THE PLANET THAT LOVED PEOPLE (standard:science fiction, 3291 words) [7/15] show all parts
Author: Danny Raven	Added: Mar 08 2016	Views/Reads: 1905/1396	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
PART 2 - CH 7

SEVEN 

Sitting in the cabin, Blaze looked at the screen in front of him. The
laser net was outlined in bright yellow so he couldn't miss it. He 
could see the pods inside it – small blue squares which were slowly 
milling about. It was difficult to believe that Corthan, Kane, Muslik, 
Miller and Talis were in those squares and that their lives were going 
to depend on him. Away to the right of the net, the thick red triangle 
that was Sark's Ship prowled the area. 

He ran his fingers over the buttons and the joystick on the control
panel which were all for defence of the Falcon. All the weapons had 
been disabled and he had nothing to attack with – only Sark could do 
that. Earlier in the afternoon he'd spent some time in here with Kane, 
getting familiar with the controls and trying them out himself. After 
that he spent time with Muslik and the others going over their plan. 

In the cabin next to him Sark was sitting at his console impatiently
waiting for the game to start. He had one black eye from the large 
boxing glove in the Maze and another from where Blaze had whacked him. 
He winced as he ran his hand over them. He wasn't going to lose this 
time, not after the Maze, not after the way Kol had laughed at him. He 
was tired of Kol laughing at him. Perhaps after this game he would do 
something about it. Something final. 

He checked his attack buttons and joystick then ran his hand down the
side of his console. He pressed a button and a small panel opened. He 
rested a finger on the switch inside. Should he flick it now? No. Have 
a bit of fun first then engage it. 

He closed the panel then glanced at his screen and saw his Ship hovering
a space mile from the laser net. He moved his joystick gently and high 
above him in Modas' night sky his Ship moved in closer to the net. 

Blaze watched it on his screen and also watched the numbers starting to
roll downwards from sixty. Sark didn't have them on his screen because 
when they reached zero, Blaze's Ship, which was still invisible under 
its Cloaker, would appear on the screen. A thick green triangle. Then 
the game would be on for real. 

The first co-ordinates flashed up on Blaze's screen. Sark didn't get
these either. They gave the position where the laser net would open and 
a pod could leave. 

Blaze guided the green dot which represented his Ship into a position
close to where the co-ordinates lay. If he was quick enough he could 
get the first pod when his Ship appeared before Sark had a chance to 
get near them. 

Sark's red triangle prowled the north end of the net and the pods spread
out inside it, diving away to different parts to try to confuse him. 
They wouldn't know their co-ordinates until the last second and only 
the pod which was leaving would receive them. They didn't know in which 
order they would be going out either. 

On Blaze's screen the numbers were still rolling down from sixty. By now
he had the green dot exactly opposite where the pod would leave the net 
half-way down the east side. He brushed his black hair away from his 
eyes and concentrated. 

Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Zero. The Cloaker on the Falcon was
switched off automatically and his green triangle came on screen. He 
could see the laser net open slightly to allow the pod to slip through. 
At the same time the red triangle which was Sark's Ship came screaming 
down from the top end. It had a long way to travel though and Blaze 
pressed a control button and opened the Docking Bay on his Ship. The 
pod came closer and entered. Blaze closed the Bay. The first pod was 
safely in. 

He pressed the Cloaker button and the green Ship disappeared from the
screen leaving only a green dot which Sark couldn't see. Some sporadic 
laser fire flashed out from the red triangle but the green one was 
already away. 

On the Falcon, Kane waited for the Docking Bay to pressurize then made


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