round over the tube’s aperture.
“Drop!”
The round whump ed out of the tube and went on its way. The whistle told Everett that this one would be right on. The round caught the second robot squarely in the chest as it finally regained its footing after the first blast. The HE round detonated and blew the robot backward into the first. They both went down hard.
As suddenly as the two hit the rocky ground, they were back up again.
“This isn’t working, Jack. I don’t know what these things are made of, but we’re not harming them. That’s a tough battle chassis.”
Jack strained to see over the rocks that were protecting their position. As he did so he saw the first robot stand up and start looking around. Then he saw the strangest thing imaginable. Lasers protruded out of a cavity in its head and began rotating. They seemed to lock on to something, expanding into something that resembled the spokes of a wheel. Then the rotation ceased and the single green laser began tracking the heated arc of the expended round. Jack could actually see the laser start to whip back and forth, creating a haze of light that tracked the arc of the round from its origin.
“Oh, oh,” Jack said, as Everett saw the same thing. He didn’t hesitate.
“Drop!”
Another round flew from the tube and arced toward the two robots. The round landed right on top of the second mechanical beast and exploded between its neck and shoulder. The force of the blast knocked the robot from its feet and sent the second machine face forward, where it smashed into the hiding places of their soldiers. But even through the smoke and debris they saw both of them rise out of the smoke and fix their positions high up on the gallery wall. They both started forward at the same moment after locking in on the arc of the second round.
“I think we may have a problem,” Everett said. He watched far below as the robots not only started coming at them, but began running up the slope, making loud banging noises as their steel feet came into contact with each step. Everett raised his radio.
“Sebastian, get our people out of there!”
Carl didn’t wait for a response. He let the radio slip from his hands and reached for Jack as the robots hit the slope of the gallery wall running. He figured they had two minutes left.
“Come on, Jack. Time to skedaddle,” he said as he lifted Collins up.
“Put me down and get the hell out of here. Get Alice if you can,” he hissed.
“Ain’t happenin’ this time and there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. We’ll get Alice together.”
With the help of Tram, they lifted Jack up and started to scramble up the slope. They felt the vibrations of the robots as they used both arms and legs to scrabble up the slope. They were focused on one thing, the area that had attacked them. Carl knew they would be caught in about a minute.
“Sit me down,” Jack said through clenched teeth as a thunder of small arms fire erupted from below. “That damn Sebastian follows orders and so will you.”
Down below the hundred remaining men opened fire on the advancing robots. Their fire was accurate, but it was like watching pebbles bounce off tank armor. The robots paid the men below no mind as they advanced on the more serious threat of the mortar.
Everett turned to Tram.
“Get out of here, son. You’ve done real well today-now it’s time for you to go.”
Tram looked at Everett as if he had gone mad. Instead of replying, he reached behind him and unslung the M-14. With his eyes still locked on the captain, he inserted a twenty-round magazine into the old rifle. With deliberate slowness, he raised the M-14 sniper rifle and started firing slowly and deliberately at the first robot in line. The mechanical menace was only fifty yards away.
“Jack, I don’t think these men respect our rank,” Everett said. He kneeled beside Jack and waited.
“That’s what you get when you set an example like that. By the way,” Jack hissed, “you’re fired, Mr. Everett.”
“That’s a nice reward for trying to save you.”
“That’s the reward for not saving me.”
Everett turned back and his smile was brief as he saw the lead robot nearing their fragile targets. He watched as the first stepped onto the mortar tube, crushing it like it was a straw, and then continued on up the rocky slope to the real threat-the men who had used the weapon.
Everett reached out and removed his nine-millimeter from its holster. He raised it and fired.
The flash of the light made everyone in the gallery look away. The momentary brilliance of the blue light was followed by a loud buzz, as if a thousand saws had bitten into the same piece of wood at the same moment. There was a sudden smell of ozone as a beam of light reached out and hit the leading robot in the left leg just as it was seeking purchase against the slippery slope of the incline. Then another flash of light struck the robot as it slipped partially backward from its original position. Everett just stared at the barrel of his nine-millimeter, which was when he saw what was happening below at the bunkhouse. Appleby, Pete, Niles, Dubois, and Charlie Ellenshaw were standing and pointing up toward their position. Ellenshaw was aiming one of the alien weapons from the rack. As Everett watched, he fired on the trailing robot. The beam sliced both of its legs off and Everett saw it fall. Then he smiled as he saw Ellenshaw jumping up and down and pointing at his perfect shot. The others were jumping also, slapping Ellenshaw on the back.
“You’re not going to believe this one, Jack,” he said.
Collins wasn’t going to answer. He had closed his eyes and that was when Everett saw that the blood had soaked the bandage. He grabbed Jack in his arms, and with Tram leading the way didn’t wait for Ellenshaw and the others to stop their firing. As the laser weapon discharged again, Everett smelled the molten steel of the monsters as the intense heat melted their huge metallic frames. The thick blue beam arced out and sliced the arms off the first as it tried to right itself. Then another shot creased the giant’s head, separating it from the rest of the body. Everett heard the turbine inside its massive chest start to run down.
Another shot took the second creature out as cleanly as the first. Then Charlie turned the weapon on the men the Mechanic had sent down the slope toward the blockhouse. The single shot brought them all down, most of them in pieces. As Everett, Tram, and Jack neared the bottom of the sloping gallery wall, there was a burst of light and the sound of a small explosion. When they hit the bottom, Carl saw Sebastian and his men emerge from positions where they had been firing on the metal monsters. They looked as though they were in shock. Carl looked over at the scientists as they finished rolling Charlie Ellenshaw around on the gallery floor in an attempt to smother the fire that had engulfed him after the last shot. There were shouts of anger and happiness coming from the group as Ellenshaw sat up and looked around, the remains of the alien weapon in his hands. His long, stringy, white hair was singed, a mess of electrostatic complications as he sat on his butt, not really sure what had happened to him. Carl approached the men at the same moment Sebastian and his troops arrived.
“What happened?” Everett asked, as two medics started looking Jack over.
“I told him that the mineral was still too unrefined, but Wild Bill here had to keep pressing his luck,” Niles said as he walked over and looked at Collins. “Jesus, get him inside.” The medics tried to pry Jack away from Everett. Collins reached out and grabbed Carl, anchoring himself.
“Alice,” he said, as he was finally pulled away.
“Now we go and get her, Jack.” Everett watched them take Collins inside and then turned to Sebastian and Tram. “We have one more thing to do.”
The three men sprinted back up the slope, toward a showdown with the man who was holding their friend hostage.
The Mechanic ordered the last of his men to hold off the advancing troops, who were led by the large commando he had seen in Germany. He had witnessed the power of the alien technology and knew he had to secure at least one of the weapons for reverse-engineering, to use in the great Jihad against the unbelievers.
He pushed Alice Hamilton toward one of his men and ordered him to guard her, as they still had need for her services. Then he wrote out a note in English requesting a meeting with Colonel Collins. He shoved it into the man’s hand and pushed him in the direction of the Americans. With a glance down at the shattered scene below, the
