Borne On Wings of Steel (50 page)

"Hurry!” Rok shouted to them as he waved them on, urging them to move faster.

Krinia was in the lead with Kyle and Inaha's big frame just behind. Behind their flurry of motion, Rok could see Elise and Jaric bringing up the rear.

And behind them all, he saw the countless metallic legs of Destructors in hot pursuit.

Kyle caught up to Krinia and with a quick word between them he took her blaster. In another second, he was against the wall and firing back at the oncoming Destructors. He stood there, the steady jolt of the assault blaster kicking into his shoulder as he laid down sustained fire, slowing the monsters.

Jaric and Elise had now emptied their blasters and were simply running for their lives.

As they passed Kyle, he continued to lay down a cover fire.

"I've got it open.” Jysar stood back as the doors silently swept open. The Hrono smiled widely at them.

Qirn and Rok now began firing short bursts between the others coming up fast, taking out the nearest Destructors in hot pursuit.

"Come on, Kyle!” Rok shouted urgently.

Krinia shot past and ran inside the elevator.

Jysar joined her, his hands now working the control panel inside—keeping the doors open and the elevator ready for instant action. The green alien looked with keen anticipation outside, waiting for the others.

"Qirn,” Jysar began, an earnestness in his alien voice. “I've gotten past the security codes. But once we put the elevator in motion, it's on a one-way trip. I had to engage its Emergency Mode in order to override everything. Once we start it, it cannot be engaged a second time."

"That's fine,” Qirn grunted between bursts of his weapon. “We only have one trip to make."

Jaric and Elise ran inside, joined instantly by Rok and Qirn. As they stood inside the opened doors of the turbo-elevator, Rok and Qirn took positions and fired back down the tunnel to provide cover so Kyle could make his final dash.

But Kyle was in trouble as he emptied his assault blaster.

And still the Destructors came on.

The bolts from Rok and Qirn's weapons roared past him and he leapt up and retreated toward the elevator. As he ran, he discarded the empty charge and put in a fresh one.

Kyle saw the turbo-elevator doors fifteen meters away just as the strobe device failed and total darkness descended.

Embraced by the cloak of darkness again, the myriad of tiny flashing lights inside this honeycomb bank now provided the only light.

Suddenly, Kyle saw a large shadowy form drop down from the ceiling between him and the elevator.

Kyle halted and took aim.

Rok emptied his last charge and quickly began to reload.

"Look out, Kyle!” Elise shouted.

The Iraxx warrior glanced up and saw other forms moving and getting ready to drop down from the same opening.

With a sudden motion, Qirn tried to push Jysar aside.

But Jysar resisted.

Raising his fist, Qirn struck Jysar. The Hrono crumpled to the ground.

The others stared in shock.

In that split second, Elise knew the Iraxx was going to leave Kyle behind.

"No!” Elise shouted as she shot outside toward Kyle, clutching her now reloaded weapon.

The same realization hit Rok. The Kraaqi launched himself at the Iraxx warrior.

Qirn grunted under the Kraaqi's fierce blow. With a swift motion, he brought the butt of his blaster pistol down against Rok's head.

The Kraaqi fell backwards, momentarily stunned.

Everyone stared in shock as Qirn's fist slammed against the elevator's control panel.

The doors shut instantly and the elevator began to move.

Elise and Kyle were now alone with the Destructors—and the darkness.

THE MANTA-RAY SHAPE exploded outward, sending huge chunks of armored steel from the broken doors far out into the chasm that surrounded the core.

"Can you pick up the children on sensors now?” Minstrel asked with urgency.

"The jamming is still preventing me."

"Then that must go next."

Mother's hybrid weapon charged full again as she began searching and analyzing the jamming, seeking the source of its blinding power. She studied it, reaching now into the static itself, seeking its origin instead of seeking to get around it.

Mother flew around the egg-shaped metal core and toward the inner walls of the main complex. Another set of closed doors came into view—the doors that led through to the main docking bays—and onward out into space through the doors of the outer hull.

But Mother only noted their position as she turned and came around to face the floating core.

Her sensors finally discovered the source, the location of the main emitter.

At the same time, she recognized the signature of explosions impacting the outermost shields of the Paum. Mother deduced that a sizeable fleet must be attacking from the number of explosions she detected in those few seconds around the jamming. Mother wondered if this external attack was a coincidence and quickly decided it probably was not.

She fired her hybrid-weapon.

She chose an angle to cause as much destruction to the Paum as possible—both to the systems in between as well as the source of the jamming. The beam again leapt into the core and pierced completely through, damaging every system in its path. The beam pierced even the reinforced outer hull and this time pierced the first layer of shields. At the second layer of shields the beam blossomed and stopped.

Even as she completed firing, she began recharging for another strike.

"What are you doing?” The Paum's voice trembled. “Sto-o-o-op."

The jamming disappeared.

"My sensors are working."

"Good!” Minstrel said with a swirl of colors.

For the first time, Mother could see into the heart of the Paum. She could see the make-up of his innermost systems and understood how he was constructed.

And she discovered how she might attack him more effectively with her next mighty blow.

But even as her vast processing power analyzed and stored this data, her sensors focused and searched for her children.

Mother felt her systems freeze.

"Have you found them yet?” Minstrel asked with a glow.

"Yes,” Mother said breathlessly. “And they are in terrible trouble."

"We've got to help them!” Minstrel shouted.

"But they're deep inside the core,” Mother whispered, low and forlorn. “And I cannot get to them."

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THE TURBO-ELEVATOR QUICKLY picked up speed as Rok stood. The Kraaqi warrior stared unflinching at the Iraxx.

Krinia and Jysar likewise stared in utter disbelief at him.

The huge bulk of Inaha drew closer to Qirn while he faced them all, one hand fast on the control panel.

"You left them to die!” Krinia said with complete shock.

"You're a coward,” Rok spat between clenched teeth.

"No,” Qirn growled back. “We must complete our mission. We will be at the MotherShip in a few minutes. Then we will destroy the Paum from the inside and the outside.” The Iraxx commander smiled savagely.

"That is not our mission,” Jysar said, rubbing his swollen jaw.

"That's right, we're here to rescue Mother. Nothing else,” Krinia added, bitterness in her voice.

Qirn pointed his blaster at them as he continued to hold fast the control panel, keeping the elevator in Emergency Mode as it gathered more speed.

The Iraxx warrior smiled at them.

"The Paum enslaved our world many years ago. We've been waiting for an opportunity to strike it from both the inside and outside. With the powerful MotherShip attacking from inside, and our fleets assaulting from the outside, we will defeat it at last."

"You knew all along.” Jaric shook his head in shocked disbelief. “You allowed Mother to be lured here. And then set up this rescue, all as part of your pre-arranged attack plan. No wonder we were able to get here so fast, and get inside so easy. You planned it out long ago, just waiting for the right opportunity."

A low, ominous growl rumbled from Rok's chest.

"Yes, you're right.” Qirn's eyes narrowed at them.

At that moment, a distant explosion shook them all. Everyone looked around with puzzlement.

"The attack has begun,” Qirn said.

"He's right,” Jysar said as he glanced at his sensor. “Those explosions emanated from outside the entire complex—against the shield arrays."

"Good.” Qirn smiled widely.

"We have to go back,” Rok said as he took a step closer to Qirn.

Qirn leveled his blaster at Rok's chest.

"Don't come any closer, or I'll fire."

"We came here to rescue Mother, not to aid you in any attack,” Krinia took a step toward the Iraxx.

"Stop!"

The four stared back at Qirn and his weapon raised against them.

Suddenly an explosion erupted that sent all of them tumbling down to the floor with its sheer violence. The turbo-elevator twisted and screamed as its outer shell skidded along the walls of the elevator shaft.

It slowed momentarily, then gained speed as it righted itself.

As the Iraxx fell hard against the floor his blaster tumbled away.

There was a flurry of fists and arms as the others scrambled and fought against Qirn.

It was over as quickly as it began. As they all stood, Inaha held Qirn fast while Rok and Jysar leapt up and began studying the control panel.

"Can you stop it?” Rok asked hurriedly as the Hrono began punching the controls.

"And fast!” Krinia urged. “The Destructors are probably on top of them by now. It may already be too late!"

Jysar studied the small display on the control panel as he punched command after command. He shook his head with a groan. “I can kill the Emergency system, but that may stop us where we are."

"Do it!” Rok shouted.

The Hrono Technologist tapped in the command and the turbo-elevator lurched to a gut-wrenching halt.

As everyone fought to keep their balance, Qirn began to struggle again.

"If he gives you too much trouble, just knock him out,” Rok said to Inaha.

"With pleasure.” Inaha punched the Iraxx hard on his ribs, causing him to cease his struggles. The big alien increased his grip on Qirn's arms as he held him fast. “Now, just give me a reason to whack your thick skull. Go ahead,” Inaha urged with a smile.

Qirn stood very still.

Rok looked back to Jysar. “Can you get it back to Kyle and Elise?"

Jysar shook his head as he studied the information on the tiny display. “I over-rode the Emergency Mode, actually I killed it. We can't bring it online again. I think I can enable this ... it's some sort of a homing mode to send it back to its original position.” The Hrono sighed deeply. “But we won't get it to move again, not with the Paum shutting down its normal operation."

Jysar looked at them with a sober expression.

"We'll all be stuck back there."

"We must finish our...” Qirn began.

With a swift punch, Inaha silenced him.

"Good, I was getting tired of him anyway,” Jaric said with a smile.

"I say we go back,” Rok said as he looked evenly at the others. “We'll find another way to Mother.
We have to
."

"We have to. After all, Kyle and Elise would come back for us.” Krinia's lip trembled as she finished.

"Let's go get ‘em,” Jaric said, a glint of determination in his eyes.

Typing quickly on the keypad, Jysar enabled homing-mode, and the elevator began moving back to its original position.

"Get your weapons ready, we'll rush through and get Kyle and Elise back in here,” Rok said with a stern tone. He looked over at Jysar. “Keep working it, Jysar. See if there's any way you can get this thing moving again when we get back. Anything, manual or otherwise."

"I will try,” Jysar said in a monotone. The Hrono looked down with a dejected expression.

"Jysar,” Jaric said with feeling. “You're a Senior Technologist of the Hrono, one of the most adept aliens with technology. Surely you can engineer something—I know you can."

Jysar's green scale complexion deepened with pride. The twin rows of upright scales across his head also turned a darker green. The Hrono reached into a pocket on his wide belt and pulled out his trusty Alwerz tool. With expert precision, he quickly took the access panel off and started working with the bared electronics underneath.

"Get ready, we'll be there in less than one minute.” Rok and the others pointed their blasters at the still-closed doors.

Just at that moment, a third powerful explosion caused the lights to dim. Even the turbo-elevator slowed momentarily as the main power grid failed then was restored.

Rok and Jaric exchanged knowing glances.

"Come on, Mother,” Jaric said under his breath. “We need you."

ELISE FELL ONTO the floor and immediately rolled upright, her assault blaster pointed toward the position she last saw the Destructor's shadowy form.

But everything was darkness
.

She strained her eyes, trying to spot Kyle.

And more important, to see Destructors.

The darkness suddenly seemed alive with movement as she fired a quick burst.

Only an eerie silence answered as the bolts ricocheted harmlessly off the walls.

Her heart began to pound so hard and so loud she knew it must be giving her location away to the metal monsters. She licked her lips, still pointing her weapon, trying to see through the darkness in all directions at once.

And then she heard it.

It was so soft, almost like she imagined it—a soft metallic click mixed with a scraping sound like metal on metal.

A Destructor was nearby.

And it was coming for her.

She couldn't see it.

But she could feel it.

It watched her, studying her—she knew it. Her heart now beat faster than she ever thought it could.

Elise began pushing herself back away, holding her blaster with one hand while she fumbled for the sensor attached to her belt. If she got it out, maybe she could detect the Destructor at close range and then shoot it with her blaster. He hand fumbled around her belt, fingers searching for the familiar shape of her sensor unit.