Alan Dean Foster The Last Starfighter

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emergency power gave it life.
The technician worked with it until he had produced a duplicate of the plot
he'd had on his own console.
It showed the incoming masses with emotionless clarity.
They were as big as first suspected and traveling very fast.
When the first one reached a certain point on the screen, it disintegrated,
along with most of the flank of the mountain in which the command base was
located. Succeeding masses of heavy ore reduced rubble to powder. Mixed in
with the ruined rock were the gunstars, their pilots, and the unlucky
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together with the hopes of the League.
Other eyes watched avidly as pinpoints of light representing the heavy masses
impacted one after the other on the surface of Rylos. There was measured,
restrained jubilation on board the Ko-Dan command ship. Then the crew bent to
their tasks. There was still much to do.
In addition, by concentrating on their work they were able to shut out the
sight of the strutting, bombastic
Rylan in their midst. To hear Xur talk one would have thought he'd reduced
Rylos's defenses all by himself, down to hurling the pieces of moon at the
planet's surface with his bare hands. Those forced to listen longed for the
day when permission might be granted to expose the interloper to the sight of
his own intestines.
They said nothing, keeping their desires concealed. One of their number had
already been reprimanded by the Commander. None of the crew intended to tempt
Kril's anger a second time. Such were the rules that the Ko-Dan lived by.
Those rules were worth adhering to. They had made the Ko-Dan masters.
By now the invading armada had moved close enough to Rylos to show the planet
and its satellites on high-powered visual scanners. They were not yet near
enough to see the extent of the damage they'd inflicted on the surface, but
further confirmation was unnecessary. Abstract imaging was documentation
enough.
"A direct hit, Commander," reported the fire control officer. "All strikes
successful in succession. No manifestation of a defense, either ground-based
or spatial. It appears that we can attack at will."
"Thank you," Kril replied. "Further use of the mass driver should not be
necessary. I expect to begin negotiations leading to a formal change of
government soon. They are clearly defenseless and have no choice but to submit
or face progressive annihilation of population centers. The change-over to
Ko-Dan administration should be brief.
"With Rylos subdued, the rest of the League should rapidly follow suit. This
is a great moment for the
Empire of the Ko-Dan."
Xur wasn't listening. At the moment he wasn't listening to anything except the
hatred in his own mind. He stared at the viewscreen which showed his now
helpless home and exulted aloud.
"At last it is done! My return is complete. Soon all talk of a 'Frontier' will
cease, as will the concept of the
Frontier. It is revealed now for what it always was a screen consisting of
nothing stronger than words.
"They will all bow to me, to Xur. They will bow to their new Emperor or I will
darken the sky with their ashes! I will raze the cities of Rylos until all
will to resist has been crushed. I will . . . !"
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While Xur raved in the middle of the command center the Ko-Dan smiled to
themselves and quietly worked at their stations. One communications officer
was concentrating on a single, tight-beam coded channel that emanated from the
surface of Rylos. It was the fleet's only means of communicating with their
Xurian allies below.
Now several monitors came alive on his console. He listened intently, waited
for the computer to transcribe the code into Ko-Dan. As soon as this had been
done he left his seat and hurried to report to the Commander in person.
"What is it?" Kril's tone was relaxed now. The successful destruction of the
secret League base enabled him to view Xur's tantrums with contented
detachment.
"The report is full of uncertainties, Commander. Our contacts on Rylos are
having difficulty making observations while staying in touch with us because
of the havoc caused in the sensitive area by our recent attack."
"I sympathize. The destruction must be extensive. Yet it must be important or
they would not take the risk of contacting us now."
"Again, this observer wishes to make it clear he is not positive, but he
thinks that one ship may have escaped from the Rylan base just prior to our
assault. A very small ship, of indeterminate specifications.
It could be piloted by a Starfighter."
Xur whirled from the screen and the world it revealed.
"Could be? A Starfighter escaped?"
Kril sighed, held his temper. "It is only one small ship. What can one ship do
against the armada?"
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"You don't know our history. You don't know what these gunstars are capable of
if directed by the right combination of instincts."
Kril didn't try to hide his contempt. "I was assured all such instincts had
been bred out of your citizenry."
"Out of most Rylans, yes, but not out of the more primitive peoples of the
League."
"Still, one ship . . ."
The deadly needle of disturbed air appeared in the air above the knobbed end
of Xur's scepter. "None must escape. None! None will escape. It is not a
matter of concern, but our victory must be total, absolute. There must not be
a suggestion of resistance left for the people to rally around!"
Kril turned to Detection and Surveillance. "Suspect escaping craft recently
cleared destroyed Rylan base. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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