After the first missile, the second drone was alerted to the threat. Its guns were preparing to fire when I squeezed off the second missile from the Rightfire. Then I dove into the grass, not so much aiming to conceal myself as avoiding where the drone had been targeting. Fortunately, the pilot spotted the missile launch and attempted evasive maneuvers, throwing off the drone’s targeting lock. Even so, the microburst took care of the drone only a moment later, and I was able to stand and retrieve my Ranger. From the look of the case, it had taken a couple of hits, and I hoped it had protected the g*n from any harm. But I didn’t have time to inspect it as Katherine and Algred had to be getting close.
“Gloria,” I asked again, “how are we doing?”
“They just passed you,” she answered. “They’
