Unification - Jeri Taylor [72]
Now she’d have to finish it before she returned to the shop; she sat on an embankment as she nibbled daintily at the sweet. D’Tan observed that Janicka was one of the few people he knew who could eat and still look delicate. He’d never had such a thought before, and as his mind considered her gentle face and her large, dark eyes, he found himself thinking of Janicka in an entirely new manner.
It was while he was absorbed in this unaccustomed exploration of Janicka’s attributes that he heard the first scream.
It was a woman, and she was not within his sight. But he saw others on the street react to the scream and look off, to his right, down the thoroughfare that led out of Krocton segment.
Within seconds there was more noise—unfamiliar, disturbing—a clamor of shouting and more screams.
D’Tan’s stomach twisted with fear. Whatever was happening, he knew it was worse than anything he had ever experienced. Now the people on the street before him ‘were running, becoming crazed, colliding with each other in desperate haste. Some ran to his left, simply trying to get away from whatever was approaching; others ran the opposite way to look for loved ones or to take sanctuary.
The clamor of noise to his right was increasing in volume, and soon he could hear a pounding of footsteps—hundreds of them, many the harsh stamp-ing of military boots as they marched inexorably down the street.
Then he caught the unmistakable sound of disruptor fire. He shrank back in his hiding place in fear. Disruptors were one of the most terrible weapons ever invented; were they being used on innocent citizens?
The next thing he saw was a flood of terrified people, running, stumbling, some glancing back over their shoulders as they ran, all wild-eyed, all fleeing some awful and as yet unseen monstrosity. One woman stumbled and fell; the crowd marched over her, ignoring her pleas for help and then her frantic screams as she was trampled. Finally she was still; D’Tan could see only her outstretched arm, fingers twitching faintly. Then came the guards.
Neral’s security guards were the most feared unit of the military. They were chosen first on the basis of size and strength; once tapped for service, they under-went special adaptations of their brain chemistry that reduced any sense of conscience or empathy. Then their plan centers were regulated so that their bodies were impervious to the torment of physical injury.
The result was a brutal creature without compassion, who would follow orders relentlessly, would not be slowed by injury, and would fight tenaciously until the body itself simply gave out.
These were the beings that marched through Krocton segment now.
Faces impassive, dressed in iron gray uniforms, they moved like a relentless swarm of insects over a field, destroying it utterly. Disruptor fire lacerated build-ings and caused them to tremble violently; some collapsed in on themselves. Glass shattered and exploded, often showering the frightened citizens with lethal shards.
Some guards amused themselves by nipping at the fleeing civilians with disruptors; a full setting would vaporize anyone, so obviously they had purposely set their weapons at a low level. Those who were unlucky enough to get grazed by the ugly blast dropped in their tracks, screaming in agony as their internal organs began to explode. All this D’Tan watched with horror, not wanting to see but unable to look away. It was a living nightmare of cruelty and mayhem, unfolding in bitter, bloody detail directly in front of him.
A gap in the guards’ ranks opened briefly, and he saw Janicka, standing opposite him on the embankment,