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Authors: Margaret Weis, Don Perrin
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wrangling.
Xris took over manual control of the spaceplane; Ito started calling out course
corrections. They located the munitions plant, made one high-altitude pass over
it. Xris had connected a small, portable computer to the space sensor array on
the plane. Normally, the sensors were calibrated for use in close navigation in
space. They didn’t have the processing power or the resolution for
high-altitude-to-ground surveillance. The addition of Xris’s computer and the
electromagnetic refracting lens apertures enabled the system to provide a scan
of the area.
Xris shot several
images, destined to be converted to tactical maps. Armstrong had provided maps,
but these were probably outdated by several months. On a warm world, the
terrain changed from season to season. There was no irritation worse—and
sometimes no greater danger—than working with outdated maps.
TISor 13 was an
interesting moon. An orbiting moon rarely rotated on its own axis, but this was
one of them. According to Armstrong, the rotation made it difficult to
determine planet-rise and planet-set without a computer. Most of the night wasn’t
truly dark, being illuminated by the moon’s gas giant mother, which cast an
eerie orange glow over the ground. Only about four hours were dark at any one
time—this would play merry hell with their recon schedule.
Xris hovered the
spaceplane into a dense woods, set it down in a small clearing. Surrounded by
tall ugly gray-mottled trees, spackled with orange spots that were either some
sort of disease or due to the orange light, the plane was easy to camouflage.
It was already the same gray as the trees. Xris and Ito both changed into gray
field coveralls, field webbing, and cloth hats. Xris carried a 44-decawatt
lasgun in a side holster, a 22.3-decawatt lasgun in a shoulder holster, a
synthusteel Eversharp fighting knife in his boot, two thurmite grenades and one
tear gas canister in a pouch on his webbing, and a gas mask.
Ito carried the
regulation 38-decawatt lasgun and a gas mask. His secondary armament consisted
of a knife/fork/spoon set and a Xirconian Army multiknife. He carried no other
weapons, being burdened with the tool kit, which contained wire cutters,
data-link with multiple interchangeable access ports (you never knew what computer
you might have to interface with these days), minishovel, cutting laser,
spreader clamps, and a can of spray neoprene rubber. Night-vision goggles
rounded out both agents’ gear, and then there was Ito’s snakebite kit.
They waited for
relative darkness before commencing. They had plenty of time; no need to hurry.
The Vigilance wouldn’t be arriving for another nineteen hours. Once the
orange ball of fire had dropped below the horizon, the two agents moved out
together. Their landing site was about two kilometers from the facility. The
trees near the swamp were shorter and arranged in clumps, but the grass was
long, nearly shoulder height, and had a slimy feel. The grass rippled in the
night breeze like water.
Xris went first,
walking slowly and crouching low to the ground. Ito did the same, some ten
meters to his rear. Neither spoke. Every fifty meters or so, Xris stopped and
pulled out his night-vision goggles and scanned the area. The place was assumed
to be deserted, but Xris’s credo was: Assume, and get your ass shot off. He saw nothing, however.
Following their
map, they circled the entire facility, moving no faster than a crawl, stopping
only when they found cover. A few security lights lit the outside of the
building, but they were poorly placed, left large areas in deep shadow. About
one-third of the lights had burned out and had not been replaced. The factory
appeared to have been hastily constructed of the crude local brick and looked
low-tech for a munitions plant, but there was no need for better. They weren’t
producing missiles for the Warlord’s naval vessels, just small arms charges,
grenades, and handheld rockets for the damn technologically
Xris took over manual control of the spaceplane; Ito started calling out course
corrections. They located the munitions plant, made one high-altitude pass over
it. Xris had connected a small, portable computer to the space sensor array on
the plane. Normally, the sensors were calibrated for use in close navigation in
space. They didn’t have the processing power or the resolution for
high-altitude-to-ground surveillance. The addition of Xris’s computer and the
electromagnetic refracting lens apertures enabled the system to provide a scan
of the area.
Xris shot several
images, destined to be converted to tactical maps. Armstrong had provided maps,
but these were probably outdated by several months. On a warm world, the
terrain changed from season to season. There was no irritation worse—and
sometimes no greater danger—than working with outdated maps.
TISor 13 was an
interesting moon. An orbiting moon rarely rotated on its own axis, but this was
one of them. According to Armstrong, the rotation made it difficult to
determine planet-rise and planet-set without a computer. Most of the night wasn’t
truly dark, being illuminated by the moon’s gas giant mother, which cast an
eerie orange glow over the ground. Only about four hours were dark at any one
time—this would play merry hell with their recon schedule.
Xris hovered the
spaceplane into a dense woods, set it down in a small clearing. Surrounded by
tall ugly gray-mottled trees, spackled with orange spots that were either some
sort of disease or due to the orange light, the plane was easy to camouflage.
It was already the same gray as the trees. Xris and Ito both changed into gray
field coveralls, field webbing, and cloth hats. Xris carried a 44-decawatt
lasgun in a side holster, a 22.3-decawatt lasgun in a shoulder holster, a
synthusteel Eversharp fighting knife in his boot, two thurmite grenades and one
tear gas canister in a pouch on his webbing, and a gas mask.
Ito carried the
regulation 38-decawatt lasgun and a gas mask. His secondary armament consisted
of a knife/fork/spoon set and a Xirconian Army multiknife. He carried no other
weapons, being burdened with the tool kit, which contained wire cutters,
data-link with multiple interchangeable access ports (you never knew what computer
you might have to interface with these days), minishovel, cutting laser,
spreader clamps, and a can of spray neoprene rubber. Night-vision goggles
rounded out both agents’ gear, and then there was Ito’s snakebite kit.
They waited for
relative darkness before commencing. They had plenty of time; no need to hurry.
The Vigilance wouldn’t be arriving for another nineteen hours. Once the
orange ball of fire had dropped below the horizon, the two agents moved out
together. Their landing site was about two kilometers from the facility. The
trees near the swamp were shorter and arranged in clumps, but the grass was
long, nearly shoulder height, and had a slimy feel. The grass rippled in the
night breeze like water.
Xris went first,
walking slowly and crouching low to the ground. Ito did the same, some ten
meters to his rear. Neither spoke. Every fifty meters or so, Xris stopped and
pulled out his night-vision goggles and scanned the area. The place was assumed
to be deserted, but Xris’s credo was: Assume, and get your ass shot off. He saw nothing, however.
Following their
map, they circled the entire facility, moving no faster than a crawl, stopping
only when they found cover. A few security lights lit the outside of the
building, but they were poorly placed, left large areas in deep shadow. About
one-third of the lights had burned out and had not been replaced. The factory
appeared to have been hastily constructed of the crude local brick and looked
low-tech for a munitions plant, but there was no need for better. They weren’t
producing missiles for the Warlord’s naval vessels, just small arms charges,
grenades, and handheld rockets for the damn technologically
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