Battlefield Earth

It was not as close to the compound as Jo

There were his horses, three of them standing with their heads away from the wind. Where was Dancer? Then he saw her. She was up on the plateau and she seemed to be wearing a lead rope, not too unusual. She wasn't facing away from the wind. What was that? Ah, her lead rope was caught in some rocks. Just beyond her was a large boulder, and beyond that the compound itself offered numerous points of cover for a marksman as they had learned to their concern in the old battle here. Jo

Lars, lolling easily now over the console, said, “You know that battle plane, the one with the serial ending in ninety-three that was parked and refueled just inside the hangar door? I’m sure you know the one I mean. Well, it isn't there anymore. The fuel was removed from it and it was put way back in the hangar out of sight this morning.”

So that was why Angus and Ker didn't stop when they left, thought Jo

They saw no battle plane and thought he had flown safely away. This accounted for no one's showing up to trace him. Well, he hadn't expected any help anyway. And it was a very good thing they had not walked in on these nervous Brigantes and their submachine guns.

The traitor let him digest the surprise and then said, “But we won't be riding horses to the meadow. I will go down to the garage and get a stake truck and we can load the mounts in and I might even be persuaded to let you drive up into the mountains.” He had no intention of doing that. But it was a good false hope. In fact, masterful! Hitler– or was it Terl?– would have approved. “You can get out and start collecting the horses. The two Brigantes here will keep you covered.”

Lars got out and jogged off in the direction of the garage entrance on the other side of the compound.

Jo

Chapter 8

Jo

He heard another rumble. A plane? He spotted it in the east, approaching

slowly just below the overcast. Only a slow-flying drone sca

Well, no real help was coming from those directions. He was on his own. The truck, now quite near, was probably one of theirs and part of this snare.

Jo

The two Brigante guards were on either side of him about a pace to the rear. They seemed to be watching this new truck. That they held guns was masked from the truck's view by the ground car's bulk.

The huge vehicle roared on by them on the other side of the ground car. It went a short distance up the rise toward Dancer. It stopped suddenly, banging to earth in a cloud of dust as its suspension drive cut off.

Somebody leaped down through the dust from the eight-foot height of the cab floor and began to run up the slope toward Dancer.

Jo

It was Bittie MacLeod! He was carrying something in his hand. A crop? A switch?

“Bittie!” shouted Jo

The boy's voice floated back to him, carried by the wind: "I’ll get the horses, Sir Jo

“Come back!” shouted Jo

The Russian had had trouble getting his truck level. It had tilted on a boulder. But now he flung open the door and shouted toward Bittie, "Bitushka! Astanovka!(Halt!)" A sudden spurt of wind and the drone muted his words. "Vazvratnay! (Return!)”

The boy ran on. He was almost to Dancer to free the lead rope.

“Lord god, Bittie, come back!” screamed Jo

It was too late.

From behind a boulder, just beyond the horse, a Brigante stood up, raised his submachine gun, and fired at full burst directly into the stomach of the ru

Bittie was slammed back, pummeled by bullets that drove his body into the air. He crashed to earth.

The Russian was ru

Two more Brigantes rose into view in different places and three Thompsons roared. The Russian was cut to pieces.

Jo

The two Brigante guards stood no chance. With one backward stride, Jo

He caught the gun of one as that Brigante went down and stamped his heel into the side of the mercenary's skull, crushing it.

He reversed the gun and battered the other Brigante with bullets from a range of three inches.

Jo

He spun to find the one who had shot Bittie. That one was not in sight.

Five Brigantes rushed from a door in the compound and sent a hail of lead in his direction.

The Thompson he had used was jammed. It would not recock. He threw it down and picked up the other one.

Totally unmindful of the slugs ripping up the ground, ru

He knelt behind the body, turned the Thompson on its side, and fa

Jo

He was after the Brigante who had shot Bittie.

To his left and behind him eight mercenaries who had been lying in wait in the ravine rushed into view.

Jo

They came on firing. Jo

The squad came sprawling forward in an avalanche of dead men.

Down in the garage, Lars heard the firing. He sprinted up toward the plateau. Then he heard the assault rifle's sharper bark racketing against the compound. Instantly he knew that Jo

There was another prolonged burst from the assault rifle. The heavier staccato thud of the submachine guns had dwindled. Lars suddenly hit upon a better course of action for himself.

He scuttled backward into the garage. He sprinted into its depths. He found an old wrecked car and he crawled under the heaps of damaged body plates stripped from it. A far-off hammer of the assault rifle again. He burrowed deeper, sobbing with terror.