Ragnarok: Colonization, intrigue and betrayal. Andrew Claymore (primary phonics books .txt) đ
- Author: Andrew Claymore
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Ifany enemies were still out there, hiding among the wreckedfreighters, the Shamash would be easily spotted.
Lunaainât paying me to sit around and wonder about stuff,he thought. âSignal the Shamash.Sheâs to stay here, out of sight, while we drop in for a closerlook.â
âHelm,âhe ordered over the background noise of the comms officer passingorders to the freighter, âtakeus down-system to Ragnarok, bow on to the local star. Three quartersmax pitch.â
âAye,sir,â the helmsman confirmed. âDown-sys to Ragnarok, bow on tostar, three quarters max pitch.â
Withoutthe Shamash to hidebehind them, they could present a smaller cross-section to the localstar. That would reduce the load on the cryo-banks by⊠He checkedthe âdashboardâ on his holo. Seventeen percent.
Itwould give him a lot more time to stay stealthy before heâd have tostart venting heat, which most Quailu ships searched for as astandard operating procedure.
Thiswas a lot more adventure than heâd bargained for when Luna hadtalked him into leaving his early retirement. This was nothing likethe bump and grind between the countries of Earth.
Heâdtried to beat his sword into a plowshare but he was shit at farming.Luna had offered him his own ship and, now, here he was, trying todefend folks who actually knewhow to farm.
Unlesstheyâre all dead, he thoughtdarkly. Folks out here seem to just do whatever the hellthey think they can get away with.
âOrbitalsare a mess,â Ops warned, âbut thereâs no drive signatures ofany kind in evidence. If thereâs anybody out there, theyârebetter than us at hiding.â
âVerywell, Grocholski,â Max acknowledged. âYou have the conn. Iâmgoing down to the surface with the troops.â
Heleft the bridge and headed for the shuttle bay. The team was alreadythere, checking their weapons and equipment, probably not for thefirst time. A young former Marine major looked up with surprise and,most likely, a little annoyance at seeing his captain arrive with anassault weapon in his hands.
âThisis still your show, Goodwin. Iâm just gonna fly cover.â He wavedat one of the three fighters crouched at the back of the bay.
âJustflying coverâŠ,â Goodwin repeated flatly.
Maxgrinned. âIf you give the all-clear and it turns into a diplomaticsituation, Iâll step in and handle the handshakes.â
Thebackground engine-whine lowered a few tones.
âFairenough, sir,â Goodwin saidgrudgingly. âMight be nice to have air support while we sort outwhatâs happening down there.â
Maxgrinned. He was sharp enough to know when an expert was telling himto keep out of his way.
âSoundslike weâre spooling down the engines for approach.â Heturned for his fighter. âIâll see you out there, Major.â
Nowthat the Tulwarhad slowed to approach speed, it was only sensible to launch thelander from the ship and fly the rest of the way separately. If asneaky missile attack were attempted against the corvette, therewould be little sense in Goodwinâs troops being aboard, not whenthey had a perfectly good lander available.
Therewas no missile attack but there were forces sneaking around in orbit.Not five minutes after Max followed the Marines out of the ship, awarbling tone told him heâd flown straight into a trap.
Hestrained his legand abdominal muscles,breathingrapidlyas he threw his fighter into a nearly impossible turn. TheAnti G Strain Maneuver was so ingrained in him that he didnât evenrealize he was doing it for no reason. Some pilots had managed tokick the habit but heâd had little time in these new fighters.
Heacquired a target and slid his finger to the trigger before realizingheâd found his target by spotting the occluded stars. He eased upthe pressure on the trigger just as the challenge blared in his ears.
Humans.They were patrolling out here, which he took to be a good sign.
Theysorted out identities and the Tulwar entered orbit while Maxand his Marines were escorted down to a landing zone that was nearUnity but not so near that he could have broken away from the escortand done much damage.
Heclimbed down from the fighter to find a sizable armed presence fromthe garrison waiting for him. Goodwinâs lander had been turned backwhen the colonists discovered it carried armed troops.
âWhatthe hell is going on here?â he demanded of the garrison officer incharge. âWeâre Humans, just like you!â He looked up as thelander ascended, still carrying its Marines and followed closely bytwo fighters.
âImust ask you for patience, Captain,âthe officer said with polite firmness.
Patiencewas not just being requested here. Max could tell heâd be missingsome teeth soon, if he didnât play by their rules. âWeâreHumans,â he reiterated, âwho came here in a Human corvette.â
âWeâvehad to deal with traitors,â the officer told him. âIâm sureyour scans will have told you thereâs a corvette crashed less thanthirty kilo-cubits from where we stand.
âShewas crewed by Humans as well and they were a part of the attack onthis colony. Theykidnapped LadyGabriella so Memnon could dig out her knowledge of our defenses.â
âGabriella?âMax took an involuntary step forward and froze. The garrison forcesall brought their weapons up in response to his unexpected motion andthe officerâŠ
Hewas just gone⊠Nope,Max thought, grimacing at the telltale click-whine of a sidearmbehind his head. Heâsdefinitely not gone.
Thesewere some of Glebâs hardcore killers, the kind of troops that keptthe emperor himself up at night. The guy pointing the gun at his headcould do that mystical self-teleportation stuff.
Heheld up his hands. âWeâre not traitors,â he said. âWe were atHeliopolis when Eth told me to commandeer a freighter and come evacthe colony.â
âWhereâsthe freighter?â
âGasgiant.â No need for more than that. This system only had the one.
Oneof the troopers in front of Max nodded at the officer behind him andâŠMax shivered. He was gone. He felt his sidearm slide out of hisholster.
âAlright,Captain Johnson, one more question from an old pal of yours.â Theofficer walked around to face him from the front again, his ownweapon holstered.
Hehefted Maxâs pistol. âHow did you get your callsign?â
Maxchuckled. âLetâs just say it wasnât safe to use a showercubicle on the old Endeavoron TacoTuesday â not if I owed you one.â
Thegarrison officer nodded absently, clearly listening to someonetalking to him through his armor. He stepped forward and handed Maxhis pistol back.
âLookslike youâre a welcome face, Captain! If youâll come with us, hegestured to a large run-about.
Maxwalked alongside the officer. âYou mentioned Gabriella,â Hesaid. âIs
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