Waverly split up the men. He took Trexler, a sergeant, and one of the heavy weapons and quickly climbed the stairs. Trexler struggled up the stairs, stopped half way to rest his legs, then decided he didn’t want to get left behind. He reached the top on rubbery legs and discovered Waverly far down the hallway to his right. He followed as Waverly set up at the corner where he could watch the front and side of the building. The other three men took the other corner of the front of the building, about a hundred feet away. Trexler dropped Seeton in an unoccupied, inner office where he would be out of the line of fire, then he hurried to join up with Waverly.
The sergeant had the big gun set up well back from the window and was taking aim. Trexler moved off to a window down the front hallway and waited for the gun to fire. The moment it did, he opened the window and took a quick look outside. The canopy of the tank had been blown off, and a second series of shots blew the tank up.
Trexler took quick aim at a Chessori and fired three shots, then moved to another window and did the same. The squads of Chessori had been caught by surprise and took up defensive positions behind benches and trees. Trexler saw a foot sticking out from a bench and, figuring he had nothing to lose, shot at the bench itself. The second or third shot managed to get through the bench, and the Chessori collapsed.
The fighting drew more Chessori, then lots more. Return fire started exploding against the walls of the building, many of the shots coming through the windows to wreak havoc on the interior walls. Trexler looked to Waverly who was calmly firing away, moving to different firing positions from time to time.
Their situation looked pretty bleak to Trexler, and he got on his communicator. “Tom, is anyone in position to help us? It’s getting grim here.”
“How grim? I’m the closest, and I’m free at the moment. Most of the fighting has moved into space.”
“We have tanks and troops about a hundred meters in front of the headquarters building. We’re holding them off, but we won’t last long.”
“I’ll take a look.”
“Do not risk your passengers. And don’t shoot Waverly’s men.”
“Understood, sir.”
Trexler kept up his peeking and shooting, and he actually hit two Chessori. About a minute later the frigate hove into view. It only stayed for a few seconds, then raced away with two Chessori traders on its tail, but what a few seconds! The ground in front of the building simply erupted. When Trexler lifted his head, he saw a couple of Chessori wandering aimlessly, their hands held to their heads. They fell quickly to shots from Waverly and the sergeant.
“You still there, sir?”
“I’m here, Tom. Are you in trouble?”
“No. I think we got a couple of the tanks. More are moving toward you. There were a bunch of guys moving on the rear of the building, but they’re not a problem for you any more.”
“What about the two traders behind you?”
“One’s gone. Uh… now the other one is. They’re really not a problem, sir. Their shields are pretty weak. The squadron is working its way toward the planet, but it’s taking longer than I thought. You won’t have fighter cover for a while.”
Trexler decided the first wave was done. They probably had a brief spell before the next one arrived. Waverly was sitting on the floor with the communicator to his head and papers spread out around him on the floor. The sergeant was moving from window to window, looking for targets.
“What’s your name, Sergeant?” he called across the room.
“Walters, sir. You doing okay? Do you need anything?”
“Just out of here.”
“Not to worry, sir. That frigate was great, wasn’t it?” he said with a grin, continuing a never-ending scan through the windows.
“I’d rather it parked right on top of us.”
“All in due time, sir. Keep your eyes peeled. They’ll be back.”
“The captain of the frigate said there were some Chessori working their way towards the back of the building. He took them out.”
“Okay.” Walters got on his communicator. “Lieutenant? They made an attempt on the back door. The frigate took care of them.” He listened for a moment, then said, “He’s pretty busy right now, sir. I think we should stay here.” Pause. “Okay, will do, sir.”
He looked at Trexler. “Lieutenant Stevens and his two guys are moving left to the next corner. That will put them kitty corner to us. Our lines of fire are now extended. We have to cover the whole front of the building and this whole side. He’ll cover the other side and the back. Understood, sir?”
Trexler nodded and went back to peeking and moving from window to window along the front of the building. Walters covered the side. Waverly never lifted his head, just stayed on his communicator non-stop.
“Sir, would you come over here for a minute?” Walters called.
“Uh, wait a minute. I see a tank, and more guys.”
“Okay. There’s one over here, too. They’re coming at us from two directions. We only have one gun, so we’ll deal with them one at a time.”
Trexler gulped and hurried over. Walters didn’t hesitate. He fired three quick shots at the tank, traversed the gun and fired at the Chessori behind it as the smoke cleared, then went after the tank again to finish it off. Trexler took several shots, as well, while Walters dragged the gun and its tripod to the front corridor. While the gun was being moved, Waverly got up from the floor, peeked out the side window, and loosed two short bursts, then returned to the papers spread about him on the floor.
“Here we go, sir.” Walters sent a long stream of bolts at the second tank, then moved closer to the window with his assault rifle, and both he and Trexler took out the attackers of the second wave.
Trexler heard heavy firing from the back of the building and looked at Walters. “Do you think they need help?”
“No, sir. They’ll call if they do.” He leaned sideways for a moment and loosed a burst. “Looks like a skirmish line coming this way.”
Trexler took a few peeks out his window and saw movement far to his left. “More out here, far to the left,” he called to Walters.
“Move down to that corner. You’ll have a better field of fire, sir.”
He looked at Waverly who was engrossed in a conversation on his communicator. “Hey, Jim!” he called. “Want to help out here a little?”
Waverly looked up. “Do what you can. If you need help, call.” He dismissed Trexler and went back to his conversation, moving some papers around on the floor as he looked for something.
Trexler hustled down to the far corner where he was joined by Lieutenant Stevens. They spent a lot of time dodging blaster bolts coming through the windows and returning fire, but eventually there was no more movement over the smoky ground.
“We’re moving up one floor, sir. Let Walters know,” Stevens ordered, then he hustled back to his corner in a crouch, almost on hands and knees as he went by windows.
Trexler gulped. He’d run the full length of the front of the building without even thinking about the windows. He peeked out a window again, saw no movement, and crawled the whole hundred feet back to Walters. Waverly glanced up from his papers but immediately went back to his communicator.
“All clear there, sir?” Walters asked.
“For the moment. Lieutenant Stevens asked me to tell you he’s moving up one floor.”
“Good idea. We’ll do the same when the colonel is ready.”
Trexler went back to his wall, then got back on his communicator. “How you doing, Tom?” he called.
“Are you in trouble, sir? I’m a little out of position, but I’ll head back your way.”
“No, we’re fine at the moment. I wouldn’t mind a short reconnaissance flight over us when you have the time.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
“What’s going on up there? Are you guys okay?”
“Fine, sir. Just busy.”
“Why isn’t the port secure yet?”