Read Online Conviction by Tammy Salyer - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Tammy Salyer
Tags: Science-Fiction
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delusional as the vermin that crawls on these rocks.”
I start toward her, planning to feed her my fists, but David gets between us first. “Stop.”
Having to go through him to get to her makes me pause, but neither she nor I drop our eyes.
“He just dug our asses out of a seriously deep hole. I think the least we can do is give him the benefit of the doubt,” David says, his head swiveling between us as he tries to read our intentions. “Kid—”
“Drew,” I interject.
“Drew—why do you want to help us?”
The kid says nothing for a moment, and I drop the glare-down with Soltznin to glance at him. He looks nervous and uncertain, but eventually answers. “Because of what she said.” He juts his chin toward me. “Pretty soon it’s just going to be me and my brother. I got no choice but to figure out how to make…how to…how to take care of him.”
David stares at the kid for a few seconds, then looks at me. His blue-green eyes shine with compassion. If I thought I knew what the kid was going through, David could be his Gemini twin. My brother had taken care of me in the same way. He’d been all I had as a little girl, and he knew it. What kind of burden could that have been? All I have to do is look into this kid’s eyes to find out.
David says, “Sure, yeah, okay. Why don’t you work perimeter with us till tomorrow? We could use a hand.”
Soltznin grinds a boot into the dusty earth and executes a brutal about-face. She reaches the sealed e-craft hatch and enters the opening code before anyone says another word. Whatever. She doesn’t have to like it, as long as she remains outnumbered.
But David’s comment, This may not be the right move ,makes me wonder if she is.
8
WANK PATROL
As a gray-purple dusk rolls over the landscape, David and Soltznin sort through the weapons at our disposal and lay out a base of operations inside the e-craft while I take Drew on a walk to set up an outdoor perimeter.
I explain as we go: “Our ship is only lightly armored, mostly to protect against minor debris while in flight, but it will repel any small-arms fire, even a direct hit by the type of projectile you used. Deploying these telemetry robot sensors will let us know if anyone is sneaking up by broadcasting movement or changes in environmental ambience to the receivers inside.”
I drop a pile of self-propelled autonomous sensors in the dust, each about the size of my fist. Another prize we’d found aboard the evacuation craft. The Corps is nothing if not prepared. Using a central remote operator for all five units, I turn them on and let the operator box run through its autochecks to ensure they’re all at optimal functioning and get a baseline read of the area. I won’t deploy their movement alert system until we’re tucked in for the evening.
To his credit the kid pays close attention, and I continue, “But what to do in case anyone unwelcome shows up is our biggest problem. They might not be able to get us inside the ship, but that doesn’t do us any good if we can’t get out. One advantage is David’s sniper post.” I turn and point out the emplacement. “We’ll just rotate shifts up there. Three hours each.” Trying not to be obvious, I glance back at the kid. “Except you.”
“I’m a good shot,” he says defensively.
“You may be. But I have a rule. I don’t trust my life to strangers.” Holding his coffee-colored brown eyes with mine, I wait to make sure he understands.
After a second, he nods and looks away. “So you want me to stay inside the ship?”
“How many rounds does your quad have left?”
He thinks for a second. “Four.”
“Outstanding. You volunteered to help us, so you can help us by doing what you already know how to. Wank patrol.” He gives me a look of complete confusion. “Perimeter watch,” I explain. “You can spend the night in the quad, and be ready to use it if we tell you to. Whoever’s in the perch will cover you—if needed.” I
I start toward her, planning to feed her my fists, but David gets between us first. “Stop.”
Having to go through him to get to her makes me pause, but neither she nor I drop our eyes.
“He just dug our asses out of a seriously deep hole. I think the least we can do is give him the benefit of the doubt,” David says, his head swiveling between us as he tries to read our intentions. “Kid—”
“Drew,” I interject.
“Drew—why do you want to help us?”
The kid says nothing for a moment, and I drop the glare-down with Soltznin to glance at him. He looks nervous and uncertain, but eventually answers. “Because of what she said.” He juts his chin toward me. “Pretty soon it’s just going to be me and my brother. I got no choice but to figure out how to make…how to…how to take care of him.”
David stares at the kid for a few seconds, then looks at me. His blue-green eyes shine with compassion. If I thought I knew what the kid was going through, David could be his Gemini twin. My brother had taken care of me in the same way. He’d been all I had as a little girl, and he knew it. What kind of burden could that have been? All I have to do is look into this kid’s eyes to find out.
David says, “Sure, yeah, okay. Why don’t you work perimeter with us till tomorrow? We could use a hand.”
Soltznin grinds a boot into the dusty earth and executes a brutal about-face. She reaches the sealed e-craft hatch and enters the opening code before anyone says another word. Whatever. She doesn’t have to like it, as long as she remains outnumbered.
But David’s comment, This may not be the right move ,makes me wonder if she is.
8
WANK PATROL
As a gray-purple dusk rolls over the landscape, David and Soltznin sort through the weapons at our disposal and lay out a base of operations inside the e-craft while I take Drew on a walk to set up an outdoor perimeter.
I explain as we go: “Our ship is only lightly armored, mostly to protect against minor debris while in flight, but it will repel any small-arms fire, even a direct hit by the type of projectile you used. Deploying these telemetry robot sensors will let us know if anyone is sneaking up by broadcasting movement or changes in environmental ambience to the receivers inside.”
I drop a pile of self-propelled autonomous sensors in the dust, each about the size of my fist. Another prize we’d found aboard the evacuation craft. The Corps is nothing if not prepared. Using a central remote operator for all five units, I turn them on and let the operator box run through its autochecks to ensure they’re all at optimal functioning and get a baseline read of the area. I won’t deploy their movement alert system until we’re tucked in for the evening.
To his credit the kid pays close attention, and I continue, “But what to do in case anyone unwelcome shows up is our biggest problem. They might not be able to get us inside the ship, but that doesn’t do us any good if we can’t get out. One advantage is David’s sniper post.” I turn and point out the emplacement. “We’ll just rotate shifts up there. Three hours each.” Trying not to be obvious, I glance back at the kid. “Except you.”
“I’m a good shot,” he says defensively.
“You may be. But I have a rule. I don’t trust my life to strangers.” Holding his coffee-colored brown eyes with mine, I wait to make sure he understands.
After a second, he nods and looks away. “So you want me to stay inside the ship?”
“How many rounds does your quad have left?”
He thinks for a second. “Four.”
“Outstanding. You volunteered to help us, so you can help us by doing what you already know how to. Wank patrol.” He gives me a look of complete confusion. “Perimeter watch,” I explain. “You can spend the night in the quad, and be ready to use it if we tell you to. Whoever’s in the perch will cover you—if needed.” I