|
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Fibian craft s huge kinetic energy was converted into vapor and heat and motion. They fight as if their lives don t matter Page 30 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html , he thought, with a tinge of disgust. Any species capable of building star-spanning craft should care if they lived or died. The Mollies are fanatics, but they re human , at least. These Fibians fight like they re units in a machine. Fungible units, at that, like ammunition. He didn t think they hated humans so much that killing them was a mania for them. He didn t believe they were capable of any sort of passion. So why die doing it? He fired his coil gun, recoil helping to bring the nose of his Speed on target; he watched a Mollie Speed disintegrate, flaming pieces spinning off like some supersonic fireworks display. That one had at least been trying to dodge. . . . There were crisply adjusted plans and wry jokes exchanged between pilots on the com. And it seemed that every second a Mollie or a Fibian died in flames. But there were more of them than there were Welters and large sections of the base were damaged. Balls of flame repeatedly shot up to be quickly extinguished in an area where broken pipes mixed volatile gases. The exposed dome of the main station appeared mostly intact, a vast relief. His own battle computers shouted warning. Something huge was crawling downward, a fog of energetic particles hiding the details. Then the passionless soprano of the AI spoke: Vessel is carrier. Shouts of triumph echoed through his headset. The enemy was breaking off. . . . It had been a raid, not an invasion. Go get em! he shouted. Let s give them a going-away party they ll remember! Pushing his Speed to redline, Sutton pursued a Fibian. It stayed just far enough in front that he sensed the bug had calculated the range of his weapons to a nicety. The squadron leader gritted his teeth and pressed on furiously. Warning, the Speed s computer said calmly. Distance from base is about to exceed the amount of fuel available for return to base. Damn! Sutton bellowed. A disciplined warrior, he peeled off from his chase, his heart bitter at being cheated of his prey. The mother ship must be lurking out there waiting to pick them up. Though with these creatures, both Fib and Mollie, there could be no certainty of that. Damn, he said again, quietly. Then, Let s return to the Invincible, ladies and gentlemen. Nice piece of work. He didn t wax poetic over their victory, for it didn t feel like one. Most of the damage, and it looked extensive, had been done in the first few moments of the surprise attack. No help for it, but he felt failure in the destruction below. How had they done it? The squadron leader sighed. Another traitor, he thought wearily. Well, that was Come By Chance Base s problem. At least Invincible hadn t taken more damage. That would have been a shame. Poor old girl s barely gotten her bandages off. Paddy looked around for someplace to put the new bag full of dirt that Cynthia had passed out to him. He stood with his big feet on either side of Knott s head, his shoulders brushing the dirt he d piled up and packed in as much as he could. There was no more room, nowhere to place this new consignment. He began to feel buried alive. Which he was, but he d managed not to know it before now. My love, he said. Ye ll have to stop, now. Lieutenant, came the muffled reply. Come out of there, Paddy said, and look at this place, now. Page 31 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Lieutenant, she insisted, grunting as she wiggled backwards down the tunnel. Come . . . out . . . Lieutenant. Her feet came out first. They poked around, seeking someplace that didn t have Paddy or some other blockage in it and found none. Oh, Cynthia said. What do I do now? she wondered. She wanted to ask out loud, but Knott was injured, perhaps unconscious, and Paddy was of a lower rank. Then again, Commander Raeder never seems to feel it s out of line to ask for advice from Chief arap Moi, or Paddy for that matter. Of course, this was a different situation. Cynthia licked her lips, then spat out the dirt she d gathered. Do you have any ideas? she asked. You ve found no sign of light or gettin through? Paddy asked, his voice tight with tension. No, she admitted after a long moment. Cynthia heard him mumble something. What? she called. D ye hear that tappin ? he asked. It s been drivin me mad, so it has. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
Podobne
|