For the moment it felt quiet, as if nothing was wrong. Then ahead of them, a few hundred meters down the long interior street, a massive Phantom floated through the roof, blocking their way entirely.

  “Is that a Meta?” Ryan asked.

  Gray looked stunned. “Didn’t know they were this far east.”

  “Looks like they are now,” Jane said.

  Neil slid the vehicle to a stop.

  “Behind us!” Jane shouted.

  Aki looked around. Another huge Phantom had blocked off the direction they had just come, and was moving toward them slowly, half its body outside the roofline of the building. They were trapped, of that there was no doubt. And Aki had no idea what Gray was going to decide to do.

  “Okay?” Neil asked. “Now what?”

  Gray looked at the Phantom blocking their way ahead, then at the one coming up from behind. Aki watched him study the side of the building closest to them. There were no windows or doors in it. On the other side of the street was another glass window looking out over the transit tracks. That way was blocked for sure, from the crashed escape pod.

  From what she could tell, the building without windows and doors was part of the main transit station. Jane had said the military hangar where the Black Boa was stored was on the other side of that wall.

  “We’re going through,” Gray said.

  Neil pointed at the wall in front of him. It was blank and looked pretty solid. “I don’t see no doors or windows.”

  “What?” Dr. Sid asked. “What are we doing?”

  “Captain,” Ryan said from beside Jane, “with all due respect …”

  “Excuse me, Captain,” Jane said, “but we’re running out of time here.”

  Aki glanced around. The huge Phantom was within a hundred meters of them and closing.

  “The transit station,” Gray said, pointing at the solid wall in front of the vehicle. “We’re going through it.”

  Neil nodded. “It’s the only way.”

  He jammed the vehicle into reverse and backed it almost against the window across the street from the station. To Aki’s left the shape of the Phantom seemed to fill everything, it was so close.

  “I gather this will be somewhat of a rough ride?” Dr. Sid asked.

  “Doc,” Neil said, gunning the jeep at the wall, “you do have a talent for understatement.”

  “Hang on!” Gray shouted.

  Aki again ducked behind the seat, bracing herself as best she could for the crash. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jane and Ryan in the open back of the jeep drop and do the same.

  The impact felt as if someone had slammed her against concrete instead of the back of a seat. Then, for a moment, everything was weightless as the jeep got through the wall and went airborne over the floor a good five meters below. Neil somehow managed to land the jeep almost on its wheels, bouncing everyone so hard Aki thought she was going to fly out.

  Then the vehicle spun like a circus ride, around and around on what turned out to be a slick, tile floor. Just when Aki thought it was all over, the jeep hit something hard and rolled once before coming to a stop on its wheels against a concrete barrier of some sort.

  For a long few seconds the dust and noise settled.

  Aki forced herself to take a deep breath before looking up in Gray’s worried face.

  “You all right?” he asked.

  She wasn’t sure, but she nodded anyhow. Nothing seemed broken, but after that pounding, she wouldn’t be surprised if half her body had been bruised.

  Neil pulled himself out from under the steering wheel. “Doc? Dr. Sid, are you all right?”

  Aki pulled herself up from the floor of the back seat

  with Gray’s help, using the front seat as a brace. Dr. Sid was moving, and as she watched, he sat up and looked around. “Interesting.”

  “Another understatement, Doc,” Neil said.

  “Anybody hurt?” Gray asked, looking around for Ryan and Jane.

  Jane was standing behind the jeep, her rifle at ready, watching the Phantom pass them beyond the wall. The room they had ended up in was massive and opened onto a huge hangar area. If they were lucky, the Black Boa would be very close by.

  Jane walked around to the hangar side of the jeep and her face went white. “Captain!”

  Gray jumped down and moved around to where she was standing. It took Aki a moment longer to follow.

  There, pinned under the wreckage of what was left of the front of the jeep, was Ryan. A metal bar stuck out of his lower abdomen, and his breathing was shallow. His legs were smashed under the front of the wreck. Aki knew instantly it was going to take some quick emergency care to save him.

  “Oh, God,” Neil said, moving to Ryan’s side. “Talk to me, Sarge.”

  Ryan looked up at Neil. “Ouch.”

  “Gimme a hand, Jane,” Neil said as he and Jane and Gray moved into position around Ryan. It looked as if they were going to try to lift the jeep off him and pull him from the metal bar that was sticking through him. Aki knew instantly that wasn’t going to work, but Dr. Sid spoke up before she could.

  “No, wait,” Dr. Sid said, moving as fast as he could to stop Gray. “You’re risking further injury. We need the

  proper tools to cut him out of there. Otherwise you might kill him.”

  “I’ve got the tools we would need in my ship,” Aki said.

  Gray nodded and stood.

  Dr. Sid turned and went back to the jeep. There he pulled out the emergency medical kit from the compartment under the dash.

  “No drugs,” Ryan said as he saw what Dr. Sid was doing.

  “Captain?” Dr. Sid asked, looking at Gray as he got a shot of painkiller ready.

  Gray looked at Ryan. Aki could sense the communication going on between them, even though neither man said a word. Finally Gray turned to Dr. Sid. “You heard the man.”

  Then Gray turned to Ryan. “We’ll find the ship and be back for you.”

  “I’ll stay with him,” Jane said.

  “Me, too,” Neil said.

  “Nobody’s staying,” Ryan said. “Just give me a gun.” Aki watched as Ryan made the mistake of trying to move. He winced in pain.

  Jane looked up at Gray.

  “You got it,” Gray said to Ryan. “Jane, give him a weapon.”

  Jane looked at Gray for a moment, clearly not liking the idea. Finally Gray said, “Just do it.”

  Jane moved around and yanked the big cannon off the back of the armored jeep. It was small enough for Ryan to handle in his position, yet had enough firepower to stop just about anything. She sat it up in

  front of Ryan on a tripod and then lightly patted his shoulder.

  Less than thirty seconds later they were ready to move.

  “We’ll be back for you, Sergeant,” Gray said, looking into the eyes of his wounded man. “You hear me?”

  Aki knew, at that moment, without a doubt, that Gray and the rest would risk their lives to return for Ryan. She just hoped he would still be alive when they did make it back. From the looks of his wounds, they were going to have to make it fast.

  “I hear you, Captain,” Ryan said. Then he looked up at Jane and Neil. “Now, get out of here. Go find something to cut me out of this mess.”

  Aki was impressed that Ryan managed to sound as upbeat as he did.

  “Let’s move, people,” Gray said, nodding to Ryan.

  He turned and headed off toward the open hangar area and the enclosed runway beyond.

  Aki stepped into position behind him, not daring to look back at Ryan. How Gray could do the things he had to do was beyond her. Clearly it was what made him a good leader.

  And it was going to take a good leader to get them all out of this dying city.

  chapter 1 8

  Gray made himself go slow and steady. He hated leaving Ryan like that, but rushing and getting the rest of them killed wouldn’t help Ryan at all. They would make it back for him. And Ryan knew it.

  Around them, the massive military hangar seemed to stretch into the distance. Smoke drifted through the building from a fire that engulfed what looked to be a crashed escape pod a few hundred meters away. A hole in the top of the building, where the pod had crashed through, was open to the sky. A runway-like area filled the center of the building, and dozens of aircraft and low-orbit transports, many clearly being worked on, lined both sides.

  But they weren’t looking for just any plane to take them out of here. Gray doubted if any of the ones he could see would even fly. They needed Aki’s ship, the Black Boa.

  In the distance down the runway the sound of gunfire pierced through the smoke. Someone was fighting back, for some reason. Gray couldn’t imagine why. More than likely they were just defending themselves. This city was lost. A good soldier knew when to fall back and regroup, and right now that was what he was hoping to do. Plus he and the Deep Eyes had to get Aki and Dr. Sid out of there, give their research a chance to work to stop this killing.

  “There it is!” Aki shouted, pointing back in the direction they had come and across the runway.

  Gray turned, half stunned. The drifting smoke had hidden the ship from them and they had almost walked past it.

  They all turned and ran toward the ship. The closer they got, the more Gray could see of its situation. Some sort of towing tractor equipment was connected to the underside of the ship. The tractor had clearly been used to bring the Black Boa into the hangar.

  The ship was parked off to one side of the runway, its tail in against the wall. It was sitting on what was called an airtray. An airtray was nothing more than a massive turntable, and at least a dozen ships besides the Black Boa were on this one. The airtray could be rotated so that any ship on the table was at the end of the runway and clear for take-off.

  Gray stared at how the ship was sitting. He knew without a doubt that, before they could get the Black Boa out, they were going to have to get that airtray turned into the right position somehow.

  Gray stopped and looked around as Aki went to a control panel on the landing strut of the ship. Behind

  him, though the smoke, he could see the control tower for this area of the hangar and airstrip. Someone was going to have to go up there and get the airtray turned and the ship into position.

  He tried to look down the runway in the direction of the hangar doors. There was no telling if the doors at the far end of the interior runway were open or not, since he couldn’t see them through the smoke. But Gray figured that if they had to, they could take their chances on smashing through the doors while in flight.

  With a loud bang, the platform lift on the underside of the Black Boa descended and all of them got on, Jane and Neil watching for any sign of Phantoms. So far none could be seen, but Gray had no idea if they were still visible or not, and the smoke filling the hangar wasn’t allowing for a long range of vision.

  As the lift took them up into the Black Boa’s cargo bay, the lights came on. At a glance, Gray could tell the ship was well-stocked for any contingency.

  “Hey, a quad-axle A.T.V.,” Neil said, moving over to what was commonly referred to as a Quatro. “This is good.”

  A Quatro was a like a giant bubble with four legs. The legs could be used as stands, and also had heavy—duty wheels on them. It had massive remote-controlled arms that Gray knew could lift that jeep off Ryan easily.

  “You’re right,” Dr. Sid said. “It could be used to retrieve Ryan and transport him here safely.” As he talked, Dr. Sid reached down and pulled out two empty ovo-energy packs from the side of the Quatro. He held them up for Gray to see. “We need to replace these spent fuel cells.”

  “I think I saw some crates just down the line with ovo-pacs in them,” Jane said.

  Gray glanced around as everyone turned to him for instructions. “All right, Jane,” he said, “check the hangar and find some ovo-pacs.”

  Jane nodded and headed for the lift.

  Gray turned to Neil. “Get us ready for take-off.”

  “You got it,” Neil said, heading for the cockpit of the ship.

  “Aki, you and Dr. Sid get that Quatro prepped, on the lift, and ready to go with anything needed to get Ryan. I’m going to go to the tower to rotate the airtray. Let’s do this thing and get the hell out of here.”

  “With pleasure,” Dr. Sid said.

  Aki looked at Gray as he moved to head down the lift. “Be careful.”

  “You, too,” Gray said.

  “Look what I found, Captain,” Jane said as Gray reached the ground. She was standing two transports down the runway from the Black Boa, beside a large crate filled with rows of glowing green ovo-packs.

  “Nice,” he said as he ran up to her position. “Cover me, then get them into the ship.”

  He made the run across the open runway and into the base of the control tower without a problem. Thirty stairs later he was in the control room for the massive hangar.

  It was a large space, with at least a dozen control stations. Four bodies lay slumped in different positions around the room, struck down by Phantoms before they could even move. Emergency power was still keeping the board lit and working. Gray just hoped emergency power also worked the airtray.

  Gray eased the body of a young man with blond hair out of his chair and to the floor, then took his position at the board. Across the runway he could see Jane emerge from the Black Boa and go back for a second load of ovo-packs.

  On the holographic images in front of him, Gray could see that the hangar door was open. Great. That was one problem solved. A couple of empty spaces on the holo-image showed where a few ships had made escapes.

  Gray touched the holo-image of the Black Boa, but nothing seemed to happen. “Neil, can you hear me?”

  Silence.

  He flipped a few more switches, trying to remember what little he knew about these control-tower panels. It wasn’t much. He’d only been in one of these rooms once before, and that was just for a social visit a few years back. But he was sure that the holo-images of the ships were control signals, including communications.

  With one switch he managed to get the emergency flood lights lit over the runway. From across the way Jane gave him a thumbs-up signal.

  Glancing down at the dead man beside him, Gray noticed the wireless headset the guy was wearing. He pulled it off the dead man’s head and put it on, adjusting it to fit. Then he again touched the holo-image of the Black Boa. “Neil, do you read me?”

  Neil’s voice came back clear and crisp. “Loud and clear, Captain. This baby will fly itself when you’re ready.”

  “Copy that,” Gray said.

  “Even got the flight path set,” Neil said. “Autopilot on. You can trigger it from there if you have to.”

  “Great. You know anything about these airtray controls?” Gray asked.

  “To your right,” Neil said. “On the face of the side panel you should find the master switch and a big dial.”

  Gray glanced down at where Neil indicated. The controls were clear and simple. Gray set the rotation, then again touched the holographic image of the Black Boa. With a loud clang the airtray started to turn, moving at least six different ships with it at the same time.

  “Beginning rotation,” Gray said.

  “Whoa!” Neil said. “Stop the airtray!”

  Gray instantly did as Neil said, hitting the off switch. The airtray stopped with another loud clanging sound.

  Neil studied the holo-images in front of him. “What’s wrong?”

  “We have a problem,” Neil said. “I’m reading the impound tractor still attached to the prow of the ship.”

  Gray instantly understood why Neil had stopped the rotation. He stood so he could get a better view out the window. Below him, through the smoke, he could see that the impound tractor was not sitting on the airtray, but on the runway. If they had kept going, they would have dragged the Black Boa sideways and into the ship beside it on the airtray.

  “Permission to go outside and detach the coupling,” Neil said. “I can’t seem to get it to work from here.”

  “Do it,” Gray said. “And make sure you have Jane with you. And keep your communications headset on.”

  “Copy that,” Neil said.

  Gray leaned forward and tried to see if Ryan was still moving and all right. He couldn’t tell. This entire situation was not looking good. One of his men was trapped under a jeep. Two scientists were working to get a Quatro running to save him, while his other two men prepared a ship so they could all escape into orbit.

  There was nothing he could do at the moment but sit and wait for the signal from Neil that the rotation of the airtray could continue.

  He looked around at the dead men, then out the control-tower window as Jane and Neil appeared on the Black Boa lift.

  Gray could hear Jane’s voice in the distance through Neil’s headset.

  “What’s the problem?” Jane asked as they hit the ground.

  “We’re still locked down,” Neil said, his voice coming through loud and clear to Gray. “We have to go uncouple the ship.”

  Through the smoke Gray could see Neil and Jane run to the impound tractor. Neil studied it for a moment while Jane stood guard.

  From where Gray was standing he couldn’t see any signs of Phantoms, but considering the dead men around him, they were not far away.

  There’s the problem,” Neil said. He mumbled something that Gray couldn’t hear clearly, then said, “Naturally, the controls are locked. Can’t ever be easy, can it?”

  Gray had to agree with that. For some reason, nothing was coming easy.

  “Jane,” Neil said as he worked, his voice clear to Gray in the tower, “let me ask you something.”

  Gray could not hear Jane’s response.

  “You think we’re going to get out of here alive?”

  Gray watched as suddenly Jane took a step away from Neil and pointed her weapon down the runway.

  “I mean,” Neil said, going on talking while he worked, “I wonder if anybody has gotten out. You think anyone has made it so far?”

  Gray followed the direction Jane was pointing. A number of Phantoms could be seen through the smoke, headed toward the Black Boa.

 

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