Chapter 10

In Which Perilous Travels Ensue

Ayako was transfixed as the high velocity 128 mm gun slowly lined up on them. They were right out in the open, exposed! The Jagdtiger must have looped back around the woods after passing them, whether by luck or judgement. Could they have been seen? They had taken such pains to remain invisible-

No! Stop this! Ayako realized she had frozen up again. Not this time, she thought grimly, snapping out of it. "They're behind us! Evasive action!" she screamed into the microphone.

Liza threw them into a left turn just as the Jagdtiger fired. The round slapped past them to the right, impacting a fraction of a second later. A geyser of soil erupted out of the ground, showering the Ram with nodules of dirt.

She held on for dear life as Liza jerked them this way and that. Ayako started mentally counting the seconds between shots and alerting Liza when the next volley was due. Luckily, the Jagdtiger was slow to reload and every moment they were extending the distance. After a couple more near-misses, the Jagdtiger ceased firing and began pursuing them.

Up ahead, the gap between two rocky outcrops resolved into a narrow trail running up the side of a hill on their right. Liza slowed the Ram and they began to mount the track carefully. The surface was packed dirt and gravel, only around five meters wide. The slope above and below them was mostly scree, dotted with larger granite boulders and some forlorn tufts of vegetation. There was no cover and no room to maneuver.

Ayako looked back behind them. As they gained elevation, she was able to see the Jagdtiger snorting exhaust fumes as it crossed the meadow behind and below them. If it got close enough for a shot, it was all over.

The track gradually curved to the right as it approached a saddle joining the peaks to either side. The enemy was no longer in view.

"Skipper," said Hayley. "We might be able to damage this road enough with our tools to slow them down, eh?"

Ayako considered this. Buying some time would be worthwhile. "Stop the tank," she ordered. "Driver, stay put and be ready to move out. Justine, Hayley, we three will work on the road. Be quick!"

They leapt down and grabbed the picks and shovels off the rear deck. Hurriedly, they attacked the surface of the track, flailing away with their implements.

"It's too hard packed! I can barely dent it!" cried Hayley.

"Try chipping away at the edge!" Ayako called back. Justine, meanwhile, had climbed the upper slope and was swinging wildly with her pickaxe, trying to cause a landslide.

The now familiar clanking, groaning rumble became audible, getting louder and louder. The ground started to tremble. Ayako felt the primitive fight or flight reaction trying to kick in. She glanced quickly around. A small pile of rubble spilled down on one side and barely a half-meter carved away on the other. This wasn't working.

"Get back to the tank!" she yelled. "Forget the tools, just go!"

They dropped everything and ran frantically back to the Ram. Ayako was still scrambling through the hatch when Liza put them in motion.

"Sorry, skipper," groaned Hayley. "Now we're worse off."

"Never mind," said Ayako, peering backwards. "It was worth trying."

"This kind of reminds me of Killdozer," said Hayley.

"What?"

"It's an old TV movie about a bulldozer that gets possessed by an alien entity," said Hayley. "Then it goes on a rampage on an island and hunts down the construction crew."

"How do they stop it?"

"They end up electrocuting it."

Ayako grimaced. "I don't think the Sensha-dō League would support that tactic."

"Probably not, eh?"

They passed over the saddle just as the Jagdtiger came into view around the curve behind them. In front, the trail crossed over to the opposite hillside and descended along its flank, running straight and true for a good kilometer.

It grew darker as they moved into the shadowed side of the pass. Liza was driving as fast as she dared down the track. Ayako stared behind them and saw first the Jagdtiger's gun barrel then the dark mass of the whole vehicle appear, limned against the bright sky. It oriented itself inexorably to face the vulnerable rear of their tank. They're not in any hurry, thought Ayako. They have all the time in the world to aim, with us stuck here going in a straight line.

"They've got us in their sights," she reported. "I'm sorry everyone. I think we're done for."

There was a short pause.

"Want me to try somethin', b'y?" asked Liza.

Ayako didn't hesitate. "Do it!"

"Hang on tight!"

Liza braked quickly, then turned the Ram to face the slope dropping away beside them. Uh oh, thought Ayako. They tipped over the edge just as the Jagdtiger fired. The explosion sprayed them with rock fragments as they began the drop.

The loose stones under their tracks were wet and slick from the night's rain. They slid down, gathering speed quickly, more sled than tank. Ayako held on for dear life. The larger boulders dotting the hillside flew past.

"Look out ahead!" screamed Ayako as one particularly large rock loomed up in front of them.

"I sees it, b'y!" Liza yelled back. Ayako realized that their brakes were already hard on. At the last minute, Liza engaged the drive on one side and managed to turn them to the left. The rock caught the right rear corner of the tank a glancing blow, spinning them back clockwise.

"Ow!" cried Ayako as she hit her nose on the hatch rim. Please don't deploy, please don't deploy, she thought, but the white flag did not appear. Now they were skidding sideways. If their treads dug in, the tracks could be ripped off or they might flip completely over. Liza floored the accelerator and jerked them straight again. Another rock just missed them. At last, they reached the bottom and the Ram began to slow. One last monolithic boulder lay dead in their path. Liza slewed them from side to side desperately.

"Brace for impact!" Ayako closed her eyes.

When she opened them, they had finally halted their mad rush, inches from the granite. She took several deep breaths.

"Well done, driver."

Liza took a while to reply. At last: "Thank you. I mean, thanks b'y!"

High above, the Jagdtiger backed out of view.

Liza got them moving again and they threaded carefully through the debris towards the flat grassland beyond the pass. Ayako kept a sharp lookout, but the Jagdtiger did not reappear. It took them several detours, but at last they approached their objective at point 2753. Up ahead, alongside the winding, tree-lined road they were travelling on, a cornfield sloped gently down towards a cut where a disused railway line ran. The sides of the cut were almost vertical and easily ten feet high. Just like a ditch…

It had taken them a long time to get there. Somehow, it was not surprising in the least to turn a bend and find the Jagdtiger in the middle of the road blocking their path.

Author's Notes:

I fixed Alena's half-hearted encouragement in the last chapter.

For this battle, I chose to deliberately not focus on the Jagdtiger's crew to try and make the tank itself the opponent and make it seem like an impersonal, implacable force.

Glad to hear that I've inspired someone else's work!