Rescuer by Frank Carey

Author:Frank Carey [Carey, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction, Space opera
ISBN: 9781944946371
Amazon: B0741TPSFR
Barnesnoble: B0741TPSFR
Publisher: Frank Carey
Published: 2017-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

Gabe awoke to the sound of alarms. In a blink of an eye, he reflexively scanned the APC for damage or injury, but found none. Relieved, he expanded the scan to include the area around the APC, which had come to a stop, its weapons armed and ready to protect her occupants. What he found alarmed him.

"Boss, we've stopped, but Percy and Anna aren't responding," Siv said. He could hear the start of panic in her voice.

"I sense danger, Gabriel," Aphrodite said, the same concern in her voice as in Siv's.

"Our hosts are fine. They're busy preparing the Tenko for possible trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"There's a wrecked APC outside. They're worried about what wrecked it."

Percy and Anna hurried into the lounge. "Gabe, we have a problem."

"Yes, a wrecked APC. Did you detect the bodies strewn about the area?"

"How the hell did you know?" Anna asked.

Gabe morphed into infiltrator form. "I'm nosy. I need to see those bodies."

"There are areas with mini dust storms throughout the Maelstrom. This is one of them. We'll have to wear filter helmets."

"You do that. I'll go out and check things while you four get ready."

"But, Gabe, the dust," Percy noted.

"It would bother me if I breathed, which I don't do in this form. I'll be fine." He walked over to the lock and cycled it. "See you soon."

"He doesn't breathe?" Aphrodite asked, shocked.

"Did I forget to mention that?" Siv replied. "My bad."

###

Gabe stepped out into the gloom of the dust storm and scanned the landscape around him. Getting his bearings, he walked toward the APC. Half-way to his destination, he came across the first of several bodies. He knelt and examined it with his optical inputs while playing various scanners over the remains. "Interesting," he said before standing and walking over to the what was left of the APC. As he stood there, examining the wreckage, he was joined by his companions who were wearing protective gear. "Nice look; love the color," he said.

Siv swatted him. "Funny. The material is itchy."

"It's your imagination, Siv," Anna replied. "The dust will do that to you."

"Gabe, have you found anything?"

"Yeah, a lot, actually." All these dead strykers have had their power packs drained. It looks like Zoe went for cheaper parts."

"Power packs?" Anna asked. "You have a power pack?"

"Yes, all strykers do, at least the ones using my design. They're microfusion generators paired with high-capacity storage cells. The generator continuously trickle-charges the cells, so the cells should never completely deplete, at least in theory." He reached down and picked up a blood-covered part. "This one, though, is completely dead. Even the generator is depleted."

"That's impossible," Siv said while taking the generator from Gabe and running a scanner over it. "This design is based on a Logash Starbrite-1000 with an operational life of a century. Even a knock-off should show some residual power flow, yet this one is completely inert." She tweaked her scanner. "That's odd..."

"Find something?"

"Yeah, something odd. The generator's fuel supply tank is empty. Gabe, check control stack alpha-one-kappa.

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