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main city, the crafts small enough to not need docking facilities but
certainly not invisible in their approach. They d had to use beam
lights also, since power to the city was shut off except for the ship
port and the bunkers, which had their own energy sources.
Which way, sir?
Kel had no idea. He d studied maps of the layout of Anaya Two s
transportation grid but how to proceed depended more on the
fugitives than the directions of the paths of the city. Since we re here
to try and save the crew of the Serpentine, we should head for the
ship. He nodded to his left, his voice terse. That way. The terminal
will be guarded, of course. Let s not expect any of this to go
smoothly. If the ship got here and docked successfully that means
either the Serpentine s navigation officers are still alive or that some
of the prisoners know what they re doing. So let s assume they know
how to use tracking devices and have picked up we re here, and they
expect us to come that way.
One of his crewmen, his face grim as he studied a handheld
scanning device, said, Commander Gallico, we have movement in
the east quadrant.
And the west, Grand observed. Five of them it looks like.
Scouting parties maybe, trying to find weapons and supplies. The
main bulk of the convicts are probably guarding the vessel. They need
that ship and know we don t want them to have it. Kel turned and
Under His Command 87
signaled to the transports for lift off. He wasn t interested in worrying
over any of them being hijacked either. Military transports didn t have
the fire power of a big ship naturally, but they were armed and could
be formidable in combat. Besides the expensive equipment being his
responsibility, he was uninterested in finding out if any of the escaped
men could pilot one. Minoa had forwarded dossiers on all the
prisoners, but there hadn t been time to do more than glance over the
information. Unfortunately the common theme among the
characteristics of the subjects of the files seemed to be a tendency
toward ruthless violence, usually unprovoked.
He was about to provoke them in a big way.
Let s remember they ve had plenty of time to take uniforms from
the crew members. We re going to assume everyone is the enemy
until positive identification can be made. If fired upon, fire back at
will. Let s proceed.
Yes, Commander.
The terminal was as dark as the rest of the city, a long, sleek
building that towered above them by hundreds of feet. Because Anaya
Two wasn t industrial, the facilities were small by most standards, but
still big enough to house a full-sized shipping vessel like the
Serpentine.
They d barely gotten around the edge on the approach when a
volley of flashing light erupted. It wasn t a surprise Kel knew they
were in for a battle but as they all scrambled to get back behind the
corner of the building, he still uttered an very un-regulation word.
He d been able to bring down fifty men with him. There were
very close to the same number of convicts and over eighty crew
members from the stolen ship. The odds would be in his favor if any
of the crew were in a position to help, but a very large question
mark who knew if any of the Serpentine s personnel were still alive,
or if so, capable of assistance.
There was also the other factor of trying to infiltrate a defended
position. Every military officer knew that basic rule. The aggressor
88 Annabel Wolfe
was at a disadvantage. Breaching the wall was the same difficulty
now as it had been back in ancient Earth history. He d studied the
exploits of ancient generals and kings like Hannibal and Alexander,
not to mention Napoleon Bonaparte and his nemesis Lord Wellington
with interest. Without tracking devices and special communications
and computer intelligence, they d pitted wits against each other and
won great victories.
It fascinated him, he had to admit, and with all the power shut off
on Anaya Two, he wasn t all that far from those primitive conditions.
Their handheld trackers had a limited range and he d just sent his
transports off planet on standby. To keep intercepts at a minimum he
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