The robot reacted.
It shot yellow beams at the singleships, burning many of them to cinders in an instant.
The singleships turned from the Argent and attacked the robot like hornets. Explosions and yellow beams lit the sky.
Billy banked their ship again until it flew toward the direction of the unseen second space station, and John Koothrappally knew that with every evasive maneuver they were eating up the precious spare minutes for their flight home.
[ 107 ]
The Golden Man twisted and whirled as it fought the things coming at it. There were many of them, and in its damaged condition it was not at optimal fighting capability. The impacts to it caused damage, some more than others, but the robot maintained the ability to fire its beam, although not accurately. Many shots missed, but the singleships flew close together, so even misses often connected with another target.
Five minutes later, the last dozen singleships flew away, retreating from the golden fury and cutting through the ether for the safety of the station. The Golden Man’s sensors told it that the orb was also travelling in the same direction. It followed, intent on destroying everything that attempted to stop it from gaining the orb.
[ 108 ]
The Argent flew through the ether as everyone on board searched the sky for a glimpse of the space station. Ekka pointed to their right. “That is it, and we have more singleships coming our way.”
“We have some coming from our rear, too.” Edgar said. “Not many, though. I count a dozen.”
Billy said, “What about the robot?”
“It’s behind them but coming fast.”
Ekka armed the cannons and set herself for combat. Billy flew the battered Argent straight toward the space station and the singleships coming toward them. Several of the suicide ships shot ahead of the others and rocketed towards the Earth ship. When they were close, Ekka blasted them to smithereens with the cannons. And then the Argent was among the swarm again.
Billy steered the ship in sharp, irregular turns, dives and climbs to throw the singleships off, but he kept his main focus on getting close to the station. The dozen singleships coming from the fight with the robot weren’t pursuing the Argent, they were flying hell-bent for the space station and safety.
The armament on the space station followed Billy’s flight, and he knew it was going to be close. He led the singleships and the golden robot in a dive for the space station.
The station’s guns fired in scattered volleys, and lasers of both red and green shot by the Argent, as did pulsing white projectiles. Billy put everything he had into evading the barrage while simultaneously forcing the robot into the line of fire.
Singleships banged into the Argent, and one green laser cut a scorching path across the nose of the ship as Billy banked hard left. The next laser struck the golden robot at the same time that a singleship accidentally collided with it.
The robot seemed to accelerate, coming faster and faster. Billy cut the Argent to the left and narrowly avoided a wide, rainbow colored tractor beam shooting from the station.
Billy took the Argent into a shallow dive and flew under the station, and then banked to curve wide around its perimeter so they would be momentarily clear.
The tractor beam caught the Golden Man dead center in its light. The station sucked the Golden Man into the interior open doors of the station in a matter of seconds, then closed the doors. The singleships hovered very close to the station and didn’t pursue the Argent.
Billy pushed the ship’s speed to maximum, pointing it toward home. The transmogrifier groaned and thin tendrils of smoke drifted up from it. The hard journey and collisions while at maximum speed was taking its toll. Pat walked into the rear of the spacecraft to check on it. When he returned, his face looked grim. “She’s straining, Billy. Our engine could use a rest.”
Koothrappally shook his head he checked the time.
Suddenly, the back of the Argent rose high, leaving the nose down as if a gigantic invisible wave washed under it from back to front. At the same time a blinding white flash turned everything in the ship to stark black and white. The Earth ship tumbled and tossed like a small boat in a rough sea, and Billy struggled to regain control.
Edgar said, “My lord, it’s gone, the whole thing’s gone. The space station and all the singleships just exploded.”
Billy felt the tension in his shoulders lessen. He glanced at Koothrappally and raised his eyebrows in question. The mathmatician’s eyes looked troubled, and he held out a hand with the pads of his thumb and forefinger touching, saying silently, No extra time.
Pat saw him and asked, “What’s that? You two talking in sign language now?”
Billy said, “No, Pat.”
“Then how about spilling the beans, amigo. You two are hiding something. I’ve been a lawman for thirty years. I notice that sort of thing.”
The others turned from their tasks to look at Billy. Avi said, “Yes, please be telling us, Billy.”
He looked at all of them, and knew it was the right thing to do. “What John was telling me—and he’s been calculating this for days as we’ve flown through the ether—is that we now have to fly full chisel straight home if we have any chance of catching up with Earth before it starts moving farther away from us in its solar orbit.”