Galaxy Unknown (Forgotten Galaxy Book 1) by M.R. Forbes

Author:M.R. Forbes [Forbes, M.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 25

Caleb’s attention briefly remained on the angled front of the oncoming APC before his eyes shifted to the control display on his right. While the turret on top of the vehicle had been designed for manual operation, or at least gunner-assisted operation, it did have an automated setting that could be enabled by the driver. He would need to mark the targets on a radar grid, but that wouldn’t be much of a problem at all. And since the other APC likely believed the one he was sitting in had to be empty, he could turn them into a fireball before they knew what hit them.

Yesss. A fine plan.

Caleb ignored Ishek. The people in that APC were descendants of the colonists who had fled Earth on Pathfinder. The people he was supposed to protect. He’d only shot the two soldiers because they’d left him no choice. It had been kill or be killed. One hundred percent self-defense.

He’d tried to talk to them. To defuse the situation. He didn’t understand why they were so hell-bent on killing him, but he had to assume they had a good reason. The only other option was that they’d all gone insane.

They have to be insane. They shot one of their own to get to you. You didn’t have a choice then, and you don’t have a choice now. They’re too close. If you try to run, they’ll see you.

“I do have a choice,” Caleb replied. “And a plan.”

A terrible plan.

“We’ll see.”

“Alpha, do you copy?” a voice said over the APC’s comms. “Alpha, are you there? This is Delta. We’ve got eyes on your ride. We’re two klicks out and closing fast. Do you copy? Over.”

“They sound like perfectly normal, sane soldiers to me,” Caleb said, countering Ishek’s argument that they were crazy.

We’ll see.

He reached for the radio, activating his end of the channel. He could fake a decent accent.

He hoped.

“Delta, this is Alpha. I copy. Damn, I’m glad you’re here. This routine cleanup has turned into a real mess. Sarge and the rest of the bulldogs are unresponsive, their vitals in the gray. They’re all dead.” He did his best to sound panicked while smirking in response to his quick thinking to throw in the unit’s nickname, which he’d guessed from the stencil on the chassis.

“Alpha APC, this is Delta. Who is this?”

“Me?” Caleb said, glancing around the front of the APC. He spotted a tablet resting on the seat opposite him and scooped it up. “I…uh…I…”

“I need you to calm down, soldier,” a gruff voice said through the comms. Caleb assumed it was Delta’s commander.

“Y...yes, sergeant.” The tablet interface requested his biometrics or a passcode to enter. He tapped the passcode option. While he didn’t know the password the squad leader had set for the device, he didn’t need it. Every piece of software used by the various Space Forces for the generation ship program had a backdoor accessible via a master root password. As one of General Haeri’s most trusted assets, he knew that password.

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