The Paradox Corridor

Chapter 14: Tables Turn

Suddenly, the whole ship shifted to the right, causing James to lose his balance.

"How can we fight something that's invincible?" asked Amber. "Sorry for the bad driving, by the way!" The custodians suddenly cut in

"Amber! Hit the evasive maneuvers button! This thing is getting smarter! Andrew, James, go help Amber. Do what she says. We need to retreat to the Mills! Now!" James rolled over to the other wheel, and took over control of the ship. Andrew went over to the radar.

"If it's about to fire, I'll warn you! When I do, shoot a missile at it! Maybe, if we hit it's blasts while they exit the cannon, maybe that will hurt it!" he yelled over the sound of an explosion barely missing them. Amber went to the missile station, ready to fire at any moment. James, still getting used to the controls, swooped a little too low. The robot raised its arm, and Andrew yelled,

"Heat is gathering around its arm! It's about to fire!" James pulled up, watching as the laser blasts the custodians were firing bounced off of the Gal-Gatha without doing anything. He pushed the ship to its limits, trying to make up for his mistake. The Gal-Gatha, on the other hand, used his mistake to its advantage . Its back opened up, and a dozen missiles shot out, immediately seeking after their ship. "We have ten missiles inbound!" yelled Andrew,

"According to the computer, we have about fifteen seconds till impact!"

"James!", yelled Amber, "Take evasive action!"

"According to the computer, even if I do, we will still be hit! I'll try, though!" he yelled back, and yanked the wheel as far right as he could. The missiles continued to follow. If anything, they were closer.

"James! Do something!" yelled the right custodian, "Anything! Quick!" The fear in his voice cause James to think even harder about what he could do. Suddenly, the presence came back, and his brain began to throb. Not in pain, necessarily, but something...else. He almost fell out of his chair when he started to literally see things, his life flashing before his eyes. What was going on here?

Suddenly, he achieved utmost clarity, just for a single moment. It wasn't long, but it was enough, because he remembered. That game, the one with the airplanes...the one he and Andrew had played religiously back in the day. He remembered one evasive maneuver that always worked, no matter what. It was his favorite one, and not only was it useful in dodging missiles, but it was also cool as heck. It worked fine in the game, of course, but there was no way that would work in real life...could it? 

Thinking fast without knowing what he was doing, he decided to pull the ship straight up, doing a loop-de-loop, and when he reached the top he changed direction. The ship groaned as it attempted to pull it off. He heard Andrew fly around the cabin (of course, he wasn't wearing his seatbelt). Somehow, his aerial acrobatics worked. They had changed direction, but they were higher up than the missiles. The missiles all arced up in unison, over their heads.

"They're coming back!" yelled Andrew. "Approximately ten seconds till impact!"

"Wait!" cried Amber, "I have an idea! James, give me the controls!" He gladly gave them up, still in shock about what he had just done. Amber angled the nose of the ship toward the Gal-Gatha. She sped up toward it. The Gal-Gatha, hardly daring to believe its luck at finding easy prey, pulled it's sword off its side. It may have been a mere replica, but it looked just as dangerous as the real thing. It prepared to swing at them, but right as they were about to get in range of the deadly weapon, Amber yanked the ship up, causing Andrew and James (who hadn't buckled in either, the hypocrite) to fall over, and causing the custodians to accidentally fire off a few rounds of the cannon. The missiles couldn't turn nearly as well as their ship, and they all slammed into the Gal-Gatha's sword. The oldest trick in the book (using your enemies' weapons against them) shattered the sword into a million pieces, but as soon as the pieces hit the ground they all watched as they dissolved into nothing.