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.On the roof, Kyle used the pair of high-power binoculars they'd scavenged from the Knight Errant site.It was morning.Looking south, they could see the tall, thin spires of the downtown Core.At least three of the buildings were on fire, and uncontrolled.From their position he could also see the gleaming upper half of the Truman Tower.There were no signs of insect spirits, or any other life, but most of the building's windows were broken or cracked.A small trail of smoke drifted up from the roof.A rogue fire, he wondered, or someone's plea for help?Beyond the building, Kyle suddenly saw movement.Three black and armed attack helicopters arced quickly around the structure.They cut across the Core, dodging buildings as they moved from east to west, their UCAS Army markings easily visible in the morning light.Then they fired, unleashing a powerful barrage of rockets against the upper stories of a copper-colored office building at the southern edge of the Core.Seeks-the-Moon made a noise deep in his throat: even without the binoculars he could see the flash of weapons and the huge fireballs that erupted from the building.The helicopters continued their lightning volley as dozens of dark shapes bolted from the growing inferno.Most fell quickly, either unable or too injured to fly, but some, a half-dozen forms of what seemed to be wasps, shot toward the helicopters.Three of them suddenly broke off their attack, bouncing in different directions in a glittering blur of wings and sparks of astral energy.Kyle was still unwilling to use his astral senses and expose himself to attack, but he was sure those three had run into other spirits, elementals or watchers, guarding the helicopters.The three remaining insect spirits continued their mad rush at the choppers.The helicopters jinked, turning away from the bugs and accelerating.The lead helicopter dipped, and caught the first insect spirit in its rotor blades, hurling it away but damaging the blades.The second helicopter avoided its attacker and tired to evade, but Kyle knew the wasp spirits would be much, much faster than the machines.The third wasp caught its prey, and began to attack the cockpitKyle wondered, but only for a moment, if the cockpit would hold.Then he saw the armored glass shatter and peel away.The helicopter immediately yawed to the right and began to lose altitude.It would hit the ground in a matter of seconds.He looked for the second copter, and saw it maneuvering vainly to avoid its attacker.Regardless of how good the pilot, it would not be able to hold out much longer.Kyle took a deep breath and called on his power.Raw astral energy focused through him and the formula he assembled in his mind.He reached out with his astral senses and synchronized the energy of the spell with the insect's, then released it.The energy flashed between them in astral space, a blue-gray spark of power that exploded against the thing like a bolt of lightning.It spun to one side, its wings torn, and began to fall, still writhing in blue energy as it dissipated.The helicopter dropped below the tops of the buildings and fled west, using the streets as cover.Kyle quickly scanned for the first helicopter, but did not see it.A ribbon of smoke rose into the air to tell him where the third had fallen.Within a minute of their sighting, they were gone.A handful of dark shapes lurked in the area of the office building, whose upper stories were ablaze.Soon the ominous shapes descended toward the streets."It would seem your government is actually doing something," said Seeks-the-Moon.Kyle nodded."Keep a lookout.Someone or some of the bug spirits may have seen my spell.""I have been," said Seeks-the-Moon."Did that first helicopter get away?" Kyle asked."I couldn't tell.""I couldn't either."Kyle looked back toward the Core.Light gunfire echoed up from the streets near them, but he still saw nothing.Kyle then looked east toward the lake.The sky was virtually cloudless, reflecting cleanly off what he could see of the still waters of the lake.There were boats out there, arrayed in a north-south line about three kilometers from the shore.He could make out the shapes of what seemed like Coast Guard cutters, and what may have been a regular Navy vessel or two.The rest seemed to be merchant vessels, probably impressed into service.There were a few smaller white pleasure boats out there as well, but those seemed to be keeping clear of the blockade.An orange and white helicopter hovered in the air near one.After a moment, the two parted and the sailboats headed back toward shore.Kyle turned his attention inland.There was little change visible in the already half-abandoned Noose, and he wondered if the vagrants and squatters living there might not survive this best of all.There was little else to see, with the exception of some smoke northeast and near to the lake.Looking west of the city, he could see more smoke, a half-dozen thin plumes, and signs of a land blockade around the city.Off some distance, helicopters and what seemed to be at least one light combat vehicle, maybe a scout LAV, patrolled the line of demarcation, which street rumor said was either as far west as Interstate 294, or as close as Harlem Avenue.The binoculars' rangefinder placed them at about fourteen kilometers, which made Harlem far more likely than the interstate some twenty plus kilometers away.Beyond the helicopters Kyle could see a glint of light from something big and elongated that hung in the air.A lighter-than-air craft, he thought, probably housing high-resolution radar for monitoring the sky over the city.He wondered if it was powerful enough to pick up the insect spirits when they moved about in physical form.He also wondered about the vulnerability of the craft, hanging there in plain sight [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]