could feel someone riding up the hill. More feelings that seemed to be correct, and that bothered the engineer.
"Where did he go?" snapped Ryba.
"Forget him!"
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Nylan lifted the slug-thrower as two horsemen, low in the saddle, swept around the end of the rocks and headed toward them.
Both the captain and the engineer fired again.
Crack! Crack! Crack! When the hammer came down on the empty chamber, Nylan scrambled to the other side of the rock, emerging a moment later. His mouth dropped open as he saw Ryba on one of the horses, chasing down, and slicing open one of the hapless armsmen, and then another.
"Get the damned horses!" yelled Ryba before she rode uphill after a fleeing mount.
Nylan looked at the nearby horse, then flung himself behind the boulder as another horseman galloped toward him.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The slugs whistled over Nylan's head, and one of Saryn's shots dropped the horseman.
"You'd better reload!" suggested Saryn.
"Thanks!" Nylan, crouching behind the boulder, fumbled the second and last clip into the slug-thrower. He hoped the marines had more firepower. He also hoped they were better shots than he'd proved to be.
When he scrambled up, there were no horsemen nearby, just the mount of the man Saryn had dropped. Nylan, ignoring his apprehensions about grabbing onto anything ten times his size, grasped the reins of the nearby mount, which promptly reared. "Now ... now ..." He tried to be reassuring, but the horse reared again, nearly dragging him off his feet before it settled down.
Whhheeeee . . . eeeee . . . eeee . . .
"I don't like it any better than you do, fellow, lady, whatever you are." Horses? What was he doing hanging on to horses on an impossible planet? He tried not to shiver and concentrated on calming the horse.
Slowly, somehow, he managed, even as he looked across the meadow. He swallowed. From what he could see, there were large numbers of bodies strewn almost at random. Three of them, beyond the plot, wore shipsuits.
Absently, Nylan patted the neck of the horse.
Wheee . . . eeee . . .
He glared at the beast that towered over him, and, surprisingly, the animal seemed to whimper. Patting the animal's neck, he added, "Just take it easy."
His eyes flicked across the meadow, then toward the top of the hill where Ryba had reined up.
"They're gone, frig it!"
Nylan led the horse toward the lander shells and the half-grubbed and ditched plot, not quite sure what to do with the animal. At the least, he needed to find someplace to tether it. Several marines were working over two angel bodies as he led the horse toward the nearest lander, where, absently, he tied the reins around an internal door loop. No one was going to be closing the door anytime soon.
Then he hurried through the fallen horsemen. One moaned as Nylan passed. He looked down at the hole in the man's abdomen, and his guts twisted at the blood. The man moaned again. Nylan knelt. There wasn't much he could do.
The soldier muttered something, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. Had he fractured ribs in his fall from the horse? The man's hand clutched Nylan's, and he muttered, "Nerysa . . . Nerysa . . ."
His hand loosened, as did his jaw.
Nylan closed the dead man's eyes and slowly stood. Then he walked toward the group between the end lander and the plot where three gathered around a prone figure in a ship-suit.
"It's no use." One of the marines sat back and wiped her forehead.
The unmoving figure was that of the junior officer- Mertin. Above sightless eyes and streams of dried and drying blood, his forehead looked slightly lopsided.
The marine stood. "Those blades are more like iron crowbars. Not much edge. Damned sword caved in his temple. He just stood there and shot, never ducked He got about four of them."
Nylan looked toward the
"Where did he go?" snapped Ryba.
"Forget him!"
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Nylan lifted the slug-thrower as two horsemen, low in the saddle, swept around the end of the rocks and headed toward them.
Both the captain and the engineer fired again.
Crack! Crack! Crack! When the hammer came down on the empty chamber, Nylan scrambled to the other side of the rock, emerging a moment later. His mouth dropped open as he saw Ryba on one of the horses, chasing down, and slicing open one of the hapless armsmen, and then another.
"Get the damned horses!" yelled Ryba before she rode uphill after a fleeing mount.
Nylan looked at the nearby horse, then flung himself behind the boulder as another horseman galloped toward him.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The slugs whistled over Nylan's head, and one of Saryn's shots dropped the horseman.
"You'd better reload!" suggested Saryn.
"Thanks!" Nylan, crouching behind the boulder, fumbled the second and last clip into the slug-thrower. He hoped the marines had more firepower. He also hoped they were better shots than he'd proved to be.
When he scrambled up, there were no horsemen nearby, just the mount of the man Saryn had dropped. Nylan, ignoring his apprehensions about grabbing onto anything ten times his size, grasped the reins of the nearby mount, which promptly reared. "Now ... now ..." He tried to be reassuring, but the horse reared again, nearly dragging him off his feet before it settled down.
Whhheeeee . . . eeeee . . . eeee . . .
"I don't like it any better than you do, fellow, lady, whatever you are." Horses? What was he doing hanging on to horses on an impossible planet? He tried not to shiver and concentrated on calming the horse.
Slowly, somehow, he managed, even as he looked across the meadow. He swallowed. From what he could see, there were large numbers of bodies strewn almost at random. Three of them, beyond the plot, wore shipsuits.
Absently, Nylan patted the neck of the horse.
Wheee . . . eeee . . .
He glared at the beast that towered over him, and, surprisingly, the animal seemed to whimper. Patting the animal's neck, he added, "Just take it easy."
His eyes flicked across the meadow, then toward the top of the hill where Ryba had reined up.
"They're gone, frig it!"
Nylan led the horse toward the lander shells and the half-grubbed and ditched plot, not quite sure what to do with the animal. At the least, he needed to find someplace to tether it. Several marines were working over two angel bodies as he led the horse toward the nearest lander, where, absently, he tied the reins around an internal door loop. No one was going to be closing the door anytime soon.
Then he hurried through the fallen horsemen. One moaned as Nylan passed. He looked down at the hole in the man's abdomen, and his guts twisted at the blood. The man moaned again. Nylan knelt. There wasn't much he could do.
The soldier muttered something, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. Had he fractured ribs in his fall from the horse? The man's hand clutched Nylan's, and he muttered, "Nerysa . . . Nerysa . . ."
His hand loosened, as did his jaw.
Nylan closed the dead man's eyes and slowly stood. Then he walked toward the group between the end lander and the plot where three gathered around a prone figure in a ship-suit.
"It's no use." One of the marines sat back and wiped her forehead.
The unmoving figure was that of the junior officer- Mertin. Above sightless eyes and streams of dried and drying blood, his forehead looked slightly lopsided.
The marine stood. "Those blades are more like iron crowbars. Not much edge. Damned sword caved in his temple. He just stood there and shot, never ducked He got about four of them."
Nylan looked toward the
Similar Books
