“The
Iana scowled. She should have guessed that it would only be a matter of time before the Terrans figured out the Alliance strategy. They’d now be targeting all the
“Alpha Three, this is Alpha Leader. The Terrans are doing a search and destroy on the
“Yes, ma’am,” Alpha Three called back, his voice clearer as he passed through the upper atmosphere. “It’s still in one piece in the middle of…”
The radio suddenly went dead. Iana cocked her head to the side as she awaited the rest of the sentence that just wasn’t coming. “Alpha Three, say again.”
Again, silence stretched over the radio.
“Alpha Three, respond!” she ordered.
“Twelve o’clock low,” Alpha Two called out. “Terran fighters!”
Iana tilted the nose of her ship so that she was facing Earth’s surface. Far below her, skimming the surface of the atmosphere, three small Terran fighters were silhouetted against the vibrant blues and greens of the planet. Scanning in front of the fast craft, Iana could see the rapidly cooling blue and purple vapors, a signal that plasma missiles had exploded nearby. A knot grew in Iana’s stomach at the sight. She had to assume that the plasma bursts were what remained of both Alpha Three and Four. If that were the case, then the Terran fighters had nothing standing between them and the
Without giving orders, Alpha Two fell into position beside Iana as she dove toward the Terran ships. She pressed heavily on the accelerator, speeding forward until the growing pressure on her chest threatened to break her ribs. Her hands and feet grew cold as her heart struggled to pump blood to her extremities. Even under the intense pressure of the dive, however, she still knew that she would never catch the Terran fighters before they reached Yen and his men. In her ambivalence, she had very possibly caused the tide of battle to turn against the Alliance Fleet.
Her eyes watering from the gravitational forces, she saw a faint red glow from the corner of her eye. Glancing over, her heart skipped a beat, both in excitement and fear. She did have a solution, if she was brave enough to try. Yen was counting on her to do the right thing, even if it meant endangering her own life. Realizing how much hung in the balance, Iana quickly realized that she didn’t truly have a choice in the matter. Sliding her hand over to the button, she took a deep breath.
“I’m really going to regret this,” she muttered just before activating the warp generator.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Yen leaned back heavily against the rubble behind which he had taken cover. Heat from still burning fires radiated against his yellowed skin, a stark contrast to the cool rain that still poured from above. Rivulets of water cascaded down the debris strewn across the road and followed the course between the larger pieces of concrete like newly formed urban rivers.
Reaching up, Yen brushed his dark hair out of his face before refocusing on the weapons check he was performing on his pistol. Satisfied that his pistol would still function in the heavy rain, he proceeded to check the belt of grenades strung around his waist. Though the grenades seemed like a coarse approach, especially for Yen’s preferred psychic subtlety, they were effective against entrenched Terran forces.
To Yen’s left and right, he could see the rest of his team spreading out, finding cover behind the other debris that littered the road as well as moving quietly into the husks of demolished buildings nearby. The passing
In the distance, gunfire filled the gloomy air. Buren’s force had encountered significantly heavier resistance than had Yen’s team. Then again, Yen realized, he wasn’t sending his own men headlong into danger. Preferring a slower but more tactical approach, Yen’s team had been methodically moving forward, finding cover wherever possible. At the same time, he had dispatched scouts to examine the enemy line and report back any weaknesses. Even entrenched as they were, the Terrans had to be pulled thin with the Alliance striking so many targets on Earth simultaneously. Once Yen found the opening he was looking for, he would exploit it and find a way into the park beyond.
A scurrying sound alerted Yen to the return of one of his scouts. The Lithid slipped around the corner of the rubble behind which Yen was sitting and crouched beside the commander.
“I don’t know who this scientist is,” the Lithid began, his gravelly voice hissing the words, “but the Terrans are doing all they can to protect him. They have a pretty solid perimeter established all around the park.”
“I know what the good Doctor Solomon is capable of,” Yen replied. “And believe me when I tell you that the Terrans didn’t bring enough soldiers to keep me out.”
“I was hoping that would be your answer,” the scout’s voice called from behind the featureless mask. Pointing a clawed hand to the north and west, the Lithid continued. “There is a point approximately two blocks from here where the Terrans have established a roadblock. It’s well defended, but their position leaves them cut off from immediate reinforcements. It would be a difficult fight, but if we can attack quickly and decisively, the Terrans will be demolished before additional soldiers can arrive.”
Yen nodded thoughtfully. Behind his dark eyes, a seething hatred burned. Destroying the Terran defenses would only be the first step in a more significant act of retribution against the Terran doctor. “If we break through their lines, can the rest of the team then hold that position against the Terran reinforcements?”
“We can hold that position for as long as you need us to,” came the Lithid’s flat reply.
Smiling wickedly, Yen stood and flashed a series of hand and arm signals. His group leaders stood and began directing their men forward, toward the weakness in the Terran lines.
Yen had no illusions that breaking through the Terran line would be easy, but he also knew the rage that grew inside of him. Only a few city blocks beyond the roadblock, the Terran scientist responsible for the destruction of nearly all his friends and former teammates sat in his laboratory, working on twisted experiments and new weapons. There wasn’t a force in the universe strong enough to keep Yen from his goal.
Moving quietly forward, Yen led his men to a corner where a side street intersected the one they had been following. According to his scout, this road led directly to the park, in front of which sat a roadblock that gave the Terrans plenty of cover from which to engage Yen’s approaching team. Sliding slightly forward, Yen peered around the corner. Halfway down the street, a series of vehicles were piled on top of one another. The ten foot high wall blocked the street from one end to the other. From the gaps between the compressed vehicles, however, gun barrels jutted forward, all trained toward the end of the street where Yen stood. The quantity of firepower, coupled with the cover the Terrans had, left little doubt in Yen’s mind that a frontal assault would be suicidal.
“What are you thinking, sir?” one of Yen’s group leaders whispered from behind him.
“If we’re going this way, we’re going to have to do something about that wall,” Yen muttered. “They’ve got vehicles piled up on top of one another, making it nearly impossible to get any clean shots on the Terran guards behind it. And judging from the looks of them, those vehicles can take quite a beating.”
Yen paused as his last words rattled around his mind. Taking another quick look around the corner, Yen marked the strewn debris littering the road, leading up to the wall. Though some of the buildings on the road had collapsed during the
Moving quickly, Yen’s team hurried back the way they had come until they were able to locate a vehicle that had hardly been damaged during the assault. Though blackened by soot, the body of the vehicle seemed in solid condition. Without starting the engine, Yen reached inside and threw the transmission into neutral, as he released the parking break. Joining the rest of his team behind the vehicle, they pushed it forward, at first rolling it slowly over the rocks that littered the road until finally, picking up momentum, they were able to move it near the corner
