Read Online Beyond the Shroud of the Universe by Chris Kennedy - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Chris Kennedy
Tags: Science-Fiction, Space Opera, Military, Science Fiction & Fantasy, alien invasion, Exploration, Space Exploration, first contact, Galactic Empire, Space Fleet, Space Marine, Colonization
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do any better than that?”
“No, we couldn’t, so stop your bitching,” Night said. The flying boat made it into the box, landed on four giant blocks inside it and shut down its engines. “All right,” he continued as silence returned to the cargo bay; “gather round. Here’s what we’re going to do.”
Cockpit, Shuttle 02 , Dark Side of the Moon, October 6, 2021
“Is this the dumbest thing you’ve ever done?” Lieutenant James Alfred ‘Jamming’ Miles, the Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) of Shuttle 02, asked.
“While flying anyway,” his pilot, Lieutenant Jeff ‘Canuck’ Canada, said. He watched as the Spark vanished from sight. “Huh,” he said, “maybe this will work after all.” He clicked the radio’s transmit switch twice to let the crew of the Spark know they were invisible. The system of microphone clicks had been arranged to keep any voice transmissions from being intercepted. The cargo ship reappeared.
“Here goes nothing,” Jamming said. He flipped the switch on the shuttle’s stealth system. After a couple of seconds, two microphone clicks were heard, indicating it was working as well.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Canuck said. “It worked.”
Jamming turned the stealth system back off, and Canuck flew the shuttle into Starboard Cargo Bay One.
“How long do we have to wait?” Canuck asked.
Jamming looked at his notes. “About five minutes,” he said. “It took a lot longer to get the stealth module attached to the shuttle than they thought. We almost didn’t make the timeline.”
The five minutes flew by as they went over the mission profile in their minds. Finally, right on schedule, there was a flash as they made the jump to the Jinn Universe…followed by waves of nausea.
“Is it always this bad?” Jamming asked when he finished puking.
“It gets easier,” Canuck said.
“I hope so,” Jamming said. He tied off the airsickness bag. “All right, I’m ready to go.”
Canuck lifted the shuttle off the deck. “Are we cloaked?”
“Coming on now,” Jamming said. He flipped the switch. “Should be good.”
Canuck could tell from the look on the lineman’s face that it worked. “Okay,” he said, “here goes nothing.” He guided the shuttle out of the cargo bay and began flying to the drop point.
As they crested over the anti-moon, they got their first look at anti-Earth. “Looks about the same,” Canuck observed. “Aside from the atmosphere being kind of green.”
They flew the rest of the way in silence, each hoping there wouldn’t be a system that could see them.
“Oh, crap,” Jamming said as they neared the drop point. “I’m picking up something. Looks like there’s a ship in orbit.” He did some calculations. “It won’t affect us now, but the pickup could be…interesting.”
“I hate interesting,” Canuck said. “Are we ready?”
“Yeah,” Jamming agreed. He reached up to flip a switch. “Cargo bay doors coming open.” When the green light illuminated, he pushed a red button next to the switch. “Cargo deploying.”
“Good luck, boys,” Canuck said as the box rolled out the back of the shuttle. “And now, we wait…”
Port Cabin, LCAC 85 , Anti-Earth, Unknown Date
“I’ve done an awful lot of crazy shit in my time,” Master Chief said as they felt the giant box roll out of the shuttle’s cargo bay with jolt. The officers and senior enlisted were watching the evolution from the port cabin of the LCAC, while the rest of the troops waited in the ‘Personnel Transfer Module,’ a big box strapped to the center of the LCAC’s cargo bay. “I’ve even done some really stupid shit too,” he continued, “but this has to be the stupidest and craziest thing I’ve ever done. Have I mentioned that?”
“Repeatedly,” Night said.
“Actually, I reviewed the records, and the assault drop box is one of the safest means of assaulting a planet,” Lieutenant Bradford noted. “Not only does it get us down
“No, we couldn’t, so stop your bitching,” Night said. The flying boat made it into the box, landed on four giant blocks inside it and shut down its engines. “All right,” he continued as silence returned to the cargo bay; “gather round. Here’s what we’re going to do.”
Cockpit, Shuttle 02 , Dark Side of the Moon, October 6, 2021
“Is this the dumbest thing you’ve ever done?” Lieutenant James Alfred ‘Jamming’ Miles, the Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) of Shuttle 02, asked.
“While flying anyway,” his pilot, Lieutenant Jeff ‘Canuck’ Canada, said. He watched as the Spark vanished from sight. “Huh,” he said, “maybe this will work after all.” He clicked the radio’s transmit switch twice to let the crew of the Spark know they were invisible. The system of microphone clicks had been arranged to keep any voice transmissions from being intercepted. The cargo ship reappeared.
“Here goes nothing,” Jamming said. He flipped the switch on the shuttle’s stealth system. After a couple of seconds, two microphone clicks were heard, indicating it was working as well.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Canuck said. “It worked.”
Jamming turned the stealth system back off, and Canuck flew the shuttle into Starboard Cargo Bay One.
“How long do we have to wait?” Canuck asked.
Jamming looked at his notes. “About five minutes,” he said. “It took a lot longer to get the stealth module attached to the shuttle than they thought. We almost didn’t make the timeline.”
The five minutes flew by as they went over the mission profile in their minds. Finally, right on schedule, there was a flash as they made the jump to the Jinn Universe…followed by waves of nausea.
“Is it always this bad?” Jamming asked when he finished puking.
“It gets easier,” Canuck said.
“I hope so,” Jamming said. He tied off the airsickness bag. “All right, I’m ready to go.”
Canuck lifted the shuttle off the deck. “Are we cloaked?”
“Coming on now,” Jamming said. He flipped the switch. “Should be good.”
Canuck could tell from the look on the lineman’s face that it worked. “Okay,” he said, “here goes nothing.” He guided the shuttle out of the cargo bay and began flying to the drop point.
As they crested over the anti-moon, they got their first look at anti-Earth. “Looks about the same,” Canuck observed. “Aside from the atmosphere being kind of green.”
They flew the rest of the way in silence, each hoping there wouldn’t be a system that could see them.
“Oh, crap,” Jamming said as they neared the drop point. “I’m picking up something. Looks like there’s a ship in orbit.” He did some calculations. “It won’t affect us now, but the pickup could be…interesting.”
“I hate interesting,” Canuck said. “Are we ready?”
“Yeah,” Jamming agreed. He reached up to flip a switch. “Cargo bay doors coming open.” When the green light illuminated, he pushed a red button next to the switch. “Cargo deploying.”
“Good luck, boys,” Canuck said as the box rolled out the back of the shuttle. “And now, we wait…”
Port Cabin, LCAC 85 , Anti-Earth, Unknown Date
“I’ve done an awful lot of crazy shit in my time,” Master Chief said as they felt the giant box roll out of the shuttle’s cargo bay with jolt. The officers and senior enlisted were watching the evolution from the port cabin of the LCAC, while the rest of the troops waited in the ‘Personnel Transfer Module,’ a big box strapped to the center of the LCAC’s cargo bay. “I’ve even done some really stupid shit too,” he continued, “but this has to be the stupidest and craziest thing I’ve ever done. Have I mentioned that?”
“Repeatedly,” Night said.
“Actually, I reviewed the records, and the assault drop box is one of the safest means of assaulting a planet,” Lieutenant Bradford noted. “Not only does it get us down
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