Text appeared below the screen that showed our position and that of the other planes. [You’re making yourself completely vulnerable. I’m not suggesting you attack, but landing and turning off your shields represents an unacceptable risk.] I shut off the comm, and quietly asked, “What would you suggest?” [If you have to appear vulnerable, lower [...]
As much as I might want to assume Sean was wrong on the grounds that he was talking, I wished we could fly away. Whatever I might think, Haley’s console had the flight controls for the moment, and unless I felt I should say something, she could make the decision without me. My console only [...]
Flick threw a ball into the main group of heavy bird bots as they began to run across the floor toward us. The ball punctured the bird bot’s chest, coming out the other side, and continuing through each bot behind it. I’d never known for sure what her power was, but it had something to [...]
Much like in the control room, the second floor mostly stayed together. Spots of concrete fell and the nearest section of floor simply bent downward toward us, giving us a view of storage rooms. A file cabinet slid sideways, and fell into the room, landing on the melted remains of the cloning tanks. It would [...]
The fan increased its power by the second. The whirring noise came from deeper in the building—possibly pulling it directly outside. That meant instead of being something that Rook’s people had done, it might be ours. Instead of drifting away, the smoke streamed toward the smashed door, pulled by the fan, but behind it came [...]
Casting a last look at the dead people on the floor, I ran. Only a few steps of the Rocket suit took me away from the scene, and that was good. I didn’t want to look at them. They’d probably died when I broke the barrier between the core and the rest of the base. [...]
Lightning hit the leader again, and while his body shook, the paralysis gun dropped out of his hand, falling to the roof with a clunk. Part of me hoped it still worked by the the time I could move. I planned to grab it. A more practical side of my mind hoped it had been [...]
He didn’t get up easily. He pushed himself up one hand at a time, swaying as he made it up on two legs. Taking an experimental step, he spied something on the roof, and bent over to get it—the automatic pistol. When he came up the second time, he seemed stronger. He stood up normally. [...]
I tried to dive to the right, but I’d already lost control of my legs. I crumpled, and fell to the roof of the building. I fell sideways, and then rolled halfway on to my back—”halfway” because I was mostly on my arm and right side of my back, and partly on my rocketpack. It [...]
Marcus followed them, lengthening his legs as he jumped, and stretching his arms to grab the ledge on the other side. His leap reminded me of a frog somehow. If it weren’t night, I could have blamed it on his green costume. I only recognized him because I knew he was coming, and because no [...]
