Slackers of the Inner Sphere
Chapter 25: Running The Gauntlet

Ekranoplan Sea Duck
Sea of Storms
Shoreham
Federated Commonwealth
1st October 3064

"Now this is how we should have done this the first time." Swindelli looked out of the thick window as the waves passed by just a few meters below, "Why couldn't we have used this the first time, instead of the rusty old tin-can they had us on?"

"Weather was too bad for us to make a run." Holser made his way down from the command cabin, "Normal, job like this, we'd cruise along up somewhere around 7,000 meters, making maybe 500 km/h. But if we were to try that today, Fenner would send is Aerospace fighters after us, and we're not equipped fort hat kind of fight. No, we stay down here, then any search radar they have won't be able to pick us out from among the waves. Bad news is, we'd be lucky to make 100 km/h at this hight. Still, another hour or so and we should make landfall."

"Well, at least I'm not sea-sick." Swindelli shifted about in his seat, trying to get comfortable.

"Couldn't help but notice that gun you've got there." Holser stood at the hot plat at the back of the cabin, pouring coffee into two of the odd, conical shaped mugs the crew used, "A Hanzo original, right? Must have cost you a pretty penny."

"It was a gift." The MechWarrior pulled out his mirrored sunglasses and put them on, providing some shade from the bright sunlight that streamed in through the window, "I know her husband."

"Hanzo's married?" the Militia officer shock his head in disbelief, "Lucky bastard! Hitomi Hanzo is, or rather was,Shoreham's most eligible bachelorette, all things considered."

"Hey, I know she's attractive and all, but I wouldn't go that far." Swindelli snorted.

"You really don't know, do you?" Holser laughed as he made his way back up the cabin, "The Hanzo family have been gunsmiths and weapons designers for generations, but they've always invested; mainly land and the armaments companies they do work for. As the only surviving member of the family, Hitomi Hanzo is probably among the ten richest woman on the planet." He shrugged as he made his way back into the cockpit, "That said, word is Fenner's already signed her death warrant: she'll be lucky to last another year, even if she stays in Whitehawk."

Swindelli sat still for a moment, his mind running over everything he'd just been told. Neither Baker or Hanzo had, at no point, given any clue that they had money. While it was true that with a Civil War on, with much of her home planet under the control of the opposition, Hanzo was hardly in a position to access most if not all of her wealth. But the shop she operated had been small and in a less than desirable part of town. The concept that it was all some joke Holser was playing on him in retaliation for the way he had dismissed the Ekranoplan when he had first seen it. He was about to ask Kerensky his opinion when the cabin shock violently, and an alarm sounded. Hitting the quick release on his safety harness, he tried to get to his feet, but the Ekranoplan banked sharply to one side, throwing him against the bulkhead hard enough to momentarily stun him.

"Strap yourselves in and hold tight." Holser's tense voice sounded over the PA, "We've got Razor Hawks inbound!"

"What in the name of Buffalo Bill is a Razor Hawk?" Swindelli asked the universe in general.

"I would hazard a guess that they are." Kerensky leaned over the gangway separating their seats and pointed out the window: a quartet of sleek, deadly looking craft were sweeping in at wave-top hight, all shape angles and deadly intent. One of them let fly a pair of missiles that arced up then down, homing in on the much bigger Sea Duck.

A pair of heavy machine-guns opened up from somewhere behind the passenger cabin, tracer rounds walking across the path of one missile, swatting it out of the sky. But the second evaded the defensive fire and impacted on the hull just above the port wing. The entire craft shuddered violently as sheets of ablative amour shattered and fell away, protecting those inside but leaving a potentially deadly chink in the big Ekranoplan's armour. The dull roar of the transports engines rose to near a deafening level as it lurched forward and up, gaining a few meters extra hight as the added acceleration pushed everyone back in their seats.

Light autocannon rounds impacted along the length of the craft as Holser dipped the port wing as far as he dared, putting the Sea Duck into a wide turn, giving the crew members manning the dorsal missile launchers a better shot. Fire enveloped the windows as their opened up, spewing forth a wall of screaming death into the middle of the Razor Hawks'. The nimble attack craft scattered, affording Swindelli his first good look: their short, gull-like wings sent up high arcs of sea-spray as they skirted along the top of the water, while their blunt noses housed a chain fed autocannon. A single turboprop engine powered a large, multi bladed propeller. The shock of the first volley overcome, they split up and fell upon the much bigger Lun like a pack of wolves working together to take down a bear. One would deliberately move to try and draw fire while the others waited for their moment to pounce.

Gripping the back of the seat in front tightly, Swindelli managed to pull himself to his feat and carefully made his way forward to the cockpit: Holser and a man in a Petty Officers uniform were struggling with the controls, trying to shake off their attackers while avoiding a deadly collision with the sea just meters below their feet.

"I thought I told you to strap in and hold tight?" The Midshipman snarled, then activated the intercom, "Mr Tamarov, six o'clock low, moving fast: take the bastard out of my sky!"

"What the hell is going on?" Swindelli shouted as he pulled himself over to a jump-seat and fumbled with the five point harness.

"We control most of the coast, put open water is still hotly contested." Holser explained as he wrestled with the controls, his fingers flying across the dials and gages almost too fast to follow, "While we still have most of the Militia naval units, Fenner's people managed to grab some of the lighter units, like these blasted Razor Hawks'." He looked out the window at the fast approaching coastline, "Mr Boss, how far are we from Coogan's Bluff?"

"About twenty kilometres south." The Petty Officer replied, then looked round, a worried expression on his scared face, "No, it can't be done; not in a ship this size!"

"Only chance we have: we get to the other end, and they'll have to brake off or face the defences." Holser brought the big Ekranoplan's nose round to the north and pulled the throttle back until it came up against the thin wire that normally restricted engine output. A little more pressure snapped the wire, pushing all eight engines to their absolute limit: for a craft so big and seemingly unwieldy, the Sea Duck found some extra engine power from somewhere and rocketed ahead at less than ten meters, shaking so hard Swindelli was sure it was going to fall apart.

"Okay people, buckle up; we're about to make a run through the Bluff." Holser warned over the PA as a narrow gap in the cliff face appeared directly ahead.

Swindelli closed his eyes and offered a silent pray to any saints who happened to be listening as they passed through the opening into the narrow canyon beyond. The Ekranoplan jerked from side to side as Holser pulled the controls from side to side with all his might, navigating by memory as they threaded the only safe path through the towering walls of rock. Swindelli knew that the slightest mistake would spell a fiery death for them all, but somehow the adrenalin pumping through his veins made it seem all somehow surreal, as if it was happening to someone else. Time seemed to slow down, and he was able to see individual trees that had found some crag in which to take root. The illustration only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt like a life time.

Then the Ekranoplan levelled out, two of the Razor Hawks' still on their tail; one pilot had chickened out, while another had ploughed head first into a cliff face, leaving a nasty, burning patch as the only sigh of its passing. Swindelli looked forward to see a raging water fall dead ahead, a ragged outcropping of rock jutting out in the middle, protecting the entrance to a dark cave beyond

"BALLS TO THE WALLS TIME, BOYS!" Holser called out as he aimed for the narrow opening, coaxing every last drop of power out of the already over taxed engines. The entrance to the cave passed by in a blur of cascading water, the Sea Duck passing through with less than a meter to spare on either wing-tip, even less above the tail. Powerful lights came to life in the crafts nose, illuminating a maze of stone columns stretching from wall to wall.

"You are beyond insane!" Swindelli protested as both pilots struggled to turn the Ekranoplan up almost on wing-tip, threading their way between two massive columns and into a second cave beyond. This one was thankfully larger and relatively free of obstructions.

"You ain't seen nothing yet." Holser laughed maniacally as he pulled back on the control stick, "DRESS REHEARSAL FOR HELL!"

A fist grabbed Swindelli and pushed him back into the hard jump-seat as the Sea Duck struggled for hight, only just making the entrance of another, diagonal cave, the bottom of which was a raving maelstrom of white water. The crafts accumulated speed started to bleed off as it clawed its way up the up the sprat filled shaft, reaching far the distant sunlight filled opening.

Finally, with alarms screaming out a warning of immanent stall, the Sea Duck exited the cave like a cork shooting out of a champaign bottle, lading on the clear, calm waters of the open river beyond. One of the Razor Hawks' survived to follow them out, and was irremediably targeted by a dozen fixed weapons emplacements. Fire-power intended to fed of attacking DropShips ripped through its fragile hull, turning it into a ball of flame.

"Well, that was bracing." Holser smiled as he started to taxi towards a dock just up the river at the edge of a small town, "Welcome to Coogan's Bluff, Major."

To Be Continued...

I've been reading the Crimson Skies anthology, and I think it shows...