Read Online Grendel Unit 1: Bad Day at Khor-wa by Bernard Schaffer - Free Book Online
Authors: Bernard Schaffer
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gives us any better readings." At that moment, all of the ship's displays and computers came back to whirring, beeping life. Buehl laughed aloud and said, "Holy crap , that worked!"
Monster flew back into his seat and immediately began to pull up the captain's coordinates, searching for signs of activity below. What he saw made him rear up in his chair and shout, "Look!"
Buehl leaned over to see the two blinking dots that represented Captain Victor Cojo and Lieutenant Francis Kelly. They were moving through an alleyway that led to an open area where almost a hundred armed soldiers waited in the surrounding buildings or were hidden under cover, securing the area from every direction.
At the far end of the landing sat a large ship, its outline showing that it was much larger than the Samsara . Monster zeroed in on the ship and stopped moving. "It's a Unification ship," he whispered. "All of the soldiers are ours too."
"What the hell's going on down there?" Buehl said.
Suddenly, the radio transmitted, "Unification vessel Samsara , this is the sovereign government of Khor-wa. You are forbidden to enter our atmosphere, repeat, you are forbidden to enter our atmosphere. We have notified your command personnel and advised them that any attempts to do so will be seen as an act of aggression and result in the destruction of your vessel."
Monster snatched the microphone and shouted, "We have people down there, you sons of bitches!"
The radio, display screens, and computer terminals all went dead.
Monster looked at Buehl and said, "How far up are we?"
"Too far up," he said.
Monster shot out of his chair, "Too far up for humans, maybe."
The last remnants of their smoke dissipated in the wind, leaving nothing but the end of the alleyway directly ahead of them. The sky was not murky gray with no sign of the sun in sight. Soon, night would fall, and their chances of finding their asset and the target would all but vanish. They took off their glasses and Vic held Frank up a few feet from the exit. "When we get out there, stick to the walls. We've just got to ride this out long enough for ops to get back up and running. Hopefully, we'll be going in the right direction."
Frank took a deep breath and hesitated before saying, "What if we get the hell out of here instead? We're off book. We just killed a guy. We have no ops."
" Forget it."
"Can we at least consider cutting our losses here? The asset is gone, Vic. Yultorot knows we're coming. It's a bad play and you know it."
Vic grabbed Frank by the collar of his shirt and hissed, "No!" The two men glared at one another, close enough for their spit to spray one another in the face, but Vic didn't care. He twisted Frank's shirt tighter and said, "I will not abandon this mission just because it's difficult or complicated . Not after what that son of a bitch did."
"It won't bring them back, Vic."
"I know that!"
"It won't bring them back. Nothing we do, nobody we kill, will bring them back. What we can do is live to fight another day."
"Fine," Vic said, releasing him. "Go on then. Go back to the bar. Live to fight another day."
"You're making a mistake."
"Just get the hell out of here," Vic said. "I'm serious. I shouldn't have brought you in the first place."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Vic waved his hands frantically at the alleyway's entrance, "Will you get the hell out of here so I can concentrate on what I'm doing? I'll see you on the ship."
"Fine," Frank said. He started to walk back down the alley , then stopped to look back at where Vic was crouching. He opened his mouth to call out to him to just give it up and come on, but it was too late. Vic spun around the corner and vanished. Frank sighed and kept walking, shaking his head. Vic would return to the Samsara in a few hours, irritated and exhausted at having spent the so much wasted time searching for people who knew better than
Monster flew back into his seat and immediately began to pull up the captain's coordinates, searching for signs of activity below. What he saw made him rear up in his chair and shout, "Look!"
Buehl leaned over to see the two blinking dots that represented Captain Victor Cojo and Lieutenant Francis Kelly. They were moving through an alleyway that led to an open area where almost a hundred armed soldiers waited in the surrounding buildings or were hidden under cover, securing the area from every direction.
At the far end of the landing sat a large ship, its outline showing that it was much larger than the Samsara . Monster zeroed in on the ship and stopped moving. "It's a Unification ship," he whispered. "All of the soldiers are ours too."
"What the hell's going on down there?" Buehl said.
Suddenly, the radio transmitted, "Unification vessel Samsara , this is the sovereign government of Khor-wa. You are forbidden to enter our atmosphere, repeat, you are forbidden to enter our atmosphere. We have notified your command personnel and advised them that any attempts to do so will be seen as an act of aggression and result in the destruction of your vessel."
Monster snatched the microphone and shouted, "We have people down there, you sons of bitches!"
The radio, display screens, and computer terminals all went dead.
Monster looked at Buehl and said, "How far up are we?"
"Too far up," he said.
Monster shot out of his chair, "Too far up for humans, maybe."
The last remnants of their smoke dissipated in the wind, leaving nothing but the end of the alleyway directly ahead of them. The sky was not murky gray with no sign of the sun in sight. Soon, night would fall, and their chances of finding their asset and the target would all but vanish. They took off their glasses and Vic held Frank up a few feet from the exit. "When we get out there, stick to the walls. We've just got to ride this out long enough for ops to get back up and running. Hopefully, we'll be going in the right direction."
Frank took a deep breath and hesitated before saying, "What if we get the hell out of here instead? We're off book. We just killed a guy. We have no ops."
" Forget it."
"Can we at least consider cutting our losses here? The asset is gone, Vic. Yultorot knows we're coming. It's a bad play and you know it."
Vic grabbed Frank by the collar of his shirt and hissed, "No!" The two men glared at one another, close enough for their spit to spray one another in the face, but Vic didn't care. He twisted Frank's shirt tighter and said, "I will not abandon this mission just because it's difficult or complicated . Not after what that son of a bitch did."
"It won't bring them back, Vic."
"I know that!"
"It won't bring them back. Nothing we do, nobody we kill, will bring them back. What we can do is live to fight another day."
"Fine," Vic said, releasing him. "Go on then. Go back to the bar. Live to fight another day."
"You're making a mistake."
"Just get the hell out of here," Vic said. "I'm serious. I shouldn't have brought you in the first place."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Vic waved his hands frantically at the alleyway's entrance, "Will you get the hell out of here so I can concentrate on what I'm doing? I'll see you on the ship."
"Fine," Frank said. He started to walk back down the alley , then stopped to look back at where Vic was crouching. He opened his mouth to call out to him to just give it up and come on, but it was too late. Vic spun around the corner and vanished. Frank sighed and kept walking, shaking his head. Vic would return to the Samsara in a few hours, irritated and exhausted at having spent the so much wasted time searching for people who knew better than
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