I could hear something else, too. It hadn't mattered what Pat did, once
I'd swung the ship into line. I couldn't have pulled it out of the
collision course myself. It had taken an atomic rocket to blast me out
of the way.
But it was different, now.
I was folded over the wheel, blood running down my chin from my bitten
lip, my knuckles aching as I tightened my fists.
Pat said: "Ash--I'm sorry." There was a sob in her voice. "But you
won't give up," she stumbled on. "You'll never give up, until you and
Harry are both dead. And I couldn't stand losing both of you."
I never knew what she hit me with, but the back of my skull seemed
to explode inward, and I slid out of the seat to the deck. I started
crawling toward her. She sobbed, but she hit me again.