Frontiers Saga 12: Rise of the Alliance by Ryk Brown

Author:Ryk Brown
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781502816375
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2014-10-06T17:00:00+00:00

The moon was blocked by clouds, leaving the hills of Porto Santo Island shrouded in darkness. Waves crashing on the distant shores of the tiny island hid the sound of the insurgents as they slowly crawled on their bellies through the brush toward the distant watchtower.

Jessica paused, belly down in the brush, and tilted her head slightly upward. In the distance, she could barely make out the Ghatazhak guard in the tower as he scanned the hillsides with his helmet visor lowered. “He’s probably using thermals,” she whispered to the man next to her.

“They will spot us, yes?”

“That’s why we went immediately after sundown,” she reminded him, “while the ground is still warm.”

Jessica continued crawling along on her belly, moving ever so slowly toward the tower. She heard a screeching noise in the distance, and froze. She glanced upward and noticed the lights of an incoming shuttle.

“A ship is coming,” the man next to her whispered in warning.

“It’s probably just a supply shuttle or something,” she whispered back. “Don’t worry about it. With any luck, it will distract the tower guard.”

She continued forward again, crawling just a little faster than before. The shuttle continued toward them, its lights becoming brighter as it grew closer. Finally, she realized the shuttle was not headed for the base. “Fuck,” she exclaimed. “Everyone freeze.”

The shuttle came straight in, its engines screaming as it descended, landing only a few meters in front of them.

“Nobody move until I do,” Jessica tried to tell them above the noise of the shuttle’s engines. The thrust wash sent dust and debris flying in all directions, including directly in their faces. “Son of a bitch,” she cursed under her breath.

The shuttle finally touched down, smashing the low-lying brush beneath its hull. As its engines begin to wind down, the side hatch opened and the debarkation steps extended from the hull.

“What the hell?” Jessica cursed as she saw Sergeant Weatherly and three of his men come jumping down out of the shuttle, their weapons held ready across their chests. Flood lights on the side of the shuttle came to life, illuminating the area.

“Lieutenant Commander Nash!” Sergeant Weatherly yelled. “The captain needs to speak with you!”

Jessica rose from the bushes, climbing to her feet as she slung her weapon across her back. She could see Nathan climbing down the steps from the shuttle. “This better be fucking good,” she mumbled as she headed for the shuttle.

“Sorry to crash the party this way, Lieutenant Commander,” Nathan began, “but I need you to verify the identity of one of the Scout ship crewmembers.”

“Are you kidding me?” Jessica demanded as she continued toward Nathan, anger in her eyes. “You couldn’t find someone else to…”

“You always talk to your CO that way?” Captain Nash said as he came down the steps from the shuttle.

Jessica was silent for several seconds. The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t see his face due to the glare from the shuttle’s floodlights. The man moved closer, and his features became clearer. “Bobert?”

“I always hated that nickname,” the captain said.

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