The Treasure of Lei Fong Wu

Chapter Sixty-One

DELTA TEAM LEADER -30:44

“WEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAA-HAAAAAAAAAA!” screamed Hoban Washburn with unfettered glee, as the product of a lifetime of flying fantasies became reality under his hands. Never had he experienced such profound joy at the act of flight as when he took the tough little fighter in a winding course through and around various protrusions on the surface of the Sun Tzu.

It was better than sex.

Better than sex with Zoe. But it was close.

He had flown a lot of different ships over the course of his storied career, everything from an elephant-like Luxor Titan passenger transport a thousand feet long to a speedy little Agni Express courier, countless nameless shuttles, bulk freighters, and, of course, his beloved Serenity.

The Marauder beat them all. No contest. It was simply the highest-performing ship he’d ever flown.

Designed for speed and maneuverability, the Marauder’s powerful reactor pumped power into the engines with gay abandon, producing a low, throaty roar that underscored every move he made. He loved Serenity – he’d spent more time and attention on the old Firefly than any other ship in his experience, and he loved the way she flew – but this was like trying fine, single-malt scotch for the first time after drinking cheap bourbon all of your life. The Marauder responded to his slightest touch with instant, eager compliance. She leapt ahead like an arrow from a bow when he jacked up the throttle. She spun in tight circles at his command, executed rolls instantly, and banked and climbed almost before Wash told her to.

Launch had been a little tricky – apparently after a hundred years of neglect in a nasty hydrogen-and-crap atmo, fighting tremendous pressure and gravity, a few of the launch structures had been sticky – but he had screwed with the attitude controls until she had forced her way out of the bay like a chick poking through its eggshell. Then there had been ten minutes of “getting to know you” time, whe