Intrusion Protocol (The Autonomous Weapons Division Book 1) by B.R. Keid

Author:B.R. Keid [Keid, B.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798987837108
Publisher: Harmony Publishing
Published: 2023-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

Thirty minutes later, Sev was still shaking. Every sound, every motion in the darkness made unreal by his HUD’s thermal view, haunted him. The only thing that kept him sane was the ghostly silhouette of the Marines in front of him. Equal parts alert and calm.

That, and the simple act of walking. Something about the slight incline of the tunnel, the effort and repetition of movement, was a healthy distraction. It was something to do, something to feel, instead of reliving the moment where he almost died again and again.

“Check your sectors, people.”

His HUD dinged a warning. The thermal view faded, replaced with the familiar pale yellow of the derelict’s lit interior. Ahead, the tunnel widened. Dozens of tunnels came together in a grand junction. The ceiling vanished, rising far beyond where he could see.

The space was not only intact, but showed a level of care absent from the rest of the derelict. The dull bronze glowed, reflecting the orbs of light that dotted the high walls. It made the junction feel even larger. There was an air of reverence to it all.

“One hundred meters to target. Sevvers, you know what to do.”

He did. Five, dispatch a drone to that location. Er, make it two.

Yes, Sev.

The two drones at the rear of the patrol sailed forward. The widening tunnel gave them just enough space to cross overhead as they made their way into the junction. He held his breath, ready for them to vanish in a burst of green fire, but none came.

All clear, Sev, no hostiles detected, Five said. I have a door here.

He exhaled. “All clear, sir. They’ve found a door.”

Lernus glance at him, her eyes wide with hope. A heartbeat later, she was running past the patrol and into the junction.

Dalon stood dumbfounded as she whipped past him. “What the hell?”

“Twelfth dammit!” Park ran after her. “Step it out, Marines, move it!”

Everyone was running. Their armored footfalls clanked against the slotted metal floor. His gaze followed the ceiling upward as their tunnel collided with the others. It rose for hundreds of meters, capped at the top with a clear, crystalline mesh. One of the massive asteroids the ship hid within was visible just beyond it. The clear white light reflecting from it filled the space with an ethereal glow.

Brest ground to a halt, his head tilted toward the ceiling. “What in the three damned colonies is that?”

The word door felt inadequate. The gateway was bone white. Eleven meters high and half as wide, according to his HUD, it towered above them, commanding the massive space that was the junction. Stretching far above it were the same eleven symbols, brilliant gold spheres etched in the wall’s cliff-like surface. They grew from bottom to top, each one filled with a unique series of circuitous lines.

Huge statues, hundreds of them, clung to the wall on either side of the symbols. They were massive figures, each a dozen meters tall, all of them the same off-white as the door. Some were

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