Read Online Slave of the Legion by Marshall S. Thomas - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Marshall S. Thomas
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crackling, disintegrating to ash, whirling away into the air. Snow Leopard and Priestess joined in, E's on full autoflame, and Speedy's armor glowed red-hot. He fell onto his back, burning like a torch.
"ALERT! More strands!" My head snapped up. More of them came at us through the air, floating, seeking us out, snapping their tails, totally mindless and totally deadly.
"Flame! Use flame!" Snow Leopard cried out. Our E's spat flame and the snakes erupted in the air, exploding like gas. It was Dragon who first discovered that the snakes burnt, on Mongera. I swept the sky with my E, and the others did the same. Somebody shrieked with laughter. The snakes spit sparks, coming apart, rolling into fiery balls in the sky. We filled the air with flame and the trees burnt all around us.
"Any more?" My heart was thumping. It was quiet. A single flash of lightning. Light rain. The trees, burning. Speedy was on his back, his suit glowing, smoking, hissing as the rain hit it.
"Fourteen, are you all right?" Priestess was right by his side. So was I. She opened the visor. He was silent, trembling, as pale as death.
"Speedy, are you tenners?"
"Life signs ten high," Priestess said.
"It's all right, Speedy, we flamed the creeper. It didn't have a chance to burn through your armor."
"Say something, Speedy."
"He's all right," Priestess said again. "He's fine." The squad gathered around him.
"Speedy? You were lucky. We burned it before it was able to start the chain reaction. You're one lucky guy!"
"Fourteen, Beta to Fourteen, acknowledge please."
"Take five, Speedy, you deserve it."
"What a day, huh, Speedy?"
"Look at it this way, Speedy, chances are it'll be somebody else next time."
But Speedy didn't say anything. He just lay there in his A-suit, twitching.
###
We sloshed through the wetlands, cutting across icy streams and wading ankle deep through wet muddy turf. It was fairly open, but it sure was wet. Tall white trees towered around us, widely spaced. We were heading for the forest, still far ahead. The sky was full of heavy dark clouds and where we could see through the clouds, it was a slate-grey morning. The weak sun was still hidden behind the mountains.
It had been a long night, and it was going to be a long day—Uldo's day was thirty-three hours.
"Four, Three." I needed information, and Merlin always had information. Merlin was our tech, our lab rat, our wizard. He knew everything.
"Yeah, Thinker."
"Do you think the O's know where we are, after that scrap with the snakes?"
"That's a twelve, Thinker. The snakes just roam around and attack the appropriate genetic material. They're really quite primitive. There's no commo with the O's. The O's just program them to patrol a certain area, and then set them loose."
"I see."
"We're likely to run into more of them. I'd stay awake, if I were you."
"I'll do that, Merlin. Thanks."
One foot in front of the other, sloshing through the muck, mists rising from the water. It stopped raining. A flight of white birds rose from a tree, flapping into the air, squawking. It was a brand new day, and the clouds had borders of crimson and gold. It was incredibly beautiful out here. Uldo—we were to die for Uldo. Fine, I thought. I had no home—let it be Uldo. But meantime it was to be one foot after another, for hours and hours. Exhausting hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of stark terror. That was the Legion.
###
"Somebody's tearing the hell out of the at," Valkyrie announced. We had paused briefly on a great shelf of crumbling, unstable rock, hidden in the cold shadow of a tall, massive mountain ridge of red stone. In our camfax, we were virtually invisible but we all felt naked out on the rocks.
"Those are antis," Snow Leopard said. "That's the offensive."
I snapped my visor open and raised my canteen to my lips. The air was fresh and cold. The sky was clearing up—we certainly didn't need that. The ridge towered up to the sky above us, glittering like diamonds,
"ALERT! More strands!" My head snapped up. More of them came at us through the air, floating, seeking us out, snapping their tails, totally mindless and totally deadly.
"Flame! Use flame!" Snow Leopard cried out. Our E's spat flame and the snakes erupted in the air, exploding like gas. It was Dragon who first discovered that the snakes burnt, on Mongera. I swept the sky with my E, and the others did the same. Somebody shrieked with laughter. The snakes spit sparks, coming apart, rolling into fiery balls in the sky. We filled the air with flame and the trees burnt all around us.
"Any more?" My heart was thumping. It was quiet. A single flash of lightning. Light rain. The trees, burning. Speedy was on his back, his suit glowing, smoking, hissing as the rain hit it.
"Fourteen, are you all right?" Priestess was right by his side. So was I. She opened the visor. He was silent, trembling, as pale as death.
"Speedy, are you tenners?"
"Life signs ten high," Priestess said.
"It's all right, Speedy, we flamed the creeper. It didn't have a chance to burn through your armor."
"Say something, Speedy."
"He's all right," Priestess said again. "He's fine." The squad gathered around him.
"Speedy? You were lucky. We burned it before it was able to start the chain reaction. You're one lucky guy!"
"Fourteen, Beta to Fourteen, acknowledge please."
"Take five, Speedy, you deserve it."
"What a day, huh, Speedy?"
"Look at it this way, Speedy, chances are it'll be somebody else next time."
But Speedy didn't say anything. He just lay there in his A-suit, twitching.
###
We sloshed through the wetlands, cutting across icy streams and wading ankle deep through wet muddy turf. It was fairly open, but it sure was wet. Tall white trees towered around us, widely spaced. We were heading for the forest, still far ahead. The sky was full of heavy dark clouds and where we could see through the clouds, it was a slate-grey morning. The weak sun was still hidden behind the mountains.
It had been a long night, and it was going to be a long day—Uldo's day was thirty-three hours.
"Four, Three." I needed information, and Merlin always had information. Merlin was our tech, our lab rat, our wizard. He knew everything.
"Yeah, Thinker."
"Do you think the O's know where we are, after that scrap with the snakes?"
"That's a twelve, Thinker. The snakes just roam around and attack the appropriate genetic material. They're really quite primitive. There's no commo with the O's. The O's just program them to patrol a certain area, and then set them loose."
"I see."
"We're likely to run into more of them. I'd stay awake, if I were you."
"I'll do that, Merlin. Thanks."
One foot in front of the other, sloshing through the muck, mists rising from the water. It stopped raining. A flight of white birds rose from a tree, flapping into the air, squawking. It was a brand new day, and the clouds had borders of crimson and gold. It was incredibly beautiful out here. Uldo—we were to die for Uldo. Fine, I thought. I had no home—let it be Uldo. But meantime it was to be one foot after another, for hours and hours. Exhausting hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of stark terror. That was the Legion.
###
"Somebody's tearing the hell out of the at," Valkyrie announced. We had paused briefly on a great shelf of crumbling, unstable rock, hidden in the cold shadow of a tall, massive mountain ridge of red stone. In our camfax, we were virtually invisible but we all felt naked out on the rocks.
"Those are antis," Snow Leopard said. "That's the offensive."
I snapped my visor open and raised my canteen to my lips. The air was fresh and cold. The sky was clearing up—we certainly didn't need that. The ridge towered up to the sky above us, glittering like diamonds,
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