“Pull back to the closest bulkhead. Once there I want you to weld the hatch shut. I’ll blow this section of the hull when you’re done.”
If Kira had had the time, she would have preferred to use a welding torch to cut the section with the bog’s hag free of her ship since using an explosion carried inherent risks.
Too much power and she could rip the ship in two. Too little and the section containing the bog’s hag wouldn’t detach.
“You want to put a hole in our home?” Jin asked, sounding horrified.
Kira looked out to the mines chasing them. “I’m not seeing a lot of other options, are you?”
Jin’s silence was grudging. “This will cause problems during re-entry.”
“One thing at a time.” Kira brought up the targeting function of her helmet. “Finn, let me know when it’s done.”
Once finished marking the spots where her charges would need to go, Kira lifted her arm and pointed.
A ball bearing shot from the weapon’s port of her armor, zipping toward the first of the target locations. It hit the metal of the hull and stuck.
It was followed by nearly a dozen more.
Kira was two thirds of the way through placing the charges when a shiver ran through the bog’s hag. A pair of tendrils that had been floating free until now, twitched.
“Shit.”
Kira kicked free of the hull, shooting backward as those tendrils snapped in her direction.
The tendrils followed as Kira banked left.
“Why does it sound like something is wrong?” Jin asked.
“Perhaps because there is,” Kira grunted.
She banked again, trying to line up the shot for the final two charges. It was a no go. She didn’t have the angle.
“I’m done on my end, Kira,” Finn told her.
Kira gritted her teeth and reversed course, charging directly at the bog’s hag.
“Why does it look like you’re playing chicken with the bog’s hag?” Jin asked as a pair of tendrils speared toward her chest.
“Because I kind of am.”
Kira’s vision spiraled down until all she saw was the tip of those tendrils. Her breath echoed loud in her ears as the distance narrowed. Almost there.
Kira caught the faint tightening as the tendril’s flexed.
Now.
She dodged to the side, brushing past its length with centimeters to spare. The thrusters in her suit whined as she pushed them to their max.
The black bud passed beneath her as Kira took aim. The ball bearings launched and then Kira was past.
“The charges are set. Blow it now.”
Kira put distance between her and the bog’s hag, angling toward the top of the ship.
In the lower left-hand corner of her display, a feed of the bog’s hag popped up. A small explosion came before the section the vines and flower were attached to started floating away.
Exhilaration filled her as she cleared the top. It quickly changed to horror as the sight of dozens of golden ribbons of light converged on her ship.
