The Quarry

[Rage Menelas]

[font=Lucida Sans Unicode]Ryan followed Quang's busted crescent to the surface of the frozen moon, back to the scene of the original crime, in fact: the ruins of the archaeological facility. There he watched as the man exited Pam-sae and, armed to the teeth, ran into the ruins. It was an obvious challenge for Ryan to disembark, follow him and finish the game. Ryan shook his head, Charlie's words coming back to him. “Quang knows every combat technique known to your world...”

For an insane moment he almost considered it. Then an old World War II newscast came to mind. He saw marines on Iwo Jima tossing grenades into a cave full of Japanese soldiers, a flamethrower spewing its fiery death in afterward. The narrator explained that, because of their tenacity and stubborn refusal to surrender the marines were forced to take drastic measures. Ryan grinned wickedly.

Moving to a position convenient for firing on the other ship, he activated his bombard cannon. Casually he played the beam across Pam-sae until she melted into smoking slag. Next he trained his fire on the entrances to the ruins, there were several due to his previous work in excavating the survivors of the Szearfetti assault. When he finished closing up all but one, he stopped. Facing the entrance he had seen the murderer race through, he activated the universal communications system. His voice reverberated through the chill air of Hei'a 12.

“Master Quang Liu. Blood cries for blood. But I will give you a chance to surrender, to stand trial. Exit the ruins and throw your weapons down. You will only be allowed one opportunity to comply. I give you ten minutes.”