Read Online Titan (Old Ironsides Book 2) by Dean Crawford - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Dean Crawford
Tags: Space Opera
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glowing lights flickered on in the bunker, visible through the observation windows.
Moments later, Hodgson’s voice crackled in Agry’s helmet.
‘Not enough energy remaining for atmospheric heating, but bleeding air into the bay now.’
Agry’s gaze flicked up to the vents high on the bay walls in time to see vapor billow out of them like dark clouds, filling the bay with bitterly cold but breathable air and allowing the Marines to conserve their oxygen supply.
Moments later the lighting in the bay flickered into life and filled it with a deceptively warm glow to reveal an empty structure with no other vessels inside. A red light high on the walls of the bay turned green, and Agry gave a thumbs–up to his men. They switched off their oxygen supplies and opened vents on their masks to allow the air in, but kept the masks on as protection against the bitter cold.
‘Let’s move,’ Agry snapped.
The Marines headed as one for a series of hatches that led into the ship’s interior, all of which were sealed. A schematic projected onto Agry’s mask visor directed him to the hatch he wanted – the one that led toward the bridge deck.
‘Delta on me,’ he ordered. ‘Charlie, maintain the perimeter here and see what you can do about the temperature. Any signs of life from the ship?’
‘Nothing,’ Corporal Hodgson replied. ‘No incoming data so the computers are down.’
‘The Ayleeans are not aboard,’ Agry reassured the corporal, knowing that he and his men would be cautious of encountering Ayleean warriors. ‘But stay sharp.’
Hodgson nodded at the sergeant as he passed by the bunker, the twenty Marines of his platoon following as they approached the hatches and two soldiers eased forward of the rest without command. As Agry watched the two men worked efficiently to set small plasma charges against the hatch’s locking mechanisms and hinges, designed to burn through rather than blast off. The two soldiers hurried away from the charges and moments later the hinges flared brightly with a fearsome blue–white light, drops of liquid metal spilling away from the hatch onto the deck.
‘Rams, go!’ Agry whispered.
Two Marines hefted a metallic ram between them and rushed the door, and with a dull boom that echoed around the landing bay the ram slammed into the smoldering door and it broke free of its mountings and flew away down the corridor, the heavy metal hatch flashing dimly as it rotated in mid–air.
Agry rushed past the ram and into the corridor, his rifle’s flashlight illuminating the passage as several more soldiers thundered fearlessly in behind him, their footfalls echoing away into the distant, darkened ship. Their flashlights scanned the darkness like laser beams, but nothing moved but for the faint haze of moisture and ice clinging to the walls and to dense foliage and twisting vines coated in ice, the limbs frozen in position by the frigid cold.
Agry edged forward, keeping an eye open for opportunities for cover amid the frozen foliage in case something unexpected leaped out at them. The schematic on his visor guided him, overlaying vector lines across the corridor deck with arrows pointing to the bridge. The general turned left at the end of the corridor, glancing right briefly to see another corridor of endless bulkhead hatches stretching away far beyond the reach of his flashlight.
‘Deck Charlie,’ he whispered to his men. ‘We’ll ascend to deck Alpha at the first opportunity and then move for the bridge. Jesson, Miller, you wait here and guard the corridor entrance in case we need to retreat. I don’t want anything sneaking up behind us.’
A whispered Aye, Gunny reached Agry’s ears as the two men peeled off and took up firing positions at the entrance to the landing bay corridor. Agry moved on with the same deliberate, cautious gait. The corridor was long, one of the main arterial routes that stretched from bow to stern through the massive ship. .
He posted two more
Moments later, Hodgson’s voice crackled in Agry’s helmet.
‘Not enough energy remaining for atmospheric heating, but bleeding air into the bay now.’
Agry’s gaze flicked up to the vents high on the bay walls in time to see vapor billow out of them like dark clouds, filling the bay with bitterly cold but breathable air and allowing the Marines to conserve their oxygen supply.
Moments later the lighting in the bay flickered into life and filled it with a deceptively warm glow to reveal an empty structure with no other vessels inside. A red light high on the walls of the bay turned green, and Agry gave a thumbs–up to his men. They switched off their oxygen supplies and opened vents on their masks to allow the air in, but kept the masks on as protection against the bitter cold.
‘Let’s move,’ Agry snapped.
The Marines headed as one for a series of hatches that led into the ship’s interior, all of which were sealed. A schematic projected onto Agry’s mask visor directed him to the hatch he wanted – the one that led toward the bridge deck.
‘Delta on me,’ he ordered. ‘Charlie, maintain the perimeter here and see what you can do about the temperature. Any signs of life from the ship?’
‘Nothing,’ Corporal Hodgson replied. ‘No incoming data so the computers are down.’
‘The Ayleeans are not aboard,’ Agry reassured the corporal, knowing that he and his men would be cautious of encountering Ayleean warriors. ‘But stay sharp.’
Hodgson nodded at the sergeant as he passed by the bunker, the twenty Marines of his platoon following as they approached the hatches and two soldiers eased forward of the rest without command. As Agry watched the two men worked efficiently to set small plasma charges against the hatch’s locking mechanisms and hinges, designed to burn through rather than blast off. The two soldiers hurried away from the charges and moments later the hinges flared brightly with a fearsome blue–white light, drops of liquid metal spilling away from the hatch onto the deck.
‘Rams, go!’ Agry whispered.
Two Marines hefted a metallic ram between them and rushed the door, and with a dull boom that echoed around the landing bay the ram slammed into the smoldering door and it broke free of its mountings and flew away down the corridor, the heavy metal hatch flashing dimly as it rotated in mid–air.
Agry rushed past the ram and into the corridor, his rifle’s flashlight illuminating the passage as several more soldiers thundered fearlessly in behind him, their footfalls echoing away into the distant, darkened ship. Their flashlights scanned the darkness like laser beams, but nothing moved but for the faint haze of moisture and ice clinging to the walls and to dense foliage and twisting vines coated in ice, the limbs frozen in position by the frigid cold.
Agry edged forward, keeping an eye open for opportunities for cover amid the frozen foliage in case something unexpected leaped out at them. The schematic on his visor guided him, overlaying vector lines across the corridor deck with arrows pointing to the bridge. The general turned left at the end of the corridor, glancing right briefly to see another corridor of endless bulkhead hatches stretching away far beyond the reach of his flashlight.
‘Deck Charlie,’ he whispered to his men. ‘We’ll ascend to deck Alpha at the first opportunity and then move for the bridge. Jesson, Miller, you wait here and guard the corridor entrance in case we need to retreat. I don’t want anything sneaking up behind us.’
A whispered Aye, Gunny reached Agry’s ears as the two men peeled off and took up firing positions at the entrance to the landing bay corridor. Agry moved on with the same deliberate, cautious gait. The corridor was long, one of the main arterial routes that stretched from bow to stern through the massive ship. .
He posted two more
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