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eyes and licked their lips in anticipation.
    Picking up a
brick, she hurled it at one, but it bounced off the creature's
forehead with no noticeable effect. Panic squeezed her heart in an
icy grip as she glanced around for a way out, but they were
shoulder to shoulder, closing the circle. Her stomach threatened to
hurl its meagre, acidic contents up her throat. Rancid breath,
mixed with unwashed hairy bodies, urine and faeces, plus the
decaying blood of past victims that clung to their fur, created a
stench unrivalled in singular vileness.
    Sobbing with
hysterical panic, Rayne hurled brick after brick at the encroaching
mutants, following each with a stream of useless abuse. Her aim was
good, but the bricks bounced off the mutants' thick skulls without
making them blink. Some leered and growled, others quickened their
steps and raised their arms.
    A low-pitched
hum filled the air. A pillar of blue fire impaled the mutant in
front of her, which exploded. Blood and guts splattered its
companions, making them recoil. The blue fire burnt a molten spot
in the ground before it cut off, then impaled another mutant. The
powerful hum made her teeth ache, and intense heat scorched her
skin as mutant after mutant died, impaled by the beam of light. She
gasped and crouched down, covering her face as an orgy of blue heat
destroyed the mutants. Some died before they could make a sound,
and none had time to even turn away.
    When the last
mutant was vaporised, the blue fire vanished, leaving scorched,
smoking spots that glowed. Shredded gore coated the rubble, and
chunks of cooked meat clung to the crumbling wall behind her. Rayne
lowered her hands and glanced around, poised to flee but afraid to
move in case she attracted the attention of whoever had killed the
mutants. She was fairly sure it had been a laser beam, invisible
against the sky. Her mind raced as she struggled to make sense of
it.
    An alien ship
had just tried to kill her, now some unknown and unseen benefactor
had saved her, or were they just toying with her? Perhaps they
enjoyed her fear, and now waited for her to flee before killing
her, too. She glared at the sky, hating their power and
elusiveness, determined not to give them the satisfaction of
watching her run about in terror. Her bravado drained away, and she
stumbled from the scorched circle to hobble down the street as fast
as she could, intent only on getting away.
     
    The imperative
and rather rude telepathic intrusion of Marcon, his first officer,
jerked Tallyn from a deep slumber. Such tactics were only ever used
in an emergency, so he quelled his initial annoyed reaction and
sent back a query. Marcon's response, that a group of mutants were
attacking the human girl, brought Tallyn wide awake. He jack-knifed
out of his bunk and pulled on the one-piece stretch overall that
was slung over a nearby chair.
    His quarters
were only a few strides away from the bridge, and within seconds he
watched the confrontation on main screen. He admired her pluck as
she hurled bricks and abuse at the monsters, but when it was quite
obvious she could not escape, he gave the order to destroy the
mutants. The ship's neural net, under the guidance of a net-linked
officer, locked onto the targets and calculated distance and
trajectory before firing the lasers with deadly accuracy.
    The girl
glanced around and up, but the ship was in orbit, hidden by the
grey clouds that cloaked her world. The spy-cam that brought her
image to him also marked her position, enabling the ship's infrared
scanners to track her movements. The spy-cam was programmed to keep
her image in its lens. She hobbled down the street, the spy-cam
following like a faithful dog. Her limp worried him, and the brown
stains on her trousers indicated injuries that he had only noticed
when she had set out on her journey this morning. The possibility
of infection added to his concern, making him toy with the idea of
picking her up.
    Tallyn could
not explain why he had not done