Endangered Series (Book 2): Beyond The Great Dying by Austin NS

Author:Austin, NS [Austin, NS]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction | Post-Apocalyptic
Published: 2017-07-30T04:00:00+00:00

25. Hunta

They sipped warm drinks in the meeting room on board the Delamie. Shakete and Maleta represented the Ardinians while Manny, Dee, and Karen sat in as the human contingent. Only Tweet attended for the Mermots. Her father Rappel, still sick as a dog after the space battle, was resting in the sickbay. After the Enterprise swooped in to aid Trisun with the other Hunta vessel, Shakete sent an urgent message to Manny asking him to delay destruction of the Hunta ship. Shakete wanted an opportunity to convince the Huntas to surrender. He needed to understand why the Hunta were in this sector of space. If given a chance to interrogate Hunta survivors, Shakete hoped to learn whether the Hunta knew of the Mermot moon.

Worn faces waited for Shakete to start. Spent, Manny rubbed his eyes. The emotions of battle were much like those of a professional sports team during the final game of a tournament, except; the adrenaline high went stratospherically higher when your life was on the line. From anxious nervousness to focused determination to controlled panic and back again, Manny had never felt anything that even closely approximated the time he spent commanding the fleet. Even the moment of joy when he realized they had vanquished the evil Hunta threat thrust a heart-pounding, mega-rush of sensation through his system. Now, bone tired, he still wanted or needed to relive the battle.

Manny once asked Thomas what it was like when he fought in the Army during the pre-change world. Like many young men and women who wanted to test their mettle, Manny couldn’t contain his curiosity. He had no idea when asking how deep the question plunged into Thomas’ very being.

Thomas thought before answering, his eyes wandering. “Like nothing else on earth. Now, some people write about the pain and the grief, the fear, and there’s plenty of that, especially when you lose your brothers and sisters. But there’s another side that warriors don’t like to tell. Best description I can think of is that at times, the heat of battle is an adrenaline surge like no drug can replicate. It can become an intensity addiction. Just like a drug, you against the bad guy, your life on the line. I think that’s why some fellows turn to a life of crime. Danger as an addiction. Nothing else like that high for sure.”

“But how do you do it?” Manny asked. “How do you get good at handling the pressure?”

“Some people never do. They short circuit like a power surge the wiring can’t handle. For those of us that figure it out, I guess it’s training, experience, the ability to hold the reigns on fear to act, and some undefined quality that’s simply who we are from birth. Manny, an interesting fact; studies after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan showed that folks who completed multiple wartime deployments were less likely to suffer PTSD symptoms than the guys and gals who had completed only one. Probably a chicken and the egg thing.

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