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on her side of the laser cannon began to seek cover, either falling flat or
running to
dive behind a concrete pillar. It was while attempting to find this cover that
the Illuminated woman was injured. Tall and heavily built, with long blond
hair that was tied back in a tight ponytail, she was slightly slower than her
companions, and as she dived for the cover of the concrete, she twisted
awkwardly in the air.
Although that didn't save her from great pain and injury, it did possibly save
her life, as Gloria's second laser blast cut through the air and scorched
across the woman's shoulder as she twisted.
If her passage had remained straight, it would have burned through her ribs
and barbecued her internal organs. As it was, her scream and subsequent sobs
as she hit the floor told of an injury that was painful, but not fatal.
Gloria's covering fire was the cue that Ryan needed to rally his troops.
"Tammy, other side, yeah?" he yelled. The Gate number two assented and dived
out of the back of the wag, throwing herself in the opposite direction to her
queen so that she could take the other flank of the Illuminated Ones. She
rolled and came up firing indiscriminately, three sharp bursts that went over
the heads of the soldiers as they took cover, but nonetheless prevented them
from firing on her as she gained cover.
The Illuminated soldiers on the laser cannon directed the nozzle toward the
wag and let loose a burst of laser fire. The air seemed to become dry and
charged as the cannon prepared to let loose, and in that fraction of a second
Gloria yelled, "Jump!"
In the interior of the wag, none of those left needed to be told that an exit
was imperative.
"Go! Go!" Ryan yelled, pushing toward the rear of the wag.
Mildred and Dean were nearest the rear. The young Cawdor leaped out, landing
on the run, keeping to his feet and turning to fire a covering charge from the
laser blaster as he sought cover.
It diverted fire from Illuminated soldiers who were aiming at himself and
Mildred they pulled the shots upward as they dived to avoid Dean's blast, and
their charges hit the ceiling, bringing down a layer of concrete dust and
plaster on Mildred, who wasn't so fortunate as she left the wag. Her reflexes
and balance upset and slowed by the onset of the disease, she landed
awkwardly, stumbling and falling on her side, her elbow twisting inward to
knock the breath from her. She seemed to have no energy as she tried to rise
to her feet, everything seeming to happen about her in slow motion.
She was vaguely aware of the strong hand that gripped her upper arm, hauling
her up and flinging her against the wall behind Tammy. Panting heavily,
Mildred focused on Krysty, who had followed her out of the wag and had grabbed
at her as she passed by.
"Thanks," Mildred gasped. "Told you I wasn't up to it."
"I'll cover you. You're the only one who can find the antidote," Krysty
replied, snapping off a couple of bursts at the
Illuminated Ones, who were now also safely in cover.
Jon followed Krysty and dived to the other side, coming up behind Dean and
Gloria, firing as he arrived in cover.
Which only left Ryan. The one-eyed man was last out, and was reaching the rear
of the wag when the air ceased to crackle and hum, and the brilliant laser
burst of the cannon was loosed on the wag, the air split by a high pitched
whine and the singing of overheated metal as the charge hit the wag full on.
"Holy shit look at it!" Mildred yelled at no one in particular, shocked at the
way the charge affected the wag. Jon had been right in his supposition that
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
the laser charge would either split the wag in two or cause it to act as some
kind of superconductor, heated beyond belief by the charge that coursed
through and across the alloy shell of the vehicle. The metal glowed red then
white, the heat making the air around them shimmer, causing minute blistering
on any exposed flesh on the arms, legs and torso, and making their faces red
and burned, singeing hair.
"Ryan!" Krysty yelled, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight, even
though her eyeballs felt as though they were dried out by the suddenly hot air
around her.
For a fraction of a second, in the brightness of the glowing wag, it seemed as
though there was no way that the one-eyed man could have escaped. But only for
a fraction of a second.
As the charge was loosed from the wag, Ryan was but two steps away from diving
out of the wag and hitting the concrete floor at the rear. His intent, knowing
that the others were safely out and covering their positions, was to head
directly for the outer redoubt door, hit the code and then short circuit the
system once the door was fully raised. He knew that it would leave him exposed
while he was at the sec-door panel, but figured that the others could cover
him, and any stray fire that hit him would be down to fate.
Fate had something a little more convoluted in store for him.
As the charge hit the wag, he was preparing to throw himself out of the back,
his muscles tensed to make the leap. He was suddenly aware of a cone of
silence that enveloped him, as though he were at the eye of a storm. He felt
an immense heat grow rapidly, the metal under his feet and around him seeming
to expand as time itself seemed to slow. The inside of the wag glowed red
through to white, spreading along the length of the wag interior, and as his
last footfall hit the floor of the wag, it seemed that his sole and heel
burned red-hot and painfully through his heavy combat boot. The expansion of
air, like the metal, that had spread along from the front of the wag hit him
as he started to leap, carrying him out of the back of the wag as though a
giant hand had taken him and shoved hard in the small of his back, propelling
him in a manner that left him with no control over his final destination.
The heat and force drove the air from his body, his lungs sucking painfully
for what they could extract from the superheated air surrounding him. He shot [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]