[Galaxy Of Fear] - 09(30)

Tash saw what she was looking for. A cluster of moon-sized asteroids spackled with cavernous holes. She aimed for the middle of the cluster.

“You’ll have to catch me first,” she said through clenched teeth.

Again, Spore laughed. “The asteroid field won’t stop me. The Vengeance is powerful enough to survive the collisions. The asteroids are nothing.”

Tash plunged into the enormous cluster of asteroids, her Starfly buzzing them like a swamp midge darting around a herd of nerfs.

Behind it, the Star Destroyer continued cutting a path, whole batteries of turbolasers firing at once. Dozens of asteroids were blasted into space dust.

Waves of rubble showered the large asteroids, causing vibrations in the rock.

Inside the asteroids, creatures stirred.

The Star Destroyer entered the cluster.

Spore grinned. “I have you now.”

Tash felt a tractor beam lock onto her tiny Starfly. The ship froze instantly in place. She was caught.

At the same time, something huge and gray launched itself like a missile from a cavern. The space slug had never before encountered anything its own size, and it lunged forward eagerly.

The giant worm struck, battering the Vengeance before it bounced off the Star Destroyer’s shields.

“You see?” Spore said through Zak’s mouth. “My ship can withstand-“

Zak’s mouth stopped working.

Another space slug had attacked from another angle. The Star Destroyer shook.

“You were saying?” Tash said.

The tractor beam dropped off. Tash hit the accelerator and slipped out of the asteroid cluster.

Behind her, the Vengeance tried to change course, but it was attacked again and again. The two space slugs were too stubborn, or too stupid, to give up. And Tash doubted that Spore knew how to command the Star Destroyer. It moved sluggishly, slowly. The ship had been hit a dozen times before it managed to turn around.

By that time, its shields were failing, and with its shields gone, the Star Destroyer could not fend off the asteroids. And at nearly two kilometers long, it was a big target. Space rocks slammed into its hull at a hundred different points. Plumes of fire started lifting from its main deck. A moment later, the bridge exploded.

Tash saw a gaping hole open up the side of the starship. As she reached the edge of the asteroid field, she imagined the vacuum of space rushing in to find Spore.