The Hunter, part 18
Rommie felt strange returning to Andromeda after what had happened on New St. Petersburg: she felt a peace now Dylan had admitted his feelings for her. Smiling, she put her arm through his as the Argo's airlock cycled open, but her face fell when she saw what awaited them.
A contingent of Lancer stood in full body armour, weapons at the ready. Tyr and Trance stepped down onto the deck. The Nietzschean looked at the assembled security detail, "What's going on?" Andromeda's hologram appeared, "Dylan, we've received orders from CIIC: Rommie is to be arrested for crimes she's committed in Commonwealth space." Dylan turned, and for a moment, saw the pain in Rommie's eyes. He went to say something, but she reacted faster.
Rommie span round, her elbow catching Dylan in the back, knocking him out of the airlock. She dived inside and hit the hatch controls, "Time to get out of here Dex!" The pilot, not needing to be told twice, hit the re-heat for the main engine, and pulled the throttle all the way back: there was an ear-splitting scream as the Argo's landing pads scrapped along the deck. Rommie hit a few commands, and the inner-doors closed, just as the Argo shot through. The outer-hatch seemed to take forever in opening, and the small ship only just made it through.
Dex dived the ship, getting below the bulk of Andromeda's weapons and below the grapple-launchers. Rommie punched the coms-unit in rage, shattering it, "Damn you Dylan!" Dex stole a look over his shoulder, "What the hell happened?" Rommie had started to cry, "The bastard betrayed me: he said he'd be able to arrange pardons for us after we helped him on New St. Petersburg, but there was a squad of Lancers waiting for us back there." Dex shook his head, "That cosseted son-of-a-bitch!"
The sensors started pinning. Rommie glanced at them, "We got two Slipfighter's tracking us. I'll give them something else to think about!" She pressed a button twice, and two mines fell from the back of the Argo. They homed in on the Slipfighter's, and when they connected, the high-power capacitors discharged, stopping the pursuit-craft without harming the pilots.
The Argo shout out from underneath Andromeda, and as Dex lined up on the slip-portal, Rommie typed a few commands into the weapons-counsel, "Consider this a parting gift Dylan!" she pressed the fire command, and a single missile sped away from the fleeing ship as it entered slipstream. The missile flew straight and true, impacting against the slip-drive regulator, disabling the Andromeda's faster-than-light drive with the minimal of damage to the rest of the ship.
TBC
Rommie felt strange returning to Andromeda after what had happened on New St. Petersburg: she felt a peace now Dylan had admitted his feelings for her. Smiling, she put her arm through his as the Argo's airlock cycled open, but her face fell when she saw what awaited them.
A contingent of Lancer stood in full body armour, weapons at the ready. Tyr and Trance stepped down onto the deck. The Nietzschean looked at the assembled security detail, "What's going on?" Andromeda's hologram appeared, "Dylan, we've received orders from CIIC: Rommie is to be arrested for crimes she's committed in Commonwealth space." Dylan turned, and for a moment, saw the pain in Rommie's eyes. He went to say something, but she reacted faster.
Rommie span round, her elbow catching Dylan in the back, knocking him out of the airlock. She dived inside and hit the hatch controls, "Time to get out of here Dex!" The pilot, not needing to be told twice, hit the re-heat for the main engine, and pulled the throttle all the way back: there was an ear-splitting scream as the Argo's landing pads scrapped along the deck. Rommie hit a few commands, and the inner-doors closed, just as the Argo shot through. The outer-hatch seemed to take forever in opening, and the small ship only just made it through.
Dex dived the ship, getting below the bulk of Andromeda's weapons and below the grapple-launchers. Rommie punched the coms-unit in rage, shattering it, "Damn you Dylan!" Dex stole a look over his shoulder, "What the hell happened?" Rommie had started to cry, "The bastard betrayed me: he said he'd be able to arrange pardons for us after we helped him on New St. Petersburg, but there was a squad of Lancers waiting for us back there." Dex shook his head, "That cosseted son-of-a-bitch!"
The sensors started pinning. Rommie glanced at them, "We got two Slipfighter's tracking us. I'll give them something else to think about!" She pressed a button twice, and two mines fell from the back of the Argo. They homed in on the Slipfighter's, and when they connected, the high-power capacitors discharged, stopping the pursuit-craft without harming the pilots.
The Argo shout out from underneath Andromeda, and as Dex lined up on the slip-portal, Rommie typed a few commands into the weapons-counsel, "Consider this a parting gift Dylan!" she pressed the fire command, and a single missile sped away from the fleeing ship as it entered slipstream. The missile flew straight and true, impacting against the slip-drive regulator, disabling the Andromeda's faster-than-light drive with the minimal of damage to the rest of the ship.
TBC