Borne On Wings of Steel (49 page)

Kyle and Inaha kept up a steady fire, the assault blasters rocking their upper bodies. They aimed and fired at anything that moved, even movements that were half-seen, half-felt. Still, they could only see the Destructors when their bolts found their mark and a broken part fell useless to the floor.

And yet, they could hear the Destructors drawing closer with each passing second.

"Cover your eyes, Inaha!” Kyle shouted as he continued firing, while with his free hand he activated the timer on the strobe device.

But still he held onto it.

Suddenly, they heard Qata cry out behind them.

With a certain dread, Kyle and Inaha knew Qata was gone.

And that Destructors were behind them as well.

MOTHER FIRED ALL her guns simultaneously, targeting one of the tractor beams that held her fast. As the explosions ripped into the shields, she felt the beam falter.

She sent a signal to her engines, and they roared to life.

But she only moved a few centimeters before the other tractor beams increased their power and stopped her.

"See, you are—” the Paum began.

Mother now launched a full spread of torpedoes at point-blank range while she fired her guns again. Huge chunks of metal and debris exploded out in all directions as the shields failed under the dual attack.

Again, Mother revved her engines. This time she moved a few meters more.

And once again the other three tractor beams increased their power and held her fast in their invisible grip.

Mother checked her hybrid-weapon—
almost fully charged
.

"...still in my power,” the AI finished as the sound of the explosions died away. “I am invincible."

"Seems like I've heard that term used before,” Minstrel chimed. “And every time, it was proved untrue."

The Paum's electronic laughter echoed over the speakers.

Mother reached out with her sensors again, trying to find a way between the ever-present jamming of the Paum. She could make out her immediate surroundings, but nothing beyond that.

But as she tuned and readjusted the sensors, trying to get around it, she came upon a new target—a main power generator in the nearest substation and a tractor beam emplacement with it. Even better, the direction of both led back to the center of the Paum's inner core, straight to the heart of its essence—its mind.

Mother felt her hybrid weapon come ready.

"What is that energy surge I detect inside you?” the Paum asked with rising interest.

JARIC AND ELISE stopped as they heard the blaster fire erupt behind them. They both knew the Destructors were attacking Kyle and the others with him. Seconds earlier, blaster fire ahead of them indicated Rok and the others had just fought off other Destructors up toward the turbo-elevator.

They realized with a sickening dread that Destructors were now attacking them from both directions.

"What do we do?” Elise asked Jaric.

The blaster fire behind them intensified.

And it began to draw closer.

"They're retreating,” Jaric surmised correctly. “Let's wait here. We can lay down a covering fire when they..."

Qata's fatal scream pierced the air, cutting him off.

Jaric holstered his blaster while he used his sensor. He groaned out loud.

"What?” Elise whispered urgently.

"Qata's dead. They've got his body above us, some kind of tunnel above us. I detect other movement up there ... all above us!"

"Access panels line this entire place,” Elise whispered with cold realization.

The blaster fire from Kyle and Inaha increased in intensity.

"Kyle's in trouble back there,” Elise said with renewed urgency. “We've got to help!"

"Get ready,” Jaric said as he put his sensor away and readied his assault blaster.

A sudden flurry of blaster fire lit up the tunnel ahead of Jaric and Elise.

"Kyle!” Jaric shouted. “We're waiting here for you! We'll lay down cover."

Elise aimed her blaster.

"Come on!” Jaric shouted at the top of his voice.

"I WILL ASK YOU one last time—release me and my children.” Mother said with a sure coolness.

"You are a foolish and inferior being, just like the others,” the Paum said darkly.

Minstrel's swirling form coalesced from the empty air of Main Ops. Waves of twinkling lights flowed in a whirlpool as the shape-shifter became fully visible.

"I hope you are not wounded too badly?” Mother asked.

"I will be fine."

"Are you ready?"

"Of course, I was beginning to wonder what was taking you so long."

"What are you talking about?” the Paum shouted impatiently.

"Only this,” Mother replied in subtle tone.

Like a bolt of solid, red lightning, the deadly beam leapt straight and true.

It pierced the inner shield around the docking area like hot butter.

Next, the red thunderbolt pierced the reinforced hull plating as if it weren't even there, continuing farther and farther inside the Paum's core. Explosions rippled all along the huge tunnel of destruction, causing a chain reaction of other explosions to each ruptured system in each honeycomb cylinder.

The weapon's destructive force exploded through the huge power generator and took out the tractor beam with it, evaporating both in a huge ball of fire and debris.

And the beam continued its destructive path unabated.

Piercing through bank after bank of the honeycomb systems that were the heart of the Paum, the beam damaged the systems within then erupted on the other side and pierced another—on and on this continued until the beam exited the outer shell of the egg-shaped core. Now it leapt across the chasm and went through every section of the main complex until it finally pierced the outer hull and shot out into space.

The inner layer of the outer shield array finally stopped it.

KYLE SUDDENLY FELL to his knees, still firing his assault blaster.

"What was that?” he shouted over to Inaha as the big alien kept up his own fire from where he too had fallen.

"A big explosion!"

But Kyle's attention focused back on the mass of dark, moving shapes that melted with the shadows.

They were almost on them, Kyle was certain of it. Still, they could only half-see them even at point-blank range.

And he was down to his last fully charged blaster.

Jaric's voice sounded behind him as he pummeled another shadowy shape with a hail of blaster fire. He couldn't quite make out what he said as the blaster drowned out his words.

"Down!” Kyle shouted over at Inaha.

Kyle flung the device—he'd held it as the timer wound down to almost nothing. He and Inaha threw themselves on the steel floor of the tunnel and waited for the blast.

Kyle suddenly felt an iron grip around his left wrist—
a Destructor had him
.

In that second, the strobe device went off.

Kyle could see it standing over him now in the pulsing light. The Destructor filled his vision—it was massive at three meters tall.

More metal talons from the monster reached for him amid the pulsing light.

Inaha fired directly into its mid-section, splitting the metal monster in two.

But still, the Destructor's talons came for Kyle.

The big alien fired into the forward section now, the one that held Kyle, as the other section fell away, twitching and writhing.

With a fountain of sparks, the forward part of the monster that held Kyle blew apart.

Kyle looked at Inaha and nodded thanks.

In the next second, they were running for their lives.

The strobe device revealed that the Destructors filled the tunnel and were coming straight on for them.

Kyle and Inaha ran headlong away from them, not even looking back.

Jaric and Elise saw them coming as if out from the source of the steadily pulsing light itself.

"Get to one side!” Jaric shouted as he dropped to one knee and took aim.

Kyle and Inaha split off—each running along one wall of the tunnel.

Elise stood beside Jaric and both fired at the dozens of moving forms close behind Kyle and Inaha.

It was like a flood of Destructors was coming after them.

But Elise and Jaric laid down a steady fire and the Destructors in the lead went down with a flurry of explosions. The tunnel behind Kyle and Inaha lay littered with the debris of Destructors.

The broken Destructors impeded the advance of the others behind them, just as Rok predicted in this tight space.

The pace of the attack slowed—momentarily.

Destructors now threw their broken brethren out of the way and burst through the mound of smoldering debris while the surreal strobe device lit up the tunnel with steady bursts of light.

Kyle and Inaha raced past Elise and Jaric.

"Come on!” Kyle shouted over his shoulder.

Jaric and Elise leapt up and chased after them, firing over their shoulders as they ran.

[Back to Table of Contents]

THE PAUM GROANED.

Mother heard it as she fired another spread of torpedoes at a third tractor beam and the damaged shields protecting it.

It evaporated in a hail of sparkling explosions.

Now only a single tractor beam held her.

Mother's engines roared again at full power.

And this time she moved.

But the Paum's blaster cannons fired again, their bolts blossoming over Mother's shields and sending shudders throughout her being.

Mother moved a hundred meters, fighting against the pull of the lone tractor beam.

But it still held her.

"I can't break free!” Mother shouted.

With a flash, Minstrel disappeared.

Minstrel shot outside and bolted straight for the systems that controlled the last tractor beam.

Even as the swift alien shot like a beam of light as fast as it could go, the Paum's weapons began firing. All around Minstrel the beams exploded as they barely missed and instead impacted on the Paum's own inner hull.

Mother twisted, fighting the tractor beam that held her still.

Without letup, her twelve guns fired. For a third time, Mother unleashed her deadly torpedoes. But this time, she aimed them for the closed doors through which she had entered this section of the core complex—outside of them lay the chasm that surrounded it, and the way out.

The torpedoes struck the unshielded doors and ripped hole after hole into them with their titanic explosions at point-black range.

"Minstrel!” Mother shouted again.

Minstrel danced and swirled between the deadly beams until it leapt through a small opening in the wall and on into the control room of the last tractor beam.

In a flash of light, Minstrel leapt inside the main console. Now spreading itself throughout the circuits, Minstrel forced its plasma body to gel into a more solid form while at the same time sending a sudden charge of electricity.

The tractor beam shorted out with a geyser of sparks.

Mother felt the last beam fail as she shot toward the holed doors on a collision course.

But at the last moment she turned hard and came around.

Minstrel's swirling, cloud-like form erupted within view on the far side.

The Paum's cannons began firing again, half at Minstrel and half at Mother.

"Minstrel!"

Mother's guns silenced first one, then two of the cannons, as she flew at full speed.

Minstrel was again twisting and flowing around the beams of death.

As Mother approached her alien friend, she slowed. She shuddered under more direct hits as she stopped completely, but it gave Minstrel the opportunity to leap inside.

"Hang on, Minstrel."

Minstrel spread itself out until it filled Main Ops like a sparkling fog.

Mother roared back to full speed and headed straight for the damaged doors.

As she neared them she sent still another spread of torpedoes into them.

The explosions ripped more holes and made the existing ones larger.

But before the expanding debris field cleared, Mother rammed the doors at full speed with her forward shields at double strength.

She roared through the splintered shards and out into the chasm beyond.

"DID YOU FEEL that?” Rok asked.

"More explosions,” Qirn said as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"It's clear ahead.” Jysar looked up from his sensor at the other three aliens.

The tunnel around them alternated between blinding flashes of pure, bright light followed by deep, dense darkness. The alternating light and darkness confused their minds, disorienting them.

"Let's go.” Qirn stumbled forward. “They know we can see them with the strobe device, so they've retreated up into the access tunnel above us."

"What about the others?” Krinia asked. “One of us should wait here."

"We must go secure the turbo-elevator,” Qirn said, impatience edged in his voice. “Or all is lost."

"I will go with Qirn,” Rok said with a determined look. “Jysar, come with us. Keep your sensor tuned for Destructors."

Rok locked eyes with Krinia.

Krinia nodded. “I'll wait here for the others."

The trio ran ahead a few hundred meters until they found their goal. Before them, the doors of the turbo-elevator stood shut.

Handing his sensor unit to Qirn, Jysar began working on the door's panel.

"Can you open it?” Qirn asked impatiently, after only a few seconds of effort by the Hrono.

Jysar's fingers continued pecking at the panel as he spoke without looking up. “I think so. It seems to be protected by a standard set of security protocols. Give me a few minutes."

"Hurry!” Rok said as he aimed his blaster. “They're coming out of the ceiling. I saw one of the panels just open!"

In the now fading light of the strobe, the forms of several Destructors began to drop down inside the tunnel.

Rok fired and they quickly retreated, but not before several metallic legs burst apart.

Down the tunnel, a flurry of blaster bolts erupted followed by more shouting. From the distance, several running forms became visible.