It was Legion philosophy to respond to defeat or reversal with immediate counterattack. Lantosh and Malix’s response had been the most un-Legion like possible.
“Yes, sir. She told us not to act. To let the skraggs take her without resistance. Without the Legion retaliating.”
“No,” snapped Malix. “She did not. She ordered us to let her go without retaliating until the right moment. This is the right moment, Sybutu. This message you will carry. You’re doing this for the colonel.”
Malix’s words set loose a turmoil of emotions in Osu’s breast that he didn’t fully understand. He wept tears of rage, something he hadn’t known was possible.
The colonel stood. “This is the moment when the Legion holds the line. Can I rely upon you, Sergeant?”
Osu saluted. “To the ends of the galaxy, sir. No matter what.”
* * * * *
Get “The Fall of Rho-Torkis” now at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VRL8H27.
Find out more about Tim C. Taylor and “The Fall of Rho-Torkis” at: https://chriskennedypublishing.com.
* * * * *
The following is an
Excerpt from Book One of Murphy’s Lawless:
Shakes
___________________
Mike Massa
Now Available from Beyond Terra Press
eBook and Paperback
Excerpt from “Shakes:”
Harry shook his head and yawned, then looked at the instruments. Crap, they were very nearly on the surface! There was no time to be surprised; he needed to work the problem. The shortness of the landing checklist didn’t make his situation any less dire.
“Ten seconds!” Volo said, unnecessarily warning both Terrans. “Prepare for manual deployment.”
If Marco Rodriguez was anything like Harry, he was watching the altimeter with growing apprehension. An impatient SpinDog technician had carefully repeated the instructions to an audience he doubtless regarded as incapable of using tools more sophisticated than rocks and sharp sticks. In theory, each craft would use a flicker laser to sense the minimum height-over-ground required for deployment of the chute to guarantee a safe landing. If he didn’t feel the automated systems deploy the capsule’s drogue and parachute combination, he’d have less than two seconds to mechanically initiate that critical step. Harry placed both hands on the pebbly surface of the L-shaped lever and took a deep breath. He watched his displays intently, counting down internally.
In three, two, o—
He was interrupted by the audible pop of the drogue ribbon launching over his head. One of his screens flashed the corresponding message, as the drogue gave his capsule a single, hard jerk, pressing him heavily into his couch. After dramatically slowing the freefall to a speed the twin parachutes could withstand, the drogue detached. A second, mushier jerk announced the canopies’ successful opening.
The capsule had barely steadied underneath the green and brown parachutes before the capsule crashed to a painful stop. The scant padding on the seat might have prevented any serious injury, but Harry still ached all over. But like the pain caused by a misaligned crotch strap during a regular jump, this was a good sort of pain to have. The parachute had worked, and the capsule was down. The cone-shaped vehicle came to rest on its side, however. Getting out was going to require a bit of scrambling.
“Four, Five, this is Six,” he said, trusting the hands-free microphone on his helmet while hanging sideways in his straps. “Sound off.”
“Five on the ground. Mind the first step, it’s a doozy,” Rodriguez said jauntily.
“I’ve opened the hatch already, Lieutenant,” Volo answered. “It’s daylight, and we must cover the ships immediately.”
“Copy,” Harry said, releasing his chest strap. He fell heavily against one of the instrument panels, painfully bruising his arm. He suppressed a heartfelt curse.
“Popping the hatch.”
He reached for the door lever, now inconveniently located over his head. After a pause, the capsule verified his intent, requiring a second yank before it obediently ejected the hatch outward with a percussive bang. Instantly, a cold wind filled his capsule, making him shiver. He poked his head outside and surveyed a bleak and rocky landscape which was partially obscured by the capsule’s billowing parachute.
After donning a hooded parka from a storage cabinet underneath his feet, he withdrew his personal equipment and weapon. Then, with an athleticism he didn’t feel, Harry used an inner handhold to swing outside. On either side of his aeroshell, the terrain rose several meters in elevation, forming a shallow canyon. His ‘chute was tangled in some stunted gray-green trees that bordered the drop zone. Knee high, rust-colored spiky grass poked up in between the fist-sized stones covering much of the ground. The breeze smelled wet and musty, but the ground appeared dry. A football field distant, Harry could make out another capsule, and began trotting over. It was supposed to be dusk on R’Bak, but the overcast diffused the light. Out of reflex, he checked his wristwatch, which rode alongside a new gadget doubling as a short-range radio and compass. Both were still set to SpinDog station time, adopted during the mission prep. He supposed he could check with Volo. It didn’t matter yet. Experience had taught the SEAL exactly what time it was.
The local hour is half past “your ass is in a sling.” My team is untested and outnumbered, the local population is mostly hostile, the wildlife carnivorous, and, in two years, the local star is going to approach its binary twin, boiling the oceans and scorching the land. Oh, and your extract off-planet depends entirely on mission success, so don’t screw up.
Welcome to R’Bak.
* * * * *
Get “Shakes” now at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0861F23KH.
Find out more about “Murphy’s Lawless” at: https://chriskennedypublishing.com.
* * * * *
The following is an
Excerpt from Book One of the Singularity War:
Warrior: Integration
___________________
David Hallquist
Now Available from Theogony Books
eBook and Paperback
Excerpt from “Warrior: Integration:”
I leap into the pit. As I fall in the low gravity, I run my hands and feet along the rock walls, pushing from one side to another, slowing my descent. I hit the pool below and go under.
I swim up through the greenish chemicals and breach the surface. I can see a human head silhouetted against the circle of light above. Time to go. I slide out of the pool quickly. The pool explodes behind me. Grenade, most likely. The tall geyser of steam and spray collapses as I glide into the darkness of the caves ahead.
They are shooting to kill now.
I glide deeper into the rough tunnels. Light grows dimmer. Soon, I can barely see the rock walls around me. I look back. I can see the light from the tunnel reflected upon the pool. They have not come down yet. They’re cautious; they won’t just rush in. I turn around a bend in the tunnel, and light is lost to absolute darkness.
The darkness means little to me anymore. I can hear them talking as their voices echo off the rock. They are going to send remotes down first. They have also decided to kill me rather than capture me. They figure the docs can study whatever they scrape off the rock walls. That makes my choices simple. I figured I’d have to take out this team anyway.
The remotes are on the way. I can hear the faint whine of micro-turbines. They will be using the sensors on the remotes and their armor, counting on the darkness blinding me. Their sensors against my monster. I wonder which will win.
Everything becomes a kind of gray, blurry haze as my eyes adapt to the deep darkness. I can see the tunnel from sound echoes as I glide down the dark paths. I’m also aware of the remotes spreading out in a search pattern in the tunnel complex.
I’ll never outrun them. I need to hide, but I glow in infra-red. One of the remotes is closing, fast.
I back up against a rock wall, and force the monster to hide me. It’s h
ard; it wants to fight, but I need to hide first. I feel the numbing cold return as my temperature drops, hiding my heat. I feel the monster come alive, feel it spread through my body and erupt out of my skin. Fibers spread over my skin, covering me completely in fibrous camouflage. They harden, fusing me to the wall, leaving me unable to move. I can’t see, and I can barely breathe. If the remotes find me here, I’m dead.
The remote screams by. I can’t see through the fibers, but it sounds like an LB-24, basically a silver cigar equipped with a small laser.
I can hear the remote hover nearby. Can it see me? It pauses and then circles the area. Somehow, the fibers hide me. It can’t see me, but it knows something is wrong. It drops on the floor to deposit a sensor package and continues on. Likely it signaled the men upstairs about an anomaly. They’ll come and check it out.
The instant I move, the camera will see me. So I wait. I listen to the sounds of the drones moving and water running in the caves. These caves are not as lifeless as I thought; a spider crawls across my face. I’m as still as stone.
Soon, the drones have completed their search pattern and dropped sensors all over the place. I can hear them through the rock, so now I have a mental map of the caves stretching out down here. I wait.
They send the recall, and the drones whine past on the way up. They lower ropes and rappel down the shaft. They pause by the pool, scanning the tunnels and blasting sensor pulses of sound, and likely radar and other scans as well. I wait.
They move carefully down the tunnels. I can feel their every movement through the rock, hear their every word. These men know what they are doing: staying in pairs, staying in constant communication, and checking corners carefully. I wait.
One pair comes up next to me. They pause. One of them has bad breath. I can feel the tension; they know something is wrong. They could shoot me any instant. I wait.
“Let’s make sure.” I hear a deep voice and a switch clicks.
Heat and fire fill the tunnel. I can see red light through the fibers. Roaring fire sucks all the air away, and the fibers seal my nose before I inhale flame. The fibers protect me from the liquid flame that covers everything. I can feel the heat slowly begin to burn through.
It’s time.
* * * * *
Get “Warrior: Integration” now at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0875SPH86
Find out more about David Hallquist and “Warrior: Integration” at: https://chriskennedypublishing.com/
* * * * *
The following is an
Excerpt from Book One of the Mako Saga:
Mako
___________________
Ian J. Malone
Now Available from Theogony Books
eBook, Paperback, and Audio
Excerpt from “Mako:”
The trio darted for the lift and dove inside as a staccato of sparks and ricochets peppered the space around them. Once the doors had closed, they got to their feet and checked their weapons.
“I bet it was that little punk-ass tech giving us the stink eye,” Danny growled, ejecting his magazine for inspection.
“Agreed,” Hamish said.
Lee leapt to his comm. “Mac, you got a copy?”
“I leave you alone for five minutes, and this is what happens?” Mac answered.
“Yeah, yeah.” Lee rolled his eyes. “Fire up that shuttle and be ready. We’re comin’ in hot.”
“Belay that!” Link shouted. “Hey, asshat, you got time to listen to me now?”
Lee sneered as the lift indicator ticked past three, moving toward the hangar deck on ten. “Damn it, Link, we’ve been made. That means it’s only a matter of time before the grays find that little package Hamish just left into their energy core. We’ve gotta go—now. What’s so damned important that it can’t wait for later?”
“If you’ll shut your piehole for a sec, I’ll show you.”
Lee listened as Link piped in a radio exchange over the comm.
“Velzer, this is Morrius Station Tower.” A male voice crackled through the static. “You are cleared for fuel service at Bravo Station on platform three. Be advised, we are presently dealing with a security breach near Main Engineering, and thus you are ordered to keep all hatches secured until that’s resolved. Please acknowledge.”
“Acknowledged, Morrius Tower,” another voice said. “All hatches secure. Proceeding to Bravo Three for service. Out.”
Lee wrinkled his nose. “So what? Another ship is stoppin’ for gas. What’s the problem?”
“It’s a prisoner transport in transit to a POW camp in the Ganlyn System.”
Prisoner transport?
“And boss?” Link paused. “Their reported head count is two hundred seventy-six, plus flight crew.”
Lee cringed. Never in a million years could he have missed that number’s significance.
“Yeah, that struck me, too,” Link said.
“Does mean what I think it does?” Danny asked.
Lee hung his head. “The Sygarious 3 colonists are aboard that ship.”
“Oh no,” Mac murmured. “Guys, if that’s true, there are whole families over there.”
“I know,” Lee snapped, “and they’re all about to dock on Platform Three, just in time to die with everyone else on this godforsaken facility.”
* * * * *
Get “Mako” now at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088X5W3SP
Find out more about Ian J. Malone and “Mako” at: https://chriskennedypublishing.com/imprints-authors/ian-j-malone/
* * * * *
The Street Survivors (The Guild Wars Book 12) Page 23
