Subterrene War 03: Chimera by T.C. McCarthy

Author:T.C. McCarthy [McCarthy, T.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cyberpunk
ISBN: 9780316203265
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Published: 2012-07-31T05:00:00+00:00

Ji shook me awake the next day. By the time I got my helmet off, the room had filled with so much tobacco smoke that it was difficult to breathe let alone see, but I lit up a cigarette anyway to get rid of my last dream—that I’d lain in bed forever, eaten by fungus and mold as warm water dripped over my chest and legs.

Major Remorro turned on a holo map and pointed at it with a clay pipe, identical to the one the captain held. “We’re here,” he said, pointing to a green dot in the middle of a long line of green dots; solid or dashed lines connected each one. “And this is the Thai border defense network, which consists of underground strong points and bunker complexes like this one, connected in some places by trench lines.”

“So the border is completely defended,” said Ji. “How are infiltrators making it through?”

“Don’t kid yourself; it’s a long border, and I said they were only connected in some places. Most of the gaps are filled with cameras, motion sensors, and basically anything electronic we could put in there to detect it when the Mimis try to cross. But there are gaps wide enough for a division to move through.”

“What’s the main Burmese objective?” I asked.

“Up until recently, they wanted this.” He punched at the map controls so another dot appeared to our south and within Thailand, just a few kilometers from the Burmese border. “A minor gold and copper mine with some trace metals. It’s one of the few working mines in southeast Asia with decent reserves.”

“And now?”

Remorro clicked the map off and pulled at his pipe before answering. “Now they’re getting bolder. That ambush you encountered a couple of days ago never would have happened last month, and it looks like they’ve decided to ignore the Thai mine completely. With the arrival of a Chinese expeditionary force, we’re guessing that they’re planning on an eventual invasion.”

I nodded and thought about what I’d seen, realizing that if the Chinese ever concentrated at a single point, the line would be almost useless. With so few underground complexes and so much unprotected border, the Chinese would almost be able to choose their entry and stroll through without having to worry about resistance until reaching the secondary defense line we’d encountered on our way up. But, I thought, has that even been occupied?

“Who’s manning the line? Gra Jaai and Thai Army?”

Both men laughed before the major leaned forward and blew smoke in my face, grinning as he spoke. “Thai Army? Who’s that?”

“Listen,” Orcola explained, “you have to understand something. Not everybody in Bangkok shares the King’s love for satos and the Gra Jaai, especially generals in the Thai Army who used to be the royal favorites—if you catch my drift. In fact, the American advisers to the Royal Army HQ have one job as their primary mission: to try and screw the satos over and find a way to make the King hate them.

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.