Chapter Sixteen

"WATCH OUT!" PAUL YELLED.

Frakes jammed a foot on the fan control pedals. The car snapped off a tree as thick as a man's waist, then rammed sideways into a half-fallen domed structure. Pink debris rained through the open hatchway as the car tore through, fans screaming.

"I can't see!" Frakes roared. "Get the damned screens on!"

"I'm trying!" Paul yelled back, punching frantically at the console's vidscreen controls. Frakes couldn't control the car at the same time he was trying to see through the hatchway. Besides the vidscreens, the only other view to the outside was through a single narrow slit that was positioned in front of Paul's seat. It was obviously meant to give a view around the skirts for the antipersonnel gunner, but was of no use when it came to steering the massive vehicle.

"To the left!" Paul yelled. Frakes stomped on the pedal and the car veered ponderously, skidding sideways through a pile of brownish-red rubble.