The board was at max power, flames intermittently spewing from the boosters. It was vibrating under their feet. And sputtering. The sand was NOT good for it.
Alex kept the course, however, straight skyward.
Felix was standing on the board, holding onto Alex as best he could without affecting the trajectory. The weight displacement was difficult to figure. Her back and abs were tired, trying to stand straight.
Only a moment longer.
Only a moment longer.
She kept repeating to herself.
She'd realized that she wouldn't run into the ship if she flew straight upward. The ship had been flying forwards. She also knew it was unlikely that if she angled a bit she'd find it. Like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
So she had a different plan.
She was going to fly up and above the storm.
Sure, the magnet engine wouldn't work well up there. Magnet power didn't work well the higher one ascended into the atmosphere because the polarity thinned. There wasn't enough polarity for the engine to grab onto. But this old board also ran on oil.
Hold on just a moment longer, thought Alex.
She kept skyward, full throttle.
*****
Kora smiled despite herself.
Her move had worked out surprisingly well.
She knew how to fly an outboard motor. Sat on the wide bench and took hold of the rudder to steer the small ship. She saw the throttle, drilled into the side of the boat. It was pushed half-way down—half-speed.
Kora twisted the rudder handle around, listing to the left, then she moved the rudder to the left, which turned her around and FAST.
Throttle. More throttle.
She threw it home.
She flew over Miner's Danger, surveying. She saw a man in a blue scarf at the helm. Then she was flying over her ship. She saw TJ hanging off the side wall of the deck, pulling himself up. Then she saw Scarlet—she'd used her grapple gun to hook onto the mast.
She was connected. The length of her rope was about twenty feet, and she was in a slow swing around the mast, reeling in.
Kora angled the boat towards the deck, on the lee side of the mizzenmast—in other words, on the opposite side from Miner's Danger. She landed. Not very gently.
Scarlet, having reeled in, landed on the deck near to Kora. The wind was whipping around, worse than before. Kora hoped another random gust wouldn't hit as she ran to the side wall. To TJ. She grabbed his hands and began to pull him over.
Kora wasn't very strong, and TJ was heavy.
"Gotta help me a little," Kora grunted.
And he did.
He pulled himself up, and she got him over the wall.
A gunshot rang out from across the way.
The top of the inner-wall splintered just before her.
She squatted behind it. TJ laid down just before it.
TJ's face was that of horror—like what Kora had felt from earlier, except it seemed to be stuck on TJ. "Get inside the moment you can," Kora said. "Hide. Scarlet and I will handle this." His expression remained, but he managed to nod.
Someone on Miner's Danger had a rifle. How could they see in these sands? Kora, squatted, went a few feet down the deck, peered over the wall. She saw a hint of red across the way, up high. A man was perched at half-mast. Probably the sniper, but she couldn't make him out well enough.
She heard an engine zooming in fast, and then a rowboat appeared from between the boats, rising just before her. Man in a blue scarf, holding out a pistol with his free hand. Kora dropped behind the wall as the man unloaded a few bullets.
Scarlet's sniper rifle was about ten feet from Kora, propped against this inner-wall—had been blown against it from that strong gust.
"Scarlet!" Kora yelled, moving for the gun.
Another rowboat!—on the right side of their ship, opposite side of Miner's Danger.
How many were there?
Kora pulled the pistol from her holster and listened. She heard a boat rising between the boats. She rose above the inner-wall as the boat rose. She took shots, aiming for the engine.
To her surprise, she hit it. The engine died. The boat started to fall down between the ships.
The pilot of the falling boat, when he was level with The Ginger Star's deck, jumped out of the boat. Kora fired the gun three times, hitting him once in the head and twice in the body, sending him into the void.
That's when the rifleman from Miner's Danger sent a shot that splintered the floorboard right by Kora's feet. He'd shot in the direction of her recently produced muzzle flashes.
Scarlet was here now, running past, picking up her rifle.
"In the boat!" Kora said.
Scarlet and Kora jumped into the rowboat Kora had stolen, pulled off the deck and climbed quickly over the top of The Ginger Star's tall mast.
Kora wanted to take out the man at half-mast on Miner's Danger.
*****
Alex knew: she could feel it under her feet.
The board wasn't doing well.
The storm was getting the better of it; bit by bit, moment by moment, the sands were threatening to shut down the board, chipping at it. To kill the barely functioning motor.
They were still in the thick of the storm.
Alex and Felix's hold on each other waned, but she didn't want to stop. She could hear Felix breathing heavy, trying to stay tight. But Alex kept flying straight upward, hopeful they'd break over the top of the storm any moment.
*****
Captain Jake watched from half-mast, peering through the dialed-in scope on the rifle. Those girls had commandeered a rowboat—he'd seen that much, in glimpses. They were piloting it out of sight. He knew he had to get down from here.
He jumped.
Fell about seventy feet down to the deck below, landing hard on his boots. Getting older, jumps like that were much more threatening to the continued health of his knees. He had back pains as of late. Reminded himself to stop jumping from half-mast.
He walked for the poop deck. Climbed up the ladder, taking his time. Turner and Cordelia stood here. Cordelia's held her sword by her side, at the ready.
Jake admired her boundless enthusiasm.
He'd miss his crew when this was over.
Turner said: "It's usually over faster than this, Captain. I think it's time to consider all of our options."
Jake wasn't one to take risks, and he knew Turner was right. They should have subdued The Ginger Star by now. This Kora girl was a fighter. Though he didn't like it, he knew it had to be done. So he gave the command: "Sink the ship."
"Yes, Captain," said Turner happily, and he shouted an order to the gunners. It was time to send a volley of cannon fire. The men made quick work, lighting the cannons on the top deck and running to light the cannons on the decks below. In a matter of moments—
The cannons began exploding, one right after the other, launching gigantic cannon balls into the already frail Ginger Star.
Normally, Jake would strongly object to sinking a ship, since they needed the ship in good repair for resale. But they had the bounty. And Kora Diaz was wanted dead or alive. That would more than recoup the loss of the ship.
Considering again that this was his final mission as Captain of Miner's Danger, Jake was gripped by nostalgia. He would miss this. And that's when he made the next big decision—
"Cordelia, I'm sending you in. And I'm going in myself. It's my last take-down. Might as well end my career in style."
*****
Turner snickered, excited about the prospect.
Usually ships went down much easier than this. The Ginger Star was holding out, but this was fun. Turner liked a good challenge. They hadn't had one in awhile. Captain Jake was the best at what he did. He watched Cordelia strap on her flying board and, holding her sword by her side, bound off the deck, into the storm. Out of sight.
Captain Jake didn't use flying boards.
He was old school. He nodded to their crewmate at the helm, and the young man flew them closer to The Ginger Star until they were only twenty feet apart. Captain Jake got a running start, jumped off the deck towards The Ginger Star, shot his equalizer towards their mast. The magnetic line connected, invisible. He reeled across the gap, dropping in on their deck.
It would all end soon.