Rebel by Cheryl Brooks

Author:Cheryl Brooks [Brooks, Cheryl]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2014-07-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Kim’s heart plunged to her feet, taking all the blood in her head with it as the panic signal sounded from Shemlak’s comlink.

“Time for plan B.” Shemlak stepped out of the shadows just as Val swooped down from the sky, landing lightly in front of him. “I’ll take out the Cylopean. You work on that force field.”

Shemlak swaggered up to the doorman with his pistol drawn, which, as Kim noted a moment later, was probably a mistake. The force field flickered, extending to include the station by the entrance.

“Great mother of the desert!” Shemlak thundered. “If you want to live to see tomorrow, you’ll drop that field.”

“Not likely,” the Cylopean sneered. “We know how to deal with troublemakers.”

What was left of Kim’s circulating blood froze in her veins at the thought of how such people would “deal” with Onca. If he lived through this fiasco, Jack would kill him. And if Jack didn’t kill him, Kim would be tempted to do the honors herself. “This was a terrible idea. I told him that, didn’t I?”

“Maybe,” Shemlak said. “Can’t remember.”

Val launched himself at the force field in full flight and ricocheted off it, flying up into the air before landing on his feet. Obviously he had no more super powers than any other large bird. Against a force field of that strength, his only use would be his ability to disable it—from the inside.

Shemlak tried next, aiming his pistol at the field, turning the setting to kill.

“No, wait!” Kim yelled. “Let’s all fire at once to weaken the field. And Draddut, you get ready to ram through it.”

Clearly unafraid and perhaps even anxious to do battle, Draddut scraped his enormous feet on the pavement as he leaned forward, positioning himself for the charge. Ganyn, Rashe, Val, Shemlak, and Roncas aimed their weapons at the door along with Kim and Jatki.

“Ready, aim, fire!” Kim shouted. The force field crackled where their pulse beams converged. “Now, Draddut!”

For a creature so large and cumbersome in appearance, the huge Darconian took off running at a surprising speed. Aiming for what was undoubtedly the weakest spot, he barreled past the beams just as Kim gave the order to cease fire. Hitting the field with an impact that was probably audible three blocks away, Draddut bounced off the barrier and landed with a thud.

The Cylopean cackled with laughter. “Your pathetic attempts are no match for our equipment.”

Kim glanced around in desperation. Most of the prudent passersby had fled, but a surprisingly large number of onlookers remained. Some of them were even cheering.

“Don’t just stand there gawking,” Kim screeched. “Do something!”

Nobody moved. Spotting a group of police officers in the crowd, she fired a couple of shots over their heads. “You guys have been chasing me for years. Now’s your chance to come and get me.”

Ignoring her taunts, the police stood their ground. One of them laughed.

Kim stood there, gaping at them. “Rashe was right. They really are in on it.”

***

The door slid open and two Herpatronians shouldered their way inside.

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