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.” He sighed heavily and attempted a weak smile.“I’m just a glorified taxi.Tell me where to fly and I’ll get you there faster than anyone else.” Kyle was thinking about her the whole time.In this modern age of long life spans, life was still short and could be snuffed out at any moment – especially true for those professions included getting shot at.The deaths on Kanpur had proved that.Kyle wanted nothing more than to be with her for the rest of his life and he would do whatever it took to make that happen.Her beauty and command presence was too intimidating for him to approach her and the time wasn’t right.He said nothing further.Eris turned slightly, surveying all ten of her team members.“Don’t sell yourself short Arneson; you’re a hell of a pilot.”She began to circle the briefing table while pausing in front of each soldier, looking at each as she passed them by.She put a hand on the shoulder of Moak as she passed him.Her voice came alive and her eyes shined with passion as she spoke.“We’re all alive.We’re still here and the Valdren tech that tried to kill us is destroyed.If there is more of the same type of thing on Domovik and it turns out to be hostile – we will survive it.Each one of you will do your duty.I know it.” She had stopped after coming full circle around the table in front of the sitting Kyle Arneson.She looked him directly in his green eyes.“Kyle, you’re a soldier first…pilot second…remember that.” She cocked her head to the side and uttered a short “Dismissed.” All of the assembled men and women filed out as silently as they had come into the room - All but one.Sergeant Angelis remained standing in front of the chair she had been sitting in.She had a wistful look on her face and pursed her lips to ask a question, seemed to pause a second, cast her eyes down to the floor then turned to leave.Eris put her hand on Angelis’ sleeve to stop her.“Did you want to say something Corporal?” Her voice was earnest.She genuinely wanted to hear all concerns from her subordinates.They weren’t her friends, but she relied on them in combat and she needed them at peak performance.Doubts could gnaw on a soldier’s confidence and erode capabilities; best to have everything out in the open.Eris Monroe towered over the smaller woman who barely measured one hundred and fifty seven centimeters.She was small but had a lot of heart and determination.Pascha Angelis looked up at her commanding officer with a look of fear on her face.“Ma’am…I…remember that…that thing…inside my head, chewing on my thoughts – tearing me apart from the inside.I don’t ever want that to happen again.” Pascha shuddered as she remembered.Eris thought quickly how she would reply.“Corporal…” Eris paused for a split second, “Pascha…I meant what I just said.You’re alive.We all endured something that killed our comrades.You wouldn’t be alive if you didn’t have what it takes.” She didn’t mention that those soldiers must have been mentally weaker than those that had survived.Eris paused for a moment and then continued.“You’re standing here now, right in front of me because you’re made of a material so tough…” her voice trailed off.Unlike so many others that had dropped dead from massive brain hemorrhages.Eris blinked as if to turn away from the memory.“You’ll be fine.Shrug it off soldier! That’s an order.”Corporal Pascha Angelis straightened herself and squared her shoulders.A look of resolve filled her face as if fate itself had spoken to her wordlessly.“Ma’am, I’ve seen you do things I didn’t think were humanly possible.I know you will survive.I’m not so sure about the rest of us…” Sergeant Angelis walked out of the briefing room without another word or glance back at her commanding officer.CHAPTER 7The K’Tosk mercenary was clad head to toe in heavy plasteel combat armor.An observer would be hard-pressed to notice him as the surface of his armor light-shifted to blend in with the rocks and vegetation that adorned the side of the mountain he had been climbing.For the last two hours he had slowly and meticulously made his way down the sheer cliff and jagged jutting outcroppings to reach his destination.The high flying robotic sentinels that protected this stretch of territory shouldn’t be able to detect him.They were the reason he was here, because an orbital strike or close attack fly-by to destroy the target would be detected and possibly stopped.He had a heavy pack strapped to his back and carried a laser pistol firmly holstered against his left leg.He paused in his exertions to look down once again - the precipice was almost ninety degrees straight down.The snow covered rocks he had been clinging to were large and sharp and could easily cut unarmored flesh and fabric, but as a K’Tosk his thick chitonous skin would have barely been scratched.He saw the monorail below that came out of the mountainside like a never-ending grey tongue stretching away into the distance.Surveying the valley below him he saw that the rail line snaked along a river for at least two kilometers and then began veering south towards a very small outpost.From this distance it was not difficult for the unaided eye to tell that one side of the town had a large starport as the ships were obvious and situated on variously sized docking platforms.He didn’t try to make out the types and numbers of ships; he concentrated instead on climbing with his cargo intact.Inside was essentially a small nuclear device that would deliver five hundred tons of explosive force, more than enough to accomplish his task.The concealing cover of his armor continued to blend with his surroundings as he carefully climbed down to the top of the tunnel.It had been bored from the mountain using fusion cutters at least forty years before.Long ago, this had been a primary method of transporting the raw materials of heavy metal mines to the one starport on the planet.Now there were five other starports scattered all over the mineral rich surface of this world.Soon, this rail line would be buried under countless tons of rock.If he did his job right, then the train that would soon emerge would also be destroyed along with the cargo it carried.He climbed inside the tunnel and slowed to a crawl.Even though his armor allowed him to stick to the rock walls, it was decidedly uncomfortable, especially when he was hanging upside down.The tunnel was large and wide and he finally found what he was looking for, a small vent that traveled at an angle towards the outside of the mountain.He decided to situate the device there, at least fifty meters from the mouth of the exit [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]