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Rook still had her chin on her fist. "The chance to kill him against a
few supplies? I still don't like the trade." Rand knew better than to try to
reason with her in a mood like this.
Scott turned and saw the APC throwing up a trail of dust, speeding up
out of Deguello. "We move out as soon as Lancer comes back."
Lunk's borrowed APC bounced up the road from the town, Carla's suitcase
loaded in the back. Lancer somehow felt stiff and absurd sitting next to
Carla. He tried again. "I simply don't want you mixed up in all this; same
reason as before."
She looked across at him for an instant, then ahead through the
windshield. "I'm not afraid to fight."
"I know that."
But Lancer wasn't so sure Maxwell would let her go, despite all the
mayor's assurances. Then the subject changed from the abstract to the
immediate; dashboard displays bleeped, showing three flights of Pincer Ships
cresting a ridge nearby.
Lancer stepped hard on the accelerator, ignoring the danger of the
curves. He felt a coldness right down at his center.
Good try, but-they've got us this time.
CHAPTER TWELVE
How did the Regis lose contact with Ariel, such an important agent? The
technically minded hindsighters will point out several reasons. The rest of us
have learned better by now.
Nichols, Zeitgeist Reconsidered: Alien Psychology and the Third Robotech War
The pincer ships swept in, but there were abruptly three new blips on the
dashboard's scanners.
Maxwell's trio of prized autofighters swooped in hard at the Invid
armor-piercing cannon rounds, loosing missiles and, breaking left, right, and
upward, following the aero-maneuvering programs in their memories-maneuvers
the Invid hadn't had the time or necessity to learn...until now.
Lancer stopped for only a moment, looking back to see the warplanes
fighting their last battle. He saw the bright fireglobes of exploding Pincer
mecha in the sky, and the whirling, flaring wreckage of enemy war machines.
Go get 'em! Lancer tromped his foot down hard on the accelerator.
Maxwell, in a secret tech-pit, watched his fighters roll up a score and
then, one by one, be overwhelmed and sent down in flames. He liked to think
that his father would have been happy at this last stand, even though it came
late in the game.
At least Carla will be safe. So much for the jets. What does it matter?
Not much, without Carla.
He leaned back in the control center chair and closed his eyes, wishing
that he would never have to open them.
Snow had begun drifting down.
Lancer had his arm around Carla's waist. "Donald sacrificed all three of
his father's fighters to save us-no, to save you."
He could see that she knew that; she was looking back at Deguello rather
than at the smoking remains of the warplanes and mecha. Lancer wanted to wrap
her in her coat and take her along with him.
"Why?" She was trembling.
A core of honesty made him answer. "You're everything to him. He wanted
to save your life."
He was beginning to shiver, the flakes melting on his skin and the thin
bodysuit. "What now, Carla?" He gripped her shoulders in strong hands. "I
won't let him use you again!"
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Oh, Lancer! I have to-I'm going back." She reached for the satchel she
had left in the APC. "This time I guess I'm the one who's jumping the train."
She reached up, held him close, kissed him with hopeless passion.
"Good-bye Lancer; good-bye, Yellow."
Then she was going back down the road, walking to the lights of the
mayor's mansion. Lancer walked slowly to the truck.
He automatically checked for the weapons the team had taken from
Maxwell's goons and saw the pile was one gun light. The little palm-size
shooter was gone.
Love or death; what will it be?
Lancer took a last look down the road at Deguello. As Yellow Dancer, he
blew a last kiss to Carla. Then, as Lancer once more, he pulled on the parka
Lunk had left on the seat, hardened his heart to all that had gone on before,
and floored the accelerator, to go meet the Invid, to take them on on their
own ground.
Maxwell had told the truth in at least one matter: the Invid fortress
blocked the only usable pass. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]