Chapter 19p4 – No!

“No!” screamed Tic. Eilk crumpled, dead before he hit the ground. Tic was about to charge recklessly into the fray when Haglyn grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him back.

“Don’t, you idiot! You want to get yourself killed, too? Besides, it’s just a yeti…”

Tic glared. “But they—” A laser ziphed into the door frame beside his head, forcing him to duck back behind cover.

Haglyn shrugged. “I’ve spent my whole life on this planet, viewing those hairy monsters in a certain way. Forgive me if I have a hard time suddenly flipping a significant part of my worldview around.” She aimed her blaster and squeezed off a couple of shots.

The yeti attack seemed to be gaining ground now, as more of them moved out from the doors and took cover in the lobby itself. They seemed to have exhausted their supply of Gortinawa seeds and were firing stones and debris from their slingshots, or closing into spear range where they could.

Tic turned his attention back to his blaster. He spotted a goon hiding behind a filing cabinet and lined up a shot. His laser burned a black mark into the cabinet, but a shot from a different angle hit the goon in the chest, knocking him back against the wall.

Where had that come from? Could the yetis use blasters with those massive paws? Tic glanced back towards the other doorway. Wait, were those humans? Who were they? Locals? Not likely…

A familiar face strode into view. The curator surveyed the battle with steely eyes, then held up a handset and barked, “Targets are on the run! Lock down those rear stairwells!”

Tic was so surprised that he hardly noticed the ding of an elevator arriving.

About Tim Sevenhuysen

Tim Sevenhuysen writes sci-fi and other genre fiction. He is a microfiction expert, having written over 600 fifty-word stories. He is also a noncertifiable lunatic.

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