Read Online War of Alien Aggression 1 Hardway by A.D. Bloom - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: A.D. Bloom
Ads: Link
excuse for a face. The sound that came over comms then - the sound that came out of Dana wasn't a battle cry, but it was primitive and pre-verbal and all the more terrifying to hear because that sound came from her - because it was an expression of something in her that Ram didn't know was there.
The little, alien plasma tool and its 10cm stub-blade sliced through the forearms of the thing's suit with ease. The gas and boiling blood that came out the ends of the repeatedly cut limbs shot in Dana's face and covered the visor of her helmet, but she kept slashing and slashing at it until those long arms it had tried to use to protect itself hung more than half detached, clinging by threads of suit and stringy alien flesh. She cut it across the torso and belly over and over until it dropped and twitched. Then, Dana fell on it and stabbed the plasma blade through the visor of its helmet until it melted through.
"Ho-lee hell," Mickey said as she appeared in the hatchway.
" Dead Squidy," Dana said as she stood up, "It's dead ."
Mickey was unfazed. "Top deck is clear. The one up there had a sidearm. Here," she said as she tossed it into the compartment and Ram caught it. "It's a hand-held energy weapon. Some kind of maser. It had one of its... limbs inside there and it tried to point that thing at me. Be careful. If it has anything like a safety, you can bet it's already off."
It was half-a-meter long and hollow, shaped like a thick-walled section of pipe with one end wide open. The other end had a narrow opening and what looked like a barrel lined with rings. That was the business end. It looked like a smaller version of the weapon mounted on the alien battle suits - the weapon that burned up D'Ambrosse and Oboto.
There was just enough room inside it for Ram to insert his forearm. He made sure it was pointed at the internal bulkhead and carefully put his gloved hand inside. On a human it came up to the elbow. "My fingers don't really fit right but there's a thing inside to grab in here about halfway up. Feels like a curvy bar with three bumps on it..." The weapon soundlessly bucked as it discharged, and a wide, oval section of the bulkhead shot sparks and flared bright.
The metal was only pitted and smoking. "Doesn't do much to metal," Ram said.
"We know what it does to flesh," Biko said. "Looked like it had recoil. Probably uses an explosive cartridge and a mini-pinch of some kind to generate the energy for the beam. Be careful with that thing, Ram."
Mickey reminded them that they'd only found four aliens on the upper decks and there were five alien exosuits missing. She said it might be outside, but the last one was probably behind that sphincter hatch they were cutting in the main compartment and everyone should get down there.
In the main compartment where they'd breached the hull and entered Cozen stood out in the middle of the deck, bathing in the alien ship's dim red lighting. Tse's plasma cutter flashed pale over him from one side. Cozen waved Ram over. When he got where Cozen was, he saw Tse cutting out the hatch. The full-size plasma cutter they'd brought was almost a half-meter long, like a thin trashcan. It was big and clumsy, but the fifty-centimeter blade could burn through just about anything. Tse had it up on his shoulder now, cutting out the last quarter of the oversized alien hatch.
Ram suddenly saw how many consoles there were in that compartment, all covered in a faintly luminescent red markings. "We're standing in whatever their version of a bridge or command deck is, I think." Ram said, "I haven’t seen anything even vaguely like a reactor or power plant yet. Dana said she saw a signature like a reactor."
"I'm betting it's behind that hatch," Cozen said. He smiled thinly. "Their technology appears to be more advanced, doesn't it, Mr. Devlin." Ram nodded. From the way Harry Cozen said the next words, Ram knew they were meant for the whole boarding party to hear. "They're more advanced than we
The little, alien plasma tool and its 10cm stub-blade sliced through the forearms of the thing's suit with ease. The gas and boiling blood that came out the ends of the repeatedly cut limbs shot in Dana's face and covered the visor of her helmet, but she kept slashing and slashing at it until those long arms it had tried to use to protect itself hung more than half detached, clinging by threads of suit and stringy alien flesh. She cut it across the torso and belly over and over until it dropped and twitched. Then, Dana fell on it and stabbed the plasma blade through the visor of its helmet until it melted through.
"Ho-lee hell," Mickey said as she appeared in the hatchway.
" Dead Squidy," Dana said as she stood up, "It's dead ."
Mickey was unfazed. "Top deck is clear. The one up there had a sidearm. Here," she said as she tossed it into the compartment and Ram caught it. "It's a hand-held energy weapon. Some kind of maser. It had one of its... limbs inside there and it tried to point that thing at me. Be careful. If it has anything like a safety, you can bet it's already off."
It was half-a-meter long and hollow, shaped like a thick-walled section of pipe with one end wide open. The other end had a narrow opening and what looked like a barrel lined with rings. That was the business end. It looked like a smaller version of the weapon mounted on the alien battle suits - the weapon that burned up D'Ambrosse and Oboto.
There was just enough room inside it for Ram to insert his forearm. He made sure it was pointed at the internal bulkhead and carefully put his gloved hand inside. On a human it came up to the elbow. "My fingers don't really fit right but there's a thing inside to grab in here about halfway up. Feels like a curvy bar with three bumps on it..." The weapon soundlessly bucked as it discharged, and a wide, oval section of the bulkhead shot sparks and flared bright.
The metal was only pitted and smoking. "Doesn't do much to metal," Ram said.
"We know what it does to flesh," Biko said. "Looked like it had recoil. Probably uses an explosive cartridge and a mini-pinch of some kind to generate the energy for the beam. Be careful with that thing, Ram."
Mickey reminded them that they'd only found four aliens on the upper decks and there were five alien exosuits missing. She said it might be outside, but the last one was probably behind that sphincter hatch they were cutting in the main compartment and everyone should get down there.
In the main compartment where they'd breached the hull and entered Cozen stood out in the middle of the deck, bathing in the alien ship's dim red lighting. Tse's plasma cutter flashed pale over him from one side. Cozen waved Ram over. When he got where Cozen was, he saw Tse cutting out the hatch. The full-size plasma cutter they'd brought was almost a half-meter long, like a thin trashcan. It was big and clumsy, but the fifty-centimeter blade could burn through just about anything. Tse had it up on his shoulder now, cutting out the last quarter of the oversized alien hatch.
Ram suddenly saw how many consoles there were in that compartment, all covered in a faintly luminescent red markings. "We're standing in whatever their version of a bridge or command deck is, I think." Ram said, "I haven’t seen anything even vaguely like a reactor or power plant yet. Dana said she saw a signature like a reactor."
"I'm betting it's behind that hatch," Cozen said. He smiled thinly. "Their technology appears to be more advanced, doesn't it, Mr. Devlin." Ram nodded. From the way Harry Cozen said the next words, Ram knew they were meant for the whole boarding party to hear. "They're more advanced than we
Similar Books
