Recon Marines by P.K. Hawkins

Author:P.K. Hawkins [Hawkins, P.K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2017-05-12T07:00:00+00:00

August 2, 2147 (Earth Calendar)

2008 Greenwich Mean Time

Location: Corridor of Sten-Plus Spacecraft, Outside of Power Core Room Three, Bullfinch-2

Marine Heartbeats Detected on Planet: 32

They all took a precious moment to rest just outside the power core room. Dollarhyde was awake enough now that she complained that she didn’t get any action against the three carnivorous plants, but for everyone else the adrenaline had finally caught up to them and they needed to take a breather. Marsden made sure they were far enough away from the door that none of the tentacles would be able to reach through, but he still kept Bayne and several others guarding the door. As plants, the two remaining pods shouldn’t be able to move and come after them, but they couldn’t afford to make any assumptions regarding the flora and fauna loose on the ship.

Marsden did a quick check of all the remaining Recon Marines under his command. “Any injuries?”

“I think we’re all fine,” one of the marines said, which prompted Llewellyn to shoot him a dirty look.

“I’m pretty sure Mossier would disagree,” she said. She hid her emotions well, but Marsden thought he caught a small hitch in her voice. He remembered a rumor that Llewellyn and Mossier had been an item at one point, but he wasn’t going to question her on it. She had every right to mourn any marine that might have been her friend or lover, but those moments of pain and grief needed to hold off as much as possible until everyone that remained was once again safe on the Franklin Dixon.

“Axel, what about you?” Marsden asked. He noticed that, at his question, Bayne was suddenly paying a lot more attention to the conversation. Axel, as always, completely missed Bayne’s interest.

“I’m alright,” Axel said. “Nothing like almost being eaten by a giant carnivorous plant to remind you that you’re truly alive.”

Llewellyn choked at that comment and looked away. Again, Axel seemed oblivious to the effect her words had on those around her. When this was all over, Marsden might try to have a word with her about paying more attention to what was going on around her, although he didn’t think it would make much of a difference.

“What about the charges you set?” Marsden asked. “Is three going to be enough to blow the core?”

“We have no way of knowing for sure,” Axel said. “For all we know, twenty charges might not be enough to even put a dent in that thing. Or flicking a match at it might cause the entire ship to go nuclear. We’re just playing guessing games at this point.”

Laughingmoon spoke up. “Shouldn’t we be worried that the two remaining pods might try to disable the charges? Or maybe even eat them?”

“Yes, we could do that,” Axel said. “Or we could actually worry about things we can control.”

“Hopefully those pods have at least enough sentience or intelligence to realize that if they try it, they might end up like their friend,” Marsden said.

“Or the charges might just be too small to catch the plants’ attention,” Axel said.

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.