laser in the rear. They all stayed on this time. The attackers dared not fire back under the steady barrage.
Kayla fired her first shot in the air and connected on a drone. It exploded. She fired another shot. Another connection, another explosion. The last drone was coming in from the side. She ran towards the front of the shuttle, stopping just before the laser beam coming out of Tun2’s rifle, and took her third shot. Another direct hit. The last drone caught fire and spun off into the wall of RL-71where it crashed.
Kayla then fired a beam at the wall while running back to Alan’s side. Everyone stopped firing.
Brandon went to the shuttle cabin door, opened it, and climbed inside. He emerged again with a different rifle in his hand, a slightly bigger model, and came back to Jumper and Tun2’s position behind the shuttle nose. There he stood, upright, aiming the new rifle. A low sonic boom sounded, causing Tun2 to cock his head.
The structure of boulders burst apart. Huge pieces fell. Smaller pieces splintered and ricocheted in every direction. A small dust cloud bloomed. Two figures from behind the wall stood and retreated, joining two more figures that emerged from behind the boulders. They all ran off. One of them was limping.
Tun2 stood and extended his arm towards Brandon, who handed him the new rifle.
“You know,” Tun2 said, “that’s all I really wanted, was for someone to fetch me the REEP gun while I kept them covered.” He looked to the air, and then over at Kayla. “But I suppose it was good to have help. Thank you.”
Brandon walked over to close the shuttle cabin door and waved for Alan and Kayla to come to him.
“Buzz me again if you need us,” he said to Tun2.
Jumper felt his heart racing from the rush of his first battle. “We can stay out here and help guard the shuttle, Uncle Brandon.”
“No, you three come with me. Tun2 is a professional soldier, and a good one at that. He’ll be fine. I have a responsibility to watch after you kids.”
Back in the laboratory, right away Jumper could tell something was wrong. Professor Yob3 was standing before the big machine shaking his head. Five of the chamber tanks had been disconnected and pulled away from the others. The two scientist-pilots were standing idly.
“What happened?” Brandon asked.
Yob3 slowly turned around. “It didn’t work, Brandon. It was too soon. The contaminant was much stronger than I suspected. It mutated after retreating, strengthened itself, and then attacked our culture and overwhelmed it. We managed to get these five safely out of the network. But the rest are now in just as bad as condition as before, possibly worse. I’m sorry.”
Brandon plopped to the floor and buried his head in his hands. He stayed that way for several minutes. No one in the room said anything. The two shuttle pilots stood above him and seemed sympathetic. One of them eventually leaned down and squeezed Brandon’s shoulder.
Brandon stood up. His eyes were red.
“My fault,” he said. “It’s my fault. I rushed it. I knew the risks. I felt I had to take the chance. Please don’t console me. I’m okay. One cannot fault their decisions when they understand the risks in advance and choose to live with the results.” He wiped his face with his forearms.
“What happened outside?” Yob3 asked.
“We had a scuffle with some locals and the shuttle was hit with weapons,” Brandon said. “It may be damaged.”
“We’ll check it out,” one of the pilots said. The two of them hurried out.
Yob3 stepped forward. “These five can be revived, Brandon. The facilities here are all operational. Same way we did it 25 years ago, if you like.”
Brandon nodded and walked around to the backside of the cryonic chamber network. He pulled at a tank on the bottom level. It wheeled partway out. The figure inside seemed much larger than all the others.
“What about him?” Brandon said.
Yob3 frowned. “I was afraid you’d ask
Kayla fired her first shot in the air and connected on a drone. It exploded. She fired another shot. Another connection, another explosion. The last drone was coming in from the side. She ran towards the front of the shuttle, stopping just before the laser beam coming out of Tun2’s rifle, and took her third shot. Another direct hit. The last drone caught fire and spun off into the wall of RL-71where it crashed.
Kayla then fired a beam at the wall while running back to Alan’s side. Everyone stopped firing.
Brandon went to the shuttle cabin door, opened it, and climbed inside. He emerged again with a different rifle in his hand, a slightly bigger model, and came back to Jumper and Tun2’s position behind the shuttle nose. There he stood, upright, aiming the new rifle. A low sonic boom sounded, causing Tun2 to cock his head.
The structure of boulders burst apart. Huge pieces fell. Smaller pieces splintered and ricocheted in every direction. A small dust cloud bloomed. Two figures from behind the wall stood and retreated, joining two more figures that emerged from behind the boulders. They all ran off. One of them was limping.
Tun2 stood and extended his arm towards Brandon, who handed him the new rifle.
“You know,” Tun2 said, “that’s all I really wanted, was for someone to fetch me the REEP gun while I kept them covered.” He looked to the air, and then over at Kayla. “But I suppose it was good to have help. Thank you.”
Brandon walked over to close the shuttle cabin door and waved for Alan and Kayla to come to him.
“Buzz me again if you need us,” he said to Tun2.
Jumper felt his heart racing from the rush of his first battle. “We can stay out here and help guard the shuttle, Uncle Brandon.”
“No, you three come with me. Tun2 is a professional soldier, and a good one at that. He’ll be fine. I have a responsibility to watch after you kids.”
Back in the laboratory, right away Jumper could tell something was wrong. Professor Yob3 was standing before the big machine shaking his head. Five of the chamber tanks had been disconnected and pulled away from the others. The two scientist-pilots were standing idly.
“What happened?” Brandon asked.
Yob3 slowly turned around. “It didn’t work, Brandon. It was too soon. The contaminant was much stronger than I suspected. It mutated after retreating, strengthened itself, and then attacked our culture and overwhelmed it. We managed to get these five safely out of the network. But the rest are now in just as bad as condition as before, possibly worse. I’m sorry.”
Brandon plopped to the floor and buried his head in his hands. He stayed that way for several minutes. No one in the room said anything. The two shuttle pilots stood above him and seemed sympathetic. One of them eventually leaned down and squeezed Brandon’s shoulder.
Brandon stood up. His eyes were red.
“My fault,” he said. “It’s my fault. I rushed it. I knew the risks. I felt I had to take the chance. Please don’t console me. I’m okay. One cannot fault their decisions when they understand the risks in advance and choose to live with the results.” He wiped his face with his forearms.
“What happened outside?” Yob3 asked.
“We had a scuffle with some locals and the shuttle was hit with weapons,” Brandon said. “It may be damaged.”
“We’ll check it out,” one of the pilots said. The two of them hurried out.
Yob3 stepped forward. “These five can be revived, Brandon. The facilities here are all operational. Same way we did it 25 years ago, if you like.”
Brandon nodded and walked around to the backside of the cryonic chamber network. He pulled at a tank on the bottom level. It wheeled partway out. The figure inside seemed much larger than all the others.
“What about him?” Brandon said.
Yob3 frowned. “I was afraid you’d ask
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