Read Online The Battle for the Ringed Planet by Richard Edmond Johnson - Free Book Online

he accepted with a grin, “Those are good.”
    “Mmm, come on then, let’s get this over with.”
    The tunnel was manmade and the walls stone and perfectly smooth, “Hey, it’s lighted?” Torian glanced up at the small round embedded lights in the ceiling.
    “Of course.”
    “How are they powered? I didn’t see any energy fluctuations in my scans.” The thundering noise of water plummeting into the abyss drowned out their voices when they came close, so Torian had to shout when he saw an object spinning behind the falls, “A generator!”
    “What?”
    A long cylindrical drum the length of the waterfall across with curving paddles on the surface spun continuously with thick black cables protruding from each end, “You get power from hydroelectricity and the force of the waterfall masks the signature of the generator!” Torian scanned it with his Con, “You don’t know what I’m talking about?”
    “No!” she grinned and stood on a small ledge above the generator protected by a steel railing. She leaned over and wet her hair and face in the spray, spreading her arms and splashing water on her neck, “Oh that’s so good!”
    “That’s a lot of power!” He studied to holo column of numbers.
    Then Siiri giggled and splashed him. He turned away, slightly annoyed, “Hey!”
    “Oh good, you don’t melt, Sky Demon!”
    The roar was deafening but the water on his face felt refreshing. There were many waterfalls on Kanata, but Torian could not remember ever having been behind one.
    Siiri’s dress was soaked from the waist up revealing her linen slip underneath as she splashed Torian again, “Hey!” she hollered, “Your clothes don’t get wet!”
    “It’s the material, different then yours.”
    “That’s no fun!”
    The tunnel went off in two directions from the falls, stairs down to the valley and a long branch towards Kaarina. He was impressed by the perfectly chiseled flight of steps as they descended to the bottom. The passage turned away from the waterfall and continued straight until they came upon a large room with a double wooden door in the wall full of steel barrels and crates.
    “This leads out to the valley, Torian Sky Demon. Everyone will be inside because of the Sky … I mean your Callisto sky ship that crashed. Sentinels watching in the trees will spot us and give warning with electric signals.”
    “We can detect them.”
    “I’m scared.”
    “Crossbow bolts cannot penetrate a Prox shield.”
    “Father Jarlan has Sky Demon weapons and other equipment he makes the scavengers give him.”
    “I can target anything he has.”
    She stopped him planting her palm on his chest, “Your fancy gadgets and pistol won’t stop a fanatic crowd of hundreds.”
    “Will they listen to reason?”
    “Not from a Sky Demon.”
    “Why?”
    “Because, I told you! The Sky Demons killed all the people in the city! Father Jarlan knows everything; I doubt you can disarm him or that he will listen to you. He’ll just kill us.”
    Torian frowned, “I doubt this priest of yours knows what’s coming, or anything about Imperium Marines. You said they were all inside the tunnels, well, we can just tell a few, and maybe they’ll spread the word.”
    “Oh, they’ll spread the word all right.”
    “They have a communications system?”
    “An intercom system.”
    “Well, you can wait here if you want.”
    The blonde girl gave him a reflective gaze, “Give me a plasma pistol.”
    “No.”
    Audibly sighing, “This is a stupid idea,” Then she gave him a hard stare, “I suppose I have no choice.”
    “That’s the spirit.” Torian pushed open the double wooden doors and sunlight poured into the dimly lit room. The outside was wooded, green and lush. Siiri moved up close to him glancing nervously at a thicket holding her Con.
    “Torian, there is a sentinel in the trees ahead.”
    “I see him,” his Con produced a holo display of a crouching young man in a tree blind holding a crossbow.
    “It’s