They were running parallel to the castle walls, through a field that was a spinehide of arrowshafts. He pressed the firing stud, swept the beam out from below the boat. There was plenty of water under that dried cover; it exploded in steam as the beam passed over it.... But further out, the wide dispersion wasn't doing much. It would be another few seconds before he'd have a good shot at the hapless packs. Time for the little suspicions. So how come the enemy had muzzle-loading cannon? Those they must have made themselves -- in a world with no evidence of firearms. Steel was the classic medieval manipulator; Pham had spotted the type from a thousand light-years out. They were doing the critter's dirty work, that was obvious. Shut up. Deal with Steel later. Slanting in on the packs, Pham fired again, sweeping through living flesh this time. He fired ahead of them and on the castle side; maybe they wouldn't all die. He stuck his head further into the slipstream, trying for a better view. Ahead of the packs was a hundred meters of open field, a single pack of four and -- a human figure, black-haired and slim, jumping and waving. Pham smashed the barrel up against the hull, safing it at the same time. The back flash was a surge of heat that crisped his eyebrows. "Blueshell,
复件 (98) air max! Get us down! Get us down!" .Delete this paragraph to shift page flush CHAPTER 39 "A bad understanding. She was lied to." Ravna tried to read something behind the voice. Steel's Samnorsk was as creaky as ever,
mbt m.walk black, the tones childish and whiny. He sounded no different than before. But his story was stretched very thin by what had just happened. He was either a galaxy master of impudence -- or his story was actually true. "The human must have been hurt,
mbt shoes black, then lied to by Woodcarver. This explains a lot, Ravna. Without her, Woodcarver could not attack. Without her, all may be safe." Pham's voice came to Ravna on a private channel. "The girl was unconscious during part of the ambush,
mbt tembea mink, Rav. But she practically scratched my eyes out when I suggested she might be wrong about Steel and Woodcarver. And the pack with her is a lot more convincing than Steel." Ravna looked questioningly across the deck at Greenstalk. Pham didn't know she was here. Tough. Greenstalk was an island of sanity amidst the madness -- and she knew the OOB infinitely better than Ravna. Steel spoke into her hesitation: "See now, nothing has changed, except for the better. One more human lives. How can you doubt us? Speak to Jefri; he understands. We have done the best for the children in ..." a gobbling noise, and (another?) voice said, "coldsleep." "Certainly, we must speak to him again, Steel. He's our best proof of your good intentions." "Okay. In a few minutes, Ravna. But see, he is also my good protection against treachery from you. I know how powerful you Visitors are. I ... fear you. We need to --" gobbling consultation "-- accommodate each other in our fears." "Um. We'll work something out. Just let us speak to Jefri now." "Yes." Ravna switched channels. "What do you think,
mbt shoes sirima, Pham?" "There's no question in my mind. This Johanna is not a naive kid like Jefri. We've always known Steel was a tough critter. We just had some other facts wrong. The landing site is in the middle of his territory. He's the killer." Pham's voice became quieter, almost a whisper. "Hell of it is, this may not change anything. Steel does have the ship. I've got to get in there." "It will be another ambush." "... I know. But does it matter? If we can get me time with the Countermeasure,
mbt swala sandals, it could be -- it will be -- worth it." What matter a suicide mission within a suicide mission?