Part 45 (1/2)

”Forget it!” snapped DeChance, turning off her force s.h.i.+eld. ”We have to get out of here while we can.”

Lindholm nodded quickly. He put away his gun, turned off his s.h.i.+eld, and made a stirrup with his hands.

DeChance put her foot into it, and the marine boosted her up into the hole in the ceiling. The esper found a handhold, and pulled herself up and out onto the street above. Corbie turned off his force s.h.i.+eld and followed her out the same way. The alien surged forward, crus.h.i.+ng the stones on the floor under its immense bulk. Lindholm calmly pulled a concussion grenade from his bandolier, primed it, and tossed it into the gaping mouth, which snapped shut reflexively. Lindholm pushed some of the larger pieces of rubble together, climbed up onto them and pulled himself up into the hole. Corbie and DeChance hauled him out onto the street.

He rolled quickly away from the opening, and seconds later there was a m.u.f.fled roar from below as the grenade went off. Blood and gore fountained up out of the hole, and cracks spread across the street.

”Nice one, Sven,” said Corbie.

The three of them got to their feet and looked around them. The sun had sunk almost out of sight, and the green sky was darkening towards night. The city had become little more than shapes and shadows, with the occasional lighted window. The copper tower loomed above its surrounding buildings, less than half a mile away. Corbie s.h.i.+vered, and checked that his heating elements were set at maximum.

”Still no sign of the rest of the Squad,” said Lindholm. ”I hope they're having an easier time than us.”

Corbie sniffed. ”They probably had an attack of common sense and got the h.e.l.l out of here.”

”We'd better keep moving,” said DeChance. ”There are aliens nearby. More than I can count. They know we're here, and they're closing in on us.”

She ran down the street without stopping to see if the marines were following. They looked quickly at each other, shared a sour smile, and hurried after her. From close at hand came the screams and cries of pursuing aliens, as the first of the unsteady creatures spilled onto the street after the fleeing Squad.

And in the copper tower, the great device waited patiently for them to come to it.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

The Sleep of Reason Monsters roamed the city streets. Some flew in the air, while others burrowed in the earth. Creatures formed by madness and obsession made their way to the copper tower, summoned by a voice they could not refuse. They no longer remembered why, but the echo of that voice moved within them, whatever shape they wore, and always would. The sun had fallen, and darkness lay across the city.

Strange lights burned in the silent buildings as more and more creatures awoke from their centuries-long sleep and went out into the streets. Hideous shapes crept and crawled between structures they no longer recognised, in a city they had long since forgotten. They had lived for centuries, and might live for centuries more, but they did not know it. The awful thing they had done to themselves had trapped them forever in the here and now; in a single endless moment of existence. They had forgotten what they were, and what they had hoped to be. Only the great device remembered. And it was insane.

Hunter and Krystel ran down a twisting street, between stone monoliths with blazing windows and looming edifices of steel and crystal. The darkness hung around them like a listening stranger, and from every intersection they pa.s.sed came more shapes and monstrosities to join the boiling pack that pursued them. Hunter was fighting for air, and his back and leg muscles screamed for rest, but he didn't dare slow his pace. The aliens were close on their heels, and drawing closer. The darkness hid most of the shapes that followed them, for which Hunter was grateful.

A s.h.i.+ning figure stepped out of a stone monolith and reached for Krystel with phosph.o.r.escent hands.

She cut sideways with her sword without slowing her pace, and severed the nearest hand. It fell sparking and sputtering into the street, and the creature howled wordlessly. Hunter thought briefly about using his disrupter, but decided against it as the alien fell back, clutching at its ruined arm with its remaining hand.

The disrupter's energy crystals were running low, and he only used the gun now when there was no other choice.

He ran on after Krystel, hurdling the twitching hand in the street without slowing. His breath burned in his lungs, and sweat ran down his heaving sides. He glared at the Investigator. She'd been running and fighting just as much as him, and she wasn't even breathing hard. She was even smiling slightly as she shook the last creature's s.h.i.+mmering blood from her sword. Hunter shook his head wearily and blinked away the sweat that ran down into his eyes. It seemed some of the things he'd heard about Investigators and their training weren't exaggerations after all.

A winged shape dropped out of the sky towards Hunter, its wings flapping loosely as its yard-long beak stabbed down at his face. He raised his force s.h.i.+eld above his head, and the beak shattered on the energy field. The alien screamed and flapped away, blood dripping from its ruined face. A barbed tentacle shot up out of the pursuing pack and pulled the alien down. The pack fell on it and tore it apart.

Hunter and Krystel ran on.

The copper tower stood tall and imposing against the skyline; an enigmatic silhouette against the alien night. Hunter scowled at it. He'd chosen the tower as a rendezvous point because it could be clearly seen from anywhere in the city, but he was beginning to wish he'd chosen somewhere closer. He'd lost track of how long he'd been running, but the tower seemed as far away as ever. Something moved in a nearby alleyway, and the Investigator turned her gun on it.

”No, Krystel!” Hunter knocked her arm aside at the last moment. ”They're friends.”

Krystel lowered her gun as Megan DeChance and the two marines plunged out of the alleyway to run alongside them. They all managed a quick nod of greeting to each other, but none of them had the breath for conversation. They ran on, with Krystel and the esper leading the way. Hunter looked at the two marines, and winced. Their uniforms were torn and stained with blood. Fatigue had put bruises under their eyes, and made their movements heavy and plodding. They didn't look like they could run much further. Hunter smiled sourly. He didn't suppose he looked much better.

But he and the rest of the Squad would run as far as they had to; because the only alternative was to lie down and die. Hunter looked at the esper's back and frowned. He'd only caught a brief glimpse of DeChance's face, but she'd looked to be in an even worse state than the marines. If there was a weak link in the Squad, she was it. And valuable as she was, Hunter hoped she wouldn't fall. None of them had the strength left to carry her. The esper began to speak, and Hunter made himself pay attention.

In fits and starts, with many pauses for breath, DeChance explained the history of the city, and what had happened there, and for the first time Hunter and Krystel understood the true nature of the aliens, and the significance of the copper tower. Hunter had a hundred questions he wanted to ask, but he didn't have the breath for even one. The tower suddenly loomed up before him at the end of the street, and he fixed his attention on that. The Squad pounded down the street, and skidded to a halt at the base of the tower.

The two marines turned to face the pursuing aliens, and fired their disrupters. Several aliens fell screaming to the ground as the energy beams cut through them, and the rest of the pack fell on them. Hunter turned to find DeChance and the Investigator silently studying the copper tower.

”Well, don't just stand there. Get the b.l.o.o.d.y door open! The aliens will be here any minute!”

”We appear to have a problem, Captain,” said the Investigator. ”No door. No windows, either.”

Hunter held up his field lantern and studied the tower closely for the first time. The great copper shaft stretched up into the night sky, featureless and immaculate save for the ma.s.sive copper spikes that radiated from its peak. It looked to be thirty to forty feet in diameter, and maybe four hundred feet high.

There was no trace of any opening in the gleaming metal, nor any sign there ever had been one. Hunter stepped forward and ran his hand across the metal. It felt preternaturally slick, almost frictionless.

”All right,” he said quietly. ”Stand back and watch out for flying metal.” He fired his disrupter at the metal wall at point-blank range. The energy beam punched a tiny hole in the metal, and that was all.

”Great,” said Corbie. ”Now what?”

Hunter thought quickly. ”Explosives. How many grenades have we got between us?”

He had one, Krystel had one, DeChance had two. The marines had used all theirs.

”That isn't going to be enough, Captain,” said the Investigator. ”The disrupter should have opened up the tower wall like a tin can. It didn't. A wall that strong isn't going to be bothered by concussion grenades.

The force of the explosion would be too generalized.”

”So what do you suggest?” snapped Corbie. ”Kick the b.l.o.o.d.y thing? Or maybe we should knock politely and hope someone will let us in?”

”Keep the noise down, marine,” said Hunter. ”There is a way. We can use one of our proximity mines.

That's powerful enough, and focused enough, to do the job. All we have to do is place one against the base of the tower wall, set the timer, and get the h.e.l.l out of the way.”

”That might just do it,” said Lindholm approvingly. ”Be a h.e.l.l of a bang, anyway.”

Hunter glanced quickly at the aliens. They'd stopped some distance away from the tower, and were watching silently. Presumably the great device didn't want them any closer, for its own security. Krystel produced a proximity mine from her backpack, put it in place, and set the timer. The Squad then moved quickly round to the far side of the tower. The explosion sounded strangely m.u.f.fled, as though the tower had absorbed some of the blast, but when they went back to look they found a gaping hole in the tower wall, some five to six feet in diameter.

”We'd better tread carefully, once we get inside,” said Krystel. ”The blast may have damaged the device.”

”It did,” said DeChance. ”But it's only superficial damage. I can feel the strength of the device. It burns in my mind like a beacon.”

Hunter looked at her, and then at the two marines. They stirred uncomfortably.

”She has some kind of telepathic link with the device, Captain,” said Lindholm slowly. ”She thinks it's alive.”

”And insane,” said DeChance. ”Quite definitely insane. I don't think it knows we're here yet, but it will the moment we enter the tower. I can't s.h.i.+eld myself against that kind of power.”

”This is all very interesting,” said Hunter carefully, ”but can you tell us anything more practical about the device?”

”Yes,” said DeChance. ”The explosion damaged one important part of the device. Try your comm unit, Captain. I think you'll find it's working again now.”