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.”“Regular human?” said Ryan, rolling his eyes.“I don’t know about you, but even when I thought that guy was human he scared me to death.I’m not sure it’s possible for me to be more worried about him,” he said.“But I do get your point.I won’t call him Manning anymore.” He paused.“As I was saying, we have two advantages.First, he thinks he’s totally safe.He has no idea we can come through the barrier after him.There’s no way he could have guessed we found a force-field nullifier in the last few hours.”“He’ll be surprised all right.”“Our telepathy is our other advantage.We can use it to work together without him knowing it.”The siblings immediately began discussing possible strategies, keeping their advantages in mind.It took them only a few minutes to agree on a plan they thought might work.They certainly wouldn’t have to wait long to find out for sure.Eight minutes after they had left the unconscious adults they arrived at where they knew the cavern was located.Although it couldn’t be seen through the force-field barrier, the cavern, and the real Tezoc, were waiting for them on the other side.Over the past several months they had come to know the cavern extremely well.It was the size of a baseball stadium.One half was nearly empty while the other half was packed with heavy machinery and scientific equipment of every kind.Rows of huge excavation vehicles that had been used to dig out the cavern were parked next to backup lasers and microwave generators.A large electrical generator provided power for everything in the cavern, including the elevator and all security measures.A backup generator was also located in the crowded half of the cavern, always standing at the ready in case of emergencies.Heavy, multicolored cables snaked across the floor bringing power to the cavern’s lighting and other systems, although the lighting system also had internal battery backups in case both generators were out for any reason, as they were now.Regan patted the light-red crystal nullifier in her pocket and took a deep breath.It was all up to them now.No mission in history had ever been more important.They had to find a way to stop Tezoc.The price of failure was unthinkable.They moved to a section of the barrier they hoped would open into the cluttered part of the cavern.They prepared to step through the force-field, bracing themselves to react instantly to any surprises they might encounter as they did so.As planned, Regan held a flashbang grenade while Ryan gripped a stun gun in his right hand.They stepped through on Regan’s signal.The nullifier worked perfectly.They found themselves behind a large excavator as they had hoped, perfectly concealed from the rest of the cavern.So far, so good.They peered from behind the vehicle carefully.Tezoc and Carl were still there! They were both standing calmly near the elevator.Other than this, the cavern was deserted.Carl’s plasticuff restraints had been removed and his weapons and security gear had been fully returned to him.A sleek, high-tech walkie-talkie now hung from his belt along with his pistol, knife, and other weapons.This could only mean that Tezoc was now in full control of him as they had expected.With a loud buzz the indicator light on top of the main power generator changed from red to yellow.In less than a minute it would change to green, meaning full power had been restored to all systems, including the elevator.Ryan crept as close as he could get to the short alien, staying hidden behind any number of large pieces of equipment.Finally he arrived at yet another excavating vehicle about twenty yards away from his target.His heart was trying to pound its way out of his body but he couldn’t get it to stop.He turned his body so the excavator, and Tezoc, were to his back, covered his ears and closed his eyes tightly.“Now,” he broadcast to his sister.Regan threw her flashbang grenade and closed her eyes as well.Her aim was perfect.The flashbang landed only a few feet from Carl and Tezoc and exploded instantly on impact.Battered by the shock wave from the explosion, Carl stumbled and went down, either dazed or unconscious.Tezoc managed to stay on his feet but was totally disoriented.Ryan dashed out from behind the vehicle and sprinted toward Tezoc.When he was ten feet away from the alien he stopped, aimed the stun gun, and fired.Two electrode darts leapt out from the gun and stuck like Velcro to Tezoc’s black jumpsuit, discharging their electric payload in an instant.Tezoc’s muscles convulsed, overwhelmed by the electricity, and he collapsed to the floor.Regan joined her brother and pulled out a zip-strip.She bound the short alien’s wrists behind him as they had done with Davidenko and Brice, and then rolled him onto his back.Ryan retracted the electrodes so the stun gun was ready to be fired again.Even though Tezoc was on the hard dirt floor of the cavern and bound, Ryan knelt on the ground and kept the gun firmly aimed at the alien’s chest.Carl was sprawled on the floor a few feet away, his eyes closed.He had a nasty gash on his cheek and he looked either dead or unconscious.Regan crawled to him to check for a pulse and was greatly relieved when she found one.As usual, the effect of the flashbangs only lasted ten seconds or so and Tezoc had recovered, although he still wasn’t fully recovered from the effects of the stun gun.“How did you do it?” he bellowed.“It’s not possible.How did you get through the barrier?” Then, after a moment of thought, he answered his own question.“You mean you actually found the force-field nullifier you were looking for,” he said in disbelief.“The odds against that are one in a million.”“Sorry to disappoint you,” replied Ryan.Tezoc seethed, his hatred all-consuming.“I don’t believe it!” he bellowed.“I should have killed you when I had the chance.”“If it makes you feel any better,” noted Ryan, “your Captain Brice gave it his best shot.”“I underestimated you, after all.I knew you were talented, but I really never thought you could pose a threat all by yourselves.”“I guess you aren’t as smart as you thought you were,” said Regan.“Maybe so,” said Tezoc bitterly.“But you’re forgetting one thing.”“What’s that?” said Ryan.Tezoc smiled.“You were correct in assuming it’s more difficult for me to be active at the same time I control the mind of another.In fact, the way your minds are structured, a human couldn’t do it at all.Like following two different movies on two screens at the same time.Your kind are completely incapable of it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]