SGA - 01 - Rising by Sally Malcolm

Author:Sally Malcolm
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Interplanetary Voyages, Fiction, Science Fiction, Kindle Ready, Adventure, General, Media Tie-In
ISBN: 9780954734350
Publisher: Fandemonium
Published: 2007-10-25T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

n the settlement, panic erupted quietly. Men, women and children sprinted through the night, here and there the cries of a sobbing child carrying over the pounding of their feet as the entire population fled toward the tree line. This was a people used to terror, a people who understood the value of silence.

No moonlight cut the darkness and most of the torches and fires in the settlement had been doused by the fleeing villagers. These folks knew what they were doing. Above, the alien stars glittered coldly and Colonel Sumner cocked his head to listen as a faint hum, like a wasp, drifted through the air. Engine noise.

"Take cover," he ordered his men, lifting his weapon to the stars. "And stay sharp."

Around him his team settled into strategic defensive positions. With satisfaction, he noticed a couple of M160 rocket launchers making their appearance. Whoever these `Wraith' were, Sumner doubted they'd be a match for the US Marine Corps.

P90 braced against his shoulder, Sumner kept his eyes locked on the sky. The hum was louder now, more of a whine. People were still running, order beginning to break down. He heard someone wail, somebody else cry out. The enemy was upon them. With a scream of engines a black shape, like an arrow tip, ripped across the treetops, followed by a second and third. Swooping back and forth over the settlement, it was if they were searching for something. Suddenly, from between the tents, a man stumbled forward. Sumner recognized him as Halling, the father of the kid they'd discovered in the trees. Halling's eyes were wild, and he was grabbing at the fleeing settlers. "Have you seen Jinto? Jinto!" He was desperate.

Overhead one of the enemy ships made a second pass, coming in low right behind Hailing and the rest of the stragglers. Sumner braced himself for weapons fire, but none came. Instead a wide bright beam flared from the underside of the ship and swept across the ground like a searchlight. Hailing was running now, desperation replaced by stark terror. But he and the others were too slow, they couldn't reach the trees. The beam trapped them and-

Holy crap. They were gone. Just disappeared as if the light had disintegrated them or scooped them up into the ship.

"Fire on that target!" Sumner yelled, squeezing the trigger and pumping half a clip into the ship. Might as well have been using a pop-gun for all the good it did. The ship turned for another pass, the other two wings joining in an intricate pattern that raced across the ground and scooped up anyone in their path. They were harvesting these people...

From the corner of his eye, Sumner saw movement. He spun around, just in time to see a shadow flicker between two tents. It looked like a man, but moved faster than any human. Unnaturally fast. His breath coming short and sharp, Sumner took a step forward, finger tight on the trigger. Come on you sonofabitch, show yourself.

And there it was again, another shadow flitting through the night.

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