The Nameless War by Edmond Barrett

Author:Edmond Barrett [Barrett, Edmond]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fiction, Military, cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
ISBN: 9781477645970
Amazon: B005DTO04K
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

"Welcome on board, sir." The petty officer saluted sharply, as Crowe pulled himself through the entry hatch. By the book, there should have been a side party to greet him, instead it was one man, in a uniform that looked like it had been slept in. Its wearer though, looked like sleep was but a distant memory. There were dark circles under the man’s eyes; a grubby bandage was wrapped around the knuckles of his left hand.

The PO closed the hatch behind Crowe, and there was sound of pumps drawing out the air inside the lock.

"I’m afraid I have to ask you to wait, sir, until the Captains of Mantis, Scorpion and Samaritan have come aboard, then I will take you all to the Captain." The petty officer told him. "On behalf of Captain Lukeman, I apologise for this."

"That’s all right PO, I’ve served on this class, I can find my own way." Crowe replied, the ship was obviously so short handed they couldn’t even spare a couple of hands to escort the arrivals. The one man they assigned to the job, looked like he would be swaying on his feet, if they had been in gravity.

"I’d advise you wait, sir, a lot of access ways are blocked off or open to space."

There was another series of clunks from outside, as another shuttle connected to the outside of the lock. The pumps went into action again and after a minute the light above the lock switched to green, the hatch opened and Berg pulled herself through. Crowe waited as Berg accepted the Petty Officer’s salute before pushing himself forward.

"Carol," He greeted her with a smile. "good you see you in the flesh again." He embraced her for a moment.

"Oof. What was that for?" Berg looked somewhat surprise at the friendliness of the greeting.

"For shooting those missiles off our ass." Crowe replied. "Thanks for that."

“You’re welcome, sir. We won’t cut it so fine next time."

Crowe gave a half laugh and turned as the airlocks pumps started to sound yet again, after a minute Captain Agostini of Samaritan came through. Last to arrive was Commander Baird of Scorpion.

"Thank you for your patience." Said the Petty Officer. "I’ll take you now to the Captain."

The journey into Colossus was a sobering experience. The three visitors in their clean uniforms, looked completely out of place among the ragged crew of Colossus. Everywhere Crowe looked, he could see tired and defeated men and women, working to keep what was left of their ship going. The ship itself was hideously battered, power cables and communication runs dangled from their mounts, steel bulkheads crumpled like tinfoil, burnt out circuit boards scattered here and there. Worst of all, time after time, they past sealed hatches with red lights glowing above them, indication that the sections beyond were now open to space.

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