The Trilisk Supersedure (22 page)

“We’ll
wait for you,” Telisa said.

“Prepare
yourself. We may have to surrender. We can’t fight robots. And there may be
hundreds of them.”

“I have
the breaker claw,” she mentioned.

“What’s
its range? I doubt your reflexes can compete with military hardware. Good news
is they may want us alive to get them the
Clacker
. They must wonder what
the hell it is.”

“That’s
good news? That just means we’re about to be captured and tortured,” said
Cilreth.

Telisa
looked around the room. Three tunnels led out in different directions. One of
the three huge pillars had opened to emit her. The room looked empty otherwise,
though she suspected the other pillars and maybe the walls were full of
surprises.

“You
two could use your stealth to leave and get back to the
Clacker
,” Telisa
said.

“No.
What would you do?” Cilreth said.

“I
could…hide in the tube again.”

“They
would find you eventually. Or you might suffocate in there.”

“I don’t
think so,” Telisa said. “Maybe I could even become Konuan again. Fight them
that way.”

“Out of
the question,” said Magnus. Telisa turned and saw him entering from one of the
connecting passageways. She walked over and embraced him.

Thank
the Five we’re back together.

Even
with the UED moving in, something about his physical presence steadied her.

“These
tunnels are long and straight. They’ll be able to overwhelm us easily here. We
need to move up into a building and dig in. Those tiny cubic rooms have a lot
of vents, but they have a lot of corners, too. We might be able to stand them
off for a while. The fact our links operate again means Shiny has been working
some magic. Maybe he can rescue us.”

“That
scaredy cat? He probably left,” Cilreth said.

“I
doubt it,” Telisa said. “He’s got our back.”

Chapter 22

Within
the Gorgalan ship far above Chigran Callnir Four, a golden creature with forty
legs burst into a room. It sent a signal to a large walking machine, causing a
cockpit atop the machine to open. Kirizzo marched inside and curled up within
the tight confines. He didn’t hesitate. His planning phase had finished while
aboard the spaceship high above the planet. He activated the walker. The
shining metal machine lifted on its eight slender legs and walked into another
spacious chamber. A bay door slid open to accept the machine. Anchor tentacles
slid out to secure the machine within the small bay.

Then
the part of the starship holding the walker detached and dropped toward the
planet, taking Kirizzo with it. He watched the events piped into his long, thin
brain from sensors outside the drop module. The planet’s surface below expanded
to take over more of his field of vision. The drop module descended unerringly
toward the ruined Konuan city.

An
invisible beam of concentrated energy lanced out of the sky. Kirizzo saw it
only with the help of his drop module’s sensor array. His vision magnified the
target far below. A black cloud of smoke rose up as he descended on the ruins.
Kirizzo took note of the hit. The Terran artillery machine had been destroyed
by fire from his ship. In all likelihood the other artillery robots would
quickly share the same fate.

Kirizzo
watched many sources of data, among them a video feed from the
Clacker
.
It showed an object in the sky growing from a distant silver dot to the size of
a small house as it dropped onto the surface. A battle walker burst from the
belly of the drop module, hitting the ground running.

From
his position nestled inside the walker, Kirizzo issued a series of rapid
commands with mental impulses. Tiny spherical drones dropped out of the machine
and flew in all directions. The drones would be able to block incoming fire
from the Terrans.

Kirizzo’s
scan told him dozens of Terrans had advanced across the ruins toward the
Clacker
.
No doubt the alien ship was their primary objective.

The
spider-legged walking machine clambered over the sharp red rocks toward the UED
base. The Terran soldiers were deployed directly in his path. To get even more
details about their disposition, he contacted the
Clacker
and told the
ship to launch two reconnaissance drones to scan the landscape from low
altitude. Between those drones, the ship in orbit, and the
Clacker
,
Kirizzo should have total information about the battlefield. It was also enough
to give his information net some redundancy should some of his machines be
destroyed.

Projectiles
started to strike the walker. Portions of the power reserve were expended to
hold the outer surface in place as the kinetic energy of the rounds slammed
into it. The walker hunkered down on its legs, making itself harder to spot.

Six
attack drones shot from the belly of the walker. They hurtled away, gaining
altitude as they left. Meanwhile more large projectiles rained toward the
swerving walker. One struck the outer surface of the machine in a vulnerable
spot. The energy reserve wasn’t sufficient to defend against the round, so it
damaged the outer skin of Kirizzo’s machine. The walker rotated, carrying the
damaged area away from the line of fire until it could be repaired.

The
attack drones arrived at the Terran line and selected the large robots that
fired upon the walker. The flying spheres each split into six pieces and
accelerated further. Within the next second, several of the attack machines and
a dozen of the Terran soldiers were obliterated.

The
other nearby Terran squads had taken cover. The walker shot ten seeker bullets
into the sky. The guided projectiles started to patrol. One by one, they
spotted enemies below and dove down, going supersonic as they accelerated
toward their targets. Each one killed a Terran, easily punching through the light
battle suits then exploding. Terran body parts started to rain across the
landscape.

But
Kirizzo was not paying much attention to the devastation he visited upon the
faction of Terrans in competition with him. He could have disabled that force
from orbit if it had been his only goal. He was focused on the anomalous life
form he had tracked across the surface.

He
suspected it might be a Trilisk.

The
creature of interest had disappeared underground within a minute of his arrival
on the surface. Kirizzo decided to enlist the aid of his allies to track the
anomaly.

“Team.
Enemy not pursuing.”

“Not
pursuing you or me?” Telisa replied.

“However,
target of intense interest spotted in ruins,” Kirizzo said. “Prepare to assist
with capture of possible Trilisk in lower tunnel system.”

There
was a delay.

“It’s
good to hear you, Shiny,” Telisa replied. “We’re fighting for our lives, will
assist if you get us out of this.”

Kirizzo
reviewed his status information of the Terrans on his side. He located their
signals within a building. Several clues indicated they had been engaged.
Kirizzo altered the course of his walker toward the building. The machine made
good time, walking over the uneven rocks gracefully, dodging around patches of
vegetation and even clambering right over the lowest Konuan buildings.

Occasional
Terran small-arms fire zinged by the walker or bounced off its surface. Kirizzo
ignored it until larger, more significant projectiles clanged against his
machine, affecting the energy reserves. Another Terran fighting machine had
acquired him. His drones accelerated to intervene. Automated systems returned
fire, sending out four seeker rounds to counter the attacker.

The
rounds slammed into the machine and detonated. The flimsy machine exploded.
Metal parts flew in all directions. His drones veered away, seeking other
targets.

“Battle
machine outside shelter neutralized,” Kirizzo reported. His walker showed him
the attacking Terrans within the building. They were split into groups to
surround his allies. “Enemies moving in to flank, trap, surprise you from
below.”

“Below
us? Which direction are you? Should we make a run for it?”

Shiny
analyzed the disposition of enemies in the alien construct.

“Proceed
south. Will cover retreat, withdrawal, emergence from building.”

Chapter 23

A round
smacked against the floor next to Magnus. He felt the sting of a tiny fragment
of hot metal impacting his cheek. His attendant spheres had stopped orbiting.
Now they darted back and forth in front of the grille he faced prone.

If that
round had another meter to arc toward me, I’d be very dead.

But it
meant his position was about right. He had taken a position just far enough to
the side of the fire corridor through the grille opening that the incoming
projectiles couldn’t alter their course sharply enough to hit him. Though he
had cut it a bit closer than intended. In fact, the attendant drones seemed to
be oblivious to the limitation of the incoming rounds, and they tended to
intercept them anyway, which sent shrapnel flying. He considered overriding
them but decided he was not
that
confident a round would not hit him.

“We’re
going to be split by this grille corridor as soon as they make it in here, and
if they get to either side we’ll be pinned. Then the grenades will come,” Telisa
said.

Magnus
smiled.
She knows a hell of a lot more than when I met her.
“Don’t
forget you and Cilreth have stealth options. You can cross over these grill
corridors if you time it right. You have your attendants? I don’t think their
assault robots will fit in here.”

Though
they might be able to just blow through the walls. I wonder if they’re low on
supplies.

“I lost
one sphere in the tunnels,” Telisa said. That made Magnus frown. Shiny had
given them each two for good reason. The alien himself had five or six at all
times since he resupplied upon returning from Thespera.

The
grille corridors created long fire lanes by the way the grilles lined up in
each direction through the building: roughly east/west, north/south, and to a
lesser degree, even up/down. Magnus armed his last grenade and sent it out
toward the entrance they had used. Most likely the UED forces would open all
the outer grilles.

“I
could go find a tube and try to become Konuan again,” Telisa transmitted. “I
bet I would be able to take some of them out, maybe do some hit and run. And if
they mistake me for the one that’s been hunting here for a long time, they
might break and leave.”

“I don’t
want to be separated again,” Cilreth said. She activated her stealth suit. “I’ll
scout another way out. Pull a grille or two if I have to.”

“No.
You’re better off dug in here with us,” Magnus said. “I have an edge. I have
still access to a UED sensor module. I can see most of them.”

He didn’t
mention that he could see they were very outnumbered. But they had the defender’s
advantage, good cover, and a few high-tech tricks to pull.

Telisa
seemed to accept his opinion.

We just
survived one close call, and now we’re about to die all over again. We were
supposed to be better prepared this time.

His
grenade detonated on an enemy grenade in an empty room before them.

“They’re
coming,” Magnus said. He watched the enemy in his link along with the views
from his team and the attendant spheres. “One squad is covering them, and
another has moved forward, just three chambers ahead of us.”

Cilreth
and Telisa exchanged looks.
Telisa put her smart pistol back at her belt
and took out the prize weapon from Shiny’s vault: her chain lightning gun.

“Don’t
move,” she sent Cilreth and Magnus. She moved to the side of the advancing
enemy, into an adjacent room. Magnus saw the UED forces were already moving to
flank them on both sides of the building.

Damn,
those grille pullers of theirs work fast.

Magnus
rolled into the fire corridor and fired twice just to give someone something to
think about. Somehow the attendant spheres knew to leave outgoing fire alone.
He immediately rolled back to his previous spot. The feed from the probe showed
he was getting some response. But what would likely happen next was going to be
unpleasant. He expected a return volley from a heavy weapon, a round of
grenades, or worse.

But the
enemy decided to play it patient and wait for the flanking maneuver to
complete.

Is that
more evidence they want us alive? Or just low ammunition? Do they overestimate
us?

Telisa
disappeared from Magnus’s natural sight, but he watched the feed from her eyes:
she moved up to the grille opening and rested the heavy body of the weapon in
the center of it. Every second she sat there she risked a smart round flying
through and nailing her in the forehead. Her attendant sphere darted back and
forth between three grill openings fitfully. It actually looked agitated. Fear
for her life gripped Magnus, yet he said nothing. She was doing what had to be
done. Fortunately the moment passed when she activated the alien weapon.