[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
The colonel keyed his external speaker and assured the shooter that their
mission was peaceful.
The Shadow man responded by issuing his final ultimatum: if they didn't comply
he was going to drill the missile with bullets.
"Do you believe the stones on this guy?" Hylander said. "He's asking to get
his butt relocated up under his chin."
"Hey, Colonel," Connors said, "tell him the only 'dicks' that are going to do
anything memorable around here are ours."
Gabhart did nothing of the kind. He had no intention of provoking a fight just
yet.
Instead, he told the shooter he needed until dawn to close the deal. Actually,
he needed about twenty seconds the time it took for his people to
unobtrusively work their way into position.
The man in the hat didn't go for the stall. In a loud, clear voice he started
counting down from ten.
As he broke into a run, the colonel switched over to helmet comm. "Get that
fucker!" he growled. "Saw the bastard in two!"
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2...12/55)/049%20-%20Shadow%20World%2
01.0.html (148 of 279) [12/24/2004 11:30:52 PM]
D2
Before he could reach his tribarrel, gunfire pounded the street from two
sides. It came head-on at the missile, at 600 rounds per minute, and in widely
spaced, single shots from the other end of the street. The hail of bullets
sailed all around him. Ricochets skipped off the ground and rattled into the
sides of the missile truck.
Cursing, Gabhart swung the laser rifle to his shoulder. As he did so, the
autofire stopped, but the aggravatingly slow, single shots persisted at his
back. The colonel didn't take the time to hook up the weapon to the optics of
his battle suit, but laid the rifle's open sights on the pile of rubble that
Hat Man was using for cover and squeezed the front trigger. A petawatt of pure
energy turned the moisture trapped inside the material to nuke-heated steam in
about a femtosecond. With a solid whack and a big puff of dust, the chunk of
concrete exploded.
Hat man had cover, but not for long.
The colonel quickly detonated three more slabs of concrete, forcing the
shooter to abandon his hide. The man ran like a bush bunny, very low and very
fast across the rubble field. As he zigzagged from one cover to the next,
because of the poor shot angle, the colonel was unable to take him out.
Gabhart lowered the weapon and two more single shots boomed from the rear.
The bullets made hollow thunks as they struck high on the unprotected side of
the missile. When he turned, he saw a pair of darkslashes in the rocket's
bottom stage, about six inches apart, just below the thrust ring. There were
three other dents as well, clustered above the second stage's stabilizing
fins.
As much as he wanted to scream at that moment, he didn't. There was too much
to do. He quickly checked the map grid to make sure their attackers were in
full retreat, then ordered his people back to inspect the exterior of the
missile and its payload for other damage.
With all of them on the job, the survey took less than ten minutes to complete
and when it was done, the colonel asked the systems engineer for a damage
report.
"Give me the good news first," Gabhart told him.
"No worries on the second stage," Ockerman said. "I think we're looking at
some
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2...12/55)/049%20-%20Shadow%20World%2
01.0.html (149 of 279) [12/24/2004 11:30:52 PM]
Page 87
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
D2
minor repairs to the guidance controls, which we can make in a few hours. But
I
don't like those two rips in the first-stage booster. It's possible we've got
something more serious going on inside there. From the position of the damage,
we could even have a small breach in the main engine housing."
No one said a word.
They just stared at the twin slashes in the missile's white skin.
An engine breach could mean a fuel leak, and a fuel leak meant disaster.
The door to Shadow World might have just slammed shut.
Gabhart broke the heavy silence. "Okay, let's not panic, just yet," he said.
"Let's get the damaged outer panels off the bottom stage and see what we're
really looking at."
HER HEAD REELING, Mildred raised herself on an elbow.
The canyon around her reverberated with the sounds of gunfire and explosions.
As she tasted her own blood in her mouth, she had no idea what had happened,
except that she had been leveled, blind-sided, and that Krysty lay unmoving,
sprawled across her legs.
The redhead's prehensile hair hung as lank and limp as string. For an instant
Mildred thought the woman was dead. With a sinking heart, she squirmed out
from under Krysty's weight and checked for a pulse at her throat. It was
there, weak and thready. What scared her worse was the state of Krysty's
pupils, which were so dilated that her emerald-green eyes looked almost black.
She was still alive, but only just.
Mildred quickly examined her for evidence of a wound and found none. Krysty's
skin was pale and clammy to the touch; she showed the signs of having suffered
an overwhelming traumatic shock.
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2...12/55)/049%20-%20Shadow%20World%2
01.0.html (150 of 279) [12/24/2004 11:30:52 PM]
D2
About the time Mildred finished her exam, the gunfire stopped. She caught a
flicker of movement across the rubble field to the north. It was Doc, Dean and
Jak, circling away from Moonboy's city center. The attack had been a bust.
Time to bag it, girl, she told herself.
After stuffing Krysty's side arm into a pocket of her fatigues, she wrestled
the unresisting woman into a fireman's carry.
Though Mildred had a stocky build, with powerful legs, it was a tough job
lugging
Krysty over broken ground. She hurried as fast as she could after her
companions, but she couldn't catch up with them.
She was unwilling to call out for help, for fear of drawing an attack her way.
Burdened as she was, she knew she'd make an easy target.
Mildred had carried Krysty across a quarter-mile of ruination when the redhead
let out a soft groan. When she continued to complain on every step, it was
clear she was coming around. Mildred carefully set her down behind a toppled
light post.
"Come on, Krysty, snap out of it," she said, gripping her shoulders in both
hands and giving them a shake. "Open your eyes."
When the woman did so, Mildred examined her pupils again and found them nearly
back to normal.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]