“All right now!” the sergeant shouted as soon as his men had taken adequate cover. “Come out of those things, keep your hands folded behind your heads, and move slow!”
There was no answer.
“Come out or we’ll blow you out!” the sergeant shouted as he raised the machine gun.
The aliens still did not reply. Which wasn’t too surprising, since they could make no sense at all of the policeman’s speech.
“O.K., you asked for it!” The stuttering roar of the sergeant’s gun climaxed his threat.
As the slugs spanged off his armor the captain decided to take a little positive action, on the chance that he could frighten what he considered mad creatures into a more reasonable state of action. He unlimbered his blaster and fired through a port in his armor. The atomic-headed slug vaporized the sergeant’s tree stump and hurled him about twenty feet closer to the parked cars. Miraculously unhurt save for minor contusions he scrambled grotesquely for cover.
“Call headquarters!” he screamed at the radio cars. “Tell them to get a riot squad down here, and to call the army on it. These things are hot!”
Major Andrews reread the teletype he had just been handed. He pulled his mustache thoughtfully, put the message down, and picked up his desk phone.
“Hello, connect me with Captain Conner at G-2 please.” He spoke quickly, almost stumbling over his words as he massaged the worry lines in his forehead.
“Hello, Captain Conner speaking,” the phone announced.