Refuge: The Arrival: Book 1 by Dandridge Doug

Author:Dandridge, Doug [Dandridge, Doug]
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Published: 2012-05-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Major General Zachary Taylor hauled himself up into the open top of the Humvee and propped his elbows on the windshield supports, bringing his field glasses up to his eyes. He was aware of the long barrel of the .50 caliber machine gun by the side of his head, and hoped that the gunner would not swing the weapon and hit him in the helmet while he was up here. At least not on purpose, he thought with a smile. But as there was nothing moving around the HQ convoy the gunner kept the weapon pointed straight ahead.

Two recon tracks and a tank were leading about a kilometer ahead on the overgrown road, pushing up dust into the otherwise clear morning air. Three Hummers were directly ahead of the General’s vehicle, and a long convoy of trucks and tracks filed behind it. On each of the flanks a couple of Hummers kept security, moving over the rougher terrain and keeping up with the convoy.

A recon company had found the long valley yesterday while it had been scouting the hollows and ridges of this range of mountains. It had sounded too good to be true, a long wide valley with built in defenses that could shelter a large number of people while allowing them to grow their own food. But here it was before his glasses, and the vehicles moved into the valley to meet up with the cavalry.

About time we caught a break, he thought, ducking back into the cab and pulling out his canteen. He took a swig and thought for the millionth time in his life that a beer would taste good. Only one would not be enough and neither would a thousand. He screwed the cap back on the canteen and stood up, positioning himself as an observer again.

Swinging his binoculars to his left he caught the sunlight glinting from the clear mountain river that flowed through the center of the valley, about two kilometers away across scrubland and light forest. The river turned into a large lake, about five by ten kilometers, just a couple of clicks ahead, and a hundred square kilometer stretch of grassland lay on the other side. The ridgeline stood clear about ten kilometers on the far side of the river, and the General thought the highest peak there had to stand about a thousand meters above the valley floor.

A couple of kilometer wide canyons opened between two peaks, and Taylor wondered if that might give access to the valley. Then his attention was riveted by the trio of two hundred meter tall step pyramids sticking above the forest, black stone seeming to soak up the daylight. Reports from the cavalry indicated bases of more than a kilometer, the weathering of the basaltic stone indicating great age. That made him wonder again why the valley was deserted on a clearly inhabited world.

The General swung his glasses to the right, adjusting for the bumping of the moving vehicle. The plateau was more

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.