of three containers on the edge of the yard. The goal was to manually free the bottom container's locking clamps so that they would be able to float in zero-g.
"Frak, it's jammed," Tabby swore.
Mine had detached easily but it wasn't uncommon for them to become stuck and Tabby had never spent much time working with clamps. I joined her and pulled out a pry bar I had strapped to my shin. We worked on the clamp and it finally gave way. We pulled back behind the containers, completely out of breath from excitement and exertion. We repeated the same exercise on two more container stacks without issue. I checked my HUD (Heads Up Display) and realized the attack had been going on for at least forty minutes. Not good. How long could Dad hold out?
" Remember. Three seconds apart. We have seventy meters to go before we are out of sight of that turret. We will hit open space at full speed, two seconds after the first shot," I reminded Nick. It wasn't necessary but it made me feel good. Nick was all about details. He didn't say anything and simply nodded back.
Tabby and I cautiously pulled ourselves back to our calculated starting position. We had done the math and knew where to start our attack on the ship. We were both carrying mining lasers and the extra burden made it hard to estimate, but then we had a lot of unknowns. I nodded to Tabby and we jetted along a path toward the ship. We were dodging containers so we had difficulty reaching our intended speed. "Nick, first salvo in three, two, one. Hit it!"
The three-stack of containers jumped forward, tumbling toward the attack ship on what I was afraid would be a near miss. Two seconds later, Tabby and I emerged from the cover of the rental yard and entered the open space between the yard and the attack ship at the base of the tethered control tower.
One second later, another smaller stack of containers broke loose and started tumbling toward the ship on a different trajectory. This one would miss by quite a significant margin. The gunner within the ship decided to be safe rather than sorry. He shredded the first containers with an awesome display of the turret's firepower and we were thirty meters from being inside the turret’s minimum range. The third container fired off in yet another direction, but the gunner wasn't fooled. He quickly whipped the turret around, and the station floor was shredded by slugs as they ripped a line toward us. I heard Tabby yowl in pain as we crossed the boundary where the turret could no longer reach us.
" Tabby, talk to me," I shouted.
" Shrapnel. I got this. Stay on target!" she commanded.
I flipped over and burned hard to come to a stop directly under the ship's turret. Tabby was beneath the cockpit and we both had our feet on the skin of the ship. It was one of the advantages of being a spacer. Up and down didn't mean a thing to us unless there was gravity.
I attached my mining laser against the hull of the ship on the underneath side opposite the turret. I was able to set up much faster than Tabby, since I worked with mining lasers just about every day. I pulled a steel spike and null-hammered it into the plating of the ship. In less than fifteen seconds I had five spikes securing the laser tube. I pulled the power pack off my back and allowed it to float, set the laser to a depth of twenty meters, and flipped the switch. I figured the armor would be hard to penetrate, but we drilled through solid iron in the mines all the time. It might take a couple of minutes, but it would be going through.
I jetted over to Tabby , who was struggling to hold the mining laser straight while working the spikes in. I steadied the tube while she drove her first spike. With one already planted, she made quick work of the remaining spikes. She pulled off the laser’s power pack and I dialed it to ten meters. She had chosen a spot beneath the ship’s cockpit which wasn’t as thick as the rest of the ship.
I looked back to the ship and saw with
"Frak, it's jammed," Tabby swore.
Mine had detached easily but it wasn't uncommon for them to become stuck and Tabby had never spent much time working with clamps. I joined her and pulled out a pry bar I had strapped to my shin. We worked on the clamp and it finally gave way. We pulled back behind the containers, completely out of breath from excitement and exertion. We repeated the same exercise on two more container stacks without issue. I checked my HUD (Heads Up Display) and realized the attack had been going on for at least forty minutes. Not good. How long could Dad hold out?
" Remember. Three seconds apart. We have seventy meters to go before we are out of sight of that turret. We will hit open space at full speed, two seconds after the first shot," I reminded Nick. It wasn't necessary but it made me feel good. Nick was all about details. He didn't say anything and simply nodded back.
Tabby and I cautiously pulled ourselves back to our calculated starting position. We had done the math and knew where to start our attack on the ship. We were both carrying mining lasers and the extra burden made it hard to estimate, but then we had a lot of unknowns. I nodded to Tabby and we jetted along a path toward the ship. We were dodging containers so we had difficulty reaching our intended speed. "Nick, first salvo in three, two, one. Hit it!"
The three-stack of containers jumped forward, tumbling toward the attack ship on what I was afraid would be a near miss. Two seconds later, Tabby and I emerged from the cover of the rental yard and entered the open space between the yard and the attack ship at the base of the tethered control tower.
One second later, another smaller stack of containers broke loose and started tumbling toward the ship on a different trajectory. This one would miss by quite a significant margin. The gunner within the ship decided to be safe rather than sorry. He shredded the first containers with an awesome display of the turret's firepower and we were thirty meters from being inside the turret’s minimum range. The third container fired off in yet another direction, but the gunner wasn't fooled. He quickly whipped the turret around, and the station floor was shredded by slugs as they ripped a line toward us. I heard Tabby yowl in pain as we crossed the boundary where the turret could no longer reach us.
" Tabby, talk to me," I shouted.
" Shrapnel. I got this. Stay on target!" she commanded.
I flipped over and burned hard to come to a stop directly under the ship's turret. Tabby was beneath the cockpit and we both had our feet on the skin of the ship. It was one of the advantages of being a spacer. Up and down didn't mean a thing to us unless there was gravity.
I attached my mining laser against the hull of the ship on the underneath side opposite the turret. I was able to set up much faster than Tabby, since I worked with mining lasers just about every day. I pulled a steel spike and null-hammered it into the plating of the ship. In less than fifteen seconds I had five spikes securing the laser tube. I pulled the power pack off my back and allowed it to float, set the laser to a depth of twenty meters, and flipped the switch. I figured the armor would be hard to penetrate, but we drilled through solid iron in the mines all the time. It might take a couple of minutes, but it would be going through.
I jetted over to Tabby , who was struggling to hold the mining laser straight while working the spikes in. I steadied the tube while she drove her first spike. With one already planted, she made quick work of the remaining spikes. She pulled off the laser’s power pack and I dialed it to ten meters. She had chosen a spot beneath the ship’s cockpit which wasn’t as thick as the rest of the ship.
I looked back to the ship and saw with
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