[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
about, landing smoking in the surrounding grass, hissing in the water and
clunking into the stones of the animal-pen like some bizarre hail. Zefla
yelped and brushed one red-hot shard off her arm. Echoes rumbled round the
valley. There was a .long smoking crater on the flank of the hill across from
them, tattered wriggles of smoke guttered from a scatter of small fires
downstream from the pen, and from the dip beyond a dark black cloud was rising
on a shaft of smoke and flame, partially obscuring the view down the valley
towards the
Solo
.
The third jet swept overhead, climbing and turning hard. It too became a vivid
ball of light: the explosion shook the ground and the wreckage fell gracefully
to the hill in a thousand fiery pieces trailing black smoke like some vast
firework gone wrong.
Keteo leapt into the air. `Roa!' he yelled, flourishing the unused tubeweapon.
Sharrow went to the downhill parapet of the animal-pen. They seemed to be
surrounded by pillars of smoke.
Down-valley, beyond the rising column left by one of the crashed planes, the
Solo was visible, stationary a few hundred metres below, engines droning.
The half-track sat, still burning in the gloom beneath the dark hill. Violet
light sparkled just behind it. She turned and looked above the hillside where
the wreckage burned. A dot in the distant sky burst with light.
`Roa!' Keteo yelled again. He grinned down at Sharrow, then looked slightly
embarrassed, and shrugged. `Me, really,' he said.
She shook her head.
`Wow!' Dloan said, looking round at them all. `Wow!'
`
That's what was in that box,' Cenuij said crisply. He snorted. `The wonders of
ancient technology,'
`Oh boy,' Zefla said. `Is that bozo Roa in trouble now.'
Light ridged the hilltop above the flaming wreckage of the third plane.
Ricochets whined off the stones of a nearby wall as the sound cracked over
them.
`Paras are here,' Dloan said, as they all ducked down again.
`I can see Roa moving,' Zefla said, peeking out of a hole in the wall.
Answering fire from the ACV echoed around the valley. More gunfire came from
the ridge of the hill, pattering around them.
Miz was crouched down beside Keteo. `Got a communicator?' he asked the youth.
`Yeah!' he said.
`How about using it to tell your pals in the ACV we're on our way?'
`Good idea!' Keteo said. He pulled a small device from his pink combat jacket.
`
Solo
?' he said.
Miz sidled over to Sharrow, who was taking aim at the hill summit. `Down the
stream?' he asked her.
Keteo chattered excitedly to somebody on the
Solo
.
`Yes,' she said. `Down the stream. Any time you like.' She rose up just enough
to fire at the hillside. Some careless soldier skylined, and so died in
silhouette. Sharrow ducked back, changing magazines.
`Okay?' Miz asked Keteo, over the sound of bullets thudding into the ground
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
and stones around them.
`Okay!' the boy yelled. `They're waiting.'
`Let's go,' Miz said. `Down the stream-bed.' He nodded at Keteo's pink combat
jacket, which even in the gathering darkness looked very pale. `That jacket
makes you kind of conspicuous, kid; you might want to ditch it.'
Keteo looked at Miz as though he was mad.
Sharrow declipped the bi-propellants.
Miz watched her, scratching his head. `Will you stop fiddling and fire that
damn thing?' he said.
She glared at him. `These are B-Ps,' she said. `No better against infantry and
too easy to back-trace.'
`Oh, my mistake,' Miz said, watching her shove a different magazine home. A
small explosion threw soil into the air ten metres upstream.
`Rifle-grenade,' Dloan said.
She was ready to fire. She glanced at the others.
`Go!' she yelled. She started firing. Zefla and Dloan - quickly followed by
Keteo and then Cenuij - jumped over the streamside wall of the animal-pen.
Sharrow ducked down again. She changed clips again, her ears ringing again,
her wrists aching. Miz was sitting a metre away, his face just visible,
grinning at her.
`Get!' she yelled at him.
`You get,' he told her. He held his hand out for the gun.
`No,' she said.
She turned and started firing. Something dropped into the animal-pen a couple
of metres away; Miz dived, grabbed and threw the rifle-grenade away towards
the road; it exploded in mid air.
She looked round; shrapnel tinkled against the far wall. Bullets sang off the
stones they were crouched behind.
`Let's both get,' Miz suggested.
They leapt the wall, stumbled down across the grass to the shallow river and
staggered in, then waded downstream, heads bowed, slipping on submerged rocks,
bullets whizzing above.
The
Solo was invisible, hidden by the hollow where one of the downed planes had
crashed. The ACV's flashing lights lit up rising smoke in front of them and
the grass on either side of the stream ahead. An underwater pulse almost threw
them off their feet; a grenade made a white exploding shape in the stream,
back near the animal-pen.
They came to the lip of a small waterfall and struggled out onto the grass,
running down into the hollow where the wreckage of the aircraft burned in
cratered patches and the
Solo waited, its slab-sided stern turned to them, rear ramp closed but a small
door open above a mesh ladder. Elson Roa was climbing the ladder over the
bulge of the hovercraft's man-high skirt. The Francks were right behind him. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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about, landing smoking in the surrounding grass, hissing in the water and
clunking into the stones of the animal-pen like some bizarre hail. Zefla
yelped and brushed one red-hot shard off her arm. Echoes rumbled round the
valley. There was a .long smoking crater on the flank of the hill across from
them, tattered wriggles of smoke guttered from a scatter of small fires
downstream from the pen, and from the dip beyond a dark black cloud was rising
on a shaft of smoke and flame, partially obscuring the view down the valley
towards the
Solo
.
The third jet swept overhead, climbing and turning hard. It too became a vivid
ball of light: the explosion shook the ground and the wreckage fell gracefully
to the hill in a thousand fiery pieces trailing black smoke like some vast
firework gone wrong.
Keteo leapt into the air. `Roa!' he yelled, flourishing the unused tubeweapon.
Sharrow went to the downhill parapet of the animal-pen. They seemed to be
surrounded by pillars of smoke.
Down-valley, beyond the rising column left by one of the crashed planes, the
Solo was visible, stationary a few hundred metres below, engines droning.
The half-track sat, still burning in the gloom beneath the dark hill. Violet
light sparkled just behind it. She turned and looked above the hillside where
the wreckage burned. A dot in the distant sky burst with light.
`Roa!' Keteo yelled again. He grinned down at Sharrow, then looked slightly
embarrassed, and shrugged. `Me, really,' he said.
She shook her head.
`Wow!' Dloan said, looking round at them all. `Wow!'
`
That's what was in that box,' Cenuij said crisply. He snorted. `The wonders of
ancient technology,'
`Oh boy,' Zefla said. `Is that bozo Roa in trouble now.'
Light ridged the hilltop above the flaming wreckage of the third plane.
Ricochets whined off the stones of a nearby wall as the sound cracked over
them.
`Paras are here,' Dloan said, as they all ducked down again.
`I can see Roa moving,' Zefla said, peeking out of a hole in the wall.
Answering fire from the ACV echoed around the valley. More gunfire came from
the ridge of the hill, pattering around them.
Miz was crouched down beside Keteo. `Got a communicator?' he asked the youth.
`Yeah!' he said.
`How about using it to tell your pals in the ACV we're on our way?'
`Good idea!' Keteo said. He pulled a small device from his pink combat jacket.
`
Solo
?' he said.
Miz sidled over to Sharrow, who was taking aim at the hill summit. `Down the
stream?' he asked her.
Keteo chattered excitedly to somebody on the
Solo
.
`Yes,' she said. `Down the stream. Any time you like.' She rose up just enough
to fire at the hillside. Some careless soldier skylined, and so died in
silhouette. Sharrow ducked back, changing magazines.
`Okay?' Miz asked Keteo, over the sound of bullets thudding into the ground
Page 188
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
and stones around them.
`Okay!' the boy yelled. `They're waiting.'
`Let's go,' Miz said. `Down the stream-bed.' He nodded at Keteo's pink combat
jacket, which even in the gathering darkness looked very pale. `That jacket
makes you kind of conspicuous, kid; you might want to ditch it.'
Keteo looked at Miz as though he was mad.
Sharrow declipped the bi-propellants.
Miz watched her, scratching his head. `Will you stop fiddling and fire that
damn thing?' he said.
She glared at him. `These are B-Ps,' she said. `No better against infantry and
too easy to back-trace.'
`Oh, my mistake,' Miz said, watching her shove a different magazine home. A
small explosion threw soil into the air ten metres upstream.
`Rifle-grenade,' Dloan said.
She was ready to fire. She glanced at the others.
`Go!' she yelled. She started firing. Zefla and Dloan - quickly followed by
Keteo and then Cenuij - jumped over the streamside wall of the animal-pen.
Sharrow ducked down again. She changed clips again, her ears ringing again,
her wrists aching. Miz was sitting a metre away, his face just visible,
grinning at her.
`Get!' she yelled at him.
`You get,' he told her. He held his hand out for the gun.
`No,' she said.
She turned and started firing. Something dropped into the animal-pen a couple
of metres away; Miz dived, grabbed and threw the rifle-grenade away towards
the road; it exploded in mid air.
She looked round; shrapnel tinkled against the far wall. Bullets sang off the
stones they were crouched behind.
`Let's both get,' Miz suggested.
They leapt the wall, stumbled down across the grass to the shallow river and
staggered in, then waded downstream, heads bowed, slipping on submerged rocks,
bullets whizzing above.
The
Solo was invisible, hidden by the hollow where one of the downed planes had
crashed. The ACV's flashing lights lit up rising smoke in front of them and
the grass on either side of the stream ahead. An underwater pulse almost threw
them off their feet; a grenade made a white exploding shape in the stream,
back near the animal-pen.
They came to the lip of a small waterfall and struggled out onto the grass,
running down into the hollow where the wreckage of the aircraft burned in
cratered patches and the
Solo waited, its slab-sided stern turned to them, rear ramp closed but a small
door open above a mesh ladder. Elson Roa was climbing the ladder over the
bulge of the hovercraft's man-high skirt. The Francks were right behind him. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]