Aliens Alien Harvest - By Robert Sheckley Page 0,81

roar, the cave mouth collapsed. A cloud of dust and smoke arose, and then it was quiet.

Julie turned off her weapon, as did Gill. "That'll do it for a little while," she said. "Until they find another exit from the hive," Stan said.

"Well, it's better than nothing. Now, where in hell are we?"

Stan pointed. "You've done a great job, Julie. Look down there."

Julie looked, and saw, less than a hundred yards away, the squat hull of the harvester.

"Now we're getting somewhere!" she said. "We just have to get aboard."

"Yes," said Gill. "But there's a difficulty." He pointed again.

It took Julie a moment to see it. But then she saw the small black dots moving at the base of the hive. She could finally make them out: aliens! They had found another exit from the hive sooner than she expected. And they were blocking the way to the harvester.

She asked, "What now, Stan?" But Stan was unconscious again.

Julie and Gill looked at each other, then glanced up as a shadow crossed them.

It was a ship. For one moment Julie's hopes flared. But then she took in the ship's markings and design, and a great despondency came over her. That was not the Dolomite. That was the Lancet, commanded by Potter, the Bio Pharm man. It hovered in the air, and nothing about it stirred. It seemed obvious to Julie that Potter was going to let them die here, watching and maybe videotaping their final agonies.

Stan revived and sat up. "The harvester, did you say?"

"It's right down there." Julie pointed.

Stan looked and nodded. He struggled to his feet. "We've got to get there. From there, something may be possible."

"There are quite a few aliens in the way," Gill pointed out.

"So I see," Stan said. "Have you ever heard of the old American Indian stunt of running the gauntlet?"

"I don't believe so," Gill said.

"You're about to learn history in a very practical way," Stan announced. "Load what's left of the ammo and we'll be on our way."

Despite the mortal danger of their position, Julie could have kissed him at that moment.
Chapter 65-67
65

Stan gave the signal and they were off, trotting down the rocky path that led from the edge of the hive to the plain. Fifty yards away, more or less, was the harvester. In the sky above them, the Lancet hovered, silent, watching.

And then the aliens came.

They came singly and in pairs, and then in threes. They seemed to crawl out from under rocks and to appear out of holes. They came in silent ferocity, fangs bared, talons extended, forming a rough line between the hive and the harvester. Stan and the others ran through the line, blasting as they went. They had all shifted now to rapid fire weapons. Never did Julie display better hand eye coordination. She managed to move at full stride, at the same time keeping a look on all sides of her and releasing sizzling bolts of energy at anything that moved. The rocks turned white hot under the glancing energy beams. The aliens surged forward, and died. Julie and Gill were doing fine...

And then Stan collapsed.

He had been doing very well, for a man in his condition. But his illness and general debilitation were not to be denied forever. Pain coursed through his chest like a sea of fire. He gritted his teeth and tried to continue, but now everything was turning dark before his eyes. He couldn't see where he was going. His feet stumbled on the rocky surface, a pebble turned under his foot. He felt himself falling, and a black pit seemed to yawn in front of him. He threw his arms wide as he fell, but before he hit, Gill scooped him up.

"Don't stop for me!" Stan said.

"Order denied," Gill said, setting him on his shoulder and running again.

They cut their way through the ranks of the aliens. Flesh, blood, and bile spilled in all directions. It was like a free for all in a slaughterhouse. Julie hadn't imagined there was that much gore in the whole world. Scattered parts of aliens lay everywhere, arms and legs, long ugly tails, heads with the teeth still snapping. And still they came on. Julie thought that every alien on the planet must be here, or on its way.

She was firing two weapons now, cutting a path for herself through a growing mound of living matter - the locked bodies of aliens, still trying to get at them. Gill, running along hard on Julie's