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even machines had to learn respect for rights, property, and decency. "Sergeant, detail two flanking squads to clear the area to the far end of the open space. Bring three men with me to check what's in that walker. Looks like it could be her." "Wellman, take the right. Korzhgin, the left. Attwood, Myers, Salvini, follow me," Yaver instructed. The lock opened, and a double file of heavy-duty-clad figures emerged, moving quickly and without ceremony. They fanned out, driving back the Taloids who had been slower to move with the rest, while behind them in the center Mason and Yaver went forward with the three troopers. Two of them stepped up onto the walker and pulled aside the coverings of the bundle. It was the body of Amy Rhodes. The helmet was smashed; the head inside was unrecognizable, frozen black and solid by Titan's cold. For several seconds Mason could only stare in fascinated revulsion. It was the moment to strike. "For the Lifemaker and the glory of Kroaxia!" Varlech cried. "Attack!" Around the square hurler tubes rose to aim between the trembling villagers. "Forward!" As the salvo discharged, Avengers broke through the ranks, wielding swords, axes, and lances. " Aghh! " a Terran voice yelled on the open radio. "I'm hit! I'm hit!" another cried out. Shouts of alarm poured over the channel. One soldier was reeling backward, his helmet a web of fracture cracks but still intact. Another was down. A spear hit Mason's backpack but glanced off. Yaver fired a burst from his assault cannon at a pair of Taloids rushing at him whirling clubs. They came apart into collapsing masses of limbs and parts. "Fire at will!" The oncoming Taloids ran into a wall of explosive shells fired on automatic. One of them skewered another of the troopers through the shoulder with a lance before being demolished by covering fire from the door of the flyer. "Attwood, behind!" "Gotcha, bastard!" Bodies swung and fell, missiles flew, and confusion seethed on every side. A steel-gray face loomed in front of Mason, and metal hands swung a huge double-edged ax. He began raising his weapon; a burst from somewhere took off the Taloid's head. He fired at another Taloid closing on Yaver from the side. Then the scout swooped low, and the main body of Taloids that had formed to rush the transporter en masse disintegrated in a storm of cannon fire and rocket projectiles from above. "You two, help me grab the body," Mason yelled. "Sergeant, get those wounded picked up and fall back. Cover us from the door." As Mason tore away the coverings, hands reached out to haul the frozen corpse Page 35 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html in its cumbersome suit down from the wagon. A dart struck one of the soldiers in the midriff, and he doubled over, clutching his stomach. Another figure ran forward to steer the stricken one back. Mason and the other trooper dragged the corpse back to the flyer and heaved it inside after the wounded, while the rearguard cordon fell back toward the ramp, firing outward. The area beyond was strewn with shattered metal bodies, limbs, components, and pieces, looking like a creation of some mechanical Dante. The impetus of the Taloids' attack had withered under the fire from the scout. Some of them seemed to be wandering aimless and dazed, while the rest fled in disorder along the alleys leading from the central open area. The four-legged "animal" types were in panic, bucking and rearing where they were tied; some had broken loose and were running amok, colliding with each other and knocking down Taloids. The inner door of the lock closed, and the engine note rose. "Get the hell out," Mason yelled. He loosened his helmet and lifted it off as the flyer rose. "What have we got?" he asked the medic, who was frantically checking the casualties, hacking away torn outer suits with shears, and cutting blood-soaked clothing. "Two decompressed, but they got 'em inside in time. Torn shoulder, bleeding stopped by the cold. They should pull through okay, sir." The rest looked like limb wounds and a possibly broken leg, all recoverable. With the odds and the surprise, it could have been worse. A good job that the scout captain had reacted promptly. "Delta Two calling, asking how we're looking," the pilot reported from up front. Mason turned toward the open door leading into the cockpit. "Tell him we've got a few cuts and bruises, but they'll be okay. And thanks for the quick work." "We try to please. All part of the service," the pilot relayed back a few seconds later. Sergeant Yaver and two of the men were working a body bag up over Amy Rhodes's stiff and lifeless form. They pulled the top around the shoulders and helmet, zipped the bag shut, and then lowered it down onto the floor at the rear of the compartment. Well, the powers that be had wanted an incident, Mason reflected to himself as the two flyers turned onto a course that would take them back to Genoa Base. He wondered what would happen now as a result of it. Meanwhile, Thirg, Brongyd, and a group of other captives, who had managed to seize weapons and cut their chains in the confusion, wrapped themselves in heavy cloaks and slipped away, out of the place called Quahal. Behind them, amid the wreckage strewn across the village square, a pair of imaging matrices stared sightlessly up at Titan's clouds from a front piece that had belonged to a head casing lying several feet away. Varlech, Avenger-of-Heresies, had gone to meet the Great Assembler. * * * The version spread by the agents of the Lifemaker's True Faith was that a peaceful exhortation had been attacked without provocation: this was what the Lumians had been forced to resort to in order to prevent word of the revival spreading. Outrage and dismay grew. Nogarech, the new ruler of Kroaxia, who [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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