Battleship Raider by Paul Tomlinson (book recommendations website .txt) 📗

“Can you fire that cannon of yours close enough to stun her without causing permanent damage?”

“Yes.”

“Do it.”

The robot’s cannon made its angry mosquito sound. He raised it to fire, aiming at a spot on the ground just in front of Calamity Bella’s hiding place. “You might want to cover your ears,” the robot said.

I did. The noise was still a deafening boom! and the compression of air it caused made my sinuses pop. Dirt and little bits of jungle debris were thrown up into the air in a dark cloud, marking the point of impact. The pile of crates was thrown upwards and backwards. And so was Bella. She arced through the air like a two-hundred-pound goldfish leaping out of its bowl. She landed spread-eagled on her back in the top of a large palm tree. The sudden arrival of her weight caused the tree to bend alarmingly and I thought for a moment that it would fire her back towards us. But she stayed in place in the crown of the tree and the trunk swayed backwards and forwards several times before coming to rest. Bella didn’t move.

“Is she...?”

“Stunned,” the robot said, “and on the edge of consciousness.”

Bella’s guns and one of her boots lay on the ground close to where she had been hiding.

“Let’s move,” I said. I started towards the cargo lifter. The robot’s massive hand reached out to stop me. He pulled me back into the cover of the bushes on the edge of the clearing.

At the same moment, the hatch of the Celestia flew open and the other pirates appeared. There was an anguished cry from Bolly when he spotted his sister’s empty boot. He had abandoned the truncated sniper rifle in favour of something bigger – a heavy-duty rapid-fire machine gun. I could see that he was conflicted – he wanted to rush out and find his sister and he wanted open fire on those who had done this – whatever ‘this’ turned out to be – to her. He also knew that he would be putting himself in danger as soon as he stepped outside the battleship. He scanned the clearing, trying to locate our hiding place. Bolly had kicked off his high heels and was in stockinged feet, so he obviously meant business.

Blondie the cyber-pirate appeared beside Bolly. The two of them had obviously entered into a ‘my weapon is bigger’ contest. Blondie had won. He had one of the Celestia’s biggest guns mounted on a body harness – the kind the crab-bots had sported. It was a weapon usually found on a tank or an aircraft. If he fired it, the recoil would probably knock him off his feet.

“If he hits you with one of those rounds...?” I said.

“It won’t do my paintwork any good.”

“But will it penetrate your armour?”

“Easily,” the robot said. “Do you still wish to stay and fight? We do not have much time left.”

He kept saying that. I should have paid attention. The robot knew what I’d say and didn’t wait for an answer. He replaced his cannon with a smaller machine gun and clicked the ammunition clip into place.

“There’s monkeys up here!” a voice wailed, drawing everyone’s attention. “They’re throwing something soft – I don’t think it’s fruit. Oh, squit! Help me!”

Bella had returned to the land of the living.

“I’ll save you, Bella!” Bolly called heroically. Forgetting all other dangers, he set aside his machine gun and ran out into the clearing. “Don’t move, honey, I’m coming for you!” he shouted up at the palm tree.

It was like watching one of those shows that you don’t turn off even though they make you cringe. Bolly selected a gnarly old tree that was taller than the one his sister was trapped in. He climbed it in his stocking feet. It wasn’t elegant but I’d give him points for determination. The monkeys saw him coming and began pelting him with squit too. Bolly ignored them and edged out along a branch that looked down on his sister.

“He’ll never reach her form there,” I whispered.

But that wasn’t Bolly’s intention. He had something much more heroic in mind. He grabbed a dangling vine and tested his weight on it. It didn’t break.

“He isn’t...” I said.

He was. Holding onto the vine, Bolly leapt off the branch and swung out towards his sister like an overweight trapeze artist. He overshot completely, passing over her head. As he swung back, she reached up to try and grab him. He collided with her. He knocked her out of the tree. Bolly dropped, landing up in exactly the spot his sister had just vacated. Bella dropped butt-first into a small bush.

“Is that one of the spiny ones?” I asked.

The robot nodded. “Porcupine plant.”

“Have you seen my nose?” a voice asked. Dante, the big bald guy, was talking to the pirate with the white-blond mohawk. Dante had a big stripe of white gauze taped across his face where his nose used to be. “If I can find it, they may be able to sew it back on.”

“Were you expecting this to be more of a fight?” the robot asked.

The young pirate was looking slowly from one of his hapless crewmates to the next – and I was sure he was giving serious thought to changing sides. I wondered if I could persuade him to come with us. Me, him, and the robot could just head off in the cargo lifter and leave the others behind. There was no harm in asking him. Probably.

“Hey!” I called to attract his intention.

“Down!” the robot said, pushing me to the ground and dropping down next to me.

Blondie opened fire with the massive gun. Hundreds of armour-piercing projectiles flew through the air. All around us were rattling and snapping sounds as the bullets smashed into the jungle. Leaves and branches rained down and splinters of wood exploded outwards. The fresh green scent of mulched foliage filled the air, mingling with the smells of smoke,