Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War

ditched him by the simple expedient of shouting Look over there! and then running off in two different directions. By the time Ffolkes had made up his mind which of them to chase or shoot at, it was already too late.

    Toby and Flynn had got together again easily enough after that, and went in search of the main action. It didn't taken them long to find some. And ever since then they'd been running and dodging and keeping their heads well down from one trouble spot to another, while Flynn's camera got it all on film.
    Troops and rebels alike both ignored Toby and Flynn as obvious noncombatants, but flying bullets and disrupter beams and crumbling buildings made no such distinction. Toby would have liked to cheer on the rebels, outnumbered and outgunned but still refusing to be beaten, but he couldn't, not if he ever wanted the film he was risking his life to get to be shown in the Empire. So he kept his commentary carefully neutral and let the pictures speak for themselves.
    The young burglar known as Cat was up on the roofs, too, doing his bit. He'd delivered all of Cyder's messages, and strictly speaking should have been on his way back to the Blackthorn, but he couldn't resist getting involved. He'd never thought of himself as a violent man, but the merciless destruction of his city had raised in him an anger that couldn't be denied. And so he pelted the troops below with slates and tiles and anything else he could get his hands on, in between grabbing people who nearly threw themselves off the edge of the roof in their enthusiasm. They weren't as used to roofs as Cat.
    He was overseeing the dismantling of a chimney stack to provide bricks for throwing when he happened to look down the far end of the street. Thick black smoke drifted this way and that from the burning buildings, blown by rising hot air and the disturbances of passing gravity barges, but it parted now to show Cat half a dozen troopers manhandling a portable disrupter cannon into position at the far end of the street. The plan was clear enough. Once the cannon was ready, all they had to do was call back their own troops and open fire. The
    cannon would blow away the barricade and everyone near it with one blast. The defenders wouldn't stand a chance.
    Cat was off and running across the steeply slanted roofs the moment he realized what was happening. As a deaf mute he couldn't shout a warning to the defenders below, and by the time he'd made the people on the roof understand him, it would be too late. Which meant it was all up to him. He moved silently into position over the troops as they finished assembling the portable cannon, and brought its computers on line. They were almost ready to fire, and Cat didn't have a single idea how to stop them. Throwing things would only distract them, and if they had hand disrupters, they'd soon blast him off the roof. If he jumped them, the element of surprise might let him take out one or two of the troopers, but the rest would be sure to get him.
    Cat looked frantically round the roof for inspiration, and his eyes lit on a crooked chimney stack, not far from the edge of the roof. A passing energy beam had neatly clipped away one corner, so that it was leaning toward the street. It looked like one good push would send it over. Cat checked the position of the cannon and its crew again. Right under the chimney stack. Perfect. Cat grinned, and put his shoulder to the brick chimney. He pushed with all his strength, and it didn't budge an inch. He tried again, slamming his shoulder against the brickwork, his feet sliding on the slippery slates as he tried to dig them in.
    Thick black smoke suddenly swirled around him as the wind changed direction. Cat sank to his knees, coughing harshly, fighting for breath. There were hot cinders in the smoke, too, and he pulled up his suit's hood to keep them out of his hair. Down below, the cannon had to be almost ready by now.
    Raging silently, Cat put his back against the chimney stack, braced his boots against the most secure tiles, and strained with all his strength. The brickwork
    shifted reluctantly beneath him. His face twisted into a pained grimace as he pushed with everything he had in his back and legs. The pain grew, and still the bricks wouldn't give. Cat strained desperately, his heart thumping madly in his chest, sweat running down his face, and the chimney stack broke away from the roof. It happened as quickly as that. One moment nothing, and then there was a sharp