Free Alien Chronicles 3 - The Crystal Eye by Deborah Chester Page A

was not enough. Action had to be taken if anything was ever to be accomplished.
    One by one, the slaves filed past her, exiting the pen and standing in docile acceptance as restraints were locked on them.
    Ampris growled softly to herself. She would not be docile, and she would not go quietly.
    When half the slaves were gone, she joined the exodus, moving into the center of a small bunch.
    At the gate, they tried to go through in a wad, but the patrollers shoved them back.
    “Single file! One at a time.”
    Ampris let herself be shoved back, but she grabbed the wrist of the patroller who pushed her. She yanked with all her strength, using his own impetus to send him sprawling on the ground. She twisted his stun-stick from his grip as he fell.
    He yelled something in Viis, but Ampris found the button and activated the weapon. She stunned him and spun around just as another patroller came through the gate at her.
    She stunned him too, and with a strangled yell, he fell at her feet.
    The other two patrollers jumped back. One of them drew his side-arm while the second one started calling for assistance on his hand-link.
    Snarling, Ampris hurled her stun-stick at the patroller drawing his lethal weapon. Someone jostled her from behind, however, and spoiled her aim. The stun-stick went flying off into the darkness, and the patroller fired his weapon.
    When Ampris saw the flash in the darkness, she was already diving for the ground. She heard a scream next to her and smelled blood and burned fur. One of the slaves fell across her legs, and Ampris frantically squirmed free. By the time she reached her feet, the spotlight had swung in her direction, pinning her in place.
    The other few slaves still in the pen screamed and shoved each other, milling in panic. The patroller fired again, shooting down another Aaroun. Realizing they would all be killed, Ampris launched herself at the fence. She bounded halfway up and climbed swiftly, flinging herself over the top and letting herself drop.
    A shot blazed over her head, missing her by scant centimeters. She hit the ground hard enough to jolt her bones. Pain shot up her crippled leg, and she grunted, staggering to one side and clutching the throbbing limb.
    The spotlight was swinging around again, coming toward her.
    Ampris looked around frantically at the shadowy outline of the barns and the open expanse of the compound. Ducking low beneath the sweep of the spotlight, she scrambled forward to the shuttle and dived beneath the ramp as the spotlight swung back.
    “Where is he?” one of the Viis patrollers demanded, mistakenly. The gate banged shut, and the slaves still in the pen screamed in fear. “Get the light on him, fast.”
    Panting for breath, Ampris grinned briefly to herself. So they thought she was male. When would the Viis learn anything about her kind? The females were generally more aggressive than the males, although all Aarouns could fight well when they had to.
    The spotlight swung around again, and she heard a noise at the compound’s main gate. More patrollers were streaming in, weapons in hand. Lights snapped on, and a scanner was released into the air. It began to fly back and forth, beeping as it went.
    A shot burst from the low wall of the gardens. A patroller cried in anguish and fell.
    Startled, Ampris whipped her head around, trying to see who was out there. Another shot originating from the garden took down a second patroller. They milled around, activating body armor and aiming their weapons. A barrage of return fire blazed red along the garden wall.
    Still concealed beneath the shuttle ramp, Ampris could see small chunks of stone flying into the air.
    “It’s the family!” a patroller officer shouted from where he had taken cover near some farm machinery. “They have turned traitor. All weapons on the house.”
    Another barrage broke out. Windows in the sprawling house burst, and flames caught in the draperies. Orange light from the fires filled the