ERIC NYLUND
61
Polaski moved forward and crouched by the panel in the mid-
dle of the door. She turned her cap around and leaned closer,
then looked back to the Chief and gave him a thumbs-up.
He raised his rifle and nodded, giving her the go-ahead to
breach the door.
She reached for the controls. Before she touched them, though,
the door slid apart.
Standing on the opposite side were five Elites: Two stood
shielded by either edge of the door; a third stood centered in the
corridor, plasma rifle leveled at the Chief; behind it, the fourth
Elite covered the rear of their formation; and one last Elite
crouched in front of the door control panel—nose to nose with
Polaski.
The Chief fired two bursts directly over Polaski's head. His
first shots struck the Elite in the middle of the corridor. His sec-
ond burst hit the Elite standing rear guard. The alien warriors
hadn't activated their shields, and 7.62mm rounds punctured
their armor. The pair of Elites dropped to the deck.
Their comrades on either side of the door howled and at-
tacked. The whine of plasma rifle fire echoed through the bay as
blue-white energy bolts crashed into the Chief's own shields.
His shield dropped away, and the insistent drone of a warning
indicator pulsed in his helmet. His vision clouded from the flare
of energy weapon discharges, and he struggled to draw a bead
on the Elite in front of Polaski. It was no good—he had no
clear shot.
The Elite drew a plasma pistol. Polaski drew her own sidearm.
She was faster—or luckier. Her pistol cleared its holster; she
snapped it up and fired. The pistol boomed as a shot took the
Elite right in the center of its elongated helmet.
The Elite's own shot went wide and seared into the deck be-
hind Polaski.
Polaski emptied her clip into the alien's face. A pair of
rounds rocked the alien back. Its shields faded, and the remaining
rounds tore through armor and bone.
It fell on its back, twitched twice, and died.
Johnson and Locklear unleashed a hellish crossfire into the
corridor and made short work of the remaining Elites as Polaski
hugged the deckplates.