Read Online The Fifth Civilization: A Novel by Peter Bingham-Pankratz - Free Book Online

matter if Vertulfo was brought in
alive.
    He was waiting for nothing.
    Grinek rounded the corner, plunging himself into the smoke.
He aimed the pistol into the cloud and fired.
    ***

 
      “Get to a ship,”
Aaron continued as they stepped out onto the balcony outside. Roan breathed in
the cool fresh air, tried to focus on the water and not the protests of his
friend. “Find this planet.” Aaron shoved the pad into Roan’s jacket.
    Roan was going to say that he’d never leave a friend behind,
but a half dozen green bolts sliced in their direction, two piercing Aaron’s
back and a third grazing Roan’s nose. In shock, Roan let go of Aaron and his
friend fell to the floor, gasping. Roan moved against one side of the door, but
realized taking cover was useless. The Kotaran was running down the length of
the warehouse at them, his speed and shooting making it certain he would kill
them all.
    With a pleasant beep, the emergency exit whirred shut. The
Kotaran’s momentum propelled him into it with a dull thud. On the opposite side
of the doorway, David stood at the controls, his simple pressing of the close button saving their lives.
    “Help me lift Aaron!”   Roan said to the Nyden. They each grabbed an arm and hauled Aaron off
the ground, rushing him down the emergency exit staircase connected to the
balcony. Help was not far away, Roan thought. The staircase connected to a
walkway that ran along the side of the mall and eventually to safety. But they
were going to have to be quick. Each step they took sent another waterfall of
blood out of Aaron’s mouth. And at any second the door behind them could open
and the Kotaran could kill them all.
    ***

 
    Grinek rubbed his snout and cursed. He furiously pressed the
release button on the door but it signaled it was locked from the outside.
Another curse. Grinek looked back at the smoking doorway from which he entered
and heard Earthmen voices and shouts. The security men had arrived. To distract
them, he fired a few shots into the clothing store and imagined a dozen
security men scrambling for cover.
    He remembered Talmar’s fiery death. Grinek reached into a
pocket of his uniform and pulled out the grenade that he, too, carried. They were
of low intensity, but could breach a door. Grinek slid a button on the device
and armed it. He threw it toward the emergency exit, turned away from the door,
and squatted behind some pallets. This time he put his claws to his ears for
protection.
    ***

 
    A deafening blast hurled the exit door over the balcony
railing and into the harbor, knocking Roan, David, and Aaron to the bottom of
the staircase. David immediately got to his feet and tugged Roan’s arm.
    “Get the hell off me!” Roan said, brushing away the helping
hand. “Help me get Aaron up!”
    “He’s dead, Mr. Roan!”   David shouted. “If we don’t leave now, we will be too!”
    Roan realized the explosion meant the Kotaran was in hot
pursuit. They had to go. He looked down at the man he’d been carrying, now laying
on his stomach.
    Aaron’s eyes were open, but the purple in them lacked any
twinkle of life. Instinctively, Roan bent down and felt Aaron’s neck. No pulse.
The blood had also stopped gushing from his mouth.
    “Goddammit! Goddammit, no!”
    David tugged on Roan’s arm. “Please, Mr. Roan!”   No matter how much he hated being
pushed, especially by a goddamn waddling duck, Roan relented and allowed
himself be led by the alien until they worked up a jog. They ran along the
emergency walkway until the horror was far behind them. It was an automatic and
mindless run, because all Roan was concentrating on were the two shots to the
back that had felled Aaron Vertulfo.
    ***

 
    After blowing away the outer door, Grinek tossed one more
grenade into the clothing store. For good measure.
    Pistol at the ready, he dashed out onto the outdoor walkway,
coughing with the dust and smoke in the air. There was no sign of his three
targets, at least not