The ultrasaur roars, slavering, spitting, bellowing as it scrabbles across the enclosure. It leaves huge gouges through the earth, ripping trees up in its wake as it struggles to get closer to Tyler’s abandoned uniglass. Its teeth are bared, eyes flashing, great clods of shrubbery ripped free as it disappears into the thick foliage.
“It seems more … annoyed than excited?” O’Malley says.
“You’d be annoyed, too, if you thought there was another male in your house, cruising for ladysaurs.” Tyler nods toward the office. “Come on.”
Ty pushes himself hard off the nearest tree, moving quick now. I dart behind him, O’Malley bringing up the rear, waves of ridiculous tulle floating around her in the zero gee. Ty slows his dive with a handful of thick vines as he draws close to the silicon barrier, catching me as I come sailing in. O’Malley lands beside us, her mismatched eyes alight, seemingly energized at the thought of being so close to the prize. There’s some metal under the earth here—brackets for the wall, I’m guessing, and Ty activates his magboots, heels clomping on the turf.
“How we getting through this?” I hiss, thumping my fist on the glass.
“When all else fails, just blast it.” He shrugs.
He pulls out the disruptor he took from Bianchi’s guards, sets it to kill, and gives me a nod. I do the same, cranking the power up to max, and we both unload on the glass. There’s a bright flash of light, a searing sound. The shots melt the wall’s surface, leaving a black, charred scorch mark a few centimeters deep.
Problem is, this sucker is at least half a meter thick.
“Um,” Tyler says. “Okay.”
“ ‘Um, okay’?” I say, incredulous.
“Is there an echo in here?” Ty asks.
I hear a small electronic beep from O’Malley’s breast pocket.
“If I may venture an opinion—”
“No you bloody can’t!” I snap. “Silent mode!”
We hear a distant roar, the sound of towering trees being torn out of the earth by claws as big as swords. I glance over my shoulder, back to Tyler.
“Please tell me ‘When all else fails, just blast it’ wasn’t your only play?”
Tyler blasts the wall again, melting another couple of centimeters. He frowns, blows his mop of hair out of his eyes. “I really thought that’d work. …”
“Great Maker.” I flail. “This from Mr. One Hundred Percent On My Military Tactics Exam?”
Ty raises his scarred eyebrow. “Cat, I hate to shatter your opinion of me, but this is probably as good a point as any to confess I’ve been pretty much making this up as I go since the Bellerophon.”
Another roar shakes the foliage.
“Mothercustard,” O’Malley whispers.
We turn and see it.
See it seeing us.
Its mouth is open, showcasing row upon row of razor-sharp fangs. Its breath is like a blast furnace, its claws are dug deep into the ground, ruptured earth and shredded plant life floating in the zero grav around it. Its five eyes flash with rage, a forked tongue flicking the air as it drags itself closer to us. I look up, see glass above me. Glass behind me. Monster in front of me.
We’re boned.
“Cat, break left, take Auri,” Ty whispers, killing his magboots and gently lifting off the ground. “We work our way b—”
Whatever Ty’s command was going to be, he never gets a chance to finish it. The ultrasaur tenses its muscles and springs, the zero grav letting it sail right at us like a fang torpedo.
I grab O’Malley’s hand and the pair of us kick off the wall, hear the sound of its massive body colliding with the polarized silicon behind me.
The ultrasaur roars, claws scrabbling on the glass, and I risk a glance over my shoulder. Tyler has kicked off the ground, up to the ceiling high overhead. He hits the roof hard, shoulder crunching into the glass. But he’s moving again, lunging back toward the ground just as the ultrasaur crashes claws-first into the spot he’d been floating a moment before.
“Tyler!” O’Malley screams.
I know it probably won’t make a difference, but I crack off a shot with my disruptor anyway, rewarded with a satisfying sizzle as the blast burns a hole in the ultrasaur’s side. The shot doesn’t do any real damage, but it gives Ty a few seconds to gather himself and take another spring, back in the direction of the feeding hatch.
Except now I’ve got beastieboy’s attention.
It roars and lunges at us, and I’m barely fast enough