There was a throbbing ache in his arm as he went back up the
grav-well. He held the control in his teeth and twisted it with his
left hand as he reached the roof level. He stepped out. The cold had
deepened and the wind was bitter. He stepped over the unconscious
sentry and placed his guns on the ledge before him. He twisted the
dial of the Stoltz to 'lethal' and to 'max area.' With that sort of
adjustment the Stoltz was dependable only for very short ranges, but
he had to have something ready against a mass attack. The blaster was
a precision, aimed weapon, and would do for one at a time.
The cold soaked in. His arm numbed and then ached, and numbed again.
Thane waited. He had no way of knowing what Selan was saying or what
effect it had in the minds of the Onzarians. Or did he? The normal
street noises below seemed to be changing. Through the noise of the
wind, a dull, confused murmur came up from below. That might be mass
anger.
Thane picked up the blaster and walked over to the parapet. Far below
he could see that crowds were beginning to gather in the street. Some
were clumped around street loudspeakers.
There was a hum overhead. Thane spun around and looked up. A police
patrol was just overhead. As it settled Thane threw himself flat on
the icy tile. There was an immediate shrieking pain from his injured
right arm. He gritted his teeth and aimed as the door of the anti-grav
opened. The flash of his blaster was a bright orange in the night air.
The man on his side crumpled. Thane was on his feet at once and dashed
to the door of the patrol. One more flash of the blaster and the other
occupant tumbled out the other side.
Thane hurried back to the sentry booth for his Stoltz. There would be
more. As he reached it something hit him hard. He fell back towards
the patrol anti-grav. He was fighting desperately. A hand went around
his throat and tightened. A knee came down on his right arm. He
wavered on the brink of unconsciousness. He fought his way back.
He jabbed savagely with the stiff fingers of his left hand and caught
his opponent under the jaw. Thane pushed upward and back as hard as he
could. Thane felt the hand loosen on his throat. Thane came up as the
man went back. As they both reached their feet Thane saw it was the
sentry. They struggled for a moment on the edge of the parapet. Then
the sentry made a last grasp at Thane and went over.
Thane felt the sweat condense and freeze under his clothes as he
searched for his lost blaster. He found it and started back for the
entryway. Three more police ships were coming towards the roof. At
that moment the grav-well door slid open and Astrid and Selan stood
before him.
The first police ship fired before it landed. The blast came before
Thane had reached Astrid and Selan. He saw Selan crumple. She was dead
when he touched her. He had the impulse to do something, to say
something, for one who had forced herself to do so much. But there was
no time. He thrust the blaster at Astrid, who was still staring at the
dead Selan. "I'll try to get them with the Stoltz. You hit anything
that's dangerous with this!" He grasped the Stoltz from the ledge and
stepped forward. Running figures were coming towards them now. He
waited with a weary sort of calm for them to come close enough. An
explosion burst the tile just off his right heel. He waited. Finally
he pressed the impeller of the Stoltz. The wide-angle shot dissipated
the power, but it did include all of them. They kept coming forward.
One of them raised an arm and there was a blinding flash. Thane firmly
pressed the impeller again as he fell forward.
* * * * *
There was a voice, and Thane tried to get ready for what was coming
but it was too much effort. Anyway, the voice went away. And then
someone else was there, and someone else was saying something
important, if he could only catch it ... and then movement, up, and
around, and down.
When Thane finally opened his eyes Garth was standing over him biting
his cigar. "They tell me you've committed treason," Garth said.
Thane looked up at him steadily. "I guess that's right," he said.
"I suppose you know what we're going to do."
"I suppose so...." and Thane stopped. Full memory was coming back, and
all its implications. "Wait ... it's all wrong. What are you doing
here? And where is here? And ... if you're here--if we're together,
then it must have worked! It must have worked!"
Garth lit his cigar. His face changed slightly. It might have been a
smile. "Yes. It worked. The old girl really hit the Onzarians. They
hadn't heard any news at all in all the days of radio silence. Then
their sets came on and there she was telling them that all their gold
gimmicks were no good any more. That death was approaching for all of
Onzar. That Candar had ... well, you can hear the recording of it. She
meant every word and they acted as if they believed every word. Of
course, they'd been conditioned to that with the propaganda newscasts.
But after the long silence she really hit them."
Some one moved at Thane's other side. He turned his head. It was
Astrid. She was scowling at Garth. "You're a mean, bitter old
bureaucrat," she said mockingly, "talking to Roger like that."
Garth's face twisted into the approximation of a grin. "Well, there
actually were treason charges against him for a time. But I will say
that things have changed."
Thane looked from one to another and then overhead. What he could see
of the room looked vaguely familiar, but.... "Where are we?"
"At the space station," Astrid said. "Dad and Garth are working over a
treaty between Onzar and the Allied Systems."
"Dad? Then Dr. Reine was rescued? But how?"
They both started talking. A moment later Manning Reine joined them,
looking paler and more haggard than before. All three of them talked,
constantly interrupting each other. Gradually Thane got the essential
details.
After the first impulsive, unorganized revolt, the church took over.
It, at least, had an organization. A large part of the armed forces
had joined in. Some, though, had stayed on Candar's side, and there
had been sharp, bitter fighting. But by the time Candar landed it was
about over. This was his greatest victory. He had destroyed the power
of Darzent, and was bringing back, as captives, most of the leadership
of the fleet and of Darzent. In addition, there was Dr. Reine, who had
been discovered in captivity, on the leading staff ship. But when
Candar stepped out into the spaceport, instead of meeting his
adulating subjects, a very determined group of his own soldiers
stopped him.
Thane finally turned to Astrid. "But how did we get away? The last I
remember...."
"You got them all, Roger. One of them hit your leg with a blaster as
he went down. All I had to do was to get you to the anti-grav, and out
of there."