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.“We can take the close ones by surprise easily, but I don’t think we’ll be able to hit all of the ones down the passageway.They’ll be able to get into defensive positions before we can get close enough to surprise them.”Calvin walked over to the window and took a peek.“I see what you mean,” he whispered.“Worse, it looks like they’re almost through the door, so we’re going to have to hurry.” He turned to Rrower.“I have an idea,” he said, “but it’s going to make a mess.”“What do you mean?” asked the Mrowry.“I mean, I’d like to throw some explosives down the passageway,” announced Calvin.“It will probably kill the lizards.but it’s going to make a mess.”“I see,” said the felinoid.He paused, his eyes distant.“The commanding officer says that he doesn’t think the bridge can hold out much longer.He says to go ahead and do it.”“Roger,” replied Calvin.He turned to his troops.“I’ll push open the hatch,” he said.“Mac, I want you to shoot a couple of grenades down the hall to where the lizards are shooting at the bridge and clear them out.Gordons, you’ll shoot the lizards that are close, along with Corporal Taylor.Lieutenant Rrower, you keep a lookout behind us so that nothing sneaks up on us while we’re killing the lizards.Everyone got it?” He saw five heads nod, and they all got into position.“Gluck ab!” commed Corporal Jamal ‘Bad Twin’ Gordon.“I love a target rich environment, dude!” His brother punched him in the arm.“Ow!” Bad Twin continued, “I mean, I love a target rich environment, sir!”Calvin shook his head as he moved to the side of the hatch and took hold of the latching mechanism.He looked up to see his troops ready and focused with rifles and trident pointed and ready to fire.“One.two.three!” he said and threw open the hatch.The door slammed open, just as one of the lizards had raised a foot to kick in the door.Its head snapped to the right.Before it could complete the kick, Suzi ‘Deadeye’ Taylor shot it through its right eye with the Gordon brothers shooting the ones on either side of it.Two antimatter grenades arced down the passageway from Sergeant MacKenzie’s trident to explode in the group of lizards down the hall.Deadeye and the twins charged down the passageway with Calvin and Rrower in close pursuit.Reaching the group by the stairs, they found a couple of the lizards still twitching, and one starting to rise.They shot them all through their heads before they could recover enough to shoot back.“Stay here and cover us,” said Calvin to his troops.He turned to Rrower and said, “Please let the bridge know that we have secured the passageway down here.”Calvin walked down to the doorway that the lizards had been cutting through and pushed open the door.Before he could move, a laser beam flashed out from the room, missing his left ear by inches.Instinctively, he dove to the right away from the shot yelling, “Don’t shoot!”Rrower came quickly back down the passageway as Calvin looked carefully around the edge of the doorjamb.Inside the room, he could see a smaller Mrowry sitting against the back wall holding a laser pistol in its hands.The pistol was bigger than it could hold comfortably, causing it to shake a little.Calvin realized that the shaking might have been the only thing that saved his life.The shot hadn’t been a warning shot, but one fired with deadly purpose.If the cub had been able to hold the pistol steady, Calvin might have been dead.Rrower hissed at the youngster.“That’s not a nice thing to do to the person that is here to save you,” he scolded.“I didn’t see him,” the child said in a soft, high-pitched voice.Calvin realized that the cub was a young female.“I had my eyes closed.”“Now how are you ever going to shoot something with your eyes closed?” scolded Rrower further.“The only way to save yourself is to look death in the eyes and spit in its face.”The little cub came over to rub up against Rrower.“I’m sorry,” she said.“I will try to do better next time.”“Don’t tell me you’re sorry,” replied Rrower.“I’m not the one you almost accidentally killed.You need to tell this male that you’re sorry.”She turned her head to look at Calvin.“He looks funny,” she said.“Where’s his face fur?”“Now you are being rude to the one that just saved you from the lizards,” Rrower scolded.“Where are your manners today? Now you need to apologize for that, as well.” She buried her face back into Rrower’s fur, obviously embarrassed.“I mean it,” he growled.“Now!”She turned her head far enough for one eye to be seen from the depths of Rrower’s fur.“Sorry,” she said in a tiny voice.Rrower reached down and pushed her away from him.“Now say it like you mean it,” he admonished.The child gave what was almost a human curtsy and said, “I’m sorry for being rude.Thank you for saving me from being eaten by the icky lizards [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]