He fired again. "Surrounded by Terran ships."
"Turn to 0-0-9," Jedriek said.
Harbin turned, and Jedriek's ship flew in and started taking out ships.
"There. I'm going after that one heading to Sol-1," Jedriek said. "You get the one going out to 2."
"Negative," Harbin said. "I'll get the pod going to 1. You take the one going to Sol-2."
"Ugh," Jedriek muttered. "I hate the desert."
"Push for the mountains," Harbin said as he accelerated toward Sol-1. Though was iced tundra worse than the desert? He thought they were equally both unappealing.
More Rhimodian ships came into view, backing them up. Not a lot, maybe only another squad of five, but it helped clear the field of Terran fighters.
The comms were filled with chatter. Accusations from different ships that the Rhimodians attempted to kill the ambassadors.
They have to live, he thought to himself.
No matter what happens, the ambassadors must live for peace between the two people.
And for proof.
This time, Harbin knew a recording would not be enough. Witnesses must be there, in the Terran Empire, to say what happened.
Their own people attacked their escape pods.
Harbin fired at two more ships that were converging on Bianca’s pod.
Many of the fighters seemed focused on the escape pods, which made Harbin push to catch Bianca.
"Bianca, aim for these coordinates." Harbin sent her a location of one of the Rhimodian bases on 1, where they did some mining. It had more protection there since there would be other Rhimodians residing there until the eclipse.
At least, that was his intention.
"You're lucky if I can hit that planet," she said. "A pilot, I am not."
"Aim for the white. Do not land in the gray parts."
"White. Got it."
Her escape pod shot toward the planet, and despite his warning, she seemed to be heading directly for one of the larger gray spots--the icy water.
"Bianca. Head for the white."
"The controls are fighting me. There's a lot of red on the panels."
“You may have to manually line it up. Do what you can,” he said.
Tractor Beam, lock onto that escape pod.
Too far out of range.
“As soon as we are in range, lock onto that pod.” Occasionally, Master System’s direct interpretations could be annoying.
Affirmative,Master System replied.
Bianca was getting very close to the planet. “You are about to enter the atmosphere. We will lose contact—”
