[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
."Get in there and convince them that theydon't want to stand there."The four armored figures advanced through the open salient toward the Bomanforce to their front.That area already had a slice cut out of it, a line written in blood on theground, beyond which only the most stupid and aggressive barbarian passed.Briefly.Now the Marines opened that hole wider, firing their weapons in careful,ammunition-conserving bursts.The dreadful fusillade cleared a zone deepenough for them to actually pass the front of their own forces and step ontoground held by the Boman.The friable soil was greasy with body fluids blasted from the Marines'previous targets, and their path was choked with the results.But the poweredarmor made little of such minor nuisances, crunching through the hideouscarnage until the four turned the corner and pivoted to face the flank of theBoman still massed before the Diaspran pikes.Once again, the armor burped plasma and darts, soaking the ground in blood andturning the churned field of the watershed into an abattoir.* * *"You know," Pahner mused as the cavalry sallied out in pursuit of the Bomanforce, "if that pike regiment hadn't broken, it would've been a lot harder toget the armor into the middle of the Boman.That's a case of the fog of war working for you.""So now what?" Bogess asked.Page 108 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"The force that took off after the recon team will be pinned against thecanal.Detail about half the pikes to keep them pinned in place, and we'llpound them with plasma from the far side of the canal until they surrender.Asfor the rest "He gestured in the direction of the pursuing cavalry."We'll put in a pursuit.They'll break up in the face of the civan forces;they don't have polearms of their own, so they'll have to.We'll follow upwith the rest of the pikes, and any groups the cavalry can't hammer into feck-shit, we'll hit with the pikes and armor.Next week, the Wespar Boman will bea memory."Bogess looked out over the field strewn with corpses.There was an obscenelystraight line of them where the two forces had grappled throughout the longday.They were piled in blood-oozing windrows, yet there weren't really thatmany bodies for a fight which had lasted so many hours.But the field beyondthat line more than compensated.The ground there was littered with them wherethe Northern cavalry had ruthlessly cut down the fleeing barbarians."Why don't I feel happy about that?" he asked."Because you're still human," Pahner replied, and the native general turned tohim with a quizzical expression."You mean Mardukan, don't you?""Yeah," Pahner said, watching the prince's flar-ta disappear over the crest ofthe far ridge with theNortherners."Whatever."CHAPTER EIGHTEEN"You asked to see me, Your Excellency?" Captain Pahner asked.From Roger's description, the room was the same one in which he'd met withGratar during theHompag.The previous meeting, however, hadn't included Grath Chain, who stoodby the far wall.Mardukans didn't go in much for facial expressions, but the councilor lookedlike a three-meter cat who'd just swallowed a two-meter canary.or basik."Yes, Captain," the priest-king said, stepping away from the window andwalking to the small throne on the far side of the room.His guards eyedPahner nervously; obviously, something was up.Gratar sat on the throne and rubbed one gem-encrusted horn thoughtfully as helooked at the floor.Then he raised his eyes to the human and clasped his hands before him."I have been given unpleasant news by Grath Chain," he said."I could play dumb," the Marine responded, "but there wouldn't be much point.""Then you admit that you were are aware that there is a plot to overthrow theThrone of God?"the king asked very quietly."We were, and are.And if you hadn't decided to fight the Boman, we would havesupported it," the captain told him."My armored platoon was prepared toassault the Drying Ceremony, with orders toseize you and terminate Sol Ta and Grath Chain with prejudice."The king clasped his hands again and lowered his head in regret."I have come to know and trust you, Captain, and as for the traitors of whoseactions Grath has informed me.Many of them are men I know and trust and,yes, love as brothers." The king raised his head and looked at the human withsorrow, reproach.and building anger."How could you be so disloyal?""I'm not disloyal, Your Excellency," Pahner told him levelly."Nor, however,am I a Diaspran.My loyalty is to my mission, and my mission, as we explainedto you on our arrival, and to the conspirators when they finally approachedus, is to deliver Roger, alive and sane, to his mother.Any action we have toPage 109 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmltake to secure that reunion is an act of loyalty on our part.Any action, Your Excellency, no matter how personally repugnant it may be.""So you would have overthrown the Throne of God?" the king snapped."I shouldhave your head for this! And Iwill have the heads of every member of this cabal!""The head of your recently victorious war leader?" Pahner asked with a raisedeyebrow."And of your second in command, the architect of so many of yourfavorite Works? The heads of the leaders of the Warriors of God? The head ofyour own guard force? Most of the members of your Council, all of whom managebusinesses or farms that are the lifeblood of this city?""I " Gratar paused."Tell me the rot isn't so deep," he said despairingly."What rot, Your Excellency?" Pahner asked."The hatred of the Throne of God!" the priest snapped."And through that, thehatred of the God, Himself!""Who said they hated the Throne of God?" the Marine inquired with a slightsmile, pulling out a length of bisti root."And who said that they hate theone who sits on the Throne of God? Do they chafe at the restrictions imposedby your defenses against the Wrath? Yes.Do they think those defenses are farmore extensive and costly, in both time and effort, than they need to be? Yes.But they all swore to the depth of their admiration for you, personally, andnot one of them has mentioned hatred of the God.""Then why do they seek to overthrow me?" Gratar asked in confusion."I suppose I have to ask another question to answer that," Pahner said,popping a slice of the bisti root into his mouth."How many canals and dikesdoes the God want?""Listen to him not, Your Excellency!" Chain exclaimed."He but seeks to blindyou with the false words of his people!""Shut up, Grath.Or I'll feed you your left horn through your butt-hole,"Pahner said mildly."You've obviously had your say.Now it's time for somebodyelse to talk."Gratar seemed to pay the interplay little attention.He only waved vaguely atChain, and his eyes were fixed on the human."How many dikes?" he asked
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]