No answer.
“Arly, report,” Bez ordered.
Like Kira, he received no response.
“They must be jamming it,” Kira said.
“How is that possible?Roake’s comms are highly sophisticated.Even the major Houses would have trouble disrupting them.”
“Humans are exceptionally clever when they want to be.”
“You still think this is human pirates?”Bez asked.
Kira nodded at the hill.“The weapon they’re using is an Enos 3200.”
The first pick of Consortium trained military snipers.She recognized the report.
“A Tuann would have used azitter,” Kira explained.
The cousin of azuipi, thezitterwas meant for longer distance shots.It looked like a bow, if that bow was formed of energy and light.Its “arrow” was a bolt about the length of Kira’s forearm that was pitch black and seemed to eat the light around it.When fired, the air screamed.
It was as unmistakable as the Enos 3200.
“If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, that usually means it’s a duck,” Kira said.
Or, in this case, a pirate.
“Is that a human saying?”Bez asked.
“What do you think?”
He chuckled, an assessing look in his eyes as he chanced a peek over the wing.He ducked back out of sight a millisecond before another barrage of laser fire rained down on them.
“Decent reaction time.We’re not making a run for it,” Bez said.
Kira agreed with his assessment.The door was much too far.The sniper would pick them off long before they made it close.
If Joule was here, he could have set akishield to cover their retreat.As it was, it was unlikely any of their shields could repel the force behind an Enos 3200.
Bez didn’t seem upset about that fact.It might have been Kira’s imagination, but she thought he seemed like he was enjoying this.The thrill of action washing away the frustration of earlier.
“We can’t stay here,” Kira said, scanning the room for a solution.
“Relax—that weapon doesn’t have enough firepower to penetrate the metal of this hull.”Bez thumped his fist against the wing, creating a dull sound.
“Hey, dumb ass.That hillside is unstable from the earlier landslide.What do you think will happen if they set off another charge?”Kira asked.
Bez’s expression said that thought hadn’t occurred to him.“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.”
Kira didn’t know about him, but being crushed or suffocated to death was not how she wanted to go.
“Hey, Az!”Bez suddenly yelled.“You got a plan?”
“Working on it!”
To Kira, “She’s working on it.”
