Into the void - a Guzzi SF adventure (G12)

Finks smiled as the Garship appeared around the mines he had been flying remotely.

"Woo, YEAH!" Macer screamed.

Then came the explosions, from the inside out. The Garship started drifting.

"Again!" someone shouted, and soon the whole crew was chanting.

"Again! Again! Again! Again!"

Finks looked at Macer and she nodded. "Lets."

The enemy ship disappeared once more, and Finks began the timer...

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Guzzi took a moment to orient himself. Though still seriously advanced, the headset seemed crude compared to what he had grown used to aboard the Garship.

Still, no hands...

He had mucked around with the gear in simulations, but even though Jazz and Schmeep had bought him onboard as a pilot, he really hadn't expected to get the opportunity. He looked at the virtual display, but it seemed somehow different. There were more controls, and most of them were showing red. Fortunately the red was slowly being replaced by a comforting green colour.

"Jump dive back on line in a couple of minutes, I think," he said. "Ugh. So much automation!"

The Gar race, and Gar technology, he had learned, was rhythmically based. Yes digital. Yes beats. But they had never discovered fractions. Or randomness. Or syncopation. Ha. Maybe that's why the love for AC/DC...

Arg. Focus! Deep breaths. Okay, easy now. We can do this... He was talking to himself, but it seemed like the Garship responded. Suddenly his vision simplified, and he was looking at the controls with which he had practiced during the endless hours of jump space.

Okay. Remember, random...

"How many jumps must I make, how frequently, and how far?"

Schmeep's translation module answered. "In micro-jump mode the engines must jump every 30 seconds below a distance of 16,324 kilometres."

"That's it?"

"Yes."

A number of missiles had launched from one of the maroider ships and were fast approaching.

Okay. Let's do this.

And AC/DC crunched See me ride out of the sunset, on your color TV screen...

While practicing in the bridge Guzzi had found it more effective to pretend to be manipulating the controls in his vision, so he reached out and Schmiz! the Garship materialised five hundred kilometres spinward.

He tried it again, and they reappeared on the far side of the fleet.

"Okay, I think I got it. Jazz. Grab the guns. Aim straight towards that green star. Yeah?"

Jazz was still putting on the headset. "Wait... okay, got it. After three?"

"Yep, fire on three. Two. One..."

The Garship appeared less than a kilometre away from the largest maroider ship. It was a lot bigger than they were, and at this distance would be difficult to miss. "Fire!"

Jazz moved her hands as if she held a laser cannon, and purple beams slashed the maroider ship. "Hahaha. Nice!"

By the time the others had recognised they were firing into the starship's bridge, the Garship had jumped again. The maroider fleet sat below them, the screens showing a couple more ships in the process of dying, lifeboats and suited up individuals fleeing into the void from the death-traps.

"Woohoo!" said Jazz. "Yes!"

"You ready to go again?" Guzzi asked. "Aim at the Nebula."

"Sure. Only lets go for the first two bars of the solo! This is fu-un!"

Okay... And right on cue the lead guitar howled and purple fire pumped into the engines of another ship.

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'Cause I'm T.N.T., I'm dynamite, T.N.T., and I'll win the fight!

"Arrrgh... what's with that? They're shooting in time with the music! It's just wrong!" Macer was livid.

"Not gonna win this one boss," said Finks.

"Nope. Let's get outta here. Don't make a scene. Just jump." She sighed. "We'll come back in a week to see if there's anything worth salvaging."

She took one last look at the battle scene. There'll be other Garships...

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To be continued...