The gunner never got a second shot. Spadafora's slingshot snapped again, and through the flames Judas saw a tiny explosion inside the bunker directly behind the muzzle. The weapon tilted sharply upward and slid back out of sight.
And then, deep in the bunker's darkness, Judas saw a faint glow suddenly appear.
"It's open!" Lathe snapped. "Mordecai?"
"Got it," Mordecai said. He stepped through the flames right up to the side of the bunker, his shield with its trailing heat-sink metal ribbon gripped horizontally in his hands. Slipping the edge of the shield into the firing slit, he ducked his head and peered around its side into the interior. Then, with a precise, sharp movement, he shoved the shield into the bunker.
"Half a meter back," Spadafora said, also ignoring the flames as he peered through the slit on the bunker's other side.
"Half a meter back," Mordecai repeated, taking hold of the end of the metal ribbon now trailing out the slit. Carefully, he pulled a half meter of it back toward him.
"That's it," Spadafora said. Stepping back away from the fire, he raised his slingshot, crouching a little as he continued to peer into the bunker.
"Let's move it," Lathe said. He had pulled a soft-looking pouch from his pack and was busily stuffing it into one end of Spadafora's firing slit. "Caine, you want a look?"
"Already figured this one out, thanks," Judas assured him as he nevertheless stooped for a quick look.
Between the fire and the primer caps, the blackcollars had succeeded in driving the Ryqril gunners in from their bunker ... and when they'd opened their door to retreat, Mordecai had shoved his shield in across the floor to block it open.
Sure enough, through the smoke he could see the half-open door and the ready room beyond it. A couple of Ryqril were also visible, frantically working at a small control box on the wall just inside the door.
Spadafora's slingshot snapped, and the aliens shied back as the box exploded in a shower of sparks.
"I got the controls," Spadafora reported, returning the slingshot to his belt and pulling out a soft pouch of his own.
"There'll be a backup system," Judas warned as he stepped back out of the flames.
"Right, but now they'll have to go and find it," Lathe pointed out as he pulled a small igniter from his belt and flipped it open. "By the time they do, we'll hopefully be inside. Spadafora?"
"Clear," Spadafora said, stepping back from the bunker.
"Clear," Mordecai added, his nunchaku ready in his hand.
"Clear, and fire," Lathe said. Turning half away, he squeezed the igniter.
There were a pair of muffled explosions; and the entire front of the bunker shattered and collapsed into the flames. Mordecai was through the gaping hole even before the wall had finished coming down, darting across the bunker and ducking through the half-open door into the ready room. Lathe was right behind him, half pulling Judas along.
There was, as it turned out, no need for haste. By the time Judas squeezed through the door, the fight was already over.
"Hell," he murmured, looking around at the five crumpled Ryqril bodies sprawled on the ready room floor. Mordecai, standing over them with his nunchaku cocked under his arm, wasn't even breathing hard.
"Very much so," Lathe agreed. "Anyone get out?"
Mordecai shook his head. "Sounds like most of them are waiting for us outside the mantrap foyer," he said. "I guess they were expecting us to come in the front door."
"We'd better clear them out," Lathe decided. "We don't want to leave them at our back while we're trying to get into the monitor room."
Judas felt his chest tighten. Galway, Haberdae, and Taakh were supposed to be watching the operation from the monitor room. "I thought we were going to the main core," he said.
"We'll get there soon enough," Lathe assured him. "But first things first. Let's go clear out the backtrail."
Behind Galway, the door slid open. He spun around, tensing; but it was only Haberdae. "Where have you been?" he demanded as the door slid shut again. "There's some kind of alarm going off."
"I know," Haberdae said calmly, glancing up at the silently flashing warning lights as he crossed the room. "From the commotion down the western corridor, I'd say your blackcollars have entered the building."
Galway glanced at the displays, most of them still showing nothing but static. "Did you see them?"
"Fortunately, that wasn't the direction I was coming from," Haberdae said. Leaning over one of the techs, he flipped up an orange safety cover and turned a knob over. "I was down near the south door, talking with Taakh."
"About what?" Galway asked, frowning at the knob Haberdae had just turned. "What did you just do?"
"Like I said, I'm making us all safer," Haberdae said. "Taakh and I had a quick discussion while he was getting his warriors ready, and we agreed that letting Lathe find a way into the building was all we really needed. We don't actually need him to get all the way to the core."
Abruptly, his face hardened. "Did you really think this was your ticket to fame and fortune?" he bit out.
"Hitching your future to a group of blackcollars?"
Galway's throat felt suddenly tight. "Prefect, what did you do?" he asked carefully.
"You're a very little man, Galway, from a very little world," Haberdae went on, ignoring the question.
"How you sold the Ryqril on this piece of froth I'll never know. But the only thing it's going to get you is a one-way ticket back to your private dirtball."
"What did you do?" Galway demanded.
"I activated the autotarget defense lasers in the corridor out there," Haberdae said, waving behind him.
"Your buddy Lathe gets five meters from that door and he's a cinder. Oh, put that down—we both know you can't use it on me."
Galway hadn't even realized he'd lifted Taakh's laser into firing position. "Taakh agreed to let them get to the core," he said, lowering the laser.
"And now he's changed his mind," Haberdae said. "He's a khassq, remember? He has the authority to change or modify general orders when circumstances require."
Galway felt his stomach tighten. "So that's why you supported me last night when I asked Taakh to let me be here today."
Haberdae shrugged. "I thought that in the heat of combat it might be easier to get him to see things my way."
"Your way being a little private vengeance?"
"Private?" Haberdae shook his head. "Hardly. These blackcollars aren't some advanced weapons system for us to use, something you can simply point and shoot. They're unpredictable, they're damned dangerous, and the sooner they're eliminated the better it'll be for the Ryqril and everyone else in the universe."
"They're a valuable resource," Galway insisted. "Haven't you been paying attention? I've proved I can maneuver Lathe into doing a job without him ever knowing he's actually working for the Ryqril. If you and Taakh get him killed, any chance of doing that again will be gone."
"There are other blackcollars around the TDE," Haberdae said. "I'm sure the high command can find someone else for you to play your mind games with if they really want to continue this insanity."
"But Lathe's the best."
Haberdae's face settled into a mask. "He made me look bad, Galway," he ground out. "In front of my men, and in front of the Ryqril. No one does that and gets away with it. No one."
"Prefect—"
"And don't even think about going near that control," Haberdae added. "I have direct orders from the ranking Ryq warrior on the scene. I can flatten you if you try to go against me."
Stepping to the monitor board, he snagged a spare chair and pulled it to a spot behind the row of techs.