"Uncle Bernard—"
Bernard shrugged. "Tell me what choices we have?"
"That's the smart way," Tarleton said. "Now—" He was holding the phone to his ear. Now he looked at it with a frown. "What in God's name?"
"Mayday." The voice was faint but clear. "Mayday! We're hit! We're going in—"
"Was that Colonel Baskins?" Bernard asked.
Tarleton didn't answer.
"What happened?"
"I HAD NO DIFFICULTY TEACHING THE STARSWARM TO OPERATE THE MACHINE GUN FROM THE PREVIOUS GUNSHIP. BE VERY CAREFUL—"
There was a loud clatter from the stairway outside. It sounded like hooves—
"BE READY TO GET DOWN BEHIND THE DESK."
Tarleton and his guard turned toward the door. Kip dove to the floor. The door burst open and Tarleton fired blindly at waist height. Too high. Silver dashed into the room with Mukky and Lil just behind him.
"Go! Go!" Lara's voice from the hall. Hooves clattered. "Go, Mukky! Lil!"
Tarleton tried to turn, but Silver had his arm. Kip caught a glimpse of Lara riding the centaur out of the stairwell. "Go! Go!"
Benson turned to aim his pistol at Kip. Lara and the centaur dashed. The centaur grabbed Benson and threw him to the floor, then reared high and stamped on him with his forefeet.
"Call them off!" Tarleton was shouting. "Call off your dogs!"
Silver had Tarleton's right arm. The security chief was using his other arm to shield his throat as Mukky stood over him. "Please!"
Bernard Trent took a pistol from his desk. "All right, Kip,"
"Mukky. Back. Silver. Guard. Lara, there was another one—"
"He's gone to the roof. Sam and Joe have gone after him," Lara said. "Gwen told us what was going on." She climbed down off the centaur. "Now I know what the Valkyries felt like."
The wind rattled the windows, and the lights dimmed.
"We're back on emergency power again," Bernard Trent said. He looked out the window. "It's going to get worse too."
"Well, we won't get hungry," Kip said.
"We ate the pizzas in the computer room," Lara said.
"Peet sa," the centaur said.
"He likes them," Lara said. "Especially beef and onions."
"There's more in the van," Kip said.
"The elevators are still jammed." Lara grinned and mounted the centaur. "Race you!"
THE END
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Starswarm
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
PART ONE: The Voice
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
PART TWO: Exploring
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
PART THREE: Memories And Messages
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
PART FOUR: In The Bush
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
PART FIVE: Destruction
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
PART SIX: Perseverance
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
PART SEVEN: Allegiances
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
PART EIGHT: Endgame
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
PART NINE: Checkmate
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
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