Footfall

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

—REVELATION 12:7–8

Sometimes Jeri Wilson thought she heard — or felt — shocks, but mostly there was the steadily increasing acceleration that had topped out at around one Earth gravity. No one — or no fi’ — had been interested in the storeroom. She’d lost all track of time.

“Arvid, we can’t just sit here doing nothing!”

“What would you have us do?”

Jeri glared at him. “You’re the damned expert! But we ought to be doing something.”

Dmitri spoke sharply in Russian.

“Our commander says you should make less noise,” Arvid said.

“That’s another thing. Why is he in charge? You’re smarter than he is. You know spaceships. He doesn’t.”

She felt Arvid’s hand on her shoulder. His fingers gripped tightly. “You wanted to come with us.”

And you’ll send me away? But he wasn’t threatening. Worse than threats. Reminds me of promises. “We could — we could open air shafts. Find a way to vacuum. Threaten the women and children.”

“You are bloodthirsty,” Arvid said.

“No. I hate it. This isn’t my game at all. But we have to do something! We wouldn’t have to kill them, just show we could. Between that attacking ship and whatever we can do, maybe they’ll surrender.”

Dmitri spoke in Russian.

“Tell her yourself,” Arvid said.

“It won’t work,” Dmitri said.

“Why?”

“We cannot threaten all of the women and children,” Dmitri said. “Without atomic weapons we cannot threaten all those aboard this ship. Thus, why would they surrender?”

“But—”

“We would not surrender,” Dmitri said. “Not even Comrade Rogachev. So why should the Invaders?” Jeri huddled in the corner.

“We wait,” Dmitri said. “We will have one chance. We must not throw that away.”

“What if it never comes?” she asked listlessly.

The ship rang like a great brass bell. The wall slammed against them.

Thuktun Flishithy shuddered with the impact.

Alice picked herself off the duct floor. Her whole body was bruised. There were spots before her eyes. A whistling shriek echoed through the ducts. The gravity fell to near zero, then began to build again.

What the hell was that?

The scream was dying, or else she was going deaf. She moved to the nearest grill.

A horror was out there. An armed snout, floating in the hall, turning. Stunned. Alice didn’t stop to think. She twisted the wing nuts loose and wriggled through. The horror still hadn’t made a move to anchor himself. Alice kicked toward him.

The tiny impact of a human body didn’t wake him.

She pulled the gun from its holster. The stock was short and very wide. Trigger in the middle… safety? Did it have to be cocked?

Tentacles wrapped around her and pulled.

Alice shrieked and pushed the barrel against flesh and pulled the trigger.

The gun went whipping down the hall. The snout moved the other way, turning slowly, spraying a cloud of dark red blood. Alice leapt after the gun. Damn thing would have killed me if I’d had it against my shoulder! Brace it against a wall or something next time. Have to fire with my left hand, too. Her right arm flopped limp. It was just starting to hurt.

She didn’t notice the slanting duct until the second snout came out. The snout emerged like a bomb, caught itself — herself: the harness was a female’s — against the wall. She saw the spinning gun coming at her, and Alice behind.

Alice couldn’t even flee. The walls weren’t in reach yet. Paykurtank caught the gun, tossed it behind her, and reached forward in plenty of time to catch Alice. The constricting tentacles sent new agony through her arm and hand. Alice screamed and fainted.

The impact had knocked Jeri dizzy. It wasn’t just dizziness. She was almost floating. Jeri clutched wildly and found a handful of wall rug. Air was escaping somewhere: Thuktun Flishithy screame like a dying dinosaur.

Arvid had already anchored himself. He gripped Jeri’s hand. Nikolai shouted something in Russian. Dmitri answered. “The Americans are coming!” Jeri said.

“I agree,” Dmitri said. “Something has damaged this ship. It can only be the American ship that Comrade Rogachev was permitted to see.” Nikolai spoke rapidly again.

“He is right!” Arvid said. “Dmitri, he is correct.”

“Da.”

“Correct about what?” Jeri demanded.

“The ship’s drive has been damaged,” Arvid said. “You can feel it. The gravity is much lower now, it fell, then builded, but it has not come back to its original strength.

“Let us suppose the drive damaged, and the Americans in pursuit. The Invaders will wish to repair their drive.”

“Rogachev!” Dmitri brandished his captured pistol and shouted what must have been orders.