Jordan shrugged her hold off and raced to the cockpit door.

"Okay, Doc, head back and man the rear turret," Annie said to Rodriguez. "Works just like this one. Only bigger."

"And try not to shoot our own ass off," Jordan added.

"I can't do this anymore. I'm useless."

He looked like a lost child.

"Get your ass back there and do whatever you can! It doesn't have to be fancy. Just keep shooting to let them know we're not going down without a fight."

"We haven't already proven that?" Rodriguez said. When no one reacted, he left the cockpit.

As soon as Rodriguez was gone, the door slamming shut behind him, the atmosphere in the cockpit changed. Annie was focused on her piloting and the signals coming in on various displays and scanners.

"That asshole ain't worth spit," Jordan muttered.

Annie looked at the screens, moving from one to the other.

Dozens of speeders showed on her display, all angling toward them from several directions at once.

It looked like they'd easily intercept SRV-66 before Annie got anywhere near the portal.

"Okay, Jordan. It's showtime."

With the portal so close, they entered a gauntlet.

28.

ROAD TEST.

Rodriguez sat down in the aft gun turret.

He grabbed the only thing that made sense to him-a headset-and snapped it on.

"You kidding me? What do I do back here? This is-"

"Rodriguez. Quiet!" Jordan said. "And listen up."

It felt as if the gunner was speaking right against his ear.

"Just grab the stick in front of you, right between your legs."

Rodriguez took the stick, and the twin barrels of the main gun and the turret started to move together.

"Whoa-I'm moving."

"No shit. You move in the same direction as the guns. Now, when you see something coming at you, just press the button to fire."

Rodriguez pressed the button. He blasted into a section of the ramp, and a smoldering crater appeared.

"At a target, Rodriguez. A target."

He nodded, his heart beating fast in his throat, and said, "Got it. Yeah."

"Good."

And Jordan vanished from the screen.

"So close," Annie said. "But they're all over the place."

She looked at Jordan as his head swiveled from the cockpit window to the screens. Back and forth. Up and down. Calculating so much, so fast.

"Gotta wait. Let 'em get a bit closer."

Annie knew better than to question her gunner's tactics. She had the SRV running full out. Let him do his job.

But she'd have to ease up a bit before they hit the portal. No telling what the Road was like on the other side.

"Okay," Jordan said calmly, and then he started firing.

And Annie, even with her eyes locked on the ramp, adjusting her SRV as it rolled toward the portal, watched the nearest speeder burst into flames. Direct hit on its core.

Even better-the flaming metal mess careened into one of the other speeders and took it out.

"Nice one," she said.

Then more blasts. Some of the speeders swerved to avoid the SRV's shots.

But by getting close, they now had fewer options, fewer turns and ramps to take.

If one speeder dodged, the other had to sail on-exposed.

"Three down," Jordan said.

And at least four ... five more coming.

And then some started hitting the SRV.

"Hitting us in the rear," Jordan said. Then: "Rodriguez ... you have permission to fire ... amigo."

Jordan went back to picking off the speeders with only seconds left before SRV-66 entered-or tried to enter-the Star Road.

Rodriguez's frantic aiming had the gun turret swinging around wildly, his shots nowhere near hitting the two speeders racing after the SRV, firing away.

Can't do this, he thought. Can't do this.

He felt nauseous, and when he burped, a thick, sour taste filled his mouth.

I'm a scientist ... not some space warrior.

This is above my pay grade.

He chuckled at that and, for a moment, stopped overthinking the shots. Now he moved, fired and-amazingly-a speeder burst into flames and crashed into the ramp, skidding and spinning around, sending up a shower of sparks.

"I got one!"

"So get more," Jordan said calmly.

The adrenaline-a new feeling for Rodriguez-raced through him now. He felt positively high.

Which is when he turned to target the other speeder and saw that-instead-the other speeder had him in its sights.

"No," Rodriguez said.

He pressed his button.

And the two opposing guns fired at the same time.

Rodriguez got off a shot; a hit but not fatal.

But the enemy speeder aimed dead-center on the turret and fired back.

The blast rocked the SRV, kicking it ahead, and the hit to the gun turret sent a shower of sparks raining down on Rodriguez. Hissing specks stung his exposed skin while the rocking SRV shook him back and forth like a rag doll.

His hands went up to cover his burning face.

Releasing the gun, he wiped away the painful glowing bits of metal and plastic from his hands and face.

Jordan tapped his screen.

"Rodriguez took a hit. We gotta get him out of there."

"No," Annie said quickly. "Stay at your post."

Jordan had cleared the last of the latest wave of speeders. But more were coming. Fast. The portal entry lay directly ahead, its churning rollers growing brilliant in the dim sunlight.

"You can't walk back there during a portal entry. Let's get through-then you can pull him out."

Jordan didn't argue.

She liked that about him.

He had his opinions, but he took an order as if he were still in the military.

"Here we go."

The screen showed the shimmering multicolored wringers of the portal while the cockpit window showed only a crazy jump into empty space.

"Now..." Annie said.

And the SRV left the near-space of Hydra Salim. After a stomach-churning moment of weightlessness, they were suddenly back on the Star Road.

The first thing Annie did was look at the screens, checking to see if they were being followed.

"I think ... we did it."

"Okay, let me get Rodriguez out. Maybe one of the passengers can bandage him up."

"Right."

Jordan unsnapped his harness and left the cockpit.

And Annie thought, Did we really just outrun them? Will that battle cruiser give up?

Doubtful.

If it did, though, this was one hell of a lucky day.

She looked down to a screen showing the gun turret. Jordan was freeing Rodriguez from the debris covering the gun seat, hauling him out.

Not much blood.

That's good.

Face is a mess though ...

Then she picked up movement on the aft screen.

And not just movement.

The Runner's battle crusier filled the screen.