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one there's a Nuag's rear end!"
Sure, now that you've got a five-minute head start, Yako thought to himself,
putting his plane into a climbing turn. The old clown was obviously in a good
mood. And why not? The miserable bastard was about to wiggle out of the trap
he'd put himself in. Assuming things went well, they'd punch Mara's ticket,
and pick up a nice little bonus from Princess Claudia in the bargain. A
success like that could keep Jubal in the driver's seat for some time to come.
It was a depressing thought.
The distant planes sounded like angry insects. Even standing on top of a dead
Nuag, McCade still couldn't see mem yet. Nonetheless, he checked the energy
rifle Mara had given him. The power pak registered a full charge, plus he had
a pak in reserve. Wind Worlders favored energy weapons because they were
equally effective in all kinds of weather. Heavy winds can play hell with a
projectile but they don't affect an energy beam in the least. Phil and Rico
had energy rifles too and were dug in near the other Nuags. Between the three
of them they hoped to catch the Wind Riders in a cross fire.
Mara however was their secret weapon. In spite of Phil's repeated objections
she had insisted on hiding in a pit about five hundred yards out from their
makeshift fort. They'd used a roller bush to disguise the opening, and tied
some more down as well, since they were usually found in groups. Nonetheless
it was a dangerous place to be. Once they located her, the bandits could
easily cut her off. On the other hand they wouldn't expect her to be outside
the fort, and the combination of surprise, plus her mini-launcher might just
do the trick. "Well, it oughta scare the hell out of them anyway," McCade told
himself.
Jubal grinned. There they were, just waiting for him to come along and scoop
'em up. How considerate!
He pushed the stick forward, putting the plane into a long shallow dive. Up
ahead he saw three dots which quickly grew into Nuags. They were spaced out to
form the three points of a triangle. At first he thought they'd been hobbled
that way. Then he realized they were dead. And someone had built a low wall
between them too. Smart. But it wouldn't do any good. Flipping a switch on his
instrument panel he activated both energy weapons. There was no point in
getting tricky. Just strafe the area until everything was dead. Simple and
effective. He grinned. Given the chance, Yako would no doubt waste a lot of
time creating some fancy strategy to accomplish the same thing. Silly bastard.
Now the ground was rushing up fast. Jubal released the safety and pushed the
red button mounted on the top of his stick. Twin beams of lethal energy lanced
down to cut parallel black lines across the ground below.
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The little plane came in much faster than McCade had expected. Instead of
shooting back, he found himself diving for the ground, hoping he wouldn't get
his ass shot off. The energy beams sizzled as they cut a deep trench through
the Nuag's corpse. McCade spit sand and swore. At this rate their fort wasn't
going to last very long.
One after another the planes screamed over, their energy beams crisscrossing
the compound, quickly reducing the Nuags to large lumps of charred meat. Try
as they might, the three men found they could do little more than snap off an
occasional shot. The little planes were just too fast and maneuverable.
Yako kicked his right rudder pedal and banked left. By now both wings had made
two or three passes apiece, and as far as he could see, all they'd done was
cook a few Nuags, and waste a lot of gas. At this rate they'd soon be forced
to land and fight on foot, something which not only reduced their advantage,
but seemed somehow demeaning. Pilots should fly, not slog around on the
ground. As usual Jubal was using brute force instead of brains. Of course you
can't use what you don't have. Down below he saw the occasional wink of an
energy weapon, but thus far their fire had been completely ineffectual. He'd
counted three defenders so far. Yako frowned. Shouldn't there be four?
According to the messenger, two men and some sort of an alien had been with
Mara at Thirty Mile Inn. So where was number four?
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