The Roaring by Eric S. Brown

Author:Eric S. Brown [Brown, Eric S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2018-02-09T05:00:00+00:00

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Heather plowed through the jungle, doubling timing it back the way she and her squad had come. Nicholson was close on her heels with Roger and Flagston behind him. Walker brought up the rear, keeping an eye out for any sign of pursuit by the cannibal tribesmen that had attacked them twice already. There hadn’t been any sign of the natives since their last engagement with them. Heather didn’t dare hope their troubles with them were over though. As long as the cannibals had numbers to throw at them, she figured they would keep doing just that. To them, it might even be a matter of honor or vengeance at this point. Who knew how the minds of human beings that were willing to eat other human beings worked?

They had been on the move for a good while now and her best guess put them only about an hour out from the evac. zone where Wallace and Glen were waiting on them. She hadn’t bothered trying to radio them. They were carrying the device that was causing the EM interference in the area with them so getting a transmission to the VTOL seemed unlikely; besides, she had enough happening in here and now that took priority. She knew that even if the tribesmen had happened upon the landing zone and moved in on the VTOL, the odds were the plane and those she had left to watch over it were fine. Poison darts and clubs were no match for the armored hull of the craft. She considered firing off a flare to let Wallace and Glen know they were coming but decided against doing so. The risk that it would give away their current location to the tribesmen was too great. There was no guarantee that Wallace and Glen would see the flare anyway. It was still a long ways out from being sundown again.

Heather stopped, motioning for the others to the same as the sound of gunfire echoed through the trees. What in the devil, she wondered. She had given Wallace explicit orders not to try to come find them no matter what happened.

Nicolson stepped up beside her. “That’s a lot of gunfire for one or two people,” he commented as if reading her thoughts. “And I seriously doubt anyone armed the natives since the last time we saw them.”

The rest of the squad caught up to them. Walker was frowning.

“What the hell?” he asked.

“If that’s Wallace and Glen,” Roger boomed in his deep voice, “they must have brought a lot of backup with them.”

“It can’t be them,” Heather snarled. “I ordered them to stay with the Hopper.”

“Wallace isn’t exactly known for sticking to those kinds of orders, ma’am,” Roger answered.

“And there is no way they got back up in down here so fast,” Walker said. “The Braxton Corp would never have approved it. This run was supposed to be a covert one, in and out fast, with no help to call on even if we needed it.”

“He’s right,” Nicholson agreed.

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