The Clone Alliance (Clone 3) by Steven L. Kent

Author:Steven L. Kent
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Cloning, Space Opera, Fiction, Science Fiction, Human cloning, Adventure fiction, Military, War & Military, Soldiers, Imaginary wars and battles, General, Adventure
Publisher: Berkley Pub Group
Published: 2007-10-29T13:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FIVE

My time in the compartment was not quite as bad as being buried alive. Everything around me was dark and still, but I could move my arms around my sides. The compartment was so shallow that moving my arms across my chest took serious squirming.

Even after they boarded the transport and the kettle doors closed, the Mogats continued communicating over their obsolete interLink band. I listened in to some of their chatter—one hundred soldiers babbling on in two dozen different conversations. One guy bragged endlessly about the three “bargers” he bagged. “Bargers” must have been Mogat slang for U.A. sailors.

I did not hear a shred of valuable information eavesdropping on these lowlifes. When the pilot restored the atmosphere inside the kettle, the men took off their helmets and the interLink went silent.

The shell of the transport vibrated as the thrusters lifted it off the launch bay deck. I did not hear the engines so much as feel them. The metal beneath my back trembled so hard that its spasms shook me inside my armor.

“Evans, can you hear me?” I called over the interLink.

“Did you make it out?” Sergeant Evans asked.

“I’m on the transport,” I said.

“Are you hidden?” he asked.

“I’m in a crawl space under the floor,” I said. “What’s the situation over there?”

“Three of their transports are out. The Mogats on that last one must not be in any rush to get home. They’re taking a stroll around the ship.”

“And our guys?” I asked.

The shell of the transport began to spasm again. I heard the thrusters working. They whispered through the hull. The transport made an eerie creaking sound.

“We’re all in the vents.”

“Stay hidden,” I said.

“Aye, aye,” Evans responded.

He was a good and reliable Marine. He was a bore.

The landing gear clanked as it struck the deck and its struts whined under the weight of the transport. We had landed on a Mogat battleship. The men in the kettle would file off the ship as fast as they could. Pilots usually took their time shutting down systems. I was deaf and blind down in the crawl space, so I would allot him plenty of time to leave the ship before opening the hatch above me. I remained motionless, lying on my back, alone in the dark.

I went over the layout of the derelict battleship in my mind. The layout of this ship would be identical. I remembered the path I took to get to the launch bay. I could not hide in an emergency elevator or pass through the vents this time. I would have to blend in.

“You there, Master Sergeant?” It was Evans on the interLink.

“What is it?”

“The last transport just flew out.”

“Did they leave sentries?” I asked.

“The ship is clear,” he said.

“How long till the explorer comes back?” I asked. I should have known that, but I had lost track of time.

“Should be another hour,” Evans said.

“Okay, Evans, keep an eye out for my signal.” That was the point of the entire exercise. If Yamashiro was right, and

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