Part 30 (2/2)

Kalenda watched Solo as he drove the ground car. So far it had all gone well, in fact remarkably well considering the level of chaos in the city. They had pa.s.sed any number of burning buildings, shot-up vehicles, and dead bodies.

But there did not seem to be many people willing to be out after dark, and Solo knew the city well. He could thread them through the back streets, away from the looters and the rioters and the goon squads.

She looked again at the data chip she was to carry back. It contained a copy of the threat message, along with whatever other information the staff of the governor's office could think of to include.

A little blob of black, the size of her thumb. Strange that something so small and unimportant looking could be so vital. If the Human League meant what it said about more supernovas, millions of lives might depend on her getting through. She slipped it back and sealed it into the pocket of her jacket.

”We're almost there,” Han said. ”You ready?”

”More or less,” she said. ”As ready as I'm going to be.” But there was more she had to say. ”Captain Solo, I just wanted to say that-that I'm sorry I got your family into this.”

”You didn't,” Solo said, his eyes still on the road ahead.

”You tried to give us the clearest warning you could, and we didn't listen to it. I think we would have come here no matter what you said.

All you did was make us a bit more careful. You did right. And you did well.”

”Thank you,” she said. ”That means more coming from you than you can imagine. I hope-” She stopped, knowing she had said too much.

”You hope what?” he asked.

”I hope that your family comes out of this all right. I'm sorry.

That's awfully personal. But I spent so long watching them, keeping an eye on them-”

”It's all right,” he said. ”Thank you for saying it. I hope they come out of it all right, too.”

y0~Th~ you, sir. It's-it's been an honor to serve with Solo took his eyes off the mad for the first time and smiled at her, a kindly, gentle expression. ”Likewise, Lieutenant. Likewise.” He turned his eyes back toward the road.

”But we're getting close to the s.p.a.ceport. Where's this turnoff of yours?”

”Just up ahead,” she said. ”It's barely a dirt roadthere it is!”

The groundcar swerved onto the turnoff and bounced along the washed-out road. ”Keep going, keep goingokay, slow down,” she said.

”Shut off all your lights and stop here for a moment.”

Han stopped the engine. Kalenda grabbed her macrobinoculars and got out, gesturing for Han to follow her. She dropped to her knees and crawled up a low rise to her leftand promptly cut her arm on the same old patch of razor growth. ”This is the place, all right,” she said to Han, who had managed toget to the top of the rise without self-injury.

She laughed quietly to herself.

”What?” Han asked. ”What is it?”

”Full circle,” she said. ”This is where I watched to see you come in, and here you are in the same spot to see me go out.”

”It's a bigger circle than that,” he replied. ”We finally get to use the original plan. I draw all the attention by making a lot of noise, and give you a chance to do your job.”

”Well, let's hope it works the second time around,” Kalenda said, and then turned back to the business at hand.

”Anyway, this is the closest you can get to the perimeter fence.

See it there, just below us, about a hundred meters forward?”

”Right,” he said. ”No problem. You picked out a s.h.i.+p yet?” he asked.

”Give me a second.” She pulled out her macrobinoculars and put them to her eyes. ”These things never were anything much on infrared,” she said. ”Let's see. No, nothing there but PPBs. No hypeidrive. Wait a second. There. An X-TJE Ugly, about five hundred meters from the fence.”

”I hate Uglies,” Han said, ”but it's your call. You sure it'll have hyperdrive?”

”It ought to,” she said. ”Besides, there's nothing else out there I'd even have a chance of reaching.”

”Guards?”

”One on the X-TIE, none on the PPBs. Maybe they're a little shorthanded.”

”Let's hope so,” he said. ”And if they are, then those PPBs have a very limited future. Off I go. You just be ready to cut that fence when I come over the rise.”

Kalenda pulled out her blaster. ”All set now,” she said.

”Then I'll see you on the other side,” said Han. He gave her a jaunty salute, and then crawled backward down the hill to the ground car.

Han got back into the groundcar, and made sure his own blaster was at the ready and the miniature thermal detonators were within easy reach.

He put on the flash goggles, and hoped they worked this time. They were supposed to respond instantaneously to any level of ambient light, but they tended to be a little persnickety. This was going to be interesting. He rechecked his seat belt, switched the lights back on, and gunned the engine hard.

The lumbering old groundcar tore its way over the rise, smas.h.i.+ng down the stand of razor gra.s.s as it went over the top. A series of fast blaster shots flashed out from the right of the car as Kalenda shot up the section of perimeter fence directly in their path. The blaster shots were right on target, but the fence stayed up. It must have been tougher than it looked. Han floored the accelerator and aimed the ground car straight for the fence. The car lunged down the other side of the rise, and smashed into the fence head-on. It slammed its way through, and Han fought to keep control as the car bucked and swayed over the uneven ground.

Finally its wheels. .h.i.t the hard tarmac of the landing field, and Han was back in control. He pointed the ground car at the nearest PPB and floored the engine again.

A blaster shot flared out of the dilkness, and struck the pavement just in front of the ground car. Han jerked the steering wheel sideways, acting on sheer reflex, and then got back on course toward the PPB. He pulled his own blaster out and stuck it out the driver's-side door. He fired wildly in the general direction of the shot, not really expecting to hit anything. But a flare of light exploded in the middle distance as a fuel tank went up, and Han was happy to take the bonus.

He was almost at the first PPB. He dnopped the blaster, juggled his hands to keep one on the wheel while he reached for a minidetonator with the other. He flicked the safety off the little bomb, slowed long enough to toss it in the general direction of the patrol boat, and then accelerated, having no desire to be too close when that thing went off.

Baroom! The detonator went up with a flash of light that the goggles handled perfectly, darkening down in the blink of an eye. The goggles cleared, and Han risked a glance behind him. Yes indeed, the detonator had taken the PPB with it, and judging by the size of the crater, the ground car had come close to joining the party as well.

Han looked back toward the fence, and spotted a small figure, dressed in black, running for all she was worth, straight for the X-TlE.

”Go!” he shouted, though she could not possibly hear him. ”Go!”

Bits of flaming PPB were starting to drop out of the sky all around him, and he wove back and forth across the tarmac, struggling to avoid them all.

Fwap! Another blaster bolt. but this one hit his ground car right in the engine. The vehicle instantly burst into flame, and Han decided it was time to be elsewhere. With the ground car still rolling, he let go of the wheel. He grabbed his blaster in one hand, scooped up the rest of the minidetonators and tossed them in his pocket with the other, then undid his seat belt and popped the door.

He rolled out of the groundcar and landed hard on his pocketful of detonators. He got to his feet, and trotted forward as best he could, using the rolling, burning, smoking ground car for cover as he headed for the next PPB. He pulled out the next detonator, set it for a longer delay, and rolled it gently toward the patrol boat.

Shorthanded or not, the s.p.a.ceport guards were starting to respond.

<script>