Alien Warrior's Challenge (Brion Brides 8)(14)

The enemies themselves were raining down fire upon his warriors from all sides. The Brion armor was the hardest war gear in existence, but the array of shots was so intense the sheer power of them almost knocked him off his feet.

Cursing the Hoolas for being so unreasonable, Kerven opened the comm link, paying no attention to the inferno around him.

"The grove is on fire!" he reported to Major Burton and Paula. "Send in the collectors, we will hold off the Hoolas! Send ships to put out the fires! All in, there is nothing to lose now!"

He didn't listen to the affirmatives, trusting that the same horrible sight greeted Paula and the Terran commander from their outpost.

His unit fell into flawless formation around the mouth of the tunnel. Side by side, shoulder by shoulder. At his command, they began walking forward, broadening the net. In that way, those to follow – including Paula – had a protective ring to come out into.

There wasn't much time, considering how fast the grove was burning. Kerven had no idea how many of the precious seeds were needed – a detail he had not bothered to acquaint himself with, as it had no bearing on the result of the battle -, he just assumed the more they got, the better.

His spear rose and fell, the blood painting the ground red before his feet. The net was holding until they pushed too far. Each link knew their purpose, trusting the others not to let a single enemy through.

While not threatening on their own, the Hoolas had learned a long time ago that they could put the numbers to work in their favor. In a way, Kerven almost admired their tenacity. Their discipline was admirable, nothing like the Terrans. It reminded him more of Brions, with each member of the Hoola army knowing what was expected of them and willing to suffer the consequences.

Seeing that they were no longer dealing with the Terrans, they changed their tactics. Climbing atop of each other, the Hoolas were prepared to literally throw themselves at his warriors, trying to bring one of them down.

They crowded them, attempting to strike at their legs. Some of the Hoolas even went so far as to die on purpose, hoping to catch their blades long enough to give others a chance to get closer.

With astonishment, Kerven noticed that some of them were successful. A few of his men were brought down, falling under the fire of the guns as they broke through the body armor or the armored helmets, and the short, no doubt poisoned swords the Hoolas carried.

Others took their place quickly and already, Kerven saw the Terrans appearing. He caught a glimpse of Paula in their midst. Her eyes filled with pain, barely able to look at the burning grove.

In the distance, the Terrans were busy with their own brutal battle. The Hoolas had understood it was the final attack and thrown everything into the melee, just like the Galactic union  ’s forces had. It was a complete chaos, like battles often were.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kerven kept a close watch on Paula. She had rushed over to one of the peculiar trees, the seeds so big she had to use both hands to carry them back into the tunnel where others received them. He noticed she didn't take all of them – the doctors were picking their way through the crop, clearly knowing what they needed.

Overhead, Kerven heard the comforting sound of the first dropship, coming to put out the fires and provide support from above.

"March!" he roared to his warriors and the net pushed ahead, giving room for other ships to land and pick up the precious seeds.

Hopefully, Paula as well.

One ship managed to land and the Terrans began throwing the seeds into the cargo hold, no longer bothering to pick, taking everything they could reach in the hope it would be of some help. It was for the best, because the situation was going downhill fast.

The heat was growing to be almost unbearable. Brions were naturally inclined to tolerate everything, but the Terrans were suffering. Coughing, trying to cover their mouths - nothing helped. They could barely stay out in the open for a minute before running back to the tunnel.

Kerven couldn't imagine the air there was anything better. He gritted his teeth, hoping Paula was okay as he struck down another Hoola, wild-eyed and ferocious.

His comm link crackled. Major Burton's rough voice spoke:

"Captain, the grove is lost! My men can't let themselves burn for those damn seeds! Get out of there! We have what we need!"

Hoping that was true, Kerven confirmed he'd heard the man.

"Pull back!" he called to his warriors, the net starting to tighten again.

Looking around, the captain saw that most of the Terrans were gone. The fires around them burned so brightly it was like daylight.#p#分页标题#e#

"Has Dr. Allen left?" he yelled over the deafening noise as he made his way to the mouth of the dropship.

"She went to get one more," a Terran pilot replied over his shoulder, pointing right into the furnace.

Kerven looked.

Right between two trees fully in flames, was Paula. There was a gigantic Eden seed in her hands – and a hundred Hoolas rushing her way.

The captain was running before he registered the movement.

"Hold!" he called to the warriors who tried to follow him.

Following him would be suicide for most of them. He would not have it on his conscience.

He dashed through the flames so fast he barely felt the heat. Even so, he had to watch the first sword fall.





15





Paula





She was toast.

Literally, Paula managed to think as the flames formed a circle around her.

Even forming a thought was getting to be difficult in that heat. In her last moments, she had to wonder if it was all worth it. The enormous Eden seed in her hand was ripe and perfect, exactly what they needed. She could save a planet with it, she held a planet's fate in her hands...

It was all she could do not to let go. The grove was a raging sea of fire and Paula was completely and utterly lost. All her training, every last course she'd ever taken – she remembered nothing, except for the warning.

In dangerous, uncertain situations, don't assume you know better.

She had, though. The seed had been lying right there under a large tree and Paula had dashed for it, not listening to the others calling her back. Even the Brions were already retreating and it wasn't that hard to slip between their lines. After all, they were trying to keep anyone from getting in rather than stopping people from getting out.

It had turned out to be a huge mistake.

Now they were going to burn together, her and the Eden seed.

It wasn’t the temperature that got her, but the Hoolas. They blocked her path back, trapping her between the roaring flames and their sharpened swords.

Her mind was scrambling for a way out, clutching the seed to her chest, finding nothing but unhelpful ideas. She could only concentrate on two things, one happy and one sad.

They'd gotten what they needed, Paula was almost sure of that. Definitely enough to at least get them started. They had the brains of the entire Galactic union   at their disposal. Surely one of them would be able to grow more when provided with one of the seeds, if not a Palian then a Terran botanist.

For some reason, it had turned out that Terrans really had the whole ‘nurture’ thing down better than anyone else when it came to plants.

Her mission was a success. It brought a tired, feverish smile to her lips as her grip around the seed weakened as the heat threatened to overwhelm her.

The other thought was not nearly as pleasant. Quite the opposite.

It was Kerven. The captain's face swam before her eyes, bringing tears to obscure her vision even more. Through the smoke, she saw angry Hoolas closing in on her. Their intent was pretty obvious to anyone who understood the purpose of swords.

She wanted to call out, to run. There wasn’t anywhere to go.

Kerven, she whispered in her mind, because her lungs no longer seemed to be working.

It hurt like nothing ever had. She'd endured many things in the service, had surgery performed on herself – none of it compared to the thought of never seeing the captain again. She wanted to, so badly.

More than anything in the world, Paula ached for a second chance in that moment when life flashed before her eyes. To see him, to stop fighting him when everything she'd wanted from the beginning was to lose to him.

She wished she could reach out her arm and he would be –

There.

He was almost there.

So were the Hoolas.

Paula's mouth opened in a scream even if no sound came out. The enemy was so close, she could see the light reflecting from their poisoned blades.

One of them dashed ahead, clearly a champion of some kind because he was bigger than the rest. He snarled something in a language Paula didn't speak, but the message was clear enough. The sword came down and she finally found her voice.

"Kerven!" she screamed.

She'd managed to miss the blow. Miraculously, amazingly, she'd dodged the right way, falling down in the process. Her luck wouldn't hold much longer, that much was obvious. The enemy was standing right in front of her, the others only a few feet away, how could he possibly miss...#p#分页标题#e#

Instinctively, Paula covered herself with the only thing she had in hand – the Eden seed. The Hoola champion's blade struck the seed in her hand so hard it made her shake from the impact. The sword was embedded into the hard, thick shell of it.

Paula saw the confusion and angry disappointment in the enemy's eyes. He was roaring at her, trying to pull the blade free, but in the next second, Kerven was there.