First Strike by Raymond L Weil

Author:Raymond L Weil [Weil, Raymond L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Amazon: B00FZHI39S
Goodreads: 18889949
Publisher: Raymond L. Weil
Published: 2013-10-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Admiral Streth was walking down a street on Caden’s World. General Abercrombie and his aide, a Captain Krandle, were with him as well as a squad of heavily armed marines. Everywhere around them was a scene of destruction.

“I never saw anyone fight like these Hocklyn Protectors,” Abercrombie commented gravely as they halted where a long line of covered marine bodies lay.

Several officers were slowly going down the long row, making sure they could identify each fallen marine. They all had dog tags, and after each was checked, one of the officers would mark off a name on the list he was carrying.

“How many did we lose down here?” asked Hedon, looking over at General Abercrombie. He knew a lot of brave men and women had died today, up in space as well as down here on the planet.

“We had twelve hundred marines protecting this settlement and eight hundred in the other,” replied the general, motioning for one of the officers to come over. “Unfortunately, the Hocklyn Protectors all landed in this settlement. We estimate there were nearly eight hundred of the enemy. Fighting toward the end was fierce; it even got down to hand to hand in some areas when the Hocklyns overran our defenses.”

An officer walked up and handed General Abercrombie a list. He examined it briefly, taking note of several names, and then looked over at Admiral Streth. “We lost 412 marines KIA and another 262 are injured.” He then gazed at Captain Krandle with a sad look in his eyes. “I’m sorry to say that Lieutenant Simmins is on the list; he was one of those killed as the Hocklyns overran the positions on the west side of the operations center.”

Lucy felt stunned by the news. She felt a wave of dizziness sweep over her and then felt a steadying hand. Admiral Streth was holding her arm with a sympathizing and understanding look in his eyes.

“We lost a lot of good people today, Captain,” he spoke softly. “I’m sorry to hear about Lieutenant Simmins. I’m sure he was a good marine.”

“He was, Sir,” replied Lucy, forcing her voice to remain steady. “He was one of the best.”

“Captain Krandle, why don’t you return to the Command Center.” Abercrombie suggested. “The admiral and I can finish our tour.”

“Thank you, Sir,” replied Lucy, trying to hold back the tears.

At the moment, all she wanted was to find someplace where she could be alone. She had never been in combat before, and there was so much death surrounding her now. Lieutenant Simmins and she had grown very close since her posting here. It would be difficult to stay here without him.

Abercrombie watched her walk off. “She will be fine after a while; she’s a good officer.” Then turning back to Admiral Streth, he said. “We didn’t capture a single Hocklyn Protector, they fought to the death. When they realized their fleet had been defeated, they did everything they could to take as many of us with them as possible.”

“That crazy honor system of theirs,” explained Hedon, shaking his head.

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