Just then a second wave of fifty chanouks charged from another ravine. They tore across the open field, yelling and waving war axes, javelins, and ataxes. The four fresh Legionary squads turned right to meet the charge, leaving their undead brothers to their bloody fate at Fareel's clawed hands. They opened fire on the new onrushing warriors with automatic weapons. The front rank of chanouks reared up and took most of the shots in the tannis armor plating strung over their thick necks and massive chests. Charged ataxes flew into Legionnaires, ripping through soft chest cavities and tearing gashes in rotten heads.
Ross felt Debbi grab his arm. He looked at her and followed her worried glance behind them into the courtyard. The distant figure of Martool strode toward them. She was alone. She had no bodyguards with her. Although it wasn't always easy for humans to visually gauge the emotions of anouks, she was clearly enraged. With a set jaw, Ross immediately descended the steps to block Martool from approaching his people. Debbi slipped into pace behind him.
The two Rangers leaped to the bottom of the steps just as the anouk shaman reached them.
"How dare you!" Martool faced Ross with unconcealed fury.
"I don't have time right now," Ross responded. "Fareel and his boys are about to whipsaw a Legion division."
Martool brushed past Ross and set her foot on the bottom step. "I am going to recall my warriors. Then I will deal with you."
Ross grabbed Martool's arm and spun her around.
Debbi audibly gasped. There was a snap of energy and Ross sailed fifty feet through the air. He landed heavily in the dirt. The Ranger scrambled to his feet apparently unhurt. Debbi angled herself between Martool and Ross with arms raised.
"Stop it!" Debbi shouted. "Martool, Fareel went of his own accord; Ross had no way to force him. And he's winning!"
Ross towered over Debbi's shoulder, snarling. He clutched his numb right arm to his chest.
"At least Fareel is doing something!" the enraged veteran Ranger yelled at the anouk shaman. "You could learn something from him."
Martool stared at Ross. "It is none of your concern what I am doing to fight the Legion. I no longer have a War Council and the fact that I have to worry about you undermining my authority with my warriors is not making it any easier. You have endangered this entire city."
Ross was about to reply, but Martool suddenly turned her head and stared toward the massive sun gate. Her face was a mask of alarm that silenced the Ranger's retort before it was spoken.
"What is it?" Debbi asked.
"Something bad." Martool climbed the steps to the parapet of the wall.
Ross didn't try to stop her. He and Debbi followed her to the battlements. The wind slapped their faces as they peered over the wall at the still-raging battle.
Martool pointed down to the ground just outside the sun gate. It was a difficult angle to see clearly from the parapets because the gate was recessed two feet into the thick wall and the area in front of the gate was in deep shadow. It took several moments for human eyes to adjust. Finally Debbi saw the earth thirty feet below and she saw that it was churning.
"What the hell is that?" Ross growled from beside her.
Arms protruded from the earth and bodies rose up. Figures struggled out of the ground, dirt falling away. Five, then ten dead people shoved dirt aside and climbed out of holes in the ground. They carried tools, shovels particularly, which they dropped as they emerged from the earth. They all approached the gate and laid hands on it.
They began to glow with fierce energy.
"Sappers!" Ross exclaimed. "I don't believe it. Quantrill, you son of a bitch!" He leaned over the top of the wall and aimed awkwardly at the Legionnaires at the gate. He yelled back at the Rangers, "Open fire! At the gate!"
The Rangers all craned over the wall and tried to fire down on the figures at the gate. Miller, Fitz, and Chennault ran across the footbridge that spanned the top of the gate and took positions on the far side. It was hard to see the targets, but the telltale shimmering of a force screen over their heads made it clear the needles were not hitting.
"Grenades!" Ross shouted.
The line of Rangers pumped high explosive grenades into the Hellrazors and fired down at the Legionnaires. The ground blossomed red with multiple explosions. Debbi felt the hot backwash and her ears rang.
When the smoke cleared, the troopers were still standing. The screen had not been breached.
And the sun gate was beginning to glow.
"Again!" Ross pumped another grenade into his pulse rifle.
Down the line, Miller screamed and pulled his weapon back over the wall. His eyes were wide. He pulled the trigger and swung the barrel of the Hellrazor in an arc. Shells sprayed across the parapet. The sykers had him in a brainlock, a tough feat at this distance.
"Miller's lost it! Get down!" Debbi fell back against Ross. She felt his left arm encircle her and yank her down. With her free hand, she grabbed Martool's arm and pulled her with them. She felt the pinch of tannis shrapnel as bullets pockmarked the wall above her.
Debbi heard screams and shouts from behind as surprised Rangers stood transfixed or dived for cover. She struggled to bring her heavy Hellrazor up as Miller completed the deadly arc. She didn't want to shoot Miller, but she would.
Fitz lunged awkwardly at the mind-controlled Ranger, but missed. Chennault dropped her own pulse rifle and, in a blur, grabbed the barrel of Miller's Hellrazor just as it came to bear on her. The rifle continued to fire along the side of her ribcage until she gave it a vicious twist and pulled it from Miller's hands. She lifted the Hellrazor and rammed the butt back into Miller's face. His head snapped back and he stood stupidly for a second. Then he collapsed.
Chennault offered an exhausted smirk. "I've always wanted to do that." Then she reached down to help Fitz regain his feet.
Ross crawled out from under Debbi and checked Martool. The anouk shaman was unhurt. He shouted up and down the line, "Who's hit?"
"Ngoma's down!" Ringo knelt next to the unconscious Ranger.
Tsukino hurried over and checked him. He called back to Ross, "He's hurt bad."
"Take him to a tent," Ross said. "You and Ringo. Go!"
Martool held up her hand and went to Ngoma. "I will help him. Keep your men here."
Ross immediately commanded, "Ringo, Tsukino! Back on the line!"
Debbi ran across the narrow footbridge to the far side of the gate. Her legs tingled from the energy pouring up from the sappers. Chennault was examining Miller whose face was covered in blood.
Debbi asked, "Did you kill him?"
Chennault said, "Nah. He'll be fine. That pretty boy nose'll never be the same though."
Debbi pointed to the burns along Chennault's ribs. "Are you all right?"
The stocky, blonde, ex-Marine glanced down at the marks and probed them curiously with her finger. "Oh. Yeah."
"Can you get Miller down?"
"Sure." Chennault was only 5'3", but she had enormous strength. She lifted the deadweight Miller over her shoulder and started down. "I should roll you down these steps, you weak-minded bastard."
Debbi heard Stew's voice crackle in her ear. "Ross. Stew. Bad news."
Ross responded, "Go ahead."
"I make about half the Legion moving up toward your position."
Ross sensed a ripple of fear moving through all the Rangers. They paused and looked at each other. He forced himself to resume firing over the wall at the sappers below without a facial response to Stew's report.
"How long, Stew?" he asked flatly.
"First wave ought to be there any minute. The main body is backed up on the trails, but they're coming. I'll do what I can to hold them up."
Debbi ran back to the footbridge, but something caught her attention before she could cross. She looked down into the deep avenue. She felt heat pouring up and saw the unimaginable. The great tannis gate glowed with an odd violet sheen. The stone was sweating beads of molten rock.
The sun gate was melting.
/>
Chapter 25
"Ross," Debbi shouted over the comlink. "The gate is melting!"
Ross looked at her from across the gap and then moved to the side of the avenue chasm. He stared at the bleeding gate without emotion.
Ross climbed to the battlements again and knelt beside Martool where she attended Ngoma. "Martool, you better pull Fareel's troops outta there. We've got half the Legion coming. And the gate's about to go. Take Ngoma and Miller and get to safety. The Rangers will cover here as long as we can and give you time to get your defenses up."
Martool eyed him impassively and returned to Ngoma.
Ross said louder, "Did you hear me?"
"I heard you, Captain Ross. It is being done."
Ngoma's eyes fluttered open and he appeared as if he'd just awakened from a sudden nap. He looked around with embarrassment. He reached quickly for his weapon and struggled to stand up.
"Sorry," he said to Ross. "I don't know what happened."
"Easy, Ngoma. You all right?"
Martool stood. "Your man is fit."
The young man studied his bloodied tunic with detached interest. "Back on the line?"
Ross jerked his head toward the wall and the Ranger scrambled eagerly up to the parapet.
"Thanks," Ross said to Martool. "But you better get outta here. It's gonna get pretty hairy in a few minutes."
"We must all leave here. The sun gate precinct is being evacuated. In a few moments this part of my city will become Legion territory."
Ross didn't note any open accusation in her tone. But her words were clear enough. He said, "We'll hold the gate and cover the evacuation."
"No! You must all leave now!"
"What is your problem? First you don't want us here. Then you don't want us fighting. Now you don't want us dying?"
Martool stepped closer to the querulous human, towering over the Ranger and glaring down at him. She pointed a long, nailed finger over his shoulder. "I don't want her to die. She cannot die in this unclean place. I do not care about you. But she does as you do, for reasons I cannot fathom."
Ross knew she was pointing at Debbi even without glancing over his shoulder.
Oblivious to the argument, Debbi stood at the battlements, firing into the Legionnaires. Fitz was at her side now. On the battlefield, Fareel's cavalry was disengaging. Their retreat was fleet, but still left them open to a withering fire from the battered Legion squads. The Rangers did what they could to keep the undead busy ducking and picking their bullet-riddled cadavers off the ground.
Debbi turned her head to the left to watch impatiently as Ross continued to argue with Martool. At least she assumed they were arguing even though there was no shouting and arm waving. Ross turned briefly and looked at Debbi before turning back to Martool. Whatever the discussion was about, this was no time for colliding egos. There should be no argument about what to do now; it was perfectly clear.
The gate was about to collapse.
Hectic movement filled the city behind the courtyard. Adult and young anouks scurried along the tops of walls, through corridors, over bridges, moving themselves and their possessions and animals away from the sun gate. Martool should be with them; there was nothing she could do here, and without her, Castle Rock would perish. The Rangers would hold the line for as long as they could, giving the anouks time to move their civilians to safety and shore up their defenses.
What else was there to talk about?
"You think this is it for us?" Fitz asked suddenly.
Debbi looked at him in surprise. She saw a placid, accepting grin on his face.
"I don't know," she replied.
"There's a Hoss sitting right there." Fitz stroked the tannis breastplate that he still wore. "But we wouldn't just bug out and leave these people open like that, would we? I mean, if those zombies get past us, it's all over for these anouks. Right?"
They both saw the Stallion sitting empty in the courtyard 200 yards away, in the middle of the Rangers' makeshift camp. The vehicle was certainly large enough to pack all the Rangers in for an escape.
Debbi nodded.
"It's like the Alamo back on Earth." Fitz looked thoughtful. "There's a couple of us. There's a bunch of them."
Debbi asked, "Everybody in the Alamo died, didn't they?"
"Well, sure. But they went down in history."
Debbi pondered silently. Then she said, "But the way history gets written, I just have a terrible feeling Miller will come out the hero of this whole thing."
"Yeah," Fitz muttered, "I hate to think of all those poor, little children reading about Miller in school."
Ross's voice came over the com. "Chennault. Load Miller in the back of the Hoss. Then fire it up. We're getting out."
Debbi and Fitz exchanged shocked looks.
Martool left Ross's side and descended quickly toward the courtyard as he continued staring out over the battlefield. Fareel and his anouk warriors were nearly gone from the field. Twenty or thirty dead chanouks and a few dead warriors who had not been retrieved by their clansmen were scattered among the reforming units of the undead Legion. The Legionnaires were grouping themselves again into orderly squads. Unharried now, they turned their full force at the wall. The Rangers kept shooting, but it was next to useless as the undead sykers returned to their effective fire and screen rotation.
Debbi immediately raced across the footbridge that vibrated with energy. She felt as if the soles of her boots would melt from the heat. She ran to Ross on the battlements.
"What are we doing?" Debbi asked breathlessly. "This gate's coming down. The Legion will be inside the walls soon. We can't abandon these people. Not after everything Martool has done for us! She saved you and me. And she saved Hallow. And now Ngoma! I know you hate her, but we owe her! We've got to hold the line here. There are children beyond those walls and the Legion will kill them and eat them! Do you understand that? Are you listening to me?"
Ross had his face pressed against the stock of his Hellrazor, taking aim at the undead below. He squeezed the trigger and studied the futile result.
"You finished?" Ross asked her quietly.
Debbi didn't answer.
He said, "Then get your ass down to that Hoss and help Chennault. We're pulling out."
"No."
"What did you say?" Ross eyed her over the butt of the pulse rifle.
"I said no."
Debbi held Ross's gaze. Even through the din of battle, she heard his breath hissing in and out. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ringo watching them with his mouth open in shock.
Ross maintained an even voice. "This is Martool's idea. She wants us out of the way."
Debbi quickly glanced at the anouk shaman who was crossing the courtyard alone. It was Debbi's nature to believe Ross without question. But that surety had come under fire. She saw his eyebrows flinch the barest fraction of an inch. His eyes momentarily betrayed a subtle shock as he read the doubt in her face.
For Ross, the shock didn't come from the fact Debbi questioned his orders; she had done that many times. Rather it was because she doubted his truthfulness, and perhaps even his courage. It was a unique and alarming experience and what surprised him most in that split second he saw the shadow of suspicion cross her face, something he had never seen in her before, was that his reflection in her eyes mattered so much to him.
Ross's fleeting reaction caused Debbi's breath to catch. She instantly realized she had been wrong and he had caught her in it. She saw a glimmer of hurt and doubt in his demeanor. It was slight, but on someone as naturally guarded as Ross it stood out like a gaping wound.
"Ross, I . . ."
"Go help Chennault prep the Hoss." He resumed sighting down the barrel of his rifle. "We don't have much time."
She ran down the steps to the courtyard. Chennault emerged from the rear compartment of the Stallion where she'd just deposited the still-unconscious Miller.
Chennault said, "You fly. I'll keep loading crap in the back."
Debbi didn't answer. She just opened the driver's door and climbed up. She paused to gaze over the roof of the vehicle at Martool as she passed through the graveyard and disappeared into a passageway nearly a quarter of a mile away. When the door closed behind anouk shaman, it seemed to vanish into the wall. The courtyard was deserted, but windows and gaps in the interior walls showed many anouks still scurrying to get clear of the area.
Debbi jammed her Hellrazor beside her seat and settled behind the controls. She fired up the engines and felt them thrumming through her body. The Ranger checked the loads in the cannons while slipping on the targeting headset and pulling the lens down over her eye.
"They're coming in!" she heard blared through her headset.
The area around the gate surged with violet energy that poured up from the avenue.
Ross pulled away from the parapet and shouted. "Get to the trench!"
The Colonial Rangers bounded down the steps and took positions along the stair-stepped edges overlooking the entryway. They aimed down, eyes squinting against the waves of heat.
The heavy wooden blocks of the gate burst into flame. The tannis reinforcements sweated and dripped like ice cubes in a furnace. The dribble of liquid tannis turned into a flow, pouring into the avenue. Blasts of energy finally slammed through the melting gate and punched gaping holes in it. Through those gaps, the Rangers saw Legionnaires forming up outside, preparing to surge in once the gate fell.
Ross said into his com, "Chennault, forget the equipment. We need your gun up here. Dallas, get that Hoss going."
"I'm ready when you are," Debbi replied.
Pieces of flaming wood crumbled and soft tannis sagged like putty. The front rank of Legionnaires used their telekinetic powers to shove the molten tannis aside, clearing paths for the undead troopers to sweep through.
The Rangers opened fire. Troopers could only squeeze through the demolished gate a few at a time. Their squad-based shield and fire scheme was useless here. It was every dead man for himself. Those Legionnaires who generated personal defense shields found their screens woefully inadequate to protect them against the slugging power of the Rangers' Hellrazors. The heavy shells often penetrated the troopers' shields completely or at least slammed them to the ground. With their shields shattered, the zombies were vulnerable to the black guns and the Rangers poured down a thick rain of needles on them. Legionnaires froze. Hellrazors spat lead, blowing holes in decayed torsos and scoring occasional head shots. Chennault joined the line and added her sharp eye and steady hand to the shooting gallery.
Banshee Screams Page 60