He knew I meant it. He grinned. "Yes, sir!"
He'd be okay now. He was more afraid of me than he was of the worms. The worms didn't stand a chance.
"Two minutes!" called Larry.
I turned and found myself looking at Amy Burrell. Eighteen years old, tiny frame, large eyes, dark hair. Trembling in her boots. She was wearing the helmet camera and carrying an AM-280. "Sir-?"
I knew what she was about to say. I didn't give her a chance to say it. "Ah, Burrell-good. Once you hit the ground, I want you to stay close. I'll be moving around to the back side of the dome. Keep fifty feet behind me and you'll do just fine. Keep your camera running, and if anything comes out of the dome, just keep looking at it. We need the pictures. Oop-the line's moving. Get going!" I turned her and pushed. I slapped her on the backside. From here on, she wasn't going to have time to be scared.
The blimp took us up quickly. Captain MacDonald was sharp. She turned into the wind immediately and headed south. She was going to give herself lots of maneuvering room before heading for the target.
The engines thrummed with quiet power. We could feel their high-pitched whine in our butts and our backbones. Beneath us, the ground tumbled away like a rumpled brown sheet. The wind whistled coldly past us. I licked my lips and wondered if they were going to get chapped.
We were on two platforms mounted on the sides of the gondola. Each one of us had his or her own rope. On the signal, all the ropes would be dropped simultaneously. On the count, we would drop as our numbers were called. I tugged experimentally at my pulley. It was fine. I realized I was fingering the doublebreakaway punch on my chest and stopped.
Captain MacDonald swung the blimp around then, heading us back toward the target. I watched our shadow as it moved across the treetops below. When she cut the engines, we were plunged into an eerie silence. Burrell looked at me nervously. The absence of sound was deafening.
I was about to thumb my microphone to life, to say something to fill the moment-when abruptly, music filled my earphones. Williamson's Angry Red Symphony. A perfect choice! Ginny was more than a pilot-she was an artist. I shut up and listened.
Too quickly, the approach to the target appeared before us. I recognized the escarpment at the top that looked like a dragon's backbone. And there was the fire road, and the place we had parked the jeep. And now, as we came closer, there was the canyon and the valley beneath it. The blimp shadow was sliding down the slope-and suddenly turned sideways. Were we heading in at an angle? Had the wind changed? Abruptly the engines came whining back to life-damn!
The computer interrupted the music then. "Team One: stand by to drop."
There was the dome. And the blimp shadow was moving uncomfortably toward it
"Five seconds!" said the computer. Something clicked, and all the ropes began dropping away, snaking to the ground like yellow spaghetti. "Three seconds!" I stood up. The blimp shadow moved across the dome. Goddammit! "Two!" I released the safety on my pulley. And-"Drop Alpha!" I lifted my knees and fell forward into nothingness. The pulley shrieked and screamed as it careened down the rope. "Drop Beta!" Above me, I could hear an echoing shriek, and then another and another.
The ground rushed up toward me. The ropes below were crackling and undulating like live wires. And two of the largest Chtorrans I'd ever seen came streaming purple out of the hut-
"Chtorrrrr! Chtorrrrrrr!"
"Shit!"
I yanked a grenade off my belt, pulled the pin, and sighted below. There wasn't time, I was falling too fast. I dropped the grenade
It fell short. The blossom of fire went off in front of the first charging worm, deflecting it but not slowing it down. The roar of the blast kicked upward like a hammer-blow. I grabbed for another grenade, knowing it was already too late-and then the worm was hit by two more sudden explosions, one right after the other. The shock of them kicked me momentarily upward. Somebody above me must have dropped grenades-I hoped they hadn't dropped any more.
The Chtorran was writhing on the ground. It had been cut in half by one of the blasts. The second Chtorran was almost directly beneath me now, and the third and largest one was just coming out of the dome. I released the safety on my torch and pointed it straight down. I hoped Shorty had been right about this. The second Chtorran was reared up and reaching for me and I was dropping right into his churning maw-I could see straight down his throat. I pulled the trigger. The air beneath me exploded into flame. I couldn't see the Chtorran through it. The burning ground rushed up to meet me. I didn't even know if there was still rope for my pulley anymore. I pointed the torch sideways and fired again and the jet kicked me away from the burning worm. I released the trigger and hit the ground hard. I fell on my ass-"Oof!"-and had the breath knocked out of me
The third worm was charging straight toward me. "Chtorrrr! Chtorrrrrrr!" I didn't even have time to stand. I just pointed the torch and fired.
When I finally let go of the trigger, there was nothing left of the worm but a snaky dark mass of writhing, burning, rubbery flesh. It smelled terrible.
And then Duke was there, standing over me, offering me a hand. I thanked him as I pulled myself to my feet. He glanced around at the three burning worms. "You want to remember you're a guest here and leave something for the rest of us?" And then he was away, pointing and directing the rest of his team to fan out.
I looked at the three worms myself. "Babies, huh?" And shook my head. I didn't know if I wanted to meet Mama or not. Larry's team was already moving to the far side of the dome. My team was moving into position, but uncertainly; several of them were staring at me and the still-burning carcasses. They looked stunned. I clicked on my microphone. "Goddammit! Move out! Haven't you ever seen a man burn a worm before?" I started striding toward the back of the but. "Burrell! Get your ass in gear!" I wondered how badly mine would hurt tomorrow from that hard landing. I wasn't going to worry about it now. I hit the breakaways on my chest, kicked out of the drop harness and kept going.
I planted myself directly in front of the back wall of the dome. I gave it a lot of room. I checked the charges on my tanks. Still half full. Good. More than enough.
I glanced around behind me. Amy Burrell, white as a sheet, was fifty feet away. She held her rifle in a death grip. But she was ready. I looked at the wall again. Nothing. I checked the rest of my team. They were ready too.
My mike was still on. I switched channels and said quietly, "Apple."
"Baker," said Larry.
"Charlie," said Duke. "Hold your positions."
I looked at the rear wall of the dome. It was blank and featureless.
"All right," I barked. "Bring me a freeze machine. On the double."
The freeze machine was a large plastic crate filled with styrofoam doodles. Inside the doodles were two tanks of liquid nitrogen and a spray nozzle. They'd been dropped after everyone else was down safely. We had two of them.
If we hadn't wakened the Chtorrans with our arrival, we would have used the liquid nitrogen instead of the torches. Gottlieb and Galindo wheeled up one of the kits. Riley and Jein were just unloading the other. They touched the release and the crate popped open with a thump.
"I'll take the kit. Michael, you cover me with the torch." Gottlieb grinned as I passed it over to him. He loved the excitement.
The nozzle for the freeze machine was lighter than the torch, and I didn't wear the tanks on my back. It was Galindo's job to move them-if we had to move. I wore a pair of insulated gloves so thick they could have been used in a boxing match. I closed the faceplate on my helmet again and I was ready.
The back wall of the dome remained unchanged.