The Rand Orchestra: A Space Opera Thriller (Book 3 in the Eagle's Debt Saga) by Jason Winn

Author:Jason Winn [Winn, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Book 3 of the Eagle's Debt Saga
Publisher: Jason Winn
Published: 2020-01-22T16:00:00+00:00

“We’re going to have to set down here, sir,” the pilot said to Cougar. “The local Blue Shirts will take you farther south to the target.”

Cougar frowned. “You sure?”

The ground rose up as the hovercraft descended. “That’s affirmative. Regulations say I can’t go any farther south. It’s not safe, sir.”

The terrain was hardpan desert spotted with scrub brush and rusted humanitarian relief crates. Most of the crates were peppered with bullet holes. Cougar wondered if the Texas Panhandle had always been this forbidding. He’d always wanted to make a trip of exploring it, but today was a workday. He needed to find out what was in the Rand Orchestra compound from Axel’s contact matrix. He turned to Sergeant Monk. “Get them on the ready line.”

“Roger that, sir.” Monk headed for the crew bay. He was a grizzled old man with a set of eyes and body language that said, ‘I kill people for a living.’

Cougar punched in a command on one of the bridge monitors and brought up a satellite image of the compound. The main building was a mission-style house atop a hill, surrounded by a fence. A smattering of smaller houses filled out the interior. There were no vehicles or aircraft. But that didn’t mean there weren’t any buried in the vicinity.

Aerial drone surveillance was not available as the local militias and free riders liked to take pot shots at anything in the sky. Plus, a government drone usually meant the government was looking for trouble. They would have to set out on horseback, in local garb to keep a low profile.

Cougar switched off the monitor and took notice of the riders approaching through the thick dust. They all wore beards and long hair, with rifles over their shoulders. His hand dropped to Peace Breaker and he had to force himself to calm down. These boys were on his side…he hoped. He pulled the brim of his high roller hat low and went into the crew bay to collect his gear.

A few minutes later, Cougar stood with four fresh members of Salvo Company, watching the wind carry dust across the gentle rolling hills. Several men wore breathers for protection from the swirling dust. All the horses were outfitted with goggles and breather masks. Cougar couldn’t help but notice that three of the steeds had one or more robotic legs.

Fresh water pipelines ran along the hardpan off to the east, pumping desalinized water to the frontier farms over the horizon. The sun was setting to the west and it was time to move out. They climbed onto their mounts.

“You Gus?” Cougar asked the lead Blue Shirt.

“That’s right. We’re honored to have a hero ride with us, sir.”

Cougar smiled. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Shit. We watched you at the Battle of Denver with President Gardner. Don’t know why you thought to bring these young bucks with you.” He nodded to the Salvo men. “You could probably take on a tribe of Pistolarios by yourself.”

Cougar smirked at the flattery.

Gus was an old man with a white beard.

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