Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War

were briefing us?"
    "Obviously not closely enough," said Toby. "I suppose escape pods are out of the question, too?"
    "Think about it," said Finlay. "If this ship can't survive with all its shields, how long do you think an escape pod would last?"
    "I think I'm about to be sick," said Toby. "Or have a really loud panic attack."
    "Try for the attack," said Flynn. "Less messy."
    One of the control panels exploded into flames. Finlay flinched back from the
    heat. The cargo ship dropped like a stone before backup systems cut in. An alarm sounded, harsh and strident, until Finlay hit the off switch. They already knew they were in trouble. The flames were leaping higher. Smoke began to fill the cabin. Evangeline released herself from her crash webbing, grabbed a fire extinguisher, and trained it on the fire. The wallowing craft threw her this way and that, making her task almost impossible. Finlay fought for control with the surviving instrumentation. At the back, Flynn was quietly getting it all on film.
    And then the barrage stopped, as suddenly as it began, and all was quiet, save for the crackling of the flames. Evangeline quickly snuffed them out as the craft righted itself, and then she stood and listened, braced for more attacks.
    Finlay studied his panels, then let his breath out in a long slow sigh.
    "They've stopped. We must have fallen below their programmed response limits.
    People, I'd say we just got very lucky."
    "How bad's the damage?" said Julian.
    "Could be worse," said Finlay. "Nothing major's gone down. We can still land and take off safely. Assuming the ground defenses only fire at craft coming down, and not those leaving. But you should stay in your crash webbing anyway, people.
    Landing's liable to be a bit bumpy."
    "Check for comm traffic," said Giles. Finlay nodded, and bent over the comm panels. It only took him a few moments to eliminate the comm signals from the departing starcruiser, and concentrate on the planet below. The comm computers ran up and down the frequencies, and found nothing.
    "Not a damned thing," said Finlay. "No one's talking to anyone down there. The whole planet's silent."
    Giles nodded slowly. "Try the sensors. Check for lifeforms."

    Finlay moved over to the sensor panels, waving away smoke that drifted in front of his face. The sensors were right next to the panels that had blown up, and they'd suffered some smoke and fire damage themselves. He ran a quick diagnostic, and frowned. Forty-three percent efficiency. Not good. Limited range, and even more limited information. He set the sensors for the widest remaining range, and then watched the displays with a deepening scowl.
    "I'm getting… something," he said finally. "But don't ask me what. I'm getting readings, but they don't make any sense. I can't tell whether they're lifeforms or not. The computers can't find anything in their records to compare them with.
    Which is supposed to be impossible."
    "Aliens?" said Giles.
    "Unknown," said Finlay. "But I don't think so. Even the most alien lifeforms should conform to some established pattern. This is something completely new.
    Whatever these readings are, they're swamping the sensors. If there are any humans down there, the sensors aren't sensitive enough anymore to pull them out of all the noise."
    "Or there could be no one left," said Evangeline. "Harker's been down there for months now. Anything could have happened to him."
    "Think positively," said Julian. "What about his ship's beacon, Finlay?"
    "That's still there," said Finlay. "I'm locked on to it, loud and clear. Should be able to put down right next to it."
    "Well that's something," said Toby. "Anyone think to bring any beads or trinkets for the natives?"
    "There aren't any natives," said Julian. "Never were. Shannon's World was a dead rock floating in space before it was terraformed. There are no indigenous
    lifeforms. They would have got in the way of Shannon's carefully crafted dream.
    Whatever's down there now, it isn't natural."
    "You're a real cheerful sort," said Toby. "You know that?"
    "Shut up, Shreck," said Giles. "Finlay, put us down. Fast as you can. That starcruiser isn't going to stay distracted forever."
    Julian cleared his throat. "I came on this mission at the last moment. Do we have time for a quick briefing on what we can expect to find dirtside? I know the basics, but, well… Field of Blood doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."
    "Think positively," said Toby.
    "Shut up," said