The Last Battleship 2: Battlefield Earth by Joshua T. Calvert

Author:Joshua T. Calvert [Calvert, Joshua T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-31T23:00:00+00:00

19

TFS CAESAR, STARBOARD BRIG

Konrad was lying on a cot, trying to ignore the pain on his back caused by the injuries inflicted by the shard Pyrgorates used to cut him. He couldn’t sleep or lay on his side or stomach because of the pain. Even sitting was impossible because the medic who had treated him had stapled the cuts roughly and sparingly. Stapled! Konrad was surprised by this because he thought those devices were only available to Federation ground troops for use in planetary battles when a nano medipack was not available. He realized it must have been part of the torture Pyrgorates wanted to inflict on him.

Admiral Bretoni’s sudden murder had shocked Konrad. He was usually alert to events and seldom caught off guard, but Pyrgorates’s deed was entirely unexpected. Although he’d already had doubts about Augustus, that he was simply cunning and malicious, he hadn’t thought he’d be a victim of a game. But though Bretoni had thought he was the one pulling the strings, it turned out he was wrong. The admiral seemed to have realized his lack of freedom in the end. Konrad concluded that Bretoni was a man of conviction who was able to play a role to achieve his goal while staying true to his course. Konrad disagreed with his course of action, which had led to the destruction of an entire strike group. And Bretoni had tried to take Nicholas away from him and turn Jason against him. Those were things Konrad could never forgive.

I hope you are well, he thought as he pictured his two sons, and managed a pained smile.

The security door hissed open and interrupted his sleepless musings. He sat up with difficulty. If Pyrgorates had come to torment him, he would not do him the favor and wait like a lamb ready for slaughter. But it was not Pyrgorates.

A soldier came in holding a tray. Was it morning already?

“Mealtime!” the man said loudly and rattled the bars with the barrel of a pistol. The sound reverberated in Konrad’s ears. The previously dimmed lights abruptly switched to full illumination. The blinding light stabbed into his retinas and pain exploded in the back of his head.

“It can’t even be midnight,” he groaned.

“Yes, it can. It’s half an hour past midnight.” The soldier, a wiry man with dark eyes and an icy stare, slid the tray through an opening on the floor and pointed to it as he straightened. His movements were extremely smooth, which he tried to hide. But Konrad was not easily fooled. “With the compliments of the entire guard force. They’ve all done their part. If it’s not all eaten by 0600, we’ll get a funnel and make sure the last drop finds its way into your stomach.”

Konrad leaned forward a bit and looked into the small soup bowl. The acrid stench of stomach bile penetrated his nose. The vomit reminded him of the time when Jason and Nicholas suffered from vomiting diarrhea in their childhood.

“I don’t think so.”

“We’ll see about that.

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.