Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

We moved on down the level toward the last crate. Like the first, we unstrapped it from the wall and cracked it open. This one held twelve Lestrium canisters. Unlike the contents of the first crate, Stacy and I both knew what Lestrium was.

Lestrium was a fuel source. Highly combustible, Lestrium was stored in the canisters for use in the new colony. It would provide the fuel for everything we needed from cooking to heating.

“Hey, can we do something with this?” Stacy asked. Hope filled her words. “Won’t these explode if we were to puncture the outer casing?”

“Sure will,” I said, running through the possible scenarios in my mind of how we could best use them. “I think I might have an idea.”

Stacy screwed up her face as if she had just smelled Mutt’s hindquarters.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, no offense, but you’re really not the idea guy,” Stacy explained. “You’re like the guy who we have execute the idea.”

“Just because you say ‘no offense’ doesn’t mean you can just say anything you want after that,” I said.

“Fair enough,” Stacy said, closing the crate lid. “Let’s get this crate down to the others below. You can tell us all your genius plan then.”

We worked in silence, carrying the crate to the edge of the level.

“Coming down,” I whispered to Boss Creed and Elon below. “We found a crate of Lestrium.”

“You found a case of what?” Elon asked too loud.

“Shhh…” Stacy warned. “I’m not sure if the infected are listening or if they can even hear us, but let’s keep this to ourselves.”

“Right,” Elon whispered back in an excited tone. “Did you say Lestrium?”

“Yep, an entire case,” I said as Stacy and I tipped the end of the black crate over the edge. It was heavy but not impossible to maneuver. We released our end of the crate when we felt Boss Creed and Elon tugging on their end below.

A few minutes later, we were reunited once again on the second level.

All was quiet on the beach, almost eerily so. The only thing we could hear was the gentle lapping of the water. The stars, along with an impossibly large blue moon overhead, made it bright enough to see without our flashlights. We used them anyway as everyone on the level crowded around the crate to see what we scavenged.

“Holy Toledo,” David said when we opened the crate. “Is that what I think it is?”

“If you think it’s our ticket out of here, then yes,” I answered back. My time as a mechanic taught me how flammable Lestrium was. We generally stayed away from the stuff unless we used it in minor dosages for our cutting torches.

“Was there anything else on the level?” Doctor Allbright asked. “Anything we could use?”

“Nothing,” Stacy said. “Well, I mean there was this power core thing, but it’s not going to do us any good without a rover.”

“A rover?” David asked. “Would it work to power a crawler?”

The way he asked the question made me think he had seen a crawler recently. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one.

“Why would you ask that question?” Elon looked at David. “Have you seen a crawler here on the planet? Did one survive the crash?”

I looked over at David with everyone else. A crawler could be our ticket out of here if David knew where there was one in the jungle. Much larger than its rover counterpart, a crawler was used to transport not only people over short distances but equipment as well. If a rover was a golf cart, a crawler was a flatbed truck.

“Answer the question, David,” I said, staring at him intently. “Do you know where a crawler is in the jungle?”

“Yeah, there’s one still in its drop container.” David hurriedly explained the rest before someone throat punched him for omitting this vital piece of information. “I didn’t say anything about it because it’s dead. I didn’t think it would matter.”

I caught Boss Creed’s eye in the dark. We were both thinking the same thing. As the two mechanics on the expedition, it would be up to us to get the crawler working if we could.

“You think we can squeeze enough juice out of the rover power core to charge a crawler?” Boss Creed asked. “The better question is can we do it with no tools.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” I answered. “I think I have an idea everyone is going to like.”

21

“I hate that idea,” Stacy said after I explained my plan.

“I have to agree with Stacy on this one.” Elon shook his head. “I’m not a fan either.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “It’s a solid plan. I’m the one most qualified to go up against a horde of these infected more than anyone here. I’ll buy you all some time and meet you in the jungle next to the crawler and crate of armor David found. Just be ready once I get there because I’m going to have a few angry—well, whatever we’re calling these infected now.”

“You don’t have to sacrifice yourself for us, Dean,” Lou said, solemnly.

“Who said anything about sacrificing?” I asked with wide eyes. “Do I really put out the suicidal vibe that strong?”

“I just met you, and I’d have to say yes, you kinda do,” David answered.

The cat was already out of the bag with my display at the tent. Everyone here besides maybe David knew that whatever my past entailed, I was a trained fighter. Maybe, in this case, it would be okay to stop running from who I was, just for once.

“Who else here holds the record of twenty-eight knockouts? Who else here has over a decade of training under their belt at putting people down and making sure they stay down? Who else here—”

“We get the point,” Boss Creed interrupted. “You’re one bad man. But I doubt whoever trained you taught you how to fend off an entire crowd of hostiles. This isn’t going to be a