Wing Commander Junior Novelization Chapter 20

Chapter 20
Book	Wing Commander Junior Novelization
Parts	4
Previous	Chapter 19
Next	Chapter 21
Pages	97-101
Source	Wing Commander Chapter 20

Dramatis Personae

	Part 1	Part 2	Part 3	Part 4
POV	James "Paladin" Taggart	Todd "Maniac" Marshall	Todd "Maniac" Marshall	Todd "Maniac" Marshall
Speaking	Christopher Blair	Jeanette "Angel" Deveraux Rosalind "Sassy" Forbes	Christopher Blair Jeanette "Angel" Deveraux Rosalind "Sassy" Forbes Ian "Hunter" St. John Adam "Bishop" Polanski Raznick	Christopher Blair Jeanette "Angel" Deveraux Ian "Hunter" St. John
Non-Speaking			Unnamed Deckdozer Driver	Adam "Bishop" Polanski James "Paladin" Taggart Unnamed Medic
Mentioned				Rosalind "Sassy" Forbes

Text

PLANETARY SYSTEM 415

ULYSSES CORRIDOR

MARCH 17, 2654 0700 HOURS ZULU TIME

6 HOURS FROM CHARYBDIS QUASAR JUMP POINT

Part One

Something jerked Taggart's ejection pod. He realized that he no longer plunged toward the moon. A Rapier descended beside the pod, and Taggart read the pilot's name along the cockpit's edge: Lt. Christopher Blair. The young man held his hand in a salute, which Taggart returned.

     "You're bleeding, sir," Blair said.

     Taggart touched the gash in his forehead. "And you had an order to retreat."

     "Which I obeyed."

     "Then why are you here?"

     "Uh, I got lost, sir. Came looking for directions."

     "Mr. Blair. Pilgrims never get lost."

Part Two

Maniac's smile faded as the remaining Kilrathi fighters regrouped and began retreating behind the planet's moons. "Hey, Rosie? You want some more?"

     The VDU flickered, and she appeared, lifting her brow. "Like you have to ask?"

     They gunned their Rapiers in a sudden U-turn, chasing after the Krant, Salthi, and Dralthi fighters still in the open.

     "Baker One to all Baker pilots. Return to base. Repeat. Return to base."

     Maniac fired a look of disgust at Lieutenant Commander Deveraux before her image went dark in his VDU. He eased on his throttle and held course.

     "Maniac?" Forbes called in a warning tone. "We just received an order to--" She never finished.

     Two Dralthi fighters that had been trailing the pack pulled up and away from their wing. Like mechanized manta rays, they swung around to target Maniac and Forbes.

     "They'll try to ram," Forbes said, one Dralthi rushing straight for her. She opened up with everything she had, tearing the fighter into scraps of superheated plastisteel.

     The second Dralthi aimed for Maniac, and the enemy pilot's disgusting mug suddenly spoiled Maniac's display. If that weren't enough, the computer translated its taunt. "You will bleed for Sivar, you ignorant descendant of monkeys!"

     Maniac let out a snort, then switched to Forbes's channel. "Watch this, Rosie."

     Putting the pedal to the metal, Maniac howled as the afterburners threw him back. He centered his targeting reticle over the Dralthi--but he had no intention of firing. A collision alarm blared as the game of chicken continued.

     "Shoot him, Maniac!" Forbes hollered. "Open fire!"

     Realizing that the Kilrathi pilot had no intention of changing course and every intention of dying, Maniac rolled the Rapier to starboard. He express-delivered a volley of laser fire that sewed its way across the fighter's cockpit, mortally wounding the cat inside.

     With only centimeters between them, the two fighters passed, the Dralthi now trailing nutrient gas and tumbling toward--

     "Rosie!" Maniac cried. "Pull up!"

     The Dralthi's wings acted like the blades of a fan to tear sparklit gashes in her fighter's starboard side and belly. Forbes jerked the Rapier in an attempt to pull away, but the impact forced her into a roll. She throttled up to recover, flying straight but bobbing on invisible waves. One of her thrusters had been sheared away, and escaping fluids streaked her fuselage.

     Maniac descended to form on her wing. "Looks bad. Eject and I'll tractor you in."

     "My ejection system is fried."

     He took in a deep breath. "Just stay with me, Rosie. We'll land together."

Part Three

Ten minutes later, they neared the carrier's scorched flight deck.

     "Baker Three and Four to Flight Control," Maniac said. "We're coming in for a side-by-sider. Clear away everything that ain't bolted down."

     Boss Raznick, his beefy face hanging tiredly, replied, "Roger that, Baker Three and Four. Clear to land, SBS."

     He and Forbes now flew level with the flight deck, bound for the energy field and the flight hangar beyond. He tossed a look to Forbes. Bad idea. The sight of her bobbing Rapier turned his blood icy. He checked their speed and approach vector. "We're coming in too hot."

     "Sorry, but my brakes are in the shop."

     "Line it up," he said, unable to smile, his gaze riveted on her fighter. "That's it."

     "Piece of cake. Just like before."

     "Except that you're right-side up." Now he manageda fleeting grin.

     "I knew something was wrong."

     Through his HUD viewer, Maniac watched the deck rush toward them. "Almost there."

     Her wingtip tapped a wall next to the deck, but she wrestled the fighter straight as tiny groans escaped her lips.

     "Okay. Easy. Just ease it in," he said. "Thirty meters."

     "I got it." She could barely speak through her exertion. Her fighter lost power and fell behind his.

     "Ten meters," he said as his own landing skids lowered and he glided over the flight deck, the energy curtain widening to fill his display. "Just five ..." he trailed off as he realized her approach had gone awry. "Pull up! Pull up!"

     But she didn't. She couldn't. Her port wing got caught on the flight deck's lip, and she started to flip over as the wing tore off and boomeranged away. The Rapier struck the deck with a gutwrenching thunderclap, crushing her canopy. Shards of plexi floated away as the fighter scraped along the runway, then spun out to a halt, snapping off the remaining engine that rolled ahead of it.

     Maniac frantically guided his Rapier through the energy field, then released his canopy before even landing. He climbed onto the Rapier's wing, then leaped off, bolting toward the hangar entrance, toward Rosie.

     Someone familiar shouted his name. Shouted again. Loud footsteps. Then someone collided with him, arms wrapping around his chest, forcing him to the deck. He fell forward, bracing his fall, not bothering to look up at his assailant, his gaze consumed by the wreckage just behind the force field.

     "She's outside the airlock!" Blair screamed. "You go through the force field and you're Jell-O!"

     Maniac sprang to his feet. "Get me a suit! Get me a suit!" He started for the field as Blair seized his collar, holding him just a meter away. With the energy curtain so close that he could hear its hum, Maniac shivered as he realized that were it not for Blair, his panic would've driven him through it. He winced, staring at the twisted Rapier, then hollered, "Rosie! Rosie!" He could see her helmet, partially blocked by the shattered canopy. She did not move.

Chapter Four

Fifteen minutes later, after Rosie and her fighter had been plowed off the deck and into space, Maniac stood facing a cold and angry Deveraux. Hunter, Polanski, and Blair gathered around.

     "Lieutenant Marshall," she began. And she could stop there. Maniac knew where this was going. "You disobeyed a direct order to return to base."

     "I was--"

     "Which, during wartime, is considered treason and punishable by death. Hunter? Give me your sidearm."

     Hunter exchanged a worried glance with Polanski as he withdrew his pistol.

     Blair took a step toward them. "Hunter, put the gun away."

     "She's the CO, nugget."

     After a nod, Blair lunged toward Hunter, but Polanski intervened, driving his shoulder into Blair's chest. Much larger than Blair, Polanski had little trouble sliding behind his opponent. He locked Blair's arms to his sides.

     Deveraux accepted the gun and raised it to Maniac's head.

     Part of Maniac wanted to shout "Do it!" but another part believed she would.

     "What's with you?" Blair cried. "It was a stupid accident. He has to live with it."

     She looked to Blair, then at Maniac. "If you endanger another pilot, I will kill you." She handed the gun to Hunter, then strode away.

     Polanski and Hunter turned their heated stares on Maniac. He ignored them and jogged off.