed into the comm laser circuit.
Amity to lander: report.
Lander here, Ferrol s voice came back. You do believe in cutting things
close, don t you?
We didn t have much choice, Roman told him, giving the tactical display a
quick check. The shark still didn t seem to be giving chase. I take it from
your presence here that the net missile we sent out to you didn t work?
It didn t get even that much chance, Ferrol said grimly. The shark stopped
it about a kilometer out from you.
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I ve got the recording queued, Captain, if you want to see it, Marlowe put
in.
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Roman nodded. Go ahead.
Stopped was an understatement; or else that was all Ferrol had been able to
see from his distance. From
Amity s closer perspective, it was far more spectacular. It was stopped, all
right, Roman told Ferrol. Also torn into small pieces and dispersed. Here,
take a look.
He sent a copy of the tape down the laser, and for a minute there was silence.
Looks pretty deliberate, doesn t it? Ferrol commented at last.
I d say so, yes, Roman agreed. It saw what the first missile did and didn t
care for it much.
And so the next time it saw one, it shredded it.
Roman nodded. More evidence that the shark can learn. As if we needed it.
The acceleration was beginning to slacken: Man o War tiring or else Hhom-jee
getting it back under control. Mentally crossing his fingers, Roman turned
toward the intercom. Hhom-jee, can you talk to me yet?
A pause. I hear, Rro-maa.
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