Predator 2 Novel 10

"Command," Keyes spoke into his helmet
mike. He felt charged up, with adrenaline coursing through his system. He hadn't felt this way in years, not since he'd been in combat.

"Can't see him, can't see him. Where is he?"

Back in the command-center trailer, Garber
suddenly saw a violet blur on the monitor screen, like a waterfall cascading down from above toward the men.

"He's right there!" he shouted in panic.

Too late, one of the men spun around, caught a brief glimpse of a huge, violet-glowing form behind him, and then the telescoping spear plunged into his chest, penetrating through his back and
lifting him straight up off his feet. Over the speaker, Garber heard the sounds of screaming, men shouting to each other, and then the report of gunfire. The monitor was lit up with their muzzle flashes. The picture reeled as the man with the video camera spun around, trying to focus on their attacker, and then, amid all the chaos of the gunfire and the screaming, the picture tilted crazily as the video camera fell to the floor. The monitor screen filled up with static.

"My God. . ." said Garber.

There were only four men remaining in the
circle. In seconds, two of their number had fallen, and now confusion reigned. Keyes and the others firing blindly in all directions, the blasts from the nitrogen guns filling the air as they tried
to find their target. Suddenly, the mechanism of Keyes' gun jammed.

He swore, and as he struggled to clear it, the man beside him screamed. Keyes winced inside his helmet when the deafening screams came through over the built-in earphones. He heard another man screaming as the creature attacked him, driving its spear deep into his body, darting in and out among them like a shark snapping at its prey.

Keyes couldn't believe how fast it could move. He could only catch brief glimpses of it. He saw the other nitrogen gunner turn, spinning toward the creature, and as he fired, a dart slammed through his goggles, cutting deep into his head, the force of the impact driving him backwards. Keyes caught a glimpse of the alien recoiling from the blast, which struck what appeared to be some sort of cannon mounted on its shoulder, and then he saw his teammate collapse to the floor, dead, the gun jammed open, firing a continuous blast of super-cooled nitrogen toward the ceiling.

The blast hit an overhead pipe that was part of
the sprinkler system, rapidly freezing it. There
was a high-pitched whine and then the pipe burst,
spraying water down upon them. One by one, the
sprinkler heads throughout the packing house
erupted, showering water down onto the floor and
flooding it.-pg.190 191 chpt.7