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versatile craft dipped low, circled once, and then settled toward the first
mudder as it strove to match the smaller vehicle s speed.
If they get aboard, we ll lose them permanently, said a worried Flinx. Can
you pick them off as they try to transfer? Already the skimmer s crew had
matched velocity with the mudder and was dropping a chute ladder toward the
water.
Lauren bent over the rifle again. Her finger hesitated over the button; then
she unexpectedly, pulled back and whacked the butt of the gun angrily. Lovely
people. They re holding your mother next to the base of the chute. I can t get
a clear shot.
What are we going to do? We can t just keep circling them like this!
How the hell should I know? She abandoned the rifle and rushed to a storage
locker amidships.
Mudders, paralysis pistols, kidnapping, and now a skimmer sent out from the
north. Who are these people, anyway?
I don t know, Flinx snapped. I told you before that I don t understand any
of this. He hesitated, trying to watch her and keep the jet boat circling the
still-racing mudders and the skimmer hovering above them. What are you going
to do now?
The device she had extracted from the storage locker was as long as the dart
rifle but much narrower. When I give the word, she said tightly, I want you
to charge them and pull aside at the last moment. I don t think they ll be
expecting a rush on our part. They re much too busy transferring to the
skimmer.
What are you going to try and do? he asked curiously. Disable the skimmer?
With a dart gun? Are you kidding? she snorted. Just do as I say.
So long as what you say continues making sense, he agreed, a bit put off by
her tone.
You re wasting time. Do it!
He threw the wheel hard over. The catamaran spun on the surface so sharply
that the portside hull lifted clear of the water. A high rooster tail obscured
them from sight for a moment.
In seconds, they were on top of the mudder and the skimmer drifting steadily
above it. Activity on both craft intensified as the jet boat bore down on the
mudder. As Lauren suspected, the last thing their opponents were expecting was
a broadside charge. A couple of shots passed behind the onrushing boat,
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hastily dispatched and imperfectly aimed.
Hard to port! Lauren shouted above the roar of the engine. Those still on
board the mudder had hunched down in anticipation of a collision. Plinx leaned
on the wheel. Engine screaming, the catamaran spun to its left, nearly
drowning those starting up the chute ladder toward the skimmer.
Lauren must have fired at least once, Flinx thought as the jet boat sped away.
He turned the wheel, and they started back toward their quarry in a wide arc.
To his surprise, the woman put the peculiar-looking weapon back in the storage
locker and returned to the bracket-held dart rifle.
Now let s go back and take our best shots.
A one-shot gun? he murmured. I didn t even hear it go off. What was the
purpose of that crazy charge? He wrestled with the wheel.
That charge was our insurance, Flinx. She gestured back toward the storage
locker where she had repositioned the narrow gun. That gun was a Marker. We
use it to help track injured fish that break their lines. She nodded toward
the skimmer. I think I hit it twice. The gun fires a capsule which holds a
specially sensitized gel. Epoxied bonder, sticks to anything on contact, and
it s not water soluble. As long as they don t think to check the underside of
their skimmer for damage, and there s no reason for them to do so since it s
operating perfectly, they ll never see
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file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Flinx%201%20-%
20For%20Love%20of%20Mother-Not.txt the gel. It s transparent, anyway. Now we
can track them.
Not with this boat, surely.
No. But there s a skimmer back at the lodge. Would ve taken too long to ready
it or we d be on it now instead of on this boat. Wish we were. No reason to
expect a skimmer to show up suddenly to help them, though. She gestured
toward the mudder.
As long as they don t get too far ahead of us, we ll beable to follow
them-just like we did with this boat. But if we can hurt them now ... She
looked back through the telescopic sight. Ah, they ve taken your mother up on
a hoist. Strapped in. I m sure she didn t make it easy for them.
She wouldn t, Flinx murmured affectionately.
Clear shooting now, Lauren said delightedly. A loud beeping sounded from the
tracking unit.
What s that? Flinx gave the device a puzzled glance.
Lauren uttered a curse and pulled away from the rifle. A quick glance at the
screen and Flinx found himself shoved none too gently out of the pilot s
chair. He landed on the deck hard.
Hey, what s-!
Lauren wasn t listening to him as she wrenched the wheel hard to starboard.
Flinx frantically grabbed for some support as the boat heeled over. He could
just see the port hull rising clear of the water as something immense and
silvery-sided erupted from the lake s surface.
Chapter Ten
Screams and shouts came from the vicinity of the mudders and the skimmer. A
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