The Forbidden Spacemage by Dan Oakley

Author:Dan Oakley [Oakley, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-26T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

As soon as we entered the dark jungle, the atmosphere changed. This time, it wasn’t only Trella who was vigilant. Everyone was on their guard. The dark shadows between the trees set everyone on edge.

I expected to see a monstrous lizard lurking behind every tree we passed. The terrain was rough. Fallen tree branches and vines that wrapped around my legs made me stumble as I walked, and finding a path through the trees was difficult.

A greenish light filtered through the canopy. The bracken-covered floor gave way to dark green sludge. My boots squelched over the muck. I lowered the audio setting on my headset, wanting to tone down the chirping bugs. The chorus of insects was getting on my nerves making it hard to think.

There appeared to be no birds on this planet. I hadn’t seen any in flight or heard any bird song since we’d jumped. There were plenty of other flying things, namely gigantic bugs who flew lazily around us. No birds to eat the flying bugs must have caused an explosion in the insect population. Had birds once inhabited this planet? Perhaps they’d been wiped out by the nuclear accident. I wondered if there were areas of Tor that had escaped the nuclear fallout.

The tropical forest was nothing like the woods I was familiar with back on Terrano. There, the air was crisp, clean and cool, but here, it was steamy and oppressive, and I was glad to have the protection of my cooling system and helmet.

I stuck close to Trella. None of us wanted to get left behind, and it would be easy to get lost. I could see Trella and the defense squad guy, Draylan, in front of her, but I couldn’t see anyone further on. The jungle made visibility difficult. We trudged on, and I kept adjusting the setting of my suit to try and cool down.

We’d been told the atmosphere on Tor was suitable for human habitation. Maybe it was, but it certainly wasn’t comfortable. I longed for the cool breeze and the fresh atmosphere of home.

“Guys, I think I’ve got a problem.” Bobby’s voice came over the comm system.

I turned to look behind me. But couldn’t see Bobby.

“What is it?” Ensign Borrack asked.

“It’s my suit. It stopped cooling, and I’m seriously overheating.”

Trella jerked her chin at me. “Continue on, Tomas. I’m going to help Bobby.”

I scrambled to keep up with Draylan in front as Trella slipped behind, looking for Bobby. Perhaps she was going to try and help cool him with magic somehow.

I didn’t have time to ponder on what she might do. I was too busy focusing on not losing the guy in front of me. Unbelievably, the jungle seemed to get even denser.

“We don’t have far to go now,” Ensign Borrack said. I spotted him through the trees, checking the comms device on his wrist. “It’s only half a klick to the original jump site. The site was chosen because it’s closest to the most secure building on Tor.

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