Abyss Of Savagery by Toby Neighbors

Author:Toby Neighbors [Neighbors, Toby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mythic Adventure Publishing, LLC
Published: 2018-02-09T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

Dean dropped into a chair in the mess hall and set his helmet in his lap. Beside him, Captain Vanessa Parker was moving food around on a metal tray. Dean couldn’t be sure, but it didn’t look as if she had taken a single bite.

“You should eat,” Dean said.

“I’m not really hungry. Congratulations on your promotion, by the way.” She spoke in a flat, unenthusiastic voice. “I’m happy for you.”

“You don’t seem too happy,” Dean said. “I know things have been a disaster lately. Want to talk about it?”

“Do I want to talk about the service I’ve dedicated my life to suddenly being turned upside down? No, I don’t.”

“Things are insane back home, but at least we’re doing something about the Kroll,” Dean replied.

“Is it worth it?” Parker asked. “It seems like we’re saving humanity just so the idiots can prosper. Part of me wants to let them deal with the Kroll for a while, then see what their opinion of Force Recon is.”

“Yeah, that thought has crossed my mind too,” Dean said between bites. “But I don’t think that what’s Colonel Davis wanted.”

“I know for a fact he didn’t want to get gunned down like a traitor. I can’t believe he’s gone.”

“You were close,” Dean said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Parker looked away, one hand covering her eyes. Dean thought for a moment about how he would feel if he lost Esma. He wasn’t sure he could continue on if he did. She had become his world, his center; his love for her was the one thing that never changed, no matter how bad a situation got. His feelings for her were strong, unchanging, and vital to his mental stability. If he lost her, he would only be half a man, and the hole in his life might swallow him up.

“Do you need some downtime?” Dean asked.

“That’s all I’ve got, isn’t it?” she asked. “I don’t have an assignment on this mission. I’m just along for the ride because the brass were willing to let me be blown to space dust. I still can’t believe a group of security officers got the jump on me.”

“You weren’t expecting trouble,” Dean offered.

“No, but I should have been. I should have been monitoring things back at Grooms Lake.” She used the informal name for Space Base 13, where the brass was gathered in orbit around Earth. “I didn’t want to bother Andy. He was so busy planning the mission and trying to convince the other commanders how vital it was. So I threw myself into the work at hand and ignored everything else. When the security force docked with the space base, I didn’t even bother to go meet them. I thought it was a maintenance crew.”

“Well, the good thing is you finished the work,” Dean said. “We were able to continue the mission—well, start the mission I guess—because of what you had done.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Parker complained. “I dusted off some warheads.”

“You did more than that,” Dean replied. “If

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