"Eshbach, Lloyd Arthur - Overlord Of Earth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eshbach Lloyd Arthur)

THE MINUTES that followed were a nightmare of bloody, roaring slaughter. The
forces of the Overlord, their minds already befuddled with their hours of
carousing, were completely demoralized, capable of only the most feeble
resistance. Flight was the universal impulse. As the men of the Remnant poured
through the burning doorway to spread fanwise across the hall, they swept the
massed revelers before them like sheep. It was slaughter--and slaughter without
quarter. They had come as executioners to wipe out Andrev and his followers,
root and branch--and prisoners had no place in their plan.
As he sped through the huge chamber, firing methodically at every fleeing figure
within range, Kerry's mind wavered between satisfaction at the success of their
attack thus far and a vague sense of uneasiness. It was unbelievable that the
Overlord could be so completely unprepared for attack. The element of surprise
had given them an unquestioned advantage, and the celebration of 'Liberation
Day' with its attendant debauchery had helped a lot. Then too, there had been no
organized resistance for so long a period that the danger of an uprising had
seemed completely past. But certainly Andrev had additional automatic defense
installed during the early days of his reign when the danger of revolt must have
been something to cope with; to think otherwise was to underestimate the
Overlord's intelligence.
Kerry scanned the chamber with quick, keen glances, while charging ahead with
unbroken stride. Two things in particular he noted. The Overlord's throne was
empty; and everyone ran as though by prearranged plan toward a narrow doorway in
the far wall close to the throne--streaming through it in a steady unbroken
line.
The Overlord, certainly, had preceded his followers through that doorway!
Casting a glance behind him, Kerry saw that he still led the pack, though Bodey
was at his heels. With a single piercing shout he sprinted toward the narrow
opening, ignoring the panicstricken stragglers who scurried away at his
approach. His cry seemed to have spurred the fleeing mass to new effort, for
suddenly the narrow doorway became jammed with a fighting, squirming mass of
humanity. Grimly Kerry hurled a grenade, a second, a third--and as the
thunderous detonation rolled through the room, the doorway cleared completely.
As he reached the opening, an ominous roar swept through the hall and he glanced
over his shoulder. His face blanched. A withering rain of machine gun fire was
sweeping the hall from openings in both side walls! Someone, somewhere, had been
waiting till the room had cleared of Andrev's men--then had set off batteries of
weapons. trained in devastating crossfire. His comrades were dropping on every
hand.
A furious curse burst from him as Bodey reached his side. A trap--and they had
been caught in it!
"Up to us, Glenn." he rasped, whirling and thrusting his Ghormley into its
holster. Nothing but grenades now--and Andrev their only objective.
The room they had entered was far smaller than the Council Hall, and in its far
end were jammed a mass of the rulers, struggling to enter four large elevators
that lined the wall. Four elevators and all the doors were open! None had yet
left ground level.
WITH COMMON consent Kerry and Bodey began throwing grenades, their advance
slowed to a walk. Thunderous reverberations rocked the room, mingled with the
shrieks and screams of the injured. Choking, acrid smoke billowed across the
chamber--and like black robots the two men of the Remnant stalked through the