Read Online Ilox Saga 1: Eris Monroe: More Than Human by Bruce Adams - Free Book Online Page A

encompassed a swath of verdant valley surrounded by mountainous and hilly terrain. Looking out over the edge of the platform railing, the merc could see for kilometers as the port rested on the top of a flat mesa. The mercenary’s helmet faceplate was open and he was smoking…lazily expelling vortex rings out of his mouth into the cold air. At a short distance it was obvious he was a K’Tosk, one of the fierce breed of humanoid aliens that had inflicted carnage on Earth’s Republic during the so-called Misunderstood War twenty years earlier. From a distance, only an observer familiar with K’Tosk military gear or weapons manufacturing would discern that the merc was not human. To anyone else, he would just be another anonymous gun for hire, a ubiquitous and familiar sight to those that entered or left starship ports throughout the Verge. The cargo loading dock platform was one of a dozen, haphazardly scattered in a ring centered on a control tower that guided heavy ships down to this largely forgotten pirate haven on Domovik. There were at least twenty-eight ships – all smaller craft that could hold few passengers and crew. Those ships were built for speed and were designed to carry heavy weapons and a ruthless crew. Only one starship at the dock was large – seemingly large enough to hold two hundred personnel and a large quantity of cargo. Weapons turrets bristled from the dark grey hull – it was no cargo ship but sported the insignia of the Horizon mercenary group. The starship port had an old maglev rail line extending to the north and through the nearby rugged mountains. A tunnel several kilometers distant swallowed the rail line on the side of the largest mountain in sight of the starport. A second armored mercenary carrying a heavy gauss rifle in both hands approached with his visor down.
    “ Get ready. The target should be exiting the tunnel at any moment.” On the far side of the valley, a train emerged from the black pit of the tunnel. The train was still traveling at over one hundred kilometers per hour even while it was decelerating. From this distance it looked like he could reach out his hand and grab it as if it was a toy. The mercenary that had been smoking gave one final puff, dropped the still smoldering cigarette to the ground, and touched a control on his left wrist. A holopad appeared in front of him. In the distance a flash of brilliant white light and orange flame heralded the shockwave and furious sound to come. Thirty seconds after the detonation a massive blast of wind and a pressure wave hit the platform where the two stood. Alarms began wailing from multiple sources all over the starport in response. Figures could be seen running in a panic from loading docks and taking cover wherever they could find it. A few small starships hastily departed and rapidly rose into the atmosphere as if shot from a monstrous invisible slingshot. The two K’Tosk mercenaries silently surveyed the scene – the destruction of the tunnel and remnants from the train as well as the panicked reaction from people at the starport.
    “That should cause a lot of confusion. Don’t you think?” As the mercenary spoke, he pulled another cigarette from a package and lit it, cupping his hand to keep the flame alive. He drew a long pull and exhaled slowly. Through the wispy smoke, the large warship rose out of its berth, the antigravity thrusters propelling the craft upward caused a shimmer in the air as heat fought with the latent cold of the mountain air. The faceless K’Tosk gave a grunt of assent, turned and walked back the way he had come and headed to a nearby landing bay with a small one man ship perched on the dock. Inside his ship he hurriedly gave the computer the coordinates to his destination and manually took the controls as the ship blasted out of the formidable gravity well of the planet Domovik.
    Nine hours and three jumps later, the ship entered the star system known only on star maps as L5328-M. The