Urban Renewal - 17 -   by Erin Halfelven Art by Heather Rose Brown

 
Penny, her body lying comfortably on the lounger in her garage, guided the Knight's cis-orbital flight with her mind. She planned to land on a rocky hillock just east of Wenatchee; a safety margin for anyone under her flight path to allow her plenty of time to change her jets from atomic to conventional. Or self-destruct if things went seriously bottle-shaped.

Nate, her ex-husband and the former mind-pilot of the Nuclear Knight, kept watch on the skies above central Washington by mind-control of Skytower, the robot orbital station built from pieces of old wrecked Knight bodies.

"Copter, jet-assisted, approaching Marshalldale airport from the east. Tapes show it came from near the landing spot of a cis-orbital packet originating in the Middle East. Interceptors scrambled from three air bases have been called back, no info on why or how. Be careful, Penny!" Nate's voice sounded in her mind.

"You know I'm fine, as long as the Outsider doesn't try to interfere with our control," Penny told him.

"No sign of that alien creep," said Nate. His injuries had been caused by neurological feedback from crashing a previous Knight to prevent an Outsider takeover of the robot. "Billy's on the river, running north. Karma and Catclaw are heading to the airport in a car and Munson and his wife are somewhere in the mountains west of town."

"Are we about to have an old home week?" Penny asked.

"Looks like it. Four arrivals within minutes of each other."

"Order?"

"Jetcopter, Billy, you, Kay and company then the Munsons sometime later and Centurion probably after that."

"Billy still not answering calls?"

"Nope. At speed his flames make radio reception difficult, you know that."

"That boy was born difficult."

Nate chuckled.

* * *

Spartako's sensor arrays kept him aware of aerial threats; he'd spotted the incoming Nuclear Knight before apogee. He knew he'd be at his destination with enough time to complete his mission before the big robot could safely land. The trick would be getting away after incinerating LeJeune.

* * *

On the lake bed, Billy tried something new -- concentrating on expanding his flames to their maximum before attempting to break the sound barrier. The energy cost might not leave him enough oomph to accelerate through the barrier and a fall in the trans-sonic turbulence might rip him apart.

"Tell me again how much I get paid for doing this?" he muttered.

But he'd heard Skytower's arrival predictions and knew he'd never beat Spartako to his target without a last minute boost. "Johnny," he whispered.

His flames grew as bright as they had ever been, extending around him for almost a yard. He kicked like a sprinter and the transonic forces reached through his fiery shield and plucked at his armor.

But he knew he'd broken the barrier. Accelerating up to Mach 2 with new energy he ran on, saving a celebration for later.