Hostile Genus: An Epic Military Sci-Fi Series (Invasive Species Book 2) Ben Stevens (best contemporary novels txt) 📖

single extremely dense projectile on a second firing mechanism and tether it to a heavy-duty spring. The mass of the rear-firing projectile will slow it down considerably. I can buffer the end of the new bore with shock absorbers and the spring will pull the lump back into place… hmm… gonna have to whip up some kind of latching mechanism too. Anyway, the rails in the barrel will help a lot too. If I have the parts, maybe I can extend the darn thing. You see, a chemically powered weapon feels all the kinetic energy of the shot right away, but that process is elongated, slowed down in a rail gun. The electromagnets in the rail speed the projectile up to its full speed as it passes down the barrel, not reaching top speed until it leaves! That means a serious reduction in felt recoil. Combine this with the modifications I will make, and you should be able to shoot this again without knocking yourself over.”

“Egghead, I have no idea what you just said, but if it works, I’m happy.”

Ratt went about performing his work on the rifle while the rest of them continued their reconnaissance.

They observed what for all intents and purposes appeared to be a normal city. There was a market, an oasis, a large plaza where the adobe bricks were made and set out to dry. Livestock, gardens, clean streets. Life appeared to be productive and pleasant. In the central eastern portion of the city stood a palace of ornate splendor, a miniature version of the Ziggurat, its stepped adobe walls whitewashed and its balconies generously graced with flora of every imaginable variety that thrived in this climate. The city, despite the fact that it seemed to be guarded by the undead, looked convincingly like a pearl in the dustbin—a sample of juicy, ripe fruit in an otherwise barren wasteland, as alluring to the hungry and forlorn as a carnivorous plant to a thirsty fly.

There appeared to be no savagery; if the cold, moving humans down there amongst the warm, moving figures were indeed vampires, they behaved very differently from the ones they had already encountered. They needed more information as badly as they needed fresh supplies.

Plagued with indecision, Jon and Carbine watched the comings and goings of the city below until the sun was nearly set and twilight brought the chill of desert night with it.

“I’ve seen enough,” Jon said. “Come on, let’s get back to camp.”

“I don’t like it. Not one little bit,” Jon said, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Well, I didn’t like it when she insisted on being captured by the goddamn Scrubbers. Or that I had to rescue you two twats,” Lucy responded, not bothering to even look up from cleaning her pistol.

Maya, who was wrapped in one of the sleeping bags for warmth against the cold night—they couldn’t risk a fire, as even at this altitude, its light was sure to be spotted by someone on the wall or in the city it surrounded—shot her senior guardian a disapproving glance. The look was not lost on those whom it had been intended to defend. In the last couple of days, the new moon had come, and the cloud cover had dissipated—both a blessing and a curse.

“This is different,” Jon protested.

“Oh yeah? How so?”

“Stop arguing. Please.” Maya saved Jon from having to answer Lucy with the inevitable stutter of frustration. Jon and Lucy had been arguing ever since Maya had proposed her plan for getting into the city.

The guardians had returned from their scouting post with news and shared it. The silent mulling over both the lack of real information and their dwindling supplies had been interrupted when a look of cheerful determination suddenly possessed Maya.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe it’s time for Lily Sapphire to perform again,” she’d announced.

Now, thirty minutes later, Jon was still protesting.

“Listen here, Maya,” he started to explain again.

“For a new guardian, you sure are informal. It’s ‘my lady’,” Lucy spat at him.

“No deberías ser tan cruel, mi amiga jaguar lucha.” Maya looked at Lucy, exhaustion on her face.

“Me disculpo,” Lucy responded softly, her eyes cast down.

Jon hesitated a second, watching the two women, then continued. “Maya. I mean no disrespect, and I don’t mean to argue with you. But there is no way I’m going to let you waltz into that city where you may be hurt, or worse! I didn’t put my life on the line just to watch you throw yours away!” He looked to Carbine for some backup, but his friend had chosen earlier to agree with Lucy, no doubt in the hopes of earning some brownie points. “Lucy, you fought the savages with me. You saw what those things are like, what they are capable of! And we don’t even yet understand the dynamic of the city, what it’s like down there…” His voice trailed off.

“Oh, Jon.” Maya smiled at him in the moonlight. “We have no choice. We only have a few days’ worth of food and water left. Only having one ATV and Ratt’s hoverboard is slowing our progress down. We need fresh supplies, and maybe horses if we can get them. The longer we wait here, the stronger your fire grows. I will be fine because Lucy will come with me.” Her child-like moon face ran the gamut of emotion from deep affection to determination to sympathy to sudden bouncy happiness.

“Wha—?” Jon arched one eyebrow.

“And Ratt too.” She beamed.

“Hey, hey wait. What about us?” Carbine said, apparently finally finding the nerve to object. Ratt also looked slightly concerned.

“Well, if my sworn guardians would stop arguing, I will explain my plan.”

After going over the details, the team set to work preparing everything they would need. Maya opened another portal to her suite in the Ziggurat, and they delivered a second message to Miller and To-Kan, explaining their situation. She told them of the finding of the city, and their dual hope in both