Ratchet's Run (LAND&SEA Book 5) by Blaine L. Pardoe

Author:Blaine L. Pardoe [Pardoe, Blaine L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: WarGate Nova
Published: 2023-06-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter sixteen

Operation Sundance, AIZ,

Los Angeles, the Western Front,

California, the United States

Ryland’s arm still ached where he’d had his ID chip pulled a few hours earlier. Everyone going on Operation Sundance had them pulled. They brought the chips along with them, shielded in a small lead-lined artillery ammo container—which should provide blocking from the battlespace commander. He knew he was going to need them later, otherwise he would have left them behind.

He had gotten permission from Lieutenant Colonel Logan to take his people out on a recon mission, designated by the Army as Operation Bates Motel—227. Corporal King had explained the origins of the op name, otherwise it would have been lost on him. To Ryland, it didn’t matter; just as long as they could get out into the AIZ.

Logan had been enthusiastic about it. He had been clamoring for more aggressive patrols and the fact the Ryland had volunteered the Ghost Legion for such a mission only seemed to feed the desires of his commanding officer. “Fantastic—get your people out there and kick some alien ass!” had been his response. Ryland hoped that it wouldn’t come to that, but if they had to, they would indeed slaughter the enemy if engaged.

The members of the Ghost Legion moved cautiously through the streets, darting between points of cover while still trying to keep a wide-open field of fire as they went. “Whisper” King was running point with his GRD, using a GHD-9 Greyhound drone out in front of them as they moved. Greyhounds were fast and nimble, though they couldn’t carry too much in the way of extra gear. They possessed great sensor packages and cameras that could give them excellent eyes and ears without risking human life to gain their images.

King worked the GRD like a kid playing a video game. He had a reinforced digipad he used to control the semi-autonomous drone, mapping out its general recon pattern. He would pause it every so often to zoom in on something. So far, Whisper and his GRD, which he had nicknamed Astro 201, had not found any indication of living aliens. That alone made Ryland cautiously happy.

As they rounded one corner near a house, the smell of rotting garbage managed to creep its way into Ryland’s mask. The house they were moving in front of had a small white picket fence and, in its prime, was probably a great little starter home—a ranch-style bungalow. Now the front yard was filled with garbage bags put in neat rows. The stench of the rotting material filled the air. A horde of flies swarmed over it. Someone still lived there. They are putting out the garbage as if they expect the sanitation trucks to show up anytime.

As if on cue, the front door opened and a woman emerged. She wore a light blue house robe, flip-flop slippers, and her salt-and-pepper hair had not experienced a comb in days, if not weeks. “Hey!” she called out. Ryland held his finger in front of his mouth and shushed her, then moved to the fence where she met him at the gate.

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