The Ember War (The Ember War Saga Book 1) by Richard Fox

Author:Richard Fox [Fox, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Triplane Press
Published: 2015-06-30T04:00:00+00:00

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The elevator carrying Hale and Stacey jerked to a halt. The lights switched to amber and pulsed.

“That’s not good,” Hale said, tapping at the control panel.

“What happened?” Stacey asked the sliver of light in her palm.

“I don’t know. The shielding is too strong for me to reach out,” Ibarra said.

The building rocked and the elevator lights went solid red.

“Those are the emergency brakes. We are definitely stuck now,” Ibarra said. Thuds reverberated through the elevator and a tremor made the floor tick-tick-tick against Hale’s boots.

“That’s a firefight.” Hale pawed at the ceiling panels, which refused to budge. He switched his gauss rifle to low power and pressed the muzzle against the ceiling. “When all else fails, we can shoot our way out.”

“Don’t! I designed this to withstand gauss fire. One shot and you’ll turn our ride into a blender,” Ibarra said.

“If you designed this, then how did you intend to get out in case of an emergency?” Stacey asked.

“I didn’t,” Ibarra said.

“Some genius you are,” Hale said.

The elevator rumbled, then went into free fall. Stacey screamed and braced herself against the sides. The elevator slammed to a halt and sent her and Hale to the ground in a jumble of limbs. The elevator heaved upwards, paused, and then moved up again.

“What the hell is going on?” Hale asked.

“Ah, OK. We’ll be fine in a minute,” Ibarra said. Their ascent continued in pulses.

Stacey pulled her sidearm from its holster and powered it up. The lights in the elevator cut out. The only illumination came from the glow from Stacey’s palm and the lights on their weapons.

The elevator fell on its side, taking its passengers down with it. It tumbled to one side, then slammed against the ground with a metallic slap. Metal groaned and light burst through rents in the elevator door. The tips of gray tendrils bent the metal with ease.

The doors ripped away and Stacey fired her pistol. A gauss round bounced off the head of Elias’ armor. The suit, its grayscale armor blending with the clouds above it, shook its head from side to side.

“You’re welcome,” Elias said. The suit’s huge arm reached into the elevator and scooped Stacey out.

Hale stood up and looked around. The elevator lay in what remained of the Euskal Tower’s VIP entrance. Most of the roof was blasted away, the carpet scorched and smoking.

Hale’s visor struggled to update as information flooded it.

“Sir? You get what we came for?” Cortaro asked. “Major Acera wants us to leave like yesterday.”

“We’ve got it. What happened? Where are Walsh and Vincenti? Why aren’t they on my screens?”

“They’re down, sir. Those things…they’re murder,” Cortaro said.

Hale looked at the remains of his two Marines lying side by side outside the wrecked entrance. Two men gone and he hadn’t been there when it happened. Guilt hit him in the stomach like a fist and he climbed out of the elevator. He got two steps toward Walsh and Vincenti before Cortaro put a hand to his chest.

“I have their tags. We have to go before more show up.

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