and then toss your pack and canteen at two of the Aliens! ”
Jane nodded, picking up her running pace as Bill sped up to full bore down the side hallway. In less than a minute he turned left into the other main hallway that led to the Weapons Chamber. “ Sounds good, ” she said. “ Hope you know how to use that white tube thingie .”
“ I do .” Bill had noticed how the grizzly bear crewman fired the tube even as he flew through the air to the creature’s back. “ And I’m better than a good shot .”
“ Good. Three with tubes versus us with one tube are not the odds I like, ” Jane signed.
Bill signed back. “ But they all may not have taser beam tubes. ”
She nodded as she kept pace with his running. “ Which is why we need to intercept them before they reach the Weapons Chamber? ”
“ Exactly! ”
CHAPTER FOUR
Bill and Jane reached the hallway section that contained the door to the Weapons Chamber just as the three crew Aliens came through the pressure wall hatch door fifty feet ahead of them. Shock filled him as he took in the distant shapes of the three Aliens.
Something that resembled a giant praying mantis held a white tube in its upper arm pair. In the middle lumbered a six-legged, sausage something that had armor plate-like skin, a blocky head and neck tentacles that waved wildly. To its right stalked something that looked like a two-legged vulture with black wings, a pair of chest-arms, a yellow beak and two red eyes. Those eyes locked onto him just as fast as he had fixed on the vulture. Which suggested the bird-like Alien might be the fastest moving actor of the three now approaching. The green-skinned praying mantis turned its triangular head and fixed two black eyes on him. It lifted the white tube, aiming it their way.
“Ship mind!” he yelled. “Kill all gravity in this hallway section!”
Bill ran left toward the hallway wall while Jane did the same to the right side of the hallway.
A red taser beam shot down the middle of their hallway, missing them both.
Gravity vanished.
Bill kicked the side wall lightly to move him upward and back toward the center of the hallway. Aiming his own white tube at the praying mantis, who now tumbled end over end with the loss of gravity, he fired.
The red taser beam hit the mantis’ thorax. It went into spastic convulsions, with the white tube flying loose from the clasp of its two thorny griparms.
The six-legged sausage Alien seemed to understand what had happened. Although its running momentum now propelled it toward him and Jane, it was stretching out its body in the hope of contacting a hallway surface so it could do a ricochet movement similar to what Bill had done.
Jane threw her backpack at the sausage Alien and her canteen at the vulture Alien. Which action sent her tumbling backward in mid-air.
“Bombs!” he yelled over the helmet comlink, betting the Alien crew would hear the translated version of his words. “Watch out! If they contact you they will explode!”
The sausage Alien twisted in mid-air, its body clawing frantically for a hallway surface.
The vulture Alien flapped its black wings, dived to one side to avoid the canteen, then fast-flapped toward the tumbling white tube. Clearly it aimed to grab the weapon and zap him.
Bill took aim as he rose toward the hallway ceiling, calculating the angle to hit the black-feathered midbody of the vulture Alien.
Several things happened at the same time.
Jane’s backpack hit the sausage critter in its belly, which caused the Alien to kick it away with two of its hippo-like legs. That sent it tumbling toward the side of the hallway.
His red taser beam missed the vulture Alien as its wings moved it up and away from its effort to grab the floating white tube weapon.
Bill pulled in his legs to make his body rotate in mid-air, which caused his feet to be the first to contact the
Jane nodded, picking up her running pace as Bill sped up to full bore down the side hallway. In less than a minute he turned left into the other main hallway that led to the Weapons Chamber. “ Sounds good, ” she said. “ Hope you know how to use that white tube thingie .”
“ I do .” Bill had noticed how the grizzly bear crewman fired the tube even as he flew through the air to the creature’s back. “ And I’m better than a good shot .”
“ Good. Three with tubes versus us with one tube are not the odds I like, ” Jane signed.
Bill signed back. “ But they all may not have taser beam tubes. ”
She nodded as she kept pace with his running. “ Which is why we need to intercept them before they reach the Weapons Chamber? ”
“ Exactly! ”
CHAPTER FOUR
Bill and Jane reached the hallway section that contained the door to the Weapons Chamber just as the three crew Aliens came through the pressure wall hatch door fifty feet ahead of them. Shock filled him as he took in the distant shapes of the three Aliens.
Something that resembled a giant praying mantis held a white tube in its upper arm pair. In the middle lumbered a six-legged, sausage something that had armor plate-like skin, a blocky head and neck tentacles that waved wildly. To its right stalked something that looked like a two-legged vulture with black wings, a pair of chest-arms, a yellow beak and two red eyes. Those eyes locked onto him just as fast as he had fixed on the vulture. Which suggested the bird-like Alien might be the fastest moving actor of the three now approaching. The green-skinned praying mantis turned its triangular head and fixed two black eyes on him. It lifted the white tube, aiming it their way.
“Ship mind!” he yelled. “Kill all gravity in this hallway section!”
Bill ran left toward the hallway wall while Jane did the same to the right side of the hallway.
A red taser beam shot down the middle of their hallway, missing them both.
Gravity vanished.
Bill kicked the side wall lightly to move him upward and back toward the center of the hallway. Aiming his own white tube at the praying mantis, who now tumbled end over end with the loss of gravity, he fired.
The red taser beam hit the mantis’ thorax. It went into spastic convulsions, with the white tube flying loose from the clasp of its two thorny griparms.
The six-legged sausage Alien seemed to understand what had happened. Although its running momentum now propelled it toward him and Jane, it was stretching out its body in the hope of contacting a hallway surface so it could do a ricochet movement similar to what Bill had done.
Jane threw her backpack at the sausage Alien and her canteen at the vulture Alien. Which action sent her tumbling backward in mid-air.
“Bombs!” he yelled over the helmet comlink, betting the Alien crew would hear the translated version of his words. “Watch out! If they contact you they will explode!”
The sausage Alien twisted in mid-air, its body clawing frantically for a hallway surface.
The vulture Alien flapped its black wings, dived to one side to avoid the canteen, then fast-flapped toward the tumbling white tube. Clearly it aimed to grab the weapon and zap him.
Bill took aim as he rose toward the hallway ceiling, calculating the angle to hit the black-feathered midbody of the vulture Alien.
Several things happened at the same time.
Jane’s backpack hit the sausage critter in its belly, which caused the Alien to kick it away with two of its hippo-like legs. That sent it tumbling toward the side of the hallway.
His red taser beam missed the vulture Alien as its wings moved it up and away from its effort to grab the floating white tube weapon.
Bill pulled in his legs to make his body rotate in mid-air, which caused his feet to be the first to contact the
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