The Treasure of Lei Fong Wu

Chapter Sixty-Three

DELTA TEAM LEADER -30:04

“Eat hot death!” Hoban “Wildfire” Washburn said through clenched teeth with practiced malice as a missile from his starboard wing grew a smoky tail and leapt towards the distant speck of metal, so far away it was virtually indistinguishable from the starfield behind it. Wash counted the seconds mentally as he watched the telemetry monitor, where the red blip that was his foe was impacted with a white blip that was the missile that the blue blip – his ship – had fired. His thumb was on the laser trigger – just in case something went awry and he had to try to dogfight the robot. His pulse quickened as the white and red blips converged, and only reduced when a blinding flash of silent high explosives swept the red blip from the monitor.

“That’s one,” he murmured to himself. “Set course for Bandit Two!” He pulled back on the stick, allowed the trigger guard to flip back down over the trigger, and rolled his neck around to stretch it. Even with being weightless he was bothered by the mass of the flight helmet he wore. He wasn’t used to a helmet, and hadn’t worn one since his flight school days.

He did have to admit how shiny it looked, though.

Bandit Two was another three thousand clicks out, and he chose a long, flattish course to bring him into range. This time the machine was not completely unsuspecting, judging by the sudden course change it made before the missile blew it up. Still, it blew up prettily, and the feeling he got when he pulled the fire trigger was as close to orgasmic as made no mind.

The trouble started at Bandit Three.

Just before he entered missile range the damn thing altered course and started flying away. Wash cursed richly and dove in pursuit.

He wasn’t supposed to, he knew – Master Lei had made that clear. But he wasn’t about to let the little bugger get away, not when he could be in range with just a little effort.

The Marauder accelerated eagerly and he evened out, bringing the