Read Online Absolute Zero (The Shadow Wars Book 4) by S. A. Lusher - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: S. A. Lusher
Ads: Link
see whatever the hell had been hounding them since they'd arrived, what cored people's heads for their brains. It definitely didn't seem human, from the sound of it.
When the thing moved, it was fast .
It bolted out into the light. Trent only caught a glimpse of a humanoid figure that seemed as dark as space. It leaped through the air, the clicking becoming rapid now, and came right for Sharpe. She leveled her rifle at it and fired without hesitation. Trent had to give her credit. He honestly might have frozen up if that thing was coming dead-on at him. The bullets hit it square in the chest and the force of the blast tossed it back the way it had come.
For a second, Trent was positive that his eyes were playing tricks on him, but the wet stuff that sprayed out of the creature seemed almost...silver. The body hit the floor and twitched violently. Sharpe put another two rounds into its head and then, after it hadn't moved for a full ten seconds, put two more just to be sure.
Slowly, covering it with their weapons, the quartet converged on the creature. Trent studied it as he came to stand an arm's length from it. It was tall, somewhere close to six and a half feet, maybe closer to seven. It was definitely reptilian in nature. Obsidian scales covered it from head to toe. It had wicked, six-inch claws on its toes and fingers and a muzzle of a mouth that extended away from its face, stuffed full of teeth like razors.
And, Trent saw, its blood was, in fact, silver.
“What...what the fuck is this thing?” Drake asked. “I mean...it's a fucking lizard person.” He laughed. “First contact with an intelligent race and it's fucking lizard people.”
“I don't think this is intelligent,” Tristan murmured. “It seems more like an animal than a sentient being. Look at those claws, those teeth...this thing was made for killing.”
“Sharpe?” Trent asked, looking up.
She was staring down at the body, her eyes unreadable as always, her mouth a flat line. She didn't say anything, instead opting to stand and begin moving towards the door. After a moment, the others followed her.
“How much you wanna bet that was the brain-scooper?” Drake asked.
“Maybe,” Tristan said. “But what about the bones?”
“What if it eats people and shits out the bones?”
“Bleached, perfectly picked-clean bones? And it couldn't have eaten the meat off of those bones with that much precision, its teeth are too big, too sharp. It'd be covered in nicks and scratches. Those bones were perfectly smooth.”
“Shut up. Stay focused. We're in enemy territory now,” Sharpe said.
They left the mess hall and came to the next corridor. Trent took Sharpe's words to heart. She was right. There were things that wanted to kill him and would have a pretty easy time doing it. Those claws looked like they'd tear through his armor like it was nothing. They reached the first turn in the corridor, took it, kept going.
This length of hallway was worse than the previous one. More bodies, more hollowed-out skulls, more blood. One of the corpses was one of the lizard things. Most of its head had been blown away and it lay in a pool of silvery blood that resembled mercury. Trent kept trying to wrap his head around these things.
How many were there? Where had they come from? What kind of motivation drove them? It wasn't lost on him that the corporate dogs had been so tight-lipped and then they find insane lizard people intent on brutal murder.
Just what the fuck, exactly, had they been up to out here at the edge of the galaxy?
They reached the end of the corridor and the door that led to the security center. Sharpe had it open in a minute and, when they found nothing particularly unpleasant waiting inside for them, she slipped in. Trent and Tristan followed and Drake hovered in the doorway, watching their back. Trent scanned the bank of monitors across the way, but most of them were registering only static or were outright dead.
The security center
When the thing moved, it was fast .
It bolted out into the light. Trent only caught a glimpse of a humanoid figure that seemed as dark as space. It leaped through the air, the clicking becoming rapid now, and came right for Sharpe. She leveled her rifle at it and fired without hesitation. Trent had to give her credit. He honestly might have frozen up if that thing was coming dead-on at him. The bullets hit it square in the chest and the force of the blast tossed it back the way it had come.
For a second, Trent was positive that his eyes were playing tricks on him, but the wet stuff that sprayed out of the creature seemed almost...silver. The body hit the floor and twitched violently. Sharpe put another two rounds into its head and then, after it hadn't moved for a full ten seconds, put two more just to be sure.
Slowly, covering it with their weapons, the quartet converged on the creature. Trent studied it as he came to stand an arm's length from it. It was tall, somewhere close to six and a half feet, maybe closer to seven. It was definitely reptilian in nature. Obsidian scales covered it from head to toe. It had wicked, six-inch claws on its toes and fingers and a muzzle of a mouth that extended away from its face, stuffed full of teeth like razors.
And, Trent saw, its blood was, in fact, silver.
“What...what the fuck is this thing?” Drake asked. “I mean...it's a fucking lizard person.” He laughed. “First contact with an intelligent race and it's fucking lizard people.”
“I don't think this is intelligent,” Tristan murmured. “It seems more like an animal than a sentient being. Look at those claws, those teeth...this thing was made for killing.”
“Sharpe?” Trent asked, looking up.
She was staring down at the body, her eyes unreadable as always, her mouth a flat line. She didn't say anything, instead opting to stand and begin moving towards the door. After a moment, the others followed her.
“How much you wanna bet that was the brain-scooper?” Drake asked.
“Maybe,” Tristan said. “But what about the bones?”
“What if it eats people and shits out the bones?”
“Bleached, perfectly picked-clean bones? And it couldn't have eaten the meat off of those bones with that much precision, its teeth are too big, too sharp. It'd be covered in nicks and scratches. Those bones were perfectly smooth.”
“Shut up. Stay focused. We're in enemy territory now,” Sharpe said.
They left the mess hall and came to the next corridor. Trent took Sharpe's words to heart. She was right. There were things that wanted to kill him and would have a pretty easy time doing it. Those claws looked like they'd tear through his armor like it was nothing. They reached the first turn in the corridor, took it, kept going.
This length of hallway was worse than the previous one. More bodies, more hollowed-out skulls, more blood. One of the corpses was one of the lizard things. Most of its head had been blown away and it lay in a pool of silvery blood that resembled mercury. Trent kept trying to wrap his head around these things.
How many were there? Where had they come from? What kind of motivation drove them? It wasn't lost on him that the corporate dogs had been so tight-lipped and then they find insane lizard people intent on brutal murder.
Just what the fuck, exactly, had they been up to out here at the edge of the galaxy?
They reached the end of the corridor and the door that led to the security center. Sharpe had it open in a minute and, when they found nothing particularly unpleasant waiting inside for them, she slipped in. Trent and Tristan followed and Drake hovered in the doorway, watching their back. Trent scanned the bank of monitors across the way, but most of them were registering only static or were outright dead.
The security center
Similar Books
