Read Online Starship Tomahawk (The Hive Invasion Book 2) by Jake Elwood - Free Book Online Page A

side.
    She dropped to a crouch as they neared the crest, and Nicholson copied her. By the time they reached the top they were wriggling on their stomachs, leaving a trail of mangled plants behind them. Nicholson rose up on his elbows so he could see over the crop.
    A cluster of buildings nestled at the base of the hill. There was a small house, a long Quonset hut, and a couple of rectangular structures that seemed to be made from logs. One log building had a door that hung ajar. As Nicholson watched, a puff of wind caught the door. It banged against the wall, and the sound reached him a moment later.
    Aside from the door, nothing moved.
    "Looks abandoned," Gillett murmured.
    Nicholson said, "Hudson. Parrish. What do you see?"
    "Just an empty farmyard," Hudson said.
    Parrish said, "I can hear something banging, but I can't see where it's coming from. There's a covered pad on the side of the house. It looks like they parked a vehicle there. The vehicle's gone, though." After a moment he added, "I can see an open window. They must've left in a hurry, if they're gone."
    "Let's take a look," Nicholson said. "Stay sharp." He rose to his hands and knees, crawling forward until he was below the crest of the hill. When he was low enough not to be skylined he stood and trotted down the hill, Gillette beside him. He could see Parrish and Hudson coming in from either side.
    They spread out as they reached the yard. Nicholson headed for the log building with the swinging door. He poked the barrel of his rifle through the doorway, then quickly stepped through and moved to one side.
    The inside was shadowy and smelled of dust. A couple of windows high on one wall let in shafts of sunlight. He could see motes of dust glittering and dancing in the light. The building was small, maybe half a dozen paces from wall to wall, and filled with crude wooden bins. Bushel baskets filled one bin. The baskets looked as if they might have been woven from palm leaves. The baskets were empty, and so were the other bins.
    He stepped outside. Gillett came out of the other log building and shrugged.
    "There's some farm equipment in the Quonset." It was Hudson, speaking over his implants. "No sign of life, though."
    Parrish said, "The house is clear too."
    They met at the front door of the house. "Stay out here and keep watch," Nicholson said to Hudson. Then he entered the house, Gillette on his heels.
    He found himself in a kitchen, small by the standard of houses on Earth, downright palatial to a man who served on corvettes. There was a wood-burning stove, and a counter with a couple of electric burners. A large pot sat on one burner, the top spattered with tomato sauce.
    There was a table, crudely made from wooden planks. The plates were plastic, and they were heaped with moldy food.
    Gillett sniffed. "I can't smell it," she said, gesturing at the table. "This house has been abandoned for quite a while."
    A floorboard creaked, and Nicholson's fingers tensed on his rifle. It was just Parrish, though, appearing in the kitchen doorway. "Looks like a husband and wife and two kids lived here," he said. "Gone now, though."
    "I'm going outside," said Gillett. "This place gives me the creeps."
    Nicholson looked around the kitchen. If the house held any more clues, he couldn't see them. He followed Gillett into the yard.
    A dirt road led from the yard, through more rolling farmland, and off toward the middle of the crater. Trees lined both sides of the road. It made for easy walking and decent cover, and they set off down the middle of the road.
    Fifteen minutes of walking brought them to another farmyard. They stood at the end of a long driveway looking at a house and a single large outbuilding. A trailer sat in front of the house, stacked with half a dozen crates. A couple more crates sat on the ground beside it. Quite a bit of wind-blown debris, mostly dried leaves by the look of it, had accumulated on the upwind side of the crates. The yard was long