The Arcadian Incident by Andrew Stickland

Author:Andrew Stickland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eye Books
Published: 2022-11-30T17:33:40+00:00

25

THE FACILITY

The man tripped and fell, bouncing across the rocky ground and sending up clouds of brown dust that hung in the air around him. For a moment he lay stunned, but then, remembering why he was running, he staggered back to his feet and stumbled towards the rocky outcrop fifty metres ahead. If he could make it to the rocks he would be safe – perhaps not forever, but at least for long enough to catch his breath, take his bearings, and work out his next move .

The plas-glass visor on his helmet was misty with condensation and he could barely see where he was going, but he staggered on, making random direction changes and kicking up dust to make himself a more difficult target. Even in the low Martian atmosphere, someone would have to be a trained marksman to stand much chance of hitting him at this range. Or very lucky, he thought, as the patch of ground beside him erupted in a shower of stone and dirt, knocking him to the ground once more.

A sharp pain in his right arm told him he’d been hit and he looked down to see a tear in his environment suit. A jagged piece of rock protruded from his arm and blood was beginning to drip from the wound, but right now that was nowhere near as important as the air leaking out. If he didn’t deal with that right now, he wouldn’t need to worry about stopping to catch his breath – he wouldn’t have any breath left to catch.

Again he staggered to his feet and continued his erratic dash towards the rocks. Another shot hit the ground in front of him and then another ricocheted off a large rock just as he managed to throw himself safely behind it. Three more shots hit the rock, ripping out chunks of stone in tiny, almost silent explosions, before the shooter finally gave up and the running man was able to turn his attention to his injury. Gritting his teeth, he pulled the jagged piece of stone from his arm and sealed the tear with one of the quick-seal repair pads that came with the suit. The wound would have to look after itself until he could stop for long enough to set up a proper air-shield and stitch himself back together.

They would come looking for him. Of course they would, with fliers, skimmers, ground vehicles, everything they had. But he’d already disabled his suit’s transponder, and once he was safely inside the canyon, and with nightfall only an hour or so away, there wasn’t a chance in hell of them finding him. Most likely they’d give up the hunt after twenty-four hours, assuming his air would have run out, but they didn’t know about the supply drops he’d set up along the canyon bed. These would keep him going for the three or four days he’d need to reach safety. He checked to make sure the patch on his arm was airtight.

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