Destroyer of Worlds (Alpha Ship One Book 2)
Page 19
“Hey there soldier, saw you sleeping on the job and thought that maybe you’d need a hand,” the silhouette said, slowly but surely turning into a fully fledged man.
I recognised the man. He’d been my section leader back at boot camp. He was known as Grimes. And Grimes was a hard ass. He’d always ring us out for being sluggish or unprofessional. I remember hating the man back at boot camp. As far as I was concerned, he was nothing but a grump. But now, right at that moment, all I had was love for the man. I was just happy to see a familiar face.
“Sorry Sir, I got a bit sleepy,” I said, standing up and trying to regain my composure. I still felt wobbly on my feet, the world was still unnaturally tilted on its axis, at least to me it was.
“You okay there, soldier? You look a little green around the gills, I wouldn’t want you to puke in your spacesuit. That shit is hard to get rid of, the smell hangs around for ages. So it would be wise to tell me the truth. You feeling all right?” My section leader asked, planting a firm yet gentle hand on my shoulder and squeezing.
I think he could tell that I was a little loopy. But being a Marine was all about front. You either had the front, or you were the front. In other words, you either acted tough or were tough. And I’d like to think that I was tough. Never been good at acting. But then again this was all an act. Everybody acted as if they weren’t scared. As if going to war was enjoyable. Like they looked forward to it. But there’s no coming back from the dead. And there’s no coming back from fear. I found that out on the troop carrier when I’d puked my guts up and got chunks all over my boots. Everybody knew right then at that very moment that I was not a good actor.
“Don’t worry Sir, I’ll be fine, I just need to see a few friendly faces, that’s all,” I said, blinking a few times as I stared at my section leader who stood in front of me.
He nodded his head, catching a glimpse of the Marine Sergeant behind me. He was so hardened that he didn’t even blink. Apparently, seeing a man with his throat ripped out was just another daily occurrence for this particular section leader. Yeah, Grimes was a bad ass alright. And I was overly certain that he wasn’t acting. The difference between me and him was that I was a rookie, and he was a vet. A vet that had seen plenty of action, whilst I’d just dreamed of it. But there was no more dreaming now. I was in the thick of it whether I liked it or not.
“Well, you’re missing all the fun. The pirates have overtaken the quarry; they’re holding some of the resources hostage. Well, you know what I mean. I think they’re looking to bargain their way out of this. But the natives aren’t having none of it. They want their resources and the pirates. In that order. But I gather that the pirates have a response awaiting them. So we better get a move on, before you miss all the hoopla,” section leader Grimes said.
I looked at him and nodded my head. The railgun felt heavy in my grip. The barrel was weighted down, even though I’d emptied half my clip into those two dinosaurs.
“What about these foul beasts? Where have they come from?” I asked, pointing directly at the first dinosaur I’d taken out. The one that snuck up on me.
Grimes started to laugh. It was a foreign sound to me. One; I hadn’t heard him laugh ever. Not even during training. Not even when one of the recruits had defecated himself whilst swinging on the monkey bars. Everybody else had found that funny. But for some reason, our friend Grimes hadn’t even let out a whimper. But now, now he was laughing his ass off. I must be a funny guy. A funny guy – a bad actor – a tough Marine. What a combination. Girls, queue up, there’s plenty to go around.
“What’s so damn funny?” I asked, my face getting hot. I don’t know if it was embarrassment or anger. Probably a combination of the two.
“Don’t you know nothing about these people? The natives that is? Were you even paying attention on board the troop carrier? You know… The damn briefing… That thing we do, the meeting before the mission? You know what I’m talking about right?” Grimes asked, he was still laughing, not as loud as before, this one was more of an inward laugh, a chuckle. The sort of laugh that dies down but you can still hear the rumbling of it as it trails off.
“Yeah, I was present at the briefing, but I had other things on my mind. I’m sorry, I zoned out. Call me crazy, but I was nervous. Nervous of what war would feel like. Because I knew that this was gonna be messy. The Marine sergeant had run into me as my nerves began to get the better of me. He’d drummed into everybody that this would not be a cakewalk. Blood would be spilt. At least that’s what he said. And by then, by the time those words had left his mouth, I was busy thinking and imagining what horrors lay in wait for us. I just didn’t know there would be dinosaurs, that’s all,” I said, my face still feeling red raw.
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