The Alpha Protocol: Alpha Protocol Book 1 Duncan Hamilton (affordable ebook reader .TXT) 📖

get back, then get the hell out of here as fast as you can, whether we’re on board or not. We can hide out on the surface till more help arrives if we have to. I’m not risking the Bounty and the people on her.’

‘Aye, sir,’ she said.

Samson left the bridge and collected his boarding suit on the way to the airlock. He checked his pistol, then went to meet Price and the Marines at the airlock.

25

Dobson Port looked even more hopeless from the ground than it had from above. The destruction was so complete that even skeletal remains of the prefabricated buildings were few and far between. Everything else was blasted to ash. It didn’t take long to see the first body. It was Samson’s first personal experience of an orbital bombardment site, but he had seen plenty of pictures and video footage while at the Academy. The Navy had wanted their commanders to know very well the devastation they could cause. He hadn’t been sure back then whether they were shown the horrors in the hope that they would always consider it a last resort, or to make them aware how potent a force the Navy was. He still wasn’t. The separation from reality while sitting in a ship at orbit could make it all too easy to pull the trigger with no thought for what it was doing to the surface below.

Seeing it first-hand was visceral. He could smell the burned-out buildings. The burned flesh. People didn’t neatly fall over and die. Their bodies were obliterated, parts scattered over a large area splattered with blood, the limbs charred black. In places it was difficult to work out what belonged to which person, and Samson had to do his best not to throw up. Price seemed hardened to it, although he saw the Marine grimace on more than one occasion.

‘We’ll split into two groups and make a loop around the edge of the town until we meet, then come back through it,’ Samson said. ‘I’m starting to get the feeling we’re not going to find anyone, though.’

Price nodded in agreement, and sent Féng and Smit off while he accompanied Samson.

‘Shouldn’t you lead the other party?’ Samson said.

Price smiled. ‘Féng’s a qualified patrol leader. I’m more worried about you getting yourself into mischief, sir.’

‘Fair enough,’ Samson said, appreciative of Price’s attempt to lift the mood, difficult though it was in those circumstances. ‘Let’s have at it.’

They started off in their assigned direction. The scene didn’t get any better as they made their way around the outskirts of the ruins. Samson stopped counting body parts when he cleared a hundred. There was no way to tell if what he had seen represented the full population, but the aliens had done such a thorough job of levelling the settlement that he was rapidly losing hope of finding any survivors. He wondered what had justified the slaughter of so many people—simply their proximity to the ruins no more than a hundred kilometres away?

Part of him hoped the colonists had all been killed. There was something deeply terrifying about the thought of being taken captive by an unknown alien enemy. What horrors might they commit on their prisoners as they studied their foe?

If it was as Captain Wright suspected—if the planet and its alien ruins held some religious significance for the aliens—they were particularly zealous in defending it. That didn’t explain why they were only reacting now, however. There had been humans living on Dobson for nearly two decades. Why they had only now decided to take action remained a mystery.

Samson froze in his steps. He saw movement on the horizon. Something coming towards the town. Towards them.

‘Price, over there.’

Price instinctively dropped to a crouch and brought his carbine to bear in the direction Samson was pointing. Samson hoped that they had chanced upon survivors, but with the alien ship in orbit they had to be careful and approach everything as though it was a threat.

They moved up to a ridge and lay down in its cover. Samson lifted his binoculars and scanned the horizon. There was a surface vehicle coming toward them, kicking up a dust trail behind it. With all the dirt in the air, it was difficult to make out what it was, but he felt hopeful that it was survivors returning to pick up the pieces of their lives after the attack.

‘Survivors?’ Price said.

‘I’m not sure yet,’ Samson said, squinting through his binoculars. ‘I hope so.’

Samson continued to watch the vehicle as it drew closer. His heart sank as he started to make out its details and realised it could not be described as being of human design.

‘It’s them,’ Samson said. ‘Warn the others. Tell them to hunker down and avoid contact.’

Price sent through the message while Samson carefully tracked the vehicle’s movement.

‘It looks like there’re two occupants,’ Samson said.

‘Do you want to engage them?’

‘No,’ Samson said. ‘There’s too much risk that they’ll get a message back to their ship. Then we’re well and truly screwed. We just have to hope that they don’t spot the Bounty.’

They had left her behind an escarpment, hidden from view of Dobson Port so they could make their approach to the town unannounced. He was glad now that they had, and so long as the aliens did not explore their scene of carnage too extensively they would never know about Samson and the others being there.

‘What d’you reckon they look like, sir?’ Price said.

‘Your guess is as good as mine. We’re about to find out, though.’

The alien vehicle drew to a halt at the edge of Dobson Port. It was similar to the vehicles humans used in less developed regions, with four large, rugged wheels supporting a cabin. There was so much they could learn from even that small vehicle, but Samson dared not activate his scanner.

Two tall, slender, bipedal aliens stepped out. Samson was shocked that they were not so far removed from humans. They were taller than him, at the