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at his indicators to make sure there were no issues with cooling to the engines or hull temperature on the leading edges, all were well within norms, so he kept the hammer down and let the Phoenix race to hypersonic velocities as she tore a hole through the clear northern sky. Despite the imminent danger, the chance to let his powerful ship off her leash sent an electric thrill up Jason's spine.
     
                  "Weapons and shields coming up," Kage said without being prompted.
                 
                  "Reactor output is coming up to one-hundred percent, grav-emitters are in emergency charge mode; we'll have limited slip-drive in two minutes," Twingo said over the intercom.
     
                  "Very good," Jason said. "Senator Vongaard, would you and your family please activate your seat restraints, the ride might not stay so smooth." He watched the civilians scramble to get the seat harnesses activated and took some small pleasure in the abject terror on the face of the oldest daughter. Not quite so sullen now, are you?
     
                  "The heat signatures on the destroyers are spiking. They're pushing their engines hard to try and keep up," Doc said from the sensor station. "We also have a cruiser descending into the upper atmosphere over the pole. I think they realize what we're trying to do."
     
                  "Can we slip between them and stay out of weapons range of both formations? There's no point in trying to sneak up the polar axis at this point," Jason said as he pulled the power back on the engines to maintain their current speed.
     
                  "If we can get to orbit within the next forty-five seconds we'll clear both groups before they can maneuver back up out of their current orbits. There are ships still patrolling in high-synchronous orbit, though, and they're moving to cover us as well."
     
                  "Shit. Hold on!" Jason pulled the stick smoothly back and stood the Phoenix on her tail. The ship clawed up out of the atmosphere in a vertical climb that would put them right in the middle of the waiting hornets' nest above in mere seconds. "Kage, plot a jump directly away from Corran, seven light seconds."
     
                  "Plotting... It's going to be close, Captain. We've just barely got enough charge in the emitters to pull it off. If they use an interdiction field we're screwed," Kage said as he set up their short slip-space hop.
     
                  "I'll chance it," Jason said as the sky blackened around them. He saw a green pop-up indicator on his main display letting him know that the jump was programmed and ready, all he had to do was engage the drive. He waited a few more seconds as the Phoenix shot up between the two groups of ships that had descended to pin them down and aimed for the smaller gap in the ships that were waiting above them. The instant they were at the extreme outer range for most interdiction field generators, Jason smacked the "engage" button that was blinking on his right. There was a high-pitched whine, the canopy darkened, and then a split second later they were sitting in open space. "Report!"
     
                  "Jump successful," Kage said. "We're seven light seconds away from Corran."
     
                  "Go dark," Jason said. "Shut down all potential emission sources. Plot me a course into the interior asteroid belt, five second burn on the main engines. Twingo: after the engine burn I'm killing the mains, I need the slip-drive to full power as fast as you can manage it."
     
                  "You got it, Captain," Twingo's disembodied voice came across the bridge. "It'll be a bit; that short hop almost discharged the emitter coils completely."
     
                  "Understood, just do your best," Jason answered. He swung the ship onto the indicated course that Kage had provided