“It was no easy task, sir,” the soldier replied, “but we got all the animals in the pens around the coliseum. All but one.”
“And which one was that?” Pelros asked.
“A Stilapian wolf,” she answered. “It escaped and disappeared below decks.”
“That’s fine,” Pelros said. “It’ll keep intruders at bay.”
He returned the soldier’s salute and made his way around the perimeter of the Pegasus’ city. His marines were nervous, focused on the green wall that was climbing the side of the ship and wondering how they were supposed to fight it. They didn’t celebrate the defeat of the humans; they were too consumed by the fear that the fire would sweep over the entire vessel and kill everyone. The citizens weren’t any happier, crowding in close to the coliseum to get as far away from the green flames as possible. For the moment, the wall had stopped moving, but he expected it wouldn’t stall for long.
Even if the humans were their only threat, Pelros wasn’t convinced that the battle was over. After the attack, a soldier positioned on the corner of the ship reported seeing a break in the burning green wall, near where the humans with Jones and his rebel clones were probably positioned.
Pelros discounted this first soldier, unable to imagine how he could see anything with the light blasting from the mirrors. But then other soldiers began telling their commanders the same story. And reports came in that another wall of the green flames had grown from the one lining the steps going up the side of the ship, in the same area were the break had been. This wall had only gone far enough to close off the balcony of one of the apartments, far enough to surround a small group of humans who may have escaped.
The green entity intended some sort of trial or judgment to be passed by the humans who were with Jones—that much seemed clearer with each passing moment. He hoped his soldiers had outwitted the green entity by blasting the humans with the light beam, but now he had to assume a few had escaped through the opening in the wall and might be coming up through the inside of the ship.
“The green wall is moving,” an engineer manning one of the mirrors shouted.
Pelros rushed to the edge, seeing the reason for the panic in the engineer’s voice. The green wall climbed up the side of the recruit ship, heading for the top with such speed that Pelros feared it might sweep over them, annihilating his soldiers and the Anunnaki civilians before he could decide how to protect them. The soldiers shouted and pushed away from the wall. Pelros was only able to take ten steps before the flames reached the perimeter wall of the city, and there it stopped.
He a took a few more steps and stopped as well. Seeing him pause, the soldiers near him did the same, ready to face whatever fate he chose. He stared at the wall, uncertain what to do.
“Pull back to the coliseum,” Pelros ordered.
It was the hub of the city, the center of the ship. There was enough clear space around the outside of the stadium and plenty of room on its floor and in its bleachers to take refuge. If his people had to make a final stand, this seemed to be the best location.
The soldiers carried out his orders. He stayed near the edge, splitting his attention between the emerald flames and the Anunnaki fleeing toward the coliseum. Once they were clear, he backed away from the green wall and followed them toward the center of the city.
“Thank the gods it seems to be stopped,” Gentras said when Pelros came close to the crowd outside the coliseum. “What will we do if it attacks us?”
“This far exceeds my realm of expertise, and the senior officers don’t know what to do either,” Pelros angrily replied. “Now would be an appropriate time to allow my uncle to take charge.”
He glared at the aristocrat, frustrated that even now, as their people faced possible extinction, the bureaucracy was bent on maintaining its semblance of control.
Gentras returned his gaze. His face remained relatively calm, but his eyes expressed the same panic that swept through the rest of the ship’s population.
“Very well,” he said, sounding tired and defeated. He turned to his personal guard. “Fetch General Athos.”
The guards nodded, relief evident in their worried expressions. They rushed off to carry out the council member’s order, and Pelros returned his attention to the approaching wall of green fire.
It began moving at a crawl toward them, as if to allow everyone plenty of time to get out of the way. He ordered the soldiers to form a barrier around the civilians, pointing the primitive weapons they’d gathered outward. They were useless against the green alien, but he was desperate to do something and knew the soldiers and citizens both benefited from being given orders—it kept them from deteriorating into a panicky riot.
“Looks like everything’s under control,” Athos said from behind him.
“Thank the gods,” Pelros said under his breath. He turned around. “Uncle… General Athos.”
“Report,” the general calmly said.
“This green entity seems to be corralling us toward the coliseum,” Pelros replied. “We’ve brought the animals up to the holding cages, though I’m not sure how we can use them to our advantage at this point.”
“Are there any humans left?” Athos asked.
“Only a handful of loyal slaves,” Pelros replied, glancing nervously at the approaching green flames. “But I suspect a few of the enemy may have escaped our attack with the mirrors. They could be coming up through the inside of the ship, though I doubt there are enough of them to pose any real threat.”
“We should be ready for anything,” the general replied. “The green enemy wants a final conflict between the humans and our people; at least that’s what I gathered by what it said.”
“I have soldiers blocking all the emergency stair accesses leading down from this level,” Pelros said.
“No surprise,” Athos said, looking over at one of his senior officers.
“He is a good leader,” the old officer said to Athos. “We hope that is enough and the gods act in our favor.”
The pop of primitive human guns erupted near the base of the coliseum, accompanied by the shouts of soldiers.
“The soldiers must not have gotten those emergency stairwells blocked in time,” Athos said.
Pulsing sounds of plasma rifles firing came from inside the dark lower level of the coliseum. Pelros felt the blood run from his face.
“Is it possible the humans have plasma rifles?” he asked.
“Sounds that way,” Athos said. “The enemy’s way of giving the few humans who survived a chance at killing us. It’s leveled the field for a good fight. Perhaps this enemy is not unlike ourselves.” Athos looked at the approaching green wall. “This battle may be for its entertainment.”
“We should lure them into the coliseum,” Pelros suggested. “Then we can use the animals against them.”
“Excellent idea,” Athos said. “I’ll go make sure the gates are manned and ready to open. You get those humans onto the coliseum floor.”
“Yes, sir,” Pelros replied, saluting his uncle. He wanted to feel like they had a chance, but as he rushed to the coliseum, he couldn’t shake the pessimistic feeling that the violent end of the Anunnaki race was imminent.