Earth Song: Etude to War by Mark Wandrey

Author:Mark Wandrey [Wandrey, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Henchman Press
Published: 2015-06-24T06:00:00+00:00

* * *

Like any of a hundred worlds she'd visited, the Portal was in what had once been the town center. Even on planets with populations in the hundreds of millions the portal spire was always in the center of the largest city. Minu guessed this particular town was maybe a hundred thousand beings, plus or minus. Far too small for a spire.

Like always, she tried to guess at what the beings who'd lived here might have been like. Had they been a peaceful people who farmed the land, built well designed machines, raised their children, and hoped for a bright future? Or were they a warlike species who dreamed of conquest? What fate had become them?

Perhaps it was the seismic upheaval of the planet that made it uninhabitable. But she'd seen much less hospitable atmospheres where people still lived. The Traaga would probably consider this place a paradise. Maybe the Squeen were living on a world similar to this one, where no-one would think to look for them. Concordian technology had tamed far worse.

The six of them broke into three teams of two. Aaron and Minu were of course one team, and the Rasa split to make up two more.

One pair of the dexterous reptilians skittered up the remains of a building to set up a sniper’s nest. With so few buildings over one story remaining, they were afforded a nearly perfect field of fire surrounding the town square.

The second team of Rasa quickly circled the square, performing a visual search for listening posts. Many species routinely left behind recording devices to learn who was visiting what planet. Of course they placed their equipment near portals. It was also SOP for most species to hunt and destroy each other’s listening posts.

“All clear on lookout, boss,” hissed the Rasa over her communicator.

Minu smirked and shook her head. Even the Rasa were calling her ‘boss’ now. Then she remembered to be glad it wasn't ‘commodore’!

“No sign of monitoring devices,” the other team reported.

Minu glanced at Aaron on the other side of the alley where they were keeping down within sight of the portal. As always, it came down to someone exposing themselves in these sorts of situations, and she was never one to letting anyone else take the risk.

She unclipped her shock rifle, cradling it in the crook of her left arm, and set up. Aaron was less than a step behind. They moved quickly but didn't run, knowing that sure movements were more effective than a dead run. They needed to be within ten meters of a portal for the PCR to link with it. She'd wondered a lot over the years at the wisdom of that decision.

They reached the portal and knelt on the dais. The arch popped open, glistening in the midday sun. Aaron took up a position next to her, his weapon ready and eyes searching as she took out the PCR and brought it to life.

A moment later, the portal blinked twice in response and the two devices were linked.

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