Deracine Sun (Slip Runner Book 5) by J.N. Chaney & M.F. Lerma

Author:J.N. Chaney & M.F. Lerma [Chaney, J.N. & Lerma, M.F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Variant Publications
Published: 2023-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

15

“Ow.”

I hadn’t actually been knocked out. Whatever the alien weapon used as a projectile had hit me head-on and overloaded the suit’s systems. That made my heads-up display glitch and temporarily go dark. Barrick’s assessment had been correct. While the heavier combat suit would have kept me upright and protected me from a more powerful weapon, the mid-range suit still did a decent job.

The Controller technology used to craft the staff was luckily something my human-engineered gear could defend against.

Suddenly remembering the shot I’d gotten off just before the General tagged me, I sat up with a start. The faceplate on my helmet was cracked and it was attempting to reboot, leaving me with a glitchy view of the bridge. I rushed to undo the locks on my helmet even though taking it off was the last thing I wanted to do. For one, the warship’s life support system might differ from the Roswell. For two, exposing my face to an alien brain leech counted as the worst non-choice ever. When it came free, my eyes scanned the immediate area in search of my nemesis. His Anypsian host was slumped over, but Deacon had said that the alien parasite would only vacate the body, not die.

I caught movement directly ahead from my position, which just so happened to be on my ass. To my horror, the noodle dick was slithering across the floor at a speed almost too fast to follow, leaving a literal snail trail in his wake.

With Gray and Switch still fighting, the only available host was me.

Not in this lifetime, I thought. But I wasn’t out of tricks yet. I scooted back to buy some time, pulling the vial from its hiding spot as I went.

The General reached me before I could figure out the best way to use the salt solution. He slithered up my leg in an attempt to get at one of my face holes, and in a move that would surely come to haunt me, I squeezed the glass tube until it broke in my hand.

There wasn’t time for anything fancy.

I just grabbed the alien with my bare hands. The fluid on my skin must have been pretty nasty when directly applied because the brain slug let out a high-pitched squeal as it tried to get away. I didn’t dare let go, holding on to the slippery length for all I was worth.

The slimy body made holding on difficult. I squeezed harder, ignoring the sharp bite from glass shards slicing into my palm. It stung but it also gave me a better grip on the General. Whatever pain and discomfort I felt was nothing compared to his. The wire-thin tentacles sprang out from all over his body. They were rigid but too delicate to cause me any harm. I struggled to hold on as he fought with more urgency and started to slip from my grasp. Sensing the slug wasn’t long for this galaxy, I refused to let go.

Death is a gruesome business.

Taking a life was sometimes easy, sometimes not.

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.