Tales from the Academy
Chapter 40
She reached the bridge in less than two minutes. As she came through the hatch she heard Captain Bothari-Jesek speaking in an angry tone: "That's unacceptable, Commander! With the lightspeed delay it will take an hour for a message to reach Admiral Vorkoff and another hour for any reply to get back. And even his fastest ships would take over twelve hours to get here with reinforcements. My people need help now!"
Anny came to a halt and saw that Bothari-Jesek was talking on the communicator with Commander Vorscans, the skipper of the frigate Harrier, which had escorted them to Dounby. Just behind him on the monitor she could see Lieutenant Robertson, who commanded one of the platoons in Fox Company. With all the shifting of squads around in the convoy, organization was all mixed up and the frigate and four merchant ships had troops from three different companies aboard, all strangers to Anny except Alby Vorsworth who was on one of the nearby merchants with his platoon from Georg Company. Robertson was in temporary command of all the assault troops.
"What's going on, ma'am?" she asked. Bothari-Jesek turned to face her.
"One of our shuttles was making a delivery dirtside when it was attacked. Several of my crewmen are pinned down and need help right away." She turned back to Commander Vorscans. "I have paid a substantial fee for Barrayaran escort, Commander. I demand that you provide help now that it's needed."
"Captain," said Vorscans, "We need more information before we go jumping into things. First, I'm not sure my orders allow me to authorize military action on a planet's surface…"
"Commander, I'm from Barrayar, myself and I know damn well, that if those were Barryarans in trouble down there, your troops would already be heading for the surface! Or are you only willing to risk your lives for other Barrayarans? Anyone else can go to hell even if you're sworn to protect them?"
Anny sucked in her breath. Bothari-Jesek had just accused the Commander of cowardice and the fury on the man's face showed that he knew it. But before he could frame a reply, Lieutenant Roberston broke in.
"Commander, sensors are only showing a few dozen contacts in the immediate vicinity of the shuttle. There seem to more converging on it from a number of directions, but they won't get there for a while. If we move now, we can probably make the extraction and get out before more trouble arrives." The man's face was young and eager. Vorscans' expression grew more exasperated.
"We really need to contact planetary authorities…"
"There is no central government on Dounby!" spat Bothari-Jesek. "Commander, we are wasting precious time!"
Vorscans dithered for another moment and then sighed and looked at Robertson. "What force do you propose to take?" Bothari-Jesek seemed to relax a bit.
"I'll take what I have here, sir, along with the squads on Kingston and Ferendol. That will give me around forty men. Ought to be plenty, sir." Anny frowned. She was being left in orbit, but Alby was not. Deliberately?
"Very well, proceed at once," said Vorscans. He glared at Bothari-Jesek. "Satisfied Captain? We'll take care of things."
"Thank you, Commander, I'll…" But before she could finish, he broke the connection and left them looking at a blank screen. Bothari-Jesek shrugged. "Well, at least they're moving. She clicked a switch on the com panel. "Kurt? Help's on the way. How are you doing?"
The voice that came from the speaker didn't sound happy at all. Anny thought that it was the first officer. "Not too good, Skipper. Hanley is down and half your friends are, too. And not just stunned. They're startin' to use heavier stuff now. How soon until we can expect that help?"
"If the Barrayarans move fast, and I think they will, you're still probably looking at thirty minutes. Can you hold that long?"
"Maybe…"
"Do your best. And keep me informed of any change." She cut the com and shook her head. "Damn," she whispered.
"Who's attacking your people, ma'am?" asked Anny.
"Not sure." From the look on her face, Anny would have bet good money that she was sure, but she didn't say any more. Nor anything about the weapons containers which surely must be part of all this.
"I better get my squad armored up, ma'am. Just in case."
Bothari-Jesek stared at her. "You aren't scheduled to go down, Anny… but I think you're right." Anny nodded and left the bridge.
[Scene Break]
Twenty minutes later she was back on the bridge, in her armor with the helmet open. Her whole squad was similarly ready down in their barracks. She was trying to follow events through the command circuits in her suit, but annoyingly Harrier and the landing party's shuttles had moved ahead, around the curve of the planet and communications had to be relayed through one of the merchant ships. Voice channels still worked, but the tactical channels did not. She had no real idea of the situation except that the shuttles were on the way down. Alby was on one of them.
"What's the situation with your people, ma'am?" she asked Bothari-Jesek.
"Holding on by their fingernails. Their opponents are bringing in heavier weapons now. I think they must want prisoners or they would have just wiped them out before this."
"Who are the opponents, ma'am? Do you know?"
She didn't answer.
The minutes ticked by and Anny tried to find out everything she could about the situation and the planet it was happening on. Dounby was a fairly hospitable planet towards humans as such things went. Breathable atmosphere and an advanced ecosystem with plants and animals that could co-exist with imported terrestrial types. But it was a frontier world with a small population, small towns, limited resources, and minimal industry. Bothari-Jesek's people were in a remote hill country. Anny couldn't imagine what need there would be for a boatload of weapons in a region like that or why someone would try to stop their delivery so violently. Well, whoever they were, they were going to get a surprise when a platoon of Barrayaran assault troopers landed in their lap!
Anny was pacing nervously and in her armor each step shook the deck slightly. The other bridge people kept staring at her and she forced herself to stop. A steady stream of chatter was coming back from Lieutenant Robertson on Harrier's assault shuttle, but it didn't tell her much that she didn't already know. Heading down, nearing the site of the trapped party…
In a moment of inspiration, Anny managed to patch through a voice circuit directly to Alby in one of the other shuttles. "Alby? It's Anny, how're you doing?"
"Hey Anny! Cripes, I thought the assault shuttles gave you a ride! You should try making an assault drop in a commercial shuttle! Sure hope the guy driving this thing knows what he's doing!" Anny could hear a roaring noise in the background, but Alby's voice sounded excited, almost jubilant.
"Can you tell what's happening?"
"The tactical display isn't much use. I can see the downed shuttle and there's fifty or sixty other contacts in the area, but we don't know who's friend and who's foe. Gonna be tricky. Okay, touch down in about thirty seconds… probably gonna be busy for a bit but I'll try to… Holy shit! What was that?"
"What?" Anny cried in alarm.
"Incoming fire! Shit! Hang on!"
"Alby? Alby!" There was a confusion of noise from the speaker that was suddenly cut off. Anny switched back to the general circuit she'd been listening to before, but all that was coming through was Commander Vorscans' increasingly desperate demands for Lieutenant Robertson to answer him. Anny broke in:
"Commander, what's happening?"
"Who…? Payne? Shut up and let me…" the man paused and caught his breath. "Some sort of heavy weapons fire from the surface. All three shuttles are down. We're trying to sort this out. I'll get back to you." He clicked off.
"Oh my God," hissed Anny. Alby…
"Engineering! Fire up the main drive! Helm, lay in a course to put us over the combat zone!" Anny looked up to see Bothari-Jesek snapping out orders to her bridge crew. She saw Anny looking at her and turned. The expression on her face was grim. "Looks like we'll be needing your squad after all."
During the next ten minutes Anny would have gnawed off her fingernails if she'd been able to get at them through her armored gauntlets. Even those awful moments during the fire, waiting for the rescue party, hadn't been this bad. But what the hell was going on? The two commercial shuttles carrying Alby's and the other squad would be vulnerable to even modest ground fire, but it would take a lot more than small arms to bring down an assault shuttle! What had they stuck their heads into here? She walked over to Bothari-Jesek and closed her servo-assisted hand firmly around her arm and stared into her eyes. "Captain what is going on here?" The woman hesitated. "Please, Elena, I need to know."
The woman stared back for another moment and then pulled away and Anny let her go. She rested both fists on the plotting table and hung her head and began cursing under her breath. "Are you all right?" asked Anny in alarm.
"Just… just reliving a nightmare," she said. She walked over to a quiet corner of the bridge and beckoned Anny to come closer. She did so. "You found the weapons in my locker, right?"
"Yes. One of the cases popped open. You're trying to deliver them to someone on Dounby? Who? And who ambushed them—and us?"
"It's a long story. Probably too long for right now. How much do you know about Jackson's Whole?"
Anny gasped. She knew enough about that lawless and corrupt world, the supplier of things illegal, both big and small to the wormhole nexus, to make her cringe. "You… you're delivering weapons for them?" She stared at Bothari-Jesek in horror.
"No!" snarled the woman in an outraged voice. "Just the opposite!"
"But we're dozens of jumps away from Jackson's Whole! What do they have to do with this world?"
"They're trying to open up an annex," said Bothari-Jesek. "Or I should say that one of the minor houses on Jackson's Whole is trying to. A nasty little house under a Baron Jacobi. They're getting squeezed rather badly back home, so they've sent some of their hired muscle out here to try and take control of Dounby. Turn it into their own little fiefdom and then use it to dominate the Mergenthal Reaches. The settlers and frontier people here don't know what's hit them. Jacobi's men are terrorizing them, forcing them to submit. If they aren't stopped they'll turn all these people into slaves. The people I work for hired me to ship those weapons here so the people will at least have a chance. But damn it, something sure as hell went wrong!"
"Who hired you?"
"That I won't tell you. At least not now. If we make it through this I will, but not until then."
"Skipper, we've got line of sight to the frigate," said one of the bridge crew. Anny immediately tied into the main tactical circuit and pulled up what was available. The display showed her Bothari-Jesek's shuttle and the three downed 'rescue' shuttles scattered about a kilometer away. There was a dusting of blue dots, friendly troops, around the shuttles and a cluster of red dots, enemy troops, nearby and a larger number of yellow dots, unknowns, all through the region. A shocking number of the blue dots had 'out of action' icons pulsing over them. Dead, wounded, disabled? She clicked open the command circuit and listened.
"So who's in command down there, ensign?" it was Commander Vorscans speaking.
"Well… I guess I am, sir," said another voice. Alby! "Lieutenant Robertson is badly injured along with a lot of the NCOs. I'm the only officer still in action."
"What's your situation?"
"We've pulled everyone still alive out of the crashed shuttles and we're assembling around the wreck of the assault shuttle. Trying to form a perimeter. There's enemy closing in from two sides."
"What's your estimate of the enemy forces, ensign?"
"Very well armed and some of them are in battle armor, sir. They used some sort of missiles against the shuttles. Not sure what type. For now they're keeping their distance, but I've only got about twelve men who aren't injured and another eight or ten walking wounded… including me."
"You're hurt?"
"Broke my damn ankle—again! But I can still function, sir. I think we can hold out here until you can send help."
"Good. Hang on, Mr. Vorsworth, we'll get you out of there." Vorscans broke off and then called her, apparently unaware that she'd been listening. "Mr. Payne, come in."
"Here, sir," she replied instantly. "My squad is ready to drop, sir. Just give the word." Off to her side Bothari-Jesek motioned to one of her crew and a video display came to life and there was Commander Vorscans on his bridge.
"Now hold on a minute," he said. "I'm not sending anyone else down there!"
"But sir, our people need help!"
"There is clearly an enemy force of considerable strength waiting down there, ensign! To feed in our forces piecemeal is just inviting disaster. I've sent a message to Admiral Vorkoff…"
"Which he hasn't even received yet, sir! It will be almost a full day before we could expect reinforcements!"
"I don't see that we have any other option. I don't have any weapons aboard suitable for close tactical support and you and the squad on the last merchant aren't even thirty men. We just sent down forty and you saw what happened to them!"
"We've got to try, sir!"
"I don't even have another assault shuttle! You'd have to take a commercial shuttle down and you'd be sitting ducks!" Anny paused and bit on her lip. That was true…
"We could do a direct drop using our ablative pods, sir," said a new voice. "Sergeant Kerstan, sir, 3rd squad on the merchant Lamont." The display split and Anny could see an armored trooper standing on the bridge of another ship.
"Yes!" exclaimed Anny. "We'd make very poor targets for any missiles sir. We could land and reinforce the troops already down there. That would give them a much better chance to hold out until the Admiral arrives!" Anny kicked herself for not remembering about the pods. The assault troopers could land on a planet without any shuttle at all. She'd simulated the process a number of times but she'd never actually done it. But Alby and other members of the battalion were in danger! They couldn't just leave them!
Vorscans was looking increasingly desperate and exasperated. "You are the last troopers I have left. I'm not going to risk losing all of you in some wild…"
"Excuse me, sir!" called someone on Harrier's bridge. "We've got an incoming message from the hostiles on the surface!"
"What? Well, it can't hurt to talk to them, I suppose. Put it through." The video screen split again and a man appeared. He had a narrow face, black hair with a small mustache and chin beard. The image only showed him from the chest up, but he was wearing an expensive-looking coat with a gold chain and pendent hanging around his neck. There were trees in the background along with a number of armed men. "Commander Evan Vorscans, Imperial Barrayaran Ship Harrier, here. Who are you and why are you attacking my men?"
The man's eyebrows went up. "I'm Baron Gorrin LeGrange, Duke Jacobi's executor on Dounby and I might ask the same question of you, Commander. What are you doing on our world and why have you fired on my men?"
"Your world?" said Vorscans. "I wasn't aware that Dounby belonged to anyone but its own people. And who the hell is this Duke Jacobi?"
"Criminals from Jackson's Whole, Commander," said Anny. "Here trying to conquer this world."
Vorscans stared at her in surprise. "How the hell do you know…?"
"A despicable lie," interrupted LeGrange. "But I suppose I can't blame you for being behind the times. A few months ago a majority of the local town councils voted to accept Duke Jacobi as their overlord and protector. We are the rightful authorities here. And a few hours ago we intercepted a shuttle filled with an illegal cargo landing here without permission. They violently resisted our attempts to apprehend them and then without warning or provocation you attacked us. We demand that you cease all hostilities and order the forces already here to surrender."
"Surrender?" gasped Vorscans.
"Like hell!" snarled Anny.
"And that vote is a sham!" said Bothari-Jesek from the side. "Coerced at gunpoint!"
"Baron LeGrange," said Vorscans, "our troops will not surrender. And we have massive reinforcements on the way. Forces you can't possibly match! Have your men withdraw and we will retrieve our forces and be on our way."
"Yes, we are aware of your task force," said LeGrange. "But I also have reinforcements on the way. Nothing so formidable as your warships, it's true, but more than enough to wipe out your landing party and they will he here far sooner. Now I have no desire to do that…"
"Then withdraw!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Commander. You've caused damage and inflicted casualties on my men. There has to be payment for that. Have your men surrender and they won't be harmed. Once reparations are agreed upon they can be returned."
"Reparations!"
"Yes, of course. Debts must be paid. Refuse and we shall take your men by force and the survivors will, shall we say, work off their debt to the Duke." The man gave a nasty smile.
As slaves! Anny cringed. She'd heard about Jackson's Whole. Slavery was legal and most of the common people were little better than serfs, hopelessly bound to the great and minor houses. To leave Alby and the others in the hands of people like that! "Sir! We can't let that happen!" hissed Anny.
"And I won't leave my people in their clutches, either!" said Bothari-Jesek.
"When our ships arrive…" began Vorscans.
"We shall be long gone," said LeGrange. "With your survivors. This is a large planet, Commander, with many hiding places. We have strongholds you would have great difficulty finding and even more difficulty storming. Your men would have little hope of surviving such an assault. And I can't imagine that Barrayar really wants a costly little war so far from home. Be reasonable, order your men to lay down their weapons and we can avoid any further unpleasantness."
Vorscans was visibly wilting. "I… I'll have to consult with my superior…"
"I know you can have a reply in two hours, Commander," said LeGrange. "I will have my men hold their current positions. In two hours and thirty minutes, I will give my men orders to attack. Not one minute more. I will expect to hear from you before then." The man disappeared from the screen.
Bothari-Jesek stepped into the range of the camera pick-up. "Commander, you cannot agree to these terms! It would be a de facto recognition of these thugs as the legal authorities! That's probably why LeGrange is insisting on this instead of just letting them go. You'd be condemning this whole planet to the worst sort of exploitation!"
"And just what do you know about this?" snapped Vorscans. "It's your damn shuttle down there! You caused this whole mess!"
"Sir! We have to do something!" cried Anny. "We're getting some better sensor data from Alby's… I mean Ensign Vorsworth's troops now and there don't seem to be that many enemy troops in battle armor. Maybe thirty or so. Another hundred with lighter gear. We can take them if we strike quickly!"
"And a there ought to be some friendlies in the area," put in Bothari-Jesek. "They could help."
"Too damn narrow a margin,' said Vorscans. "And I can't send you down there in any case, Payne. You heard what he was threatening to do! You're a woman and…"
"I'm a soldier, sir! And those are my comrades in danger down there!" Anger flared in her.
Vorscans shook his head. "I can't start a war on my own initiative! I need to get this off to the Admiral right away. I'll get back to you later." He vanished from the screen leaving them looking at only Sergeant Kerstan.
"Well this is a hell of a situation!" growled Bothari-Jesek. "I will not abandon my people to those monsters!"
Anny stared at Kerstan. "What do you think about all this, Sergeant?" She was desperately trying to figure out what to do.
The man pursed his lips and looked down for a moment. Then he said: "I'm thinkin' that those are our 'mates down there, sir. And I'm thinkin' that the Commander isn't actually in our own chain of command." He paused and smiled. "And I'm also thinkin' that he didn't actually order us not to make a drop."
Anny gasped and then slowly smiled. "No, he didn't did, he, Sergeant?" She turned to Bothari-Jesek. "All we need you to do is put your ship on the proper vector and we can just jump out. Can you get the skipper of Lamont to do the same?"
"I imagine so. It won't put his ship in any danger." Bothari-Jesek consulted her navigational display for a few moments. "All right. We can put you down near the site in about forty minutes. You'll have to be ready to jump in about twenty-five. Can you be ready?"
"Can do, ma'am! Come on, Sergeant, let's give those bastards a real surprise!"
[Scene Break]
Fifteen minutes later she was by the main cargo airlock with the other sixteen members of the squad. Sergeant Zeckman had been skeptical of the whole thing until he learned that friends of his—other members of the Forty-second—were in danger. That had been the end of his objections. The Regiment took care of its own—always.
"Are you sure these things will work?" asked one of the men, looking at the re-entry pods dubiously.
"Sure," said another. "And they come with a money-back guarantee. If you're killed just send in the form and they'll send a check to your widow."
"I'm not married."
"Lucky man!"
The objects of the man's skepticism were being laid out around the floor of the lock: big inflatable spheres that could hold a man in armor. Once inside, canisters of ablative foam would cover the exterior and shield them from the heat of an atmospheric reentry. Close to the ground the battle armor's own anti-grav units would kick in to reduce the speed still further, then the pods would break open and the trooper float the last few meters to the ground. Simple—in theory. Un-inflated they fit into a surprisingly small container. The squad had brought them as part of their standard gear.
In addition to her squad there were several of the ship's crew helping them. To keep the pods close together they were being tethered by some incredibly strong cables. Once that was all done and the troopers in their pods, the crewmen would evacuate the airlock and shove the whole bundle outside. Pogthress was still in its previous orbit but in a few minutes would change to a trajectory that would send the pods into the planet's atmosphere. Once the pods were away, the ship would head back into orbit. Hopefully Lamont was preparing to follow suit with Sergeant Kerstan's squad.
"We've got five extra pods, sir," said Zeckman. "You wanna put some dead weight in them and use them for decoys? No guarantee we won't get shot at coming down. Could give the enemy a few extra targets."
"Good idea. Find something to fill them with and…"
"Save one of them for me, will you?" Anny looked up and to her amazement there was Captain Bothari-Jesek—in full battle armor!
"El… Captain, what do you think you're doing?" exclaimed Anny.
"I'm coming with you. Those are my people down there, too, and I'm responsible for this whole mess. Don't worry, Ensign, I haven't forgotten how to fight." Anny gawked at her armor. It was an older model, but still very capable—and Bothari-Jesek wore it like a veteran.
"I… I really shouldn't let you come."
"But you're going to."
"Yeah."
"Good. Let's get your boys into their pods."
"Right. Sergeant, get the men set up." The troopers stepped inside their balloons and the crewmen sealed them up. It could be done alone, but the extra hands were welcome. Anny helped seal up Zac Karal's pod. "Nervous, Zac?" she asked on a private com circuit no one else could hear.
"A little I guess, sir."
"You'll do fine. Just like a drill. Good luck and I'll see you dirtside."
"Yes sir."
Anny was just starting to seal up Zeckman when someone spoke loudly:
"All right, this has gone far enough! Captain Bothari-Jesek, you will cease and desist!"
Anny and Bothari-Jesek whipped around and there was a man, she thought she remembered seeing him among the other passengers at dinner, striding into the lock. The Captain took a step forward. "What the hell do you think you're doing Mr. Labolito? You've no business here."
The man pulled out a small leather folder and flashed a badge. "The name's Vorsmythe and I'm with ImpSec." Anny sucked in her breath. "Captain, you will cancel those orders to launch these pods." He turned to Anny. "And you, Ensign will—Uhhnn!"
Anny jerked in shock as a blue nimbus engulfed Vorsmythe and the man collapsed like a sack of bricks. She looked behind her where Bothari-Jesek was lowering her stunner. Instinctively, she raised her own weapon and Zeckman did the same.
"Captain! What are you…?"
"Don't move!" commanded Zeckman.
"Relax, Ensign, Sergeant."
"Relax? You just stunned an ImpSec agent!" cried Zeckman.
"Really? I think you're mistaken, Sergeant. I, the captain of an Escobaran flagged vessel, stunned a disruptive passenger. He'll be taken back to his cabin. Now, we've got six minutes until de-orbit insertion."
"But we can't…" gasped Anny. ImpSec! Good God, that's an ImpSec agent lying there!
"Can't what? Did he give you an order, Ensign? Any order at all?"
"Well, no…"
"Then what's the problem? Let's go, Anny."
Anny stared at the man for a moment longer and then shook herself. We are in so much trouble! But that didn't change her resolution one bit. "Let's get going, Sergeant."
"But, sir!"
"Our comrades still need our help, Sergeant. We can sort this out later."
"But…"
"Shut up and get moving, Sergeant."
Zeckman looked dazed, but he said: "Yes sir."
They sealed up their pods and a few moments later the gravity in the airlock went off. Anny could see the inside of the balloon stiffening as the ablative foam was released.
"Course change in thirty seconds, Skipper," came the voice of the ship's helmsman. They had to do this quickly before the people on Harrier noticed and ordered them to stop. Fortunately, the few kilometers-per-second change needed was nothing for a ship that could cross a solar system in a day.
The drive kicked in and then a few moments later stopped. The airlock had been evacuated while they were waiting (presumably after Vorsmythe had been removed) and now space-suited crewmen shoved the pods out of the lock. "Okay, you're clear, Skipper," said one of them over the radio. "Good luck, all of you!"
Anny floated in the zero-g and looked over the tactical display. They were aiming for a spot a few hundred meters from where Bothari-Jesek's shuttle was landed. They were reading a few hostiles in that area, but most of the rest were ringing in Alby and his troops about a klick away. If they could get down and overwhelm the few hostiles in that area, they could then hit the main enemy force from the rear and link up with Alby. If they hit hard and fast enough they might be able to rout the enemy. And that was one advantage of the re-entry pods: with any luck the enemy wouldn't even spot them until seconds before they touched down. They'd have little time to react.
"Two minutes to atmosphere,' said Bothari-Jesek over the com.
"You owe me another explanation, Captain," said Anny.
"You'll get it. And anything else you want once this is done. I'm in your debt Anny."
Before she could answer an angry voice reached her over the command circuit: "Payne! Kerstan! What the devil do you think you're doing?" It was Vorscans, of course.
"We're rendering assistance to Ensign Vorsworth and his command, sir—as he requested."
"You had no orders to do that!"
"We had no orders not to do that, sir."
"What? You most certainly did!"
"Not that I recall, sir. But in any case, we're on our way down. No way to turn back now, sir." Even as she spoke her pod rocked slightly as it hit the first wisps of atmosphere.
"God damn it! I'll have you court martialed!"
"It's you prerogative to bring up charges, sir. But you'll have to excuse me for the moment. I'm going to be pretty busy for a while. Payne out." She cut the circuit and for some reason found herself grinning. Oh yeah, I'm in so much trouble!
The pod was rocking and shuddering strongly now. It would jerk from time to time and she guessed that was the connecting cables. She monitored the medical read-outs of her whole squad and while there were a lot of elevated heart rates, they all appeared to be doing well. She pulled up the navigational display and saw that the two groups of pods were curving through the upper atmosphere of Dounby. Altitude about fifty klicks and dropping. Another minute and they'd be in sight of the combat zone.
"Hang on everyone," she said. "This is going to get interesting real fast."
They were really rocking now and she tried not to think of what would happen if the ablative foam failed. Could the armor survive? But their speed and altitude were falling fast. On their current trajectory they would land kilometers short of their target, but then the anti-gravs switched on and they were right on course again. With no gravity pulling them downward their speed dropped even faster in the thicker air.
"Stand by!"
Ten kilometers down range. Five. Two. We might just pull this o…
Something smashed into Anny's pod and it began to tumble wildly. Shouts came over the com. She activated the charges to shed the pod and it exploded into fragments. But she was still spinning uncontrollably and a forest was rushing up to smack her.
She slammed into something hard and everything went black.