Bandit made another minute correction. White vapor shot from its tail and it began to move ahead.
"Using rocket power," Crag grunted. "Damn if I can figure that one out."
"Looks crazy to me. I should think--" Prochaska's voice froze. A minute pip broke off from Bandit, boring through space toward the silver drone.
"Warhead!" Crag roared the word with cold anger.
One second Drone Able was there, riding serenely through space. The next it disintegrated, blasted apart by internal explosions. Seconds later only fragments of the drone were visible.
Prochaska stared at Crag, his face bleak. Crag's brain reeled. He mentally examined what had happened, culling his thoughts until one cold fact remained.
"Mistaken identity," he said softly. "They thought it was the Aztec."
"Now we hope they haven't any more warheads." Crag mulled the possibility. "Considering weight factors, I'd guess they haven't. Besides, there's no profit in wasting a warhead on a drone."
"We hope." Prochaska studied Bandit through the port, and licked his lips nervously. "Think we ought to contact Alpine?"
Crag weighed the question. Despite the tight beam, any communication could be a dead giveaway. On the other hand, Bandit either had the capacity to destroy them or it didn't. If it did, well, there wasn't much they could do about it. He reached a decision and nodded to Prochaska, then began coding his thoughts.
He had trouble getting through on the communicator. Finally he got a weak return signal, then sent a brief report. Alpine acknowledged and cut off the air.
"What now?" Prochaska asked, when Crag had finished.
He shrugged and turned to the side port without answering. Bandit loomed large, a long thick rocket with an oddly blunted nose. A monster that was as deadly as it looked.
"Big," he surmised. "Much bigger than this chunk of hardware."
"Yeah, a regular battleship," Prochaska assented. He grinned crookedly. "In more ways than one."
Crag sensed movement at his shoulder and turned his head. Nagel was studying the radarscope over his shoulder. Surprise lit his narrow face.
"Destroyed," Crag said bruskly. "Bandit had a warhead."
Nagel looked startled, then retreated to his seat without a word. Crag returned his attention to the enemy rocket.