Earth Defiant by Fox Richard

Author:Fox, Richard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Triplane Press
Published: 2016-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

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Hale felt the Mule’s landing skids hit the deck, bounce off, then land with a hard shake. He fumbled with his restraints, his mind foggy with painkillers.

“Stay put,” Elias said, his armor folded against itself into an almost rectangle. “It’s a mess on the flight deck.”

“How bad is it?” Hale asked.

“We’re listening to the flight deck’s IR,” Kallen said. “Forward section had a structural collapse. Breit nailed that Toth cruiser, but it got a couple licks in.”

“Stand by for jump,” thundered over the flight deck and into the Mule. “T minus six minutes and counting.”

The ramp lowered with a pneumatic whine, Europa’s bright face visible through the rear flight portal, shrinking as the Breitenfeld moved away. Armored doors ground toward each other, shutting away the moon. A pair of Marines climbed over the still-opening ramp and ran toward Hale, one carrying a medic bag.

“No, I’m fine,” Hale said, holding a hand up to stop the two.

“Heard you were injured. Again,” Yarrow said. He knelt next to Hale and ran a wire from his gauntlet into a plug on Hale’s shoulder. Hale’s vital signs came up on Yarrow’s forearm screen.

“How bad is it this time?” Cortaro asked.

“It’s just a bruise. For Christ’s sake let me get to the bridge and talk to the captain,” said Hale as he undid his restraints and tried to stand up. Cortaro’s firm hand pushed him back down.

“Let the medic check you out, sir. Won’t hurt,” Cortaro said.

“His suit held integrity,” Yarrow said. “His histamines receptors are going off the charts. Bet his immune system isn’t fully recovered from that bug he got on Takeni.”

“So I’m fine,” Hale said.

“What happened?” Cortaro pointed at the mangled armor on Hale’s right knee.

“He forgot to duck,” Kallen said from her spot next to Elias.

“Someone decided to use me as a shield,” Hale said.

“That’s not…OK, that is what happened, technically, but not what I meant to do,” Kallen said.

“Let’s get that off you.” Yarrow tapped a command on his forearm screen and the armor on Hale’s right leg decoupled from the rest of his suit. Yarrow cut away the pseudo-muscle layer and peeled it back from Hale’s right knee.

His skin was a mess of dark bruises ringed with yellow. Hale’s knee cap was twisted ninety degrees the wrong way.

“Huh,” Hale said. He reached a finger toward the battered joint.

Yarrow slapped his hand away.

“You know, sir,” Cortaro said, “if you come back from a mission in one piece, no one will complain.”

“Look who’s talking, Gunney.” Hale cocked his head aside and glared at Cortaro’s prosthetic leg.

“I’ve got bad news, sir. I need to null your painkillers right now. You’re about to go into anaphylactic shock,” Yarrow said. He took a small hypo-spray from his belt and twisted a dial. He pressed it against a port on Hale’s neck armor and the lieutenant felt like Yarrow had injected him with ice-cold water.

“How long does it take to kick—” Hale screeched and bent over and grabbed his thigh.

“I’ll get a stretcher over here soon as we’ve jumped.

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