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John glanced at his ammo counter—half gone.
“Keep firing,” he ordered.
The alien kept up a stream of answering fire—energy blasts hammered into Sam, who fell to the deck,his weapon empty.
John charged forward and slammed his foot into the alien’s shield and knocked it out of line. He jammedthe barrel of his rifle into the alien’s screeching mouth and squeezed the trigger.
The armor-piercing rounds punctured the alien and spattered the back wall with blood and bits of bone.
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John rose and helped Sam up.
“I’m okay,” Sam said, holding his side and grimacing. “Just a little singed.” The reflective coating on hisarmor was blackened.
“You sure?”
Sam waved him away.
John paused over the remaining bits of the alien. He spotted a glint of metal, an armguard, and he pickedit up. He tapped one of three buttons on the device, but nothing happened. He strapped in onto hisforearm. Dr. Halsey might find it useful.
They entered the room. The large window was a half-meter thick. It overlooked a large chamber thatdescended three decks. A cylinder ran the length of the chamber and red light pulsed along its length,like a liquid sloshing back and forth.
Under the window, on their side, rested a smooth angled surface—perhaps a control panel? On itssurface were tiny symbols: glowing green dots, bars, and squares.
“That’s got to be the source of the radiation,” Kelly said, and pointed to the chamber beyond. “Theirreactor . . . or maybe a weapons system.”
Another alien marched near the cylinder. It spotted John. A silver shimmer appeared around it. Itscreeched and wobbled in alarm, then scrambled for cover.
“Trouble,” John said.
“I’ve got an idea.” Sam limped forward. “Hand me those warheads.” John did as he asked, so did Kelly.“We shoot out that window, set the timers on the warheads, and toss them down there. That should startthe party.”
“Let’s do it before they call in reinforcements,” John said.
They turned and fired at the crystal. It crackled, splintered, then shattered.
“Toss those warheads,” Sam said, “and let’s get out of here.”
John set the timers. “Three minutes,” he said. “That’ll give us just enough time to get topside and getaway.”
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He turned to Sam. “You’ll have to stay and hold them off. That’s an order.”
“What are you talking about?” Kelly said.
“Sam knows.”
Sam nodded. “I think I can hold them off that long.” He looked at John and then Kelly. He turned andshowed them the burn in the side of his suit. There was a hole the size of his fist, and beneath that, theskin was blackened and cracked. He smiled, but his teeth were gritted in pain.
“That’s nothing,” Kelly said. “We’ll get you patched up in no time. Once we get back—” Her mouthslowly dropped open.
“Exactly,” Sam whispered. “Getting back is going to be a problem for me.”
“The hole.” John reached out to touch it. “We don’t have any way to seal it.”