The chances of hitting an aircraft with rifle fire are remote. A miracle however appeared to have happened. The command ship was in difficulty; Sam’s shot had hit something vital. From his smile something he had aimed at. We watched it pass across the point, its rotors stabilizing wildly. Then it disappeared into the mist off the Point, fluttering out to sea and still losing height. “Reckon that’s taken their boss out of things!” said Sam.
It had also thrown the Troopers into the action mode. All of them were out of sight, leaving their charges huddled together at the edge of the wharf. Abandoning a task they disliked for one they knew and enjoyed. The crack of Sam’s rifle had been like the call of a bugle; they had faded into the underbrush as one man.
“What the hell are they doing?” asked Sam, perplexed at the loss of his targets. He looked over the edge of the roof.
A burst of fire whistled past his head and he dropped flat, his face suddenly white, looking at me.
“They’re good, Sam,” I said, in mixed pride and sadness. “Keep your head down!” A grenade arced up from the scrub to burst just short of the roof. “Now they know we’re up here. We’ve got to get out—fast.” I sent him and the rest of the group scrambling back through the hatch and down the ladder. I moved along the roof, waited until I saw the flash of another grenade being launched, and fired at the spot. A man half rose, then dropped at the same moment that his missile exploded farther along the roof. I crouched as the fragments sprayed over me, then ran for the hatch as half-a-dozen grenades came arcing up. I dropped through it as they began to go off, sweeping the roof with shrapnel. Well, that one shot had been worthwhile. They’d know they were up against real riflemen and they wouldn’t rush things.
In the Surveillance Center Judith was bent over the displays. She had slewed every external camera she could bring to bear toward the wharf and the Point. “Good shooting, Gavin!” she said as I arrived, panting, from the roof. “That one you hit looks as though he’s dead. And the rest are moving with great caution!” She laughed, with a cold pleasure that made my skin crawl. I glimpsed how faith can convert the kindest of men and women into killers. These Believers, these peaceful people, had been driven into a comer and were now intent on fighting their way out. For them this was just another of the fitness tests their Light used to try them out while on Earth, so It could decide whether they would be useful in Heaven. Good is no match for Evil unless it is ready to defend itself.
I moved beside her to study the screens. The fog had been swept away and in the bright sunshine the viewing was excellent. I could see nothing of the Troopers, only an occasional flash as they exchanged fire with our group covering the approach of the wharf. The girls were crouching together showing both strong nerves and good sense. The civilians were clustered around the ships, trying to persuade the crews to lift them out. I couldn’t see any brass among them, so the Troopers had probably been reenforced by three Generals and one Admiral.
“The girls are the threat,” I muttered.
“How do you mean?”
“As soon as the guards get formed up they’ll drive those girls toward the entrance. Use them as mobile cover.”
“That’s too horrible! How could they?”
“It’s standard practice.” I was too concerned with the situation to worry about whitewashing. “I wish to hell I could get a message to them.”
“What message?” Barbara had appeared at my elbow.
“I’d like to tell ’em to either scatter into the bush and accept a few casualties. Or to move back to the pad in one body and mingle with that gang of civilians. So they’ll be clear of grabs by the guard and out of our line of fire.”
“I’ll tell ’em to move back to the pad.” And Barbara was gone before I could stop her.
“Oh God!” said Judith. “She’ll get herself killed trying to impress you.”
“Impress me—hell! She’s glory-hunting.” And I ran after her.
I lost her in the main distribution hall, and only sighted her again after she had stripped down to her panties and was out on the wharf dodging between containers. I started after her and Enoch hauled me back. “You go out there you’ll get shot, Mister Gavin.”
“But Barbara—your daughter—!” She was breaking from cover, sprinting toward the prisoners.
“She’s banking on them not shooting at a girl.” The strength of his grip on my arm suggested he was not as confident as his daughter. Then it relaxed. “And they ain’t They think she’s a runaway running back now there’s shooting.” Barbara had arrived among the captives and presently the whole group began to move in an amoebalike fashion toward the chopper pad. A Trooper came out of the brush, tried to stop them, got nicked, and dived back to cover. The girls went flat as the subsequent volleys whistled over their heads, then started to crawl. When they were about half-way to the pad they rose together and ran. They were among the civilians before the chopper crews realized they were arriving.
I had only wanted the girls out of the way. Barbara had offensive ideas. Within seconds they were swarming into the cockpits of both ships. By the time they were ejected, both tail-rotors were fouled and neither was in shape for an immediate takeoff. The girls then started fighting the civilians and the chopper crews retreated into their ships, drawing their pistols and threatening anyone who approached.
I got back to the Surveillance Center to hear Midge calling on her com. At extreme range her voice was weak but readable. “I’ve picked up a survivor from that chopper which went into the sea. A bit battered. He’s safely roped. Won’t say who he is, but I think he’s one of their honchos.”
I looked at Judith. “Maybe we’ve got a hostage—if we can bring him here.”
“How can we get him across the wharf from the boat?” “Easy! We just have to drive those Troopers farther into the scrub so they can’t shoot up the wharf.” I went to the door. “Tell Midge to stand by offshore and come in when it’s safe.”
“And when will that be?”
“When we’ve driven those Troopers back. I’ll call when we have.” I ran down the stairs and across the hall to the tunnel where men and women were still struggling to shift containers so the gates could be closed.
I found Enoch and explained what was happening. “I need some volunteers to help me keep the wharf free of fire while Midge drops off her prisoner.”
“Volunteers? You need the best. I’ll go get ’em.” He disappeared among the containers and presently returned with a squad headed by Martha. “Here’re your volunteers. They know what you want and they’re willing to go out with you.” Willing perhaps, but no more eager than I was. In this kind of action everybody knows that somebody is going to die. We might not like it but we had to risk it. We had a chance of grabbing the enemy Number One. We had to drive the Troopers back so Midge could come alongside.
“Drive them back if you can. Give me covering fire if you can’t. Those bastards will have used up their grenades by now. So it’s rifle against rifle.”
Martha nodded, taking automatic command, and began to despatch each of her squad to take cover behind a different container. Before she disappeared herself she said, “Shout when you want us to start shooting.”
I went to hide behind the container projecting the farthest onto the wharf, trying to think of some way to save myself from having to run twenty meters while being shot at from a range of one hundred. Smoke? The wind would blow it away across the neck. Just as well or they’d have used it against us by now. Shove this container out to the edge of the wharf as a shield? The damned thing was off the rollers and immovable. Some other place for Midge to off-load her captive? There wasn’t one.