Read Online Beyond the Shroud of the Universe by Chris Kennedy - Free Book Online Page B

quickly, but with the various coatings the box has, we appear to an unsuspecting nation like a meteor falling from the skies.” His eyes widened a little as a thought came to him, and he turned to Night. “They aren’t expecting us, are they?”
    “Not that we know of.”
    “Good,” Lieutenant Bradford replied, although his eyes darted back and forth as if he was still unsure. “I didn’t realize we would be weightless this long.”
    “This is the easy part,” the LCAC’s Loadmaster, Petty Officer Steve Johnson, said. “The fun part is going to be when we try to fire up the engines. Hopefully we will get them all running before we hit.”
    “What are the odds of that happening?” Lieutenant Bradford asked.
    “Pretty poor,” Petty Officer Johnson replied.
    “Shitty,” Master Chief said.
    “What happens if the motors don’t all run?” Lieutenant Bradford asked.
    Petty Officer Johnson shrugged. “We make a big splash when we hit.”
    “We’re not going to sink, though, are we?”
    “Nah, we’ll hit pretty hard, but assuming nothing breaks too badly, we’ll still float like a normal boat…we just won’t be able to do any of the flying stuff.”
    “Which means we’ll be a lot slower on the water, and the Efreet will have a lot more warning we’re coming,” Night added. “And we’ll have to hump all our gear about 18 miles, too, which will suck.”
    “And we won’t make our mission timeline,” Master Chief concluded. “We’ll be pretty screwed.”
    The men were quiet as they contemplated all the ways the mission could go wrong…until they reached atmosphere, and the shaking began.
    “Is it supposed to vibrate this much?” Lieutenant Bradford asked. “I mean, this is normal, right?”
    “No idea sir,” Master Chief said. “You’re the expert on these things. I’ve never used a box before.”
    BANG! BANG! BANG! It felt like somebody was outside the assault box hitting it with a massive sledgehammer.
    “Sounds like someone’s outside,” Night said. “Hey, Lieutenant, why don’t you go answer the door?”
    “Not…funny,” Lieutenant Bradford replied, his eyes tightly shut.
    The hammering continued for several more minutes, then the shaking became more violent.
    Master Chief winked at Night. “Hey, Lieutenant, is the side of the box supposed to get so red? It almost looks like it’s glowing…”
    “What? Where?” Lieutenant Bradford asked. “The manual didn’t say anything about that! I hope it’s normal; I mean, it’s got to be normal, right?”
    “Actually, the sides of the box are turning kinda red,” said Petty Officer Johnson. Seated up on a platform, he was the only person able to look out the port observer dome window.
    All the color drained from Lieutenant Bradford’s face.
    “Guide parachutes deploying,” Petty Officer Johnson noted. The sounds of wind noise could be heard from outside.
    “Wee!” Master Chief yelled as the capsule began to yo-yo back and forth. “This is fun, isn’t it, Lieutenant?”
    “This is worse than a roller coaster,” Lieutenant Bradford said. “How can it feel like we’re being pulled in every direction at once?”
    “Main chute deployment,” Petty Officer Johnson said. The ride smoothed and everyone, including Lieutenant Bradford, began breathing again. “Time for the fun to begin.” The passengers were thrown from side to side as the LCAC rocked. “There go the sides of the box. Time to pray that the engines will start…”
    “There’s one…” Over the wind noise, the troops could hear a jet engine spin up to full power.
    “Two…” The jet noise doubled in volume as the second engine came online.
    “Three…” The craft started shaking as the roar intensified.
    “And four…fuck!”
    “Unless that’s a technical term in the navy,” Night said, “I can’t imagine ‘fuck’ is good.”
    “Nope,” Petty Officer Johnson replied. “The fourth motor won’t come online. There’s a stuck