i e4a5a8edf2d8eda0 by Unknown Read Free Book Online

stragglers—or spies—behind.
    Since the devastating Slan Wars, human society— pure human society—had developed
    television and radar, jet aircraft, but only a fragmented space program, a few satellites and
    pie-in-the-sky plans for rocket ships. A long time ago, human civilization had been much more
    ambitious, stretching their boundaries and approaching the stars. The Slan Wars had wrecked
    all that, knocking human civilization back by many centuries.
    But the insidious slans must have maintained their superior technology. All these years they
    had been hiding on Mars, building up their invasion force.
    Just like Gray warned us ! Before the first slan air strikes, guards had taken the deposed
    President to a secure holding cell in the interrogation sector. Not wanting to let Gray anywhere
    close to Jommy Cross, he had kept the President far removed from the other two slans, in a
    completely different detention level. But Petty hadn’t decided what to do next with the
    prisoners. He had to take care of it himself.
    “Mount all of our defenses. Now that we’ve exposed what Gray really is, the slans must be
    trying to free him.”
    “But we only just arrested President Gray,” Clarke said. “If these ships came from Mars,
    they launched days ago—”
    “Don’t argue fine points with me. Just call out the military.”
    The technician fiddled with his switches and displayed the incredible oncoming force on
    the big screen. It took his breath away. “Um, sir—since we’ve arrested President Gray, and Jem
    Lorry has disappeared, who has the executive authority necessary? Who’s in charge?”
    “ I’m in charge!” He lifted his chin. “It’s about time that someone with common sense, a
    proven track record, and a hard fist started taking care of things.” He sounded as if he were
    delivering a campaign speech.
    Petty paced around the bustling stations in the command-and-control center, ignoring the
    racket of alarms. “Summon all our troops. Get our aircraft in the skies, put soldiers on the
    rooftops to man our anti-aircraft guns. Tell them to shoot down anything that moves.” He
    ground his teeth together, then glanced again at the blips on the display. The enemy ships kept
    coming, as if Mars had an infinite supply.
    As the bombs started dropping from the skies, detonating in the streets of
    Centropolis—possibly all across the world—Petty quickly saw that Earth didn’t have a chance
    against this sort of attack. He would have to take unorthodox action, much as he hated to do
    so.
    His face flushed with frustration, he chose the three largest and most muscular guards.
    “Follow me back to the President’s cell. I’m going to make him see reason. And if I can’t
    manage that, then you three are going to help change his mind.” Perhaps they weren’t the
    brightest men, little more than thugs, but Petty would do all the thinking. He just needed
    someone who could break a few bones, if necessary.
    The sheer racket of the alarms probably caused more confusion and fear than the actual
    attack. Outside, the distant muffled rumble of explosions continued, barely heard over the
    obnoxious, incessant alarms. The enemy intended a full-fledged invasion, and no doubt they
    wouldn’t stop until most of the city was destroyed.
    In the upper levels of the palace, functionaries, staff, and even a few political visitors ran
    about in a panic. The streets were a stew of chaos. The surveillance cameras and periscope
    viewers showed much of Centropolis already in flames.
    He hurried along brightly lit tunnels and narrow passageways, accompanied by the guards.
    If John Petty was going to rule the world, he wanted it to last longer than an hour or two.
    His guards were armed with blunt-muzzled, large-caliber pistols. One slug fired from such
    a weapon would tear a hole the size of a grapefruit in a victim; the secret police rarely worried
    about simply wounding a slan prisoner. Right now, the guards would have to