Read Online Titan (Old Ironsides Book 2) by Dean Crawford - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Dean Crawford
Tags: Space Opera
Ads: Link
sentries, leaving him with eight men to ascend to the bridge, and then as one they moved into the stairwells and began to climb. The darkness was still bitterly cold, barely above freezing according to Agry’s sensor readings.
The troops climbed up without incident and reached A–Deck, Agry maintaining the lead as he opened the hatches and stepped out onto the deck.
Hexagonal in shape and as dark as the rest of the ship, the bridge deck was dominated by two massive hatches that were sealed. Agry crept forward as his men silently fanned out and formed a defensive ring, alternating men aiming inward toward the bridge doors and outward toward various access points from A–Deck.
Agry placed a charge on the bridge doors, set the timer for five seconds and then activated the charge before retreating to a safe distance. The charge lit and burned with ferocious intensity for several seconds as it seared through the doors’ locking mechanism, illuminating the deck with a flickering white light. Moments later, the mechanism glowed like magma in the darkness and dropped fat globules of glowing molten metal onto the deck as Agry advanced and waved his men forward. Together, Agry and two troopers leaned their weight into the doors. The general raised three fingers, then two, then one and then with a combined burst of effort the Marines slammed into the doors and they burst open.
Agry lunged onto the bridge as his rifle swept around for any sign of a target.
The bridge was darkened, none of the instrument panels aglow and the main viewing panel black and featureless. The flashlights of his men illuminated a series of control panels frosted with ice crystals as Agry moved forward and his light beam caught on what looked like a cylindrical panel, one of three mounted against the far wall of the bridge.
The sergeant eased his way toward the panel, his weapon pointed at it as the Marines behind him saw his path and target and silently formed up into firing teams, ready to blast whatever might come out of the capsules. Agry reached the nearest of the three capsules and took a final cautious step forward, unable to tear his gaze from the sight before him.
‘What the…?’
The lights from the Marine’s weapons illuminated the face of an Ayleean warrior, frozen in time it seemed within the claustrophobic interior of an emergency survival capsule. As Agry looked at the other two capsules he saw two more Ayleeans within, his Marines wiping frost from the observation panels.
‘We’ve got survivors,’ Agry reported in, ‘three warriors, they’re in what looks like cryogenic storage.’
Doctor Schmidt’s voice replied as his projection shimmered into view, illuminating the corner of the bridge with a pulsing blue glow.
‘That’s not possible, I didn’t detect any biological life forms aboard the vessel from here.’
‘You said your sensors may have been blocked by all the stray energy leaking out of the ship,’ Agry reminded him of the briefing the Marines had received. ‘The hull’s badly compromised and the ship won’t hold together much longer. If we don’t leave soon we’re going to be joining these guys as permanent residents.’
A long silence followed, and Agry could imagine the admiral picturing the scene aboard the stricken warship and also the political situation. The last anybody had heard of the Ayleeans was when one of their warships made a direct attempt to destroy New Washington, one of the largest orbital cities around Earth. Titan had defeated the vessel and saved countless thousands of lives with Admiral Marshall at her helm, and now the Ayleeans were a spent force. Yet despite the admiral’s insistence that the advantage should be pressed home, that the CSS fleet should deploy to Ayleea and take control of the planet for once and for all, as ever the Council of Governors on Earth had hesitated, reluctant to sustain a war–footing once again. Marshall had argued that the war would be quick, a
The troops climbed up without incident and reached A–Deck, Agry maintaining the lead as he opened the hatches and stepped out onto the deck.
Hexagonal in shape and as dark as the rest of the ship, the bridge deck was dominated by two massive hatches that were sealed. Agry crept forward as his men silently fanned out and formed a defensive ring, alternating men aiming inward toward the bridge doors and outward toward various access points from A–Deck.
Agry placed a charge on the bridge doors, set the timer for five seconds and then activated the charge before retreating to a safe distance. The charge lit and burned with ferocious intensity for several seconds as it seared through the doors’ locking mechanism, illuminating the deck with a flickering white light. Moments later, the mechanism glowed like magma in the darkness and dropped fat globules of glowing molten metal onto the deck as Agry advanced and waved his men forward. Together, Agry and two troopers leaned their weight into the doors. The general raised three fingers, then two, then one and then with a combined burst of effort the Marines slammed into the doors and they burst open.
Agry lunged onto the bridge as his rifle swept around for any sign of a target.
The bridge was darkened, none of the instrument panels aglow and the main viewing panel black and featureless. The flashlights of his men illuminated a series of control panels frosted with ice crystals as Agry moved forward and his light beam caught on what looked like a cylindrical panel, one of three mounted against the far wall of the bridge.
The sergeant eased his way toward the panel, his weapon pointed at it as the Marines behind him saw his path and target and silently formed up into firing teams, ready to blast whatever might come out of the capsules. Agry reached the nearest of the three capsules and took a final cautious step forward, unable to tear his gaze from the sight before him.
‘What the…?’
The lights from the Marine’s weapons illuminated the face of an Ayleean warrior, frozen in time it seemed within the claustrophobic interior of an emergency survival capsule. As Agry looked at the other two capsules he saw two more Ayleeans within, his Marines wiping frost from the observation panels.
‘We’ve got survivors,’ Agry reported in, ‘three warriors, they’re in what looks like cryogenic storage.’
Doctor Schmidt’s voice replied as his projection shimmered into view, illuminating the corner of the bridge with a pulsing blue glow.
‘That’s not possible, I didn’t detect any biological life forms aboard the vessel from here.’
‘You said your sensors may have been blocked by all the stray energy leaking out of the ship,’ Agry reminded him of the briefing the Marines had received. ‘The hull’s badly compromised and the ship won’t hold together much longer. If we don’t leave soon we’re going to be joining these guys as permanent residents.’
A long silence followed, and Agry could imagine the admiral picturing the scene aboard the stricken warship and also the political situation. The last anybody had heard of the Ayleeans was when one of their warships made a direct attempt to destroy New Washington, one of the largest orbital cities around Earth. Titan had defeated the vessel and saved countless thousands of lives with Admiral Marshall at her helm, and now the Ayleeans were a spent force. Yet despite the admiral’s insistence that the advantage should be pressed home, that the CSS fleet should deploy to Ayleea and take control of the planet for once and for all, as ever the Council of Governors on Earth had hesitated, reluctant to sustain a war–footing once again. Marshall had argued that the war would be quick, a
Similar Books
