Read Online Hellhole Inferno by Brian Herbert - Free Book Online Page B

was gone, with Keana out of sight, Bolton still felt his pulse racing. Escobar was sweating, and the other two officers looked as if their knees might buckle. “That alien will not give up so easily,” Vingh said. “I don’t think she’ll take no for an answer.”
    â€œShe will be back and try harder to coerce us,” said Yimidi.
    The Redcom narrowed his gaze and said in a hard, low voice, “That only confirms what I was already thinking. We can’t just cower here and wait for my father. We need to break out of this camp—it is a prisoner’s duty to escape.”
    â€œBut where would we go?” asked Vingh.
    He whispered with greater urgency, “Away from here, away from the alien pools. We could make our way overland to Michella Town, steal a ship at the spaceport, get out to one of the other DZ worlds.”
    Bolton was uneasy. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. We don’t have supplies, don’t have charts or shelter, don’t have weapons or tools—”
    Yimidi picked up on the idea. “This camp isn’t secure. It wouldn’t be hard to steal some supplies and get a small group through the fences. Once we’re out in the open, we could make good time. Most of this planet is an uninhabited wasteland.”
    Excitedly, Escobar said, “If even a few of us can find a way back to the Crown Jewels, we’ll let them know what’s going on here. My father can’t prepare his attack without information. It’s our duty. We have to do our part.”
    Trying to be more realistic, Bolton said, “You’re forgetting how dangerous the landscape is around here. This is Hellhole! We don’t know the terrain, or the hazards that we will face.”
    Escobar silenced him with a glare. “We are trained soldiers in the Army of the Constellation. How about you two? This is not an order. It is a time for volunteers.”
    Bolton didn’t think it was a wise plan, but he could see the Redcom wouldn’t change his mind. The idea had obviously taken hold with Yimidi and Vingh. He sighed in resignation. “If you choose to make this attempt, I will go with you.” Bolton felt obligated to stay with his commanding officer. “But the fewer of us, the better. A small group has less chance of being seen, and we can be more nimble.”

 
    9
    Though Sophie maintained separate living quarters of her own, she stayed with Tiber Adolphus at Elba whenever she had the chance. They were lovers and partners, though the ongoing crisis did not permit them to see each other as much as they would like.
    When Sophie arrived at the headquarters mansion, Adolphus greeted her with a warm smile and a weary but lingering embrace. He wore a blue-and-gold striped robe, and his black hair was slicked back, as if he had just stepped out of the shower. She noticed a bit of dark beard shadow on one side of his chin, which apparently he had overlooked when he shaved—a sign of how preoccupied he must be.
    â€œI brought some very important news.” She stepped aside to let her companion join her at the door. “Tel Clovis is the one with the message.”
    The rejuvenated man was barely recognizeable, no longer twisted and damaged from the stringline backlash on Candela; after his second slickwater immersion and his fusion with Tryn, Clovis now stood straight, healthy, vibrant. The man had been so insistent on delivering his message personally to the General that he had wanted to use his increased telemancy to levitate and fly himself and Sophie across the open air, but she declined. With a standard craft, she had gotten them here in an hour.
    Adolphus stared in surprise at the other visitor. He had known Tel Clovis well when he served as the manager of the Ankor spaceport construction. “You look like your old self—except your eyes seem stranger, brighter.”
    â€œI’m stronger, General,” Clovis said.