inch of them, but they kept on coming.
Inside the flyer hovering just at the edge of the smoke clouds boiling upward
from the napalm tanks and explosives planted ahead of the Taloids, Zambendorf
was watching the scene in close-up. It was as well that they had allowed for the
possibility of the Paduans’ panicking, he reflected, and decided not to expose
any of the Taloids on their own side prematurely. Stretching away from the lurid
glow immediately below the flyer, two streaks of whiteness flickered eerily
where recorded Taloid images were being projected onto internally illuminated
smokescreens from lanterns concealed several hours earlier on the rock-strewn
slopes overlooking the obvious route through the valley. “Let’s see if we can
put a stop to that shooting,” he said to Clarissa.
“Plan C?” she said.
“Yes—a low-level bomb run at those ice crags, accompanied by some pyrotechnics.”
In the copilot’s seat, Abaquaan prepared to repeat another recording of a
pretransmogrified message from Moses over the flyer’s bullhorns, suitably
modified for high frequency, and from the ultrasonic amplifiers positioned to
command the area.
“Ayee!” One of the soldiers dropped his weapon and stood up, pointing in terror
at the sky above the wall of fire. “A dragon descends! We have brought the
Lifemaker’s wrath down upon us!” A sleek, slender-limbed creature, unlike any
that Sallakar had ever seen before, was swooping down at them. Instinctively he
turned and aimed his hurler upward in its direction, then realized the futility
of that and lowered it again.
“We are doomed,” MoxefF moaned next to him. Several nearby infantry robeings
dropped their weapons and began running blindly back the way they had come. Then
a series of brilliant lights and clouds of violet radiance blossomed overhead,
and simultaneously more lights streaked down from the dragon and destroyed a
formation of rock outcrops and large boulders in a fury of deafening
concussions. Sallakar cringed and covered his ears . . . but he was still alive.
“DESIST, SOLDIERS,” the voice that had called itself Enlightener thundered again
from above. “THE COMMANDMENT IS, ‘THOU SHALT NOT KILL’!”
And then a much larger dragon emerged from the fiery wall before them, flying
slowly and majestically right above their heads with fire blasting from beneath
it. “Angels!” Moxeff gasped, straightening up and pointing. “Angels are
descending from the skies!”
“See how they shine!” another soldier shouted. “Truly this is a time of
miracles.” On every side, soldiers were running from cover and standing with
their faces raised to watch. Some had thrown away their weapons already and were
clasping their hands together, and some had fallen to their knees. Even the
officers were sitting motionless, awed and cowed by what was happening. Above,
more heavenly figures, each borne on white, frilly wings, were floating serenely
downward behind the dragon.
“PREPARE TO MEET THE ENLIGHTENER,” the Voice boomed. “I COME TO THEE IN PEACE,
BRINGING GOODWILL TO ALL ROBEINGS.”
Inside the cargo bay of the NASO surface lander making a low pass at just above
stalling speed, Joe Fellburg checked Moses’ harness one last time, gave a
satisfied nod, and motioned the Taloid to the edge of the deck by the open
loading-doors. Moses leaned forward a fraction and peered down apprehensively.
“Tell him he’ll be okay if he makes sure to jump hard and clear, and counts five
before he pulls the ring,” Fellburg shouted to West, who was standing by them,
holding the transmogrifier. “And look at the others who’ve just jumped—they’re
doing fine.” West spoke into the microphone, verified the interpretation that
appeared on the screen, and the machine passed the message on to Moses. Moses
nodded trustingly,
“Great stuff, guy,” Fellburg said. He stooped to ignite the fireworks lying on
the floor and attached to Moses’ pack by wires long enough to ensure they would
hang a safe distance below him, then stood up again, stepped back a pace, and
patted the top of the robot’s head. “Geronimo!” he yelled as the assemblage of
sputtering flares and white-robed robot launched itself out into space. A
searchlight from the flyer, which was circling nearby, picked out the figure as
its parachute opened and it began to descend slowly through Titan’s dense