The police fliers swooped down like predatory birds, descending at a steep angle in tight formation. It was almost midnight, and the streets of the city were deserted. The red and yellow lights on the exteriors of the vacant office buildings switched to blue, closing off the airspace as the police pursuit craft entered the area. They came in dark, lights off, sirens silent, and they came in fast.

Lt. Joh Iano gave quick, last minute instructions to the strike team over his helmet comset as they touched down, then the gull-wing doors of the sleek, dark gray pursuit flier opened with a muted whine. Iano and his partner came out running, their weapons held ready. Behind them, the rest of the strike team moved quickly into position, their faces invisible behind the polarized visors of their black helmets. Each officer wore body armor and carried a high-capacity riot rifle in addition to his issue sidearm. The rebels would not be taken without a fight. They never surrendered, preferring to die rather than fall into the hands of the police. This time, Iano was determined to capture some of them alive.

The raid had been planned quickly, but Iano wasn't taking any chances. He had several of the fliers peel off from the formation as they came in for a landing, blocking off the street on both sides, and he made sure that the rear of the building was covered as well. They were going to hit hard and they were going to hit fast. This time, the rebels were not going to get away.

As the officers lined up in assault formation, Iano quickly checked with the units at either end of the street and behind the building. Everyone was in position. It had taken months of trying to infiltrate undercover officers into the rebel movement, but it had finally paid off. The tip about the cell meeting came in earlier that evening. It was to be a major planning session, and some of the rebel leaders would be in attendance. If they could capture the leaders, they could break the back of the entire rebel underground.

Iano was about to order his men in when a panic-stricken voice came over his helmet comset. "We are under attack! We are under attack!"

Iano winced as a piercing scream came over his helmet speakers, followed by the crackle of frying circuitry. At the same moment, the main body of the strike team came under fire. Out of nowhere, bright beams of force lanced through the night and struck the strike team as it was drawn up in assault formation. Iano heard screams coming over his helmet speakers as officers died all around him, incinerated by the deadly beams. He brought his hands up to his head and staggered. It was an ambush, and they had walked right into it.

For a moment Iano was disoriented. He glanced around in all directions, trying to see where the fire was coming from. It seemed to be coming from all over. However, they couldn't even see who was firing at them, and Iano had no idea what sort of weapons they were using. He'd never seen anything like this. The panic-stricken officers still standing scattered and started firing in all directions, their rifles emitting sharp pops and high-pitched whines as the projectiles left the barrels, but the deadly beams kept right on coming, cutting them down where they stood. As Iano watched, numb with shock, bright auras of glowing light wreathed the officers who were struck, then they simply disappeared.

"Pull back! Pull back! Retreat!" he shouted into his comset as he ran back toward his pursuit flier. One of the beams missed him by inches and he felt the intense heat of its passage as he ran. What in the name of Ankor were the rebels using? He had never seen such devastating weaponry. He plunged into his flier and started its engines, shouting for his partner. Seconds later he saw him sprinting toward the flier. Then one of the beams stuck him. Iano heard an agonized scream over his comset as his partner became wreathed in an incandescent glow, then he saw him start to fall. His partner was gone before he could even hit the ground.

Iano screamed. The doors came down and, still screaming, he slammed the stick back hard. The flier rose straight up into the air, turning as it gained altitude. Through the canopy, Iano could see several other fliers getting off the ground, but one by one they were struck by the deadly beams and they exploded into blazing fireballs, raining wreckage down onto the street below. He saw the beams crisscrossing in front of him, and he aimed the nose of the flier straight up, then shoved the stick forward and hit the throttles.

Iano was thrown back against his seat as the engines whined and the flier shot straight up, climbing rapidly, leaving the scene of carnage far behind. He kept going up and up until he left the air traffic lanes and was high above the city, then he came out of his climb and banked sharply, bringing the flier around.

"All units, report!" he said into his comset, breathing hard and trying to control his shaking.

There was no response.

"Repeat, all units! Report!"

Silence.

Iano sat numbly in his pilot's seat, unable to believe what had just happened. They were all gone. All of them. The entire strike team, thirty officers, all killed. He was the only one left alive. His breathing came in sharp gasps and he could not stop trembling. What kind of weapons were those?

It had been a trap, a devastating, horrifying ambush, worse than anything he had ever experienced. They took out the units blocking off the street. They were ready for the units covering the rear of building. They knew the raid was coming and had set up a devastating field of fire, covering all positions; a field of fire such as he had never seen. Disintegrator beams. The technology for weapons like that simply did not exist on Patria! Yet thirty officers had died in a matter of mere moments. He could not deny the evidence of his own senses. They never even had a chance. Iano alone was left alive, and as he piloted his flier back toward headquarters, his mind echoed with the dying agony of those men, and of his partner. And he knew that a part of him had died as well.

Copyright © 1990 by Paramount Pictures