
Not that it made a whole lot of difference, since the course of action would be the same. Destroy the
probe, warn the others, and hope for the best. It was all that Grif or anyone else could do.
The settler's heart pounded against his chest as he ran downhill, skidded to a stop, and used his
hunting knife to sever the tie-downs. The speeder creaked as he climbed aboard.
Work-thickened fingers stabbed at the controls, rows of lights appeared, and the repulsorlift engine
whined into life. The machine rocked slightly as it came off the ground, faltered as energy tried to arc
across two badly worn contacts, and steadied as Grif babied the controls.
Then, with Fido still circling above, the settler took off. He stood up in order to improve his visibility
and felt the wind press against his face. Moonlight gleamed off the droid's highly polished skin. He aimed
for the reflection and wished he had a plan.
"When in doubt, improvise," Grif mumbled to himself, grabbed the blast rifle racked along the port
side, and removed the safety. A green "ready" light appeared as he rested the barrel on the top of the
windshield and squeezed the trigger.
The energy pulse blipped outward, missed the probe by a good twenty meters, and disappeared.
Grif corrected his aim, fired again, and saw the bolt hit. The blast slagged one of the droid's sensors, took
the shine off a few square centimeters of alloy skin, and triggered a preprogrammed response.
The probe came equipped with four energy cannons, one for each point of the compass, and brought
one of them to bear. The right side of the windshield disappeared as the energy beam slashed through it.
Grif swore, put the speeder into the tightest turn he could, and saw another beam pass through the air
just vacated. The fight, if that's what it could properly be called, was anything but fair. What he needed
was a way to even the odds.
The settler pushed the speeder down toward the surface. The lower he went, the more energy could
be converted into forward momentum. The fact that the droid would be forced to convert more of its
onboard computing capacity to low-level navigation amounted to a bonus.
Grif knew the territory ahead — and knew the ground would rise. A ridge appeared, and he aimed
for the V-shaped gap at the top. Energy strobed past, struck an outcropping, and sliced it off. The
speeder passed through, banked to the right, and hugged the south side of the ridge.
The droid burst through the gap, lost the flyer's heat signature in the warmth radiating off the rock,
and switched to holo cams.
Grif brought the speeder to a momentary halt, pulled the remote free of the control panel, and
grabbed the blast rifle. Then, praying there was enough time, the settler vaulted over the side.
His knees bent to absorb the shock, the rifle clattered as it hit the ground, and the remote filled his
fist. He thumbed the "on" button, moved the slider forward, and watched the machine accelerate away.
The probe altered course and fired. The bolt missed. So far, so good. Now for the second and most
crucial part of the plan .. .
Grif turned the directional knob to the right, waited for the airspeeder to respond accordingly, and
swore when it didn't. As with so much of his homegrown equipment, the remote had a tendency to
malfunction. He tried again with similar results.