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surrender. On the screens, blip after blip vanished.
    The sweep of the radar arc showed little detail, but Jommy didn’t need any explanation as
    the pinpoints of human spacecraft brightened like stars going nova, then faded into darkness.
    Dozens more of the tendrilless attack ships were destroyed, and then the Earth defenders were
    gone. Completely gone.
    Gray looked astonished. “It’s a massacre. I didn’t think … I never knew the enemy was so
    powerful. Our best defenses are no more effective than leaves blown in the wind. The
    tendrilless have undermined us, disconnected our weapons, sabotaged our plans.”
    Kathleen put her arms around her father. Gray’s shoulders drooped. He found a seat by
    one of the empty diagnostic stations and slumped into it, brushing aside the torn rolls of
    printouts, ignoring the chattering computers that still attempted to analyze the situation. “I
    have failed us all.”
    With the ground forces neutralized and the last vestiges of the Earth space navy annihilated,
    the tendrilless ships were ready to complete their destruction. The inbound ships came down,
    unhindered now, and streaked across the skies of the capital city. Earth was completely at the
    mercy of the tendrilless.
    Jommy barked his words so loudly that even the stunned technicians and disoriented
    leaders took heed. “The grand palace is sure to be a target. Now that our defenses are gone,
    they’re going to turn this entire place into rubble.”
    “The palace is the most secure structure in all of Centropolis. We’re ten levels underground,
    and these rooms are reinforced against any aerial attack,” said Petty, though he didn’t sound
    convinced.
    “Not reinforced enough. The tendrilless can level this whole structure. Once they’ve
    decapitated the government, they won’t even need to bother with negotiating peace terms.
    They’ll want to stand victorious on the rubble of the great government center.”
    Kathleen stepped close. “Jommy’s right. We’ve got to get out of here, all of us.”
    Despite his handcuffs and his disheveled appearance, Gray still looked presidential. “There
    is no defeat while we still live. We must escape from the palace—now. We can become a
    government in exile.”
    “A government of what?” asked Petty.
    “That is for us to define.” Looking at his frantic rival, Gray extended a hand, letting it hang
    there in the air. “I suggest an alliance, Mr. Petty. I know of your plan to overthrow me. I know
    of your power plays with the secret police. But right now we face an enemy greater than either
    of us.”
    Kathleen chimed in. “It’ll be the humans and the true slans against the tendrilless.”
    Jommy boldly pushed his way toward the door of the command-and-control center. “I
    have a means of escape—my advanced car is hidden in the forest on the other side of the river.
    Trust me.”
    “A car?” Petty looked at him in disbelief. “But Centropolis is under attack.”
    “The whole planet’s under attack, and the tendrilless won’t stop until they’ve crushed our
    cities. But my car is armored with ten-point steel and full of new inventions. If anything can
    withstand the bombardment, that vehicle can. But if we don’t act soon, we’ll all just be
    bloodstains in the rubble.”
    When another terrific explosion shook the reinforced walls of the palace, it was enough to
    help make up Petty’s mind. Gray thrust his hands forward. “Uncuff me, and let’s get out of
    here.” The slan hunter grudgingly did so.
    As they left the command-and-control center, Petty yelled for his guards to get to safety. He
    wanted to be sure that his supporters—the men who would do whatever brutal action he
    required—were not all killed in a single attack. The slan hunter was sure to need them later on,
    and he could summon any remnants that remained from around the country.
    Overhead, the attacking tendrilless forces began their full-scale bombardment to destroy
    the