Omega Sol by Scott Mackay

Author:Scott Mackay [Mackay, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction, fantasy
ISBN: 9780451462039
Goodreads: 2310941
Publisher: Roc
Published: 2008-05-06T00:00:00+00:00

18

Pittman and his Orbops team investigated the scene of the Princeton Team disappearance thoroughly. As they waited for the Builders to respond to the expanded message, Pittman had to ask himself why these particular disappearances bothered him so much when during the days of the PRNC War he had dealt with MIAs all the time.

The crater bedrock had hundreds of runnels in it now, blasted into the Moon by the flywheel sparks coming off the vortex immediately after the disappearance, parallel to each other, each ten centimeters wide, some straight, some curved, a gray-brown mural, beautiful in an alien way, like artwork, but daunting in its implications. Was this the only response they were going to get, these runnels, and could they actually mean something in the way of a communication?

Confirmation of death for at least one of the Princeton Team members came when they found a human mandible in a runnel; a check of dental records showed it belonged to Silke Forbes. Of the others, no remains were found. Missing in action. There was no worse fate for a soldier, as far as Pittman was concerned. And it was further provocation. He believed a definitive second attack was now warranted, and he only hoped that Blunt would agree, and agree soon.

Yet Blunt continued to tell Moonstone to hold off on a second offensive. Nothing would have given Pittman greater pleasure than to use his fifty-three new hard-vac assault vehicles that Defense Secretary Congdon had recently sent, and attack the Moon towers—it was generally agreed that the Moon towers would be their next target. Additionally, he had a nuclear warhead now orbiting the Moon, and could call down a strike whenever he wanted. So to have to wait, especially when he had all his elements in place, was frustrating for Pittman.

In a transmission around noon the same day, General Blunt explained it this way. ‘‘Communication is all about exchange. It’s about coinage and the use of proper currency.’’ Blunt, dim blue in the oblong of Pittman’s waferscreen, smiled sadly. ‘‘Some in our think tank believe the disappearance of Dr. Tennant and her team was just an effort by Alpha Vehicle to communicate with us again. Like the Worldwide Crash.’’

‘‘In other words, you’re considering her possible death inadvertent,’’ said Pittman, and was deeply dissatisfied with this.

‘‘Just be patient, Tim. You have to give the diplomats time to come to what to us are obvious conclusions.’’

So the afternoon passed as they waited for an additional Builder response over and above the runnels. All the soldiers on the Moon tried to keep themselves busy with pointless polishing, exercise drills, and weapons cleaning. The Moon, with its perpetual grayness, and its eternally black sky, bred in them a stupefying ennui, occasionally mitigated by the quiet terror they all felt in the presence of that unblinking silver eye in Crater Cavalet.

Late in the afternoon, to alleviate boredom, Pittman found himself following the fly. This common blue housefly had made its appearance on the Moon seven

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.