Read Online Warzone: Nemesis: A Novel of Mars by Morris Graham - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Morris Graham
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on the bio-clock they’re used to. Time zones are irrelevant on Luna, so we refer to time in relation to how much light or darkness is left until the state changes, and regard marking time for records by Earth Mountain Standard Time, Zulu. Whenever possible, Sunday will be observed as a day of rest and church services will be available for all men. Luna has roughly three trillion craters. The far side is more heavily pockmarked with craters than the near side. The hoverdrives on all vehicles use antigravity technology for hovering and use conventional liquid carbon-based fuel for propulsion.’
“Your coffee, sir, hot and black.” COL Red Fangs looked up from his reading.
“Very good, Corporal.” He blew on the hot liquid to cool it, and took a sip, refocusing his attention to the file he’d been reading.
‘Luna has no water, but some ice is on the poles. Luna only has igneous rocks, rich in oxygen, formed from molten rock. Oxygen will be supplied by these rocks in an oxygen extraction process, key to the post’s survival. The men’s flight suits and ships had rebreathers, but there wasn’t enough room to bring enough oxygen tanks to fill all of the buildings. The moving line of darkness is called
the terminator
. The edge of the terminator that separates light from darkness advances about ten miles per hour. Should the American post have fallen at the D’Alembert crater, then you’ll construct the new American post at the Landau Crater, on the far side of Luna for security reasons.’
He would have liked more time to put his team and equipment together, but if there was any chance of saving the American post and his old friend it would be worth it. He had the best team on Earth. He had confidence that his team would get the job done if they had to help reinforce Eagle 1 or set up and defend a new post. He smiled slightly when he considered that the men could carry heavier weight due to the weaker gravity. The weaker gravity would be a bonus when they were unloading the ships.
The lead ship picked up a satellite transmission from Eagle 1, six hours after lift-off. The transmission was laced with static, but the voice was understandable.
“COL Cavender, we have Soviet tanks and bombers on radar, sir,” the voice cross-reference was identified as belonging to 1LT Westbrook.
“This is COL Cavender. Form a line behind the east guntower, and in front of the post HQ. All noncombatant personnel report to the post HQ, where you’ll receive a rifle and side arm from Chief Higgins. The combat officers have elected not to surrender. I’m leaving the noncombatant personnel under the command of CPT Lacey. Should we fall in the attempt to defend our post, CPT Lacey will confer with you all to decide whether or not you’ll surrender. May God be with us all.” The colonel exhaled and steeled himself for the attack to come. He laughed at the irony of the situation. Four generations of military officers in his family and his end will have to be modified to show he died in Vietnam: to have a public funeral with military honors. None of his family would be told the real truth, but that’s the way this war was.
Eagle 1 Post: Black Dogs Battalion, Luna
Personal Log, CPT Neil Lacey
July 13, 1970
COL Cavender and all of the remaining combat officers have elected to fight to the death and not surrender. He’s left me the burden of leading the remaining noncombatants in the event they fall in the line of duty. I assembled the personnel under my charge and put the issue to them. I found there weren’t any noncombatants in the US Marines, and that none would surrender. The chaplains said they would neither fight nor surrender, but would stand with us, to give encouragement and aid. The mess crew in particular was adamant about not surrendering. I had to leave them to compose myself as I couldn’t stop from crying. In all of the time I’ve been here, I viewed the mess crew as simply kitchen help, a necessity to feed us
“Your coffee, sir, hot and black.” COL Red Fangs looked up from his reading.
“Very good, Corporal.” He blew on the hot liquid to cool it, and took a sip, refocusing his attention to the file he’d been reading.
‘Luna has no water, but some ice is on the poles. Luna only has igneous rocks, rich in oxygen, formed from molten rock. Oxygen will be supplied by these rocks in an oxygen extraction process, key to the post’s survival. The men’s flight suits and ships had rebreathers, but there wasn’t enough room to bring enough oxygen tanks to fill all of the buildings. The moving line of darkness is called
the terminator
. The edge of the terminator that separates light from darkness advances about ten miles per hour. Should the American post have fallen at the D’Alembert crater, then you’ll construct the new American post at the Landau Crater, on the far side of Luna for security reasons.’
He would have liked more time to put his team and equipment together, but if there was any chance of saving the American post and his old friend it would be worth it. He had the best team on Earth. He had confidence that his team would get the job done if they had to help reinforce Eagle 1 or set up and defend a new post. He smiled slightly when he considered that the men could carry heavier weight due to the weaker gravity. The weaker gravity would be a bonus when they were unloading the ships.
The lead ship picked up a satellite transmission from Eagle 1, six hours after lift-off. The transmission was laced with static, but the voice was understandable.
“COL Cavender, we have Soviet tanks and bombers on radar, sir,” the voice cross-reference was identified as belonging to 1LT Westbrook.
“This is COL Cavender. Form a line behind the east guntower, and in front of the post HQ. All noncombatant personnel report to the post HQ, where you’ll receive a rifle and side arm from Chief Higgins. The combat officers have elected not to surrender. I’m leaving the noncombatant personnel under the command of CPT Lacey. Should we fall in the attempt to defend our post, CPT Lacey will confer with you all to decide whether or not you’ll surrender. May God be with us all.” The colonel exhaled and steeled himself for the attack to come. He laughed at the irony of the situation. Four generations of military officers in his family and his end will have to be modified to show he died in Vietnam: to have a public funeral with military honors. None of his family would be told the real truth, but that’s the way this war was.
Eagle 1 Post: Black Dogs Battalion, Luna
Personal Log, CPT Neil Lacey
July 13, 1970
COL Cavender and all of the remaining combat officers have elected to fight to the death and not surrender. He’s left me the burden of leading the remaining noncombatants in the event they fall in the line of duty. I assembled the personnel under my charge and put the issue to them. I found there weren’t any noncombatants in the US Marines, and that none would surrender. The chaplains said they would neither fight nor surrender, but would stand with us, to give encouragement and aid. The mess crew in particular was adamant about not surrendering. I had to leave them to compose myself as I couldn’t stop from crying. In all of the time I’ve been here, I viewed the mess crew as simply kitchen help, a necessity to feed us
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