Extraction Protocol (One U.G.L.Y. Marine Book 5) by Michael Anderle

Author:Michael Anderle [Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2022-09-09T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Sorry, did I scare you?” the mining chief asked. “Your AI said you were trying to get through.”

Joe looked around and saw a fuzzy image on one of the screens. “Are you on video?”

“Yeah, but the image is terrible. Where are you lot?”

“In the middle of a nutrihail field,” Aran explained. “I’m surprised we can get a transmission.”

“A nutrihail field? That right? Wow, your AI must be able to work wonders if it can get a call through in that mess.”

“Is the station all right?” Joe asked as Burton’s static image shifted from moments of clarity to a jumbled dark mess.

“Yeah, the techies got the shields up as those two fighters began to lay into us. The boys and I got back just in time to see it. Real pucker factor, I have to say.” He chuckled. “Towers took them down easy, would have been a hell of a lot worse if the entire squadron showed up. Appreciate the quick action.”

The ship jostled. Aran cursed and brought it to the bottom of the field. “Don’t mention it. Unfortunately, we’re still dealing with their friends. Looks like we were able to take down a couple in here, but the others have adapted fast, and we’re running low on shields.”

Aran banked hard and spun the ship, heading back into the field. “Getting shot just now didn’t help either.”

The fuzzy image moved as if nodding. “Yeah, I picked up on that. Caught the tail end of the convo before you noticed me. Like I said, I might have a solution.”

“We’re open to trying something if you got a plan. Your last one worked all right,” Joe offered as a laser sped past his window.

“Less of a plan, more of a location,” Burton replied. “We see the field on the monitors here, and not too far from them is something we call a worm belt. It’s an asteroid field that has these peculiar rocks, big things with large holes and divots like giant worms bored through them. I mined on them sometimes since they have some precious materials on occasion.

“Thing is, you need a hell of a good pilot because those rocks are always turning and you need to be able to fly through them and not get caught in the sway. It’s risky because no shield is gonna help you if you run into a wall. If your pilot is worth their creds they can probably use the area to their advantage though, and you can take the rest of those alien creeps out.”

Joe studied the scanner screen, expanding it to see the field in the distance and marking it. “What do you think, Axelsson? If we leave the field here, we should be able to close in on this worm belt before the Komrans can get to us in open space.”

Aran looked at the shield readout. “I say we take our chances. Shields are getting too low to stay here, and our only other option would be to take on six fighters in open space.

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