Armada by Paul Teague & Jon Evans

Author:Paul Teague & Jon Evans [Teague, Paul & Evans, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Imaginary Brother Publishing
Published: 2019-12-30T16:00:00+00:00

14

“Bollocks, we’re on the wrong level,” said Kearney. “The Unborn’s on the bridge!”

“How the fuck did it get there so quickly?” said Hunter as the team broke into a run.

“No idea,” snapped Kearney. “They’ve summoned a security team, but we need to go.”

Behind them, the Marines of their teams followed with weapons readied, all braced to deal with the final Unborn.

Lieutenant Yau joined the channel, his voice a whisper but his tone urgent and fearful. “This is like nothing we’ve seen so far,” he hissed. Then there were screams, and then just silence.

“Sir, are you okay?” said Kearney as she slammed through a door into a stairwell. “What’s going on?”

“Still here,” said Yau, “but damn it, guys, get up here. This Unborn thing has an OctoBot on its head and another four around its chest. They’ve got needles stuck into it. It looks like somebody rolled their construction kit in a ball of dough! What a freak of a creature.”

“What’s it doing, sir?” said Kearney, trying to get the Lieutenant to focus as she sprinted up the stairs. There was only one thing worse than an Unborn roaming around the ship, and that was an Unborn with five OctoBot brains.

“It’s trying to get to the main computer banks, we have only sidearms, and that thing’s skin is so thick we’re barely tickling it. It’s killed Khan and Florence already.”

“What about the admiral and Commander Vernon?” said Kearney. “Are they okay?”

“Yeah, they’re holed up in the admiral’s ready room. They got caught there when the creature came in. What’s taking you so long?” Yau asked.

“We’re using the stairs,” said Kearney, “most of the elevators are still out. With you in a few minutes, sir. Stay safe!”

“Did you hear that, Hunter?” said Mason. “This is a hand job, and you’ve got permission to do it on duty.”

“Very funny,” snapped Hunter. “I hope Stansfield’s keeping track of how much bloody trouble my so-called illegal arm has got us out of so far. If I wasn’t such a generous soul, I’d have told him to get stuffed the minute he threatened to blow this thing in my head.”

“He’s softened already,” Mason replied as they raced up the last flight of stairs. “His bark’s worse than his bite. I’ve known people like him before. Once he knows he has your loyalty, he’ll relax.”

“But does he have your loyalty, Hunter?” Kearney asked.

“We’re here,” said Hunter, avoiding the question.

They jogged towards the bridge and into a scene of horror. A severed arm lay in the corridor outside the bridge, along with a head and a booted foot. It was like some awful version of Hansel and Gretel, with body parts instead of bread crumbs.

“Anyone you know?” asked Mason as they sidled closer to the doors.

“Thought it was Vernon,” muttered Hunter, nodding at the foot, “but I think he was taller.”

“Marine uniform,” said Kearney, ignoring Hunter’s joke. “They’d better have been clones. I hope we’re not losing lives here.”

“They still get to experience the death, even if they’re clones,” said Hunter.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.