*Tem kra'ith (unpleasant)——(?)*
Dorland turned back to Elli. "Yes, unpleasant. What do you know about the Tern kra'ithT'
*Tem kra'ith (group/touch) nevermore——dark
edge*
"Let's move back," Paul said. He couldn't think with the constant intrusion of Elli's thoughts.
"Was that—?" Frakes rubbed his head. "It seemed like . . ."
"She's telepathic," Paul said. "Or close to it." He turned to Karyn. "If we can't reach the tubes, we'll have to find another way out of here."
"There isn't another way out," Karyn said.
"Anyway, we have a bigger problem."
"They're bringing another floater," Jacque said.
"It'll get here first. With that big gun, it'll pound this old building to pieces."
"And knives and a single burp gun won't stop it," Karyn pointed out.
"What's a floater?" Frakes wanted to know.
"Combat car," Paul answered.
"Like the one we commandeered?"
Paul nodded.
"I was afraid of that." Frakes chewed his lower lip. Then: "Maybe another combat car can stop it." Paul knew immediately what he was suggesting.
"Can you do it?"
"I can give it a try," Frakes said. "But there's no way I'll be able to drive and shoot at the same time."
It took Frakes a few minutes to get the combat car's engines started, then a few more to maneuver it a hundred meters down the narrow road to the
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intersection of the broader roadway that led from the temple. From the building's roof they had verified that this was the most likely route the other car would take.
Paul gripped the arms of his seat as the car bucked and roared. Frakes was positioning it in a way that would allow him to turn quickly if he had to and head down the other roadway on a parallel course with the river. He was hoping to get the first strike and disable the other car before they were spotted, but if that didn't work they might need a fast way out.
After the roar of the fans had died down to an idle, Frakes looked over at the weapons board and said, "Got it figured out?"
"I think so." Paul had taken a few minutes to sort out the panel as well as he could. His early Guard training was enough to give him some idea of how the car's weapons system had been designed. The primary armament consisted of a heavy, swivelmounted cannon to fire forward over the hatchway, and similar guns, also swivel-mounted, on each side to cover the flanks and rear. The antipersonnel nozzles were lower down near the skirts. The controls for the weapons seemed straightforward enough, although Paul wouldn't be sure he'd gotten them clear in his mind until the time came to use them.
"Now that we're here," Frakes said, "maybe you can give me an idea of who we're up against."
"Deacpns," Paul answered. "And Sons of God." Frakes hunched down into a more comfortable position in the driver's seat. "They're part of the Holy Order?"
Paul hesitated, then decided Frakes had earned a right to know whom he was fighting. He kept his sentences brief and to the point, and got through his explanation in a few minutes.
When he finished, Frakes jerked a thumb toward William Greenleaf
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the building on the riverbank. "That thing I saw was a Tal Tahir?"
"We haven't been able to find out for sure. Communicating with her is a little difficult—" Then Paul's attention went to the forward
vidscreen, where he could see a cloud of dust rising out along the roadway. Frakes saw it, too, and fell silent. A few minutes later Paul heard a distant roar, and the combat car came swaying down the narrow road. It passed over the small stream, fans blasting its surface into a fine mist.
"Get the big one ready," Frakes said. The cannon had no automatic aiming mechanism. Paul sighted the other car in the cross hairs, then pressed the orange bar. The car bucked, and a missile exploded in front of the other car, throwing up rocks and dirt.
"Damn!" Frakes muttered.
The combat car came to an abrupt halt, and the cannon swiveled around. The muzzle blossomed orange light. The building beside Paul and Frakes exploded into pink fragments. Paul used the double handgrips to steady the gun while he watched the targeting cross hairs. He hit the orange bar again. Dust and reddish-brown stone erupted a few meters behind the other car.
"I take it you didn't get too many ribbons on the gunnery range," Frakes observed.
The other car wallowed as if the driver were trying to decide what to do. Then it came straight on down the road. Paul adjusted the range and pressed the bar again. A tone sounded from the weapons board. A telltale glowed red.
"Any idea what that means?" he yelled.
"No, but I don't like it—"
The car shuddered from a glancing blow. The vidscreens blanked, then came back on. Paul lined up the cannon and pressed the bar again, but nothing happened. It was clear now that the cannon
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179
had either jammed or was out of ammunition. There was no time to figure out what to do about it. Frakes had already reached the same conclusion. The fans screamed to life as he backed the car around behind a collapsed domed structure, then roared off along the road on a course following the river. On the aft vidscreen, Paul could see the other car turning sluggishly to come after them. Light flashed from the nose cannon. Frakes slid around a corner onto another road, pulverizing a domed structure. Debris flew all around them. The car took a hit and skidded around in a half circle. When Frakes jammed his foot on the pedals, a heavy shudder ran through the car.
"Portside fans are out!" he yelled. "She won't go." The domed structure in front of them exploded in fragments, and part of it rained down over the car. The car lurched again as the fans revved. Then it slammed to the ground. Frakes cursed, already unbuckling his harness.
"We'll have to run for it!" he yelled. Paul knew Frakes was right, but he also knew they didn't have much chance of escaping that combat car on foot.
They waited for the next blast. As the ground behind the car churned into dust, Paul scrambled through the hatchway and down over the skirts. Frakes was close on his heels. A missile blossomed against the side of the car, and the concussion slammed Frakes to the ground. He was up and running an instant later. He ducked around the pile of rubble behind which Paul had taken cover. They waited, watching the approaching car. It skimmed over the road, throwing up thick clouds of dust.
"They don't know where we are," Frakes said, breathing hard. The car slid closer. Frakes withdrew a handgun from his belt holster and handed it to Paul.
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"Cover me," he said. "If anyone sticks his head out of that hatchway, blow it off." He had taken out another gun, which he gripped in his bloody hands.
"What are you—"
But Frakes was already scrambling up onto the roadway. He jumped for the combat car as it slid past and pulled himself up over the skirts. The car jerked to a stop and the antipersonnel nozzle sputtered. But it was too late. Frakes reached forward, grasped the hatchcover and yanked it open. He fired his gun directly into the cockpit. The sputtering sound of the weapon was punctuated by a hoarse scream.
Chapter Seventeen
THE BUILDING'S ROOF WAS FLAT AND SQUARE AND
had the appearance of a sheet of reddish-brown stone. The crumbled edges curved down to vertical walls that dropped ten meters to the ground. The spire was a thick white column curving upward from the center of the roof to reach a height of twenty meters before it ended in a jagged break. Paul was on his knees near the edge of the roof, looking out toward the roadway. By the time he and Erich Frakes had reached the shelter of the building, the deacons and Sons of God who had followed the combat car on foot were close behind them. Even though he couldn't see them from the roof, Paul knew they were out there now, probably putting their plans together. Sabastran was sure the boys would be the first wave of attack.