| |
The sky began to glow, first behind her, then spreading rapidly overhead. She didn't bother to turn; she knew what was coming. Instead, she kept her gaze on the city. A few people had stopped and stared back. Not at her, but above her.
A line of delta-shaped shuttles were on final approach, weaving between the taller buildings. One of the pilots obviously saw the threat. One of the shuttles banked hard, veering round an office block. Its main thrusters lit, sending out gouts of turquoise plasma, and blew in the windows on a couple of floors. It didn't really matter about the people inside; they would be dead in a few seconds anyway. If the shuttle wasn't too heavy, though, its passengers might just make it.
“You must take shelter now.”
“You told me this hill was far enough away,” she replied.
“The projectile is larger than expected.”
“I have to see this. They deserve a witness.”
She felt the local commnet traffic spike, a tiny pinprick somewhere at the back of her brain. People calling loved ones or broadcasting video to the world.
Silently the warhead plunged overhead. Her natural eyes registered nothing more than a dazzling light with smoke trailing behind it. Apparently unbidden, her EIS overlaid an enhanced feed showing her the streamlined metallic core glowing from the atmospheric friction, its outer surface ablating and leaving the trail behind.
Some people were running. Most, though, appeared rooted to the spot. Maybe they were like rabbits in headlights, maybe they knew there was nowhere to run. A few started to pray.
The noise of the warhead’s supersonic passage ripped through the savannah. Animals bolted from wherever they were resting from the heat of the suns. A burnished razorback was coming straight for her, but angled off to the side when one of her escorts rose up in its path. Normally a peaceful herbivore, it could easily have trampled her in its panic.
From the outskirts of the city, new smoke trails appeared. Someone in the militia had approved the automated defence system's request to fire. The AI in control of the weapons had probably been pinging anyone with the appropriate authority in an ever-increasing state of agitation, just waiting to get the necessary human 'Go' command.
It was too late, of course. Perhaps if someone had been sitting with his finger on the button there would have been time, but this was a core world. The Fleet should, at the very least, have given a warning that an attack was imminent. Laser turrets could possibly have saved the city, but there were never enough of them to spare for a safe backwater like this.
The missiles arched sharply over the city, struggling to turn tightly enough to meet the rapidly approaching warhead. Those few that were already on an intercept course detonated their proximity charges, the shockwaves of plasma doing little more than nudge the warhead a fraction of a degree off course. This close to the city that meant nothing.