Linus muttered something under his breath. It was probably uncomplimentary to the engines, or at least whoever was responsible for maintaining them. He turned the control yoke and steered for the shore, keeping his eyes open for a good spot to bring the GEV ashore.

Neva did her own muttering but it was along the lines of "what else" and "it figures".  She tried to keep it down figuring that with the engines sounding like they did it might work.

Neva finally points to a spot along the southern lakeshore.  "Try for over in that direction."

"Thank you, Neva," said Linus, peering ahead.

Hovercraft were usually designed to float even without power to supply air to inflate the skirts, using floatation chambers. But they would be stranded in the rainy darkness. The engine started to sputter and cough as they drew close to the shore and Linus glided them in. When they nosed into the narrow strip of mud and sand on the lakeshore between the forest and the water's edge, the engine died and the skirts deflated.

It became very quiet as the roar of the motor died, leaving the quiet thump of the wipers. The skirts deflated and the GEV settled onto the narrow strip of sand. they could now hear rain pelting on the roof. Lights showed a forest edge only a few metres away from the bow.

Linus turned everything off, then hopped out to make sure that the GEV was safely ashore and in no danger of drifting off should a current catch it. He had ideas of either mooring it or tugging it completely out of the water.

"I don't mean to distract the people doing something about our problem, but I can walk a lot further than I can swim."

Neva had to agree with Thomas.  "Let's get what we can off of this and find some shelter or something.  DOn't trust it to stay in one piece and if it floats or whatever, they will be able to figure out which way we went."

Ken let out a sigh of relief as they reached the shore as the engine died.  He grabbed a rope and went outside to tie off the hovercraft so that it didn't drift off.  Returning back inside he wiped himself off and looked at the others.  "Let's get some sleep while it is raining and then see what can be done to the engine tomorrow."

They tied off the GEV as rain continued to fall.

The hovercraft was large enough that it wasn't going to move into the treeline or along the sand except under power. It could be floated and towed in the water from the beach using lines, except it seemed to be slowly sinking by the rear. Possibly a water-tight bulkhead or flotation chamber was damaged, but it would take examination to determine an exact cause.

In reply to GM (msg # 117):

"Best off sleeping in here, if there's room for all of us.  Dry means we don't have to spend time drying out in the morning."
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:09, Wed 06 Mar 2013.

"You folks settle down. I'm just going to take a look at the back end before turning in," said Linus, getting a light and going to see why the GEV was sagging a bit at the back.

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 119):

The hovercraft had taken several small-calibre hits in the rear skirts (which were thankfully made of ballistic cloth), the hull and through the engine housing. Linus could hear water leaking into the flotation chambers through the bullet holes and he could smell something burning. The turbine itself was giving off an oily smoke and orange flames licked out of the cowling.

A bearded face peered up from behind the engine cowling. It was followed by a man in cloth armour, both hands raised.

"Hey, don't shoot me... I'm on your side... it's Jaxxon, remember me? The medic that helped you out? I had to get away from there so I hitched a ride. Ah, we better get off this thing, I think the engine's caught fire..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:16, Wed 06 Mar 2013.

"Don't be silly, Jaxxon, I'm not going to shoot you." Linus was more interested in the damage to the GEV anyway.

"Doesn't it have integral fire suppression?" asked Linus, rather surprised. He was too used to the Navy, where fire never got a chance to take hold. He looked around for a fire extinguisher, ready to let fly with some foam...

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 121):

It looked like the fire suppression system had taken a hit from a 7.62mm round. (Much larger than the Uzi Jaxxon had slung around his shoulder. Although Linus was able to put out the fire quickly enough, the engine looked like it was in pretty rough shape. The fuel and lubrication lines were perforated, had leaked and caught fire. (He didn't remember the fuel or oil pressure gauges dropping so perhaps there was some damage to those leads.

The medic put his hands down and looked around. "Man, thanks for not killing me. That Pylory dude is a psycho. So, now what? Where are we headed? That big island west of the city ruins is where the landing area for ships is located. It's to help conceal the location of the dig in the city and away from the natives, who are crazy and violent. Supplies are brought over to camp by hovercraft or air/raft." He seemed sincere and eager to help, offering the information freely.

"Best go talk to the others, Jaxxon. I've been too busy driving to pay much attention to the planning, but I think it was mostly of the 'get outta here' variety," said Linus, busy trying to make the best of things back here.

"Oh, okay." He looked dubiously at the engine, then started making his way forward.

"Hey! It's me, Jaxxon. The medic who treated you when that bastard Pylory brought you in? I, ah, kind of hitched a ride outta the Alamo back there. I can help you guys, a little, so please don't shoot me."

Ken started and brought his gun up as Jaxxon called out.  The steady patter of rain on the roof of the passenger compartment had masked the sounds of Linus dealing with the fire as well as talking to the medic.  He moved forward carefully and only lowered the gun when he recognized the man and that he was unarmed.

"Come on in Jaxxon, we remember you.  So you took the opportunity to get out of the camp with us, that's good but we're stranded until we can see what is wrong with the engine in the morning.  We can share what we have in the meantime but what do you think you can specifically do to help us get the hell out of here?"

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 100):

While they were beached and the others were looking at the engine, Walker looked at the weapons.

"Anybody object to my taking the 7mm rifle?" He asked as he picked it up and opened the mechanism, looking for rust, corrosion or any other imperfections in the weapon.

"I'll go through the rest to make sure they're serviceable, too."

Jaxxon surrendered his Uzi readily enough, but was at a little bit of a loss in trying to help. He scratched his beard, thinking.

"I don't think we can make it overland to Val Preszar. Boniface and the AP goons will be all over you!

"That island to the northwest, that's the LZ for the ship. Kalamenaru is due in next week. The ship usually keeps radio silence until after it lands to keep secret. We made rafts a lot to transport supplies from the island and along the coast, I could help you make one?"

In reply to Thomas Walker (msg # 126):

It was fortunate that Walker checked the weapons, as they were in poor repair. An even greater sin in a warm, moist environment. They would need cleaning to get rid of corrosion, even some rust.

Ken nodded to Thomas; "Definitely arm yourself with what works for you Thomas and if you can check the rest of the weapons that would be helpful."

He waved Jaxxon to keep his gun.  "Kalamenaru is due to land nearby?  Actually we'd tried to make it to that island before the engine went.  From the maps it appeared to be the highest ground around.  If we can get to the camp and surprise Kalamenaru before he learns about the raid on the camp we might be able to seize the ship and get off planet that way."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 129):

Neva walked over to Thomas and shook her head.  "Some people just don't know how to care for a weapon do they.  While the others build the raft if you want help in cleaning these to make them useable I can help."

In reply to Neva Alexovna Morozova (msg # 130):

"Please."  Between the two of them he spread out the weapons, the ammo and the limited cleaning supplies.

"This is not going to be good."  He pronounced, while they cleaned the weapons.  "I want my Betsy back.  Bad enough to be stuck out in the ass-end of nowhere with no tea, and those bastards kept my Betsy." He looked down the barrel of the 7mm rifle, checking it, as he cleaned it.  "I've just added someone to my 'he needed killing your honor.' list, I just don't know who it is yet."

In reply to Thomas Walker (msg # 131):

Neva sat down and started to help Thomas lay out and clean the weapons.  She nodded at Thomas when he said the "they needed to die to the judge" comment and then grinned.  "I can certainly understand that feeling.  Hopefully you won't have to stand before the judge and try to convince them...or if you do, he understands the feeling."

In reply to Neva Alexovna Morozova (msg # 132):

"When you're a half mile away, it's hard to prove it was you."  He scrubbed at something on the receiver.  "You just need to make sure you leave no tracks."