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the stubby disk turned its teeth toward the sky.
Tinngggggg. Timtggggg. He waited, tense. No more contact. The rest of the
incoming flotsam had been stopped, or missed, or struck the station instead.
"Damage control!"
A few lights were strobing from green to amber to red. The engines screen came
on.
"Lord... the exciter coils for the FTL were hit"
"How long?"
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"A week, lord. It is a dockyard job." The Roman on the bridge exchanged looks.
They had just heard news of their deaths.
"You," Chindik snapped to a backup crewman.
"Take that N" he indicated the joss "N and space it"
"We have Lord Pol, lord."
The doors hissed open. Belazir jumped back with a yell as the plasma rifle
leveled.
"Lord!" The man seemed ready to weep with relie#
Belazir ignored him, diving for the empty suit that fol-
lowed behind the warrior. For a wonder, it was his own, "Where is Serig?"
Belazir barked. He had expected him to be here, or taking command. Matters
should not have got so far out of hand.
With the door open, the smells and sounds of combat
398
Amu McCaffrey & SM. Stirling were obvious: deep toning sounds as explosions
tore at the fabric of the station, far offchuddering ofbeam weapons, the stink
of hot metal and ozone. Belazir folded the suit around him, leaving the
catheters for later. If I have to piss down my leg, so be it. It came alive
wi|b a jerk, and he flexed the servo-powered limbs and gauntlets with
exultation.
"Lord Serig is dead, Great Ijord. Lord Pol com-
mands. We have a link.
The news staggered Belazir for a moment. Serig dead? Then he damped the
helmet. "Lord Pol?"
"Here! Report follows."-Mosdy disaster. "They came at us out of the walls,
must have been hiding there since the occupation began."
Belazir nodded jerkily.
"We hold the ships," Pol said crisply. "Except for one transport that has,
incredibly, been overrun. They attack the docks and encircle pockets of our
troops."
"Continue consolidating the pockets and punch through to the ships," he said.
"Status?"
"Heart Crusher is free but her FTL is down," Pol said.
"My Shark is also disengaged and I am not bringing her back. Half the
transports are moving, but some with heavy damage. Dreadful Bride has nearly
full crew, plus personnel from others, and is in control of her docking area
and ready to boost."
"Age of Darkness?"
"Still not even answering her comm," Pol said, her voice taking on emotion for
the first time. "My youngest daughter against a used wiperag. Her outer info
was penetrated and they did not even,"
she spat the word, "notice."
"No wager," Belazir said. He reached back over his shoulder and swung the
punchgun rack down. It click-
ed into its rest along his right arm. The aiming bars lit on his faceplate as
he turned and cycled for sonic and
IR scan on the pillar that held the brain. Ahhh, yes. There is the interior
structure, and the access hatchway. "You may
THE crrv WHO FOUGHT
399
assume tactical command from the Age of Darkness, Lord Pol, once you reach it.
I will follow to the Bride.
There is a matter to attend to here."
"Through there," Amos said. He pointed to two broken access door across the
circular open space.
Most of it had been covered with kiosks, stores, res-
taurants and other structures until an hour ago. Now those were smoldering
ruins, scattered among that were the bodies and the wreckage of the servomechs
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the stationers had used as their first wave. "They are back from the entrance
on the second to the right1
"We'll go through subaxial E-9 and punch across,"
Keri Holen replied. "That's one of the hidden sections."
She turned to her squad, a mix of station repair people with their working
tools and ordinary civilians armed with whatever.
"C'mon, scumvermin," she said. "Let's go show the lords what we think of em.
Follow me."
"How are we doing?" Channa said beside Amos, bobbing up and loosing a burst
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