Green, Simon R Deathstalker Prelude 03 Hellworld

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She cut sideways with her sword without slowing her pace, and severed the nearest hand. It fell sparking
and sputtering into the street, and the creature howled. Hunter thought briefly about using his disrupter,
but decided against it as the alien fell back, clutching at its ruined arm with its remaining hand. The
disrupter's energy crystals were running low, and he only used the gun now when there was no other
choice.
He ran on after Krystel, hurdling the twitching hand in the street without slowing. His breath burned in his
lungs, and sweat ran down his heaving sides. He glared at the Investigator. She'd been running and
fighting just as much as him, and she wasn't even breathing hard. She was smiling slightly as she shook the
last creature's shimmering blood from her sword. Hunter shook his head wearily, and blinked rapidly as
sweat ran down into his eyes.
A winged shape dropped out of the sky towards Hunter, its wings flapping loosely as its yard-long beak
stabbed down at his face. He raised his force shield above his head, and the beak shattered. The
creature screamed and flapped away, blood dripping from its ruined face. A barbed tentacle shot up out
of the pursuing pack, and pulled the alien down. The pack fell on it, and tore it apart. Hunter and Krystel
ran on.
The copper tower stood tall and imposing against the skyline before them an enigmatic silhouette against
the alien night. Hunter had chosen the tower as a rendezvous point because it could be clearly seen from
anywhere in the city, but he was beginning to wish he'd chosen somewhere closer. He'd lost track of how
long they'd been running, but the tower seemed as far away as ever. Something moved in a nearby
alleyway, and the Investigator turned her gun on it.
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'No, Krystel.' Hunter knocked her arm aside at the last moment. 'They're friends.'
Krystel lowered her gun as Megan DeChance and the two marines plunged out of the alleyway to run
alongside them. They all managed a quick nod of greeting to each other, but none of them had the breath
for conversation. They ran on, with Krystel and the esper leading the way. Hunter looked at the two
marines, and winced. Their uniforms were torn and stained with blood. Fatigue had put bruises under
their eyes, and made their movements heavy and plodding. They didn't look like they could run much
further. Hunter smiled sourly. He didn't suppose he looked much better.
But he and the rest of the Squad would run as far as they had to because the only alternative was to lie
down and die. Hunter looked at the esper's back and frowned. He'd only caught a brief glimpse of
DeChance's face, and she'd looked to be in an even worse state than the marines. If there was a weak
link in the Squad, she was it. And valuable as she was, Hunter hoped she wouldn't fall. None of them had
the strength left to carry her. The esper began to speak, and Hunter made himself pay attention.
In fits and starts, with many pauses for breath, DeChance explained the history of the city, and what had
happened there, and for the first time Hunter and Krystel understood the true nature of the aliens, and the
significance of the copper tower. Hunter had a hundred questions he wanted to ask, but he didn't have
the breath for one. The tower suddenly loomed up before him at the end of the street, and he fixed his
attention on that. The Squad pounded down the street, and skidded to a halt at the base of the tower.
The two marines turned to face the pursuing aliens, and fired their disrupters. Several aliens fell screaming
to the ground as the pack fell on them. Hunter turned to find DeChance and the Investigator silently
studying the copper tower.
"Well, don't just stand there, get the bloody door open! The aliens will be here any minute.'
'We appear to have a problem, Captain,' said theInvestigator. 'No door. No windows, either.'
Hunter held up his field lantern, and studied the tower closely for the first time. The great copper shaft
stretched up into the night sky, featureless and immaculate except for the massive copper spikes that
radiated from its peak. It looked to be thirty to forty feet in diameter, and maybe four hundred feet high.
There was no trace of any opening in the gleaming metal, nor any sign there ever had been one. Hunter
stepped forward and ran his hand across the metal. It felt preternaturally slick, almost frictionless.
'All right,' he said quietly. 'Stand back and watch out for flying metal.' He fired his disrupter at the metal
wall at point-blank range. The energy beam punched a tiny hole in the metal, and that was all.
'Great,' said Corbie. 'Now what?'
Hunter thought quickly. 'Explosives. How many grenades have we got between us?'
He had one, Krystel had one, DeChance had two. The marines had used all theirs.
'That isn't going to be enough, Captain,' said the Investigator. 'The disrupter should have opened up the
tower wall like a tin can. It didn't. A wall that strong isn't going to be bothered by concussion grenades.
The force of the explosion would be too generalized.' [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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