The Unearthing (The Nexus Series Book 6) by Shane Shepherd

Author:Shane Shepherd [Shepherd, Shane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Luke

Near the Crashed Villein Ship, Remote Amazon Rainforest

Evans and I are hiding behind the partially buried ship. I keep peering over his shoulder. Evans—Alpha—[MG8]is holding the alien scanner. Trapper shadows in green and infected humans in yellow are progressively withdrawing and dispersing throughout the bush.

Evans, straining to see the hovering fighters through the dense canopy, says, “Syndi 001 and 005 have bought us some time.”

“But how much time?” Syndi 062 chimes in. The huge man gives me a gloomy look. “Get your friend to hurry up!”

“He's on it!” I snap.

A squad of soldiers around the sunken ship, all dressed in black camouflage gear, suddenly leave their positions.

“Sir!” One of the men stands at attention and salutes, swaying ever so slightly. His linen shirt gives him the appearance of a regular citizen, but I’m not fooled. The man is bleeding profusely from a shoulder wound, yet he’s still standing and armed with an energy weapon similar to Evans'.

Evans barks at him, “Get into cover.”

The man sits down next to us.

“Seven, report,” Evans said.

“We're down to four now, but we’re nearing our goal. It is presumed that the Signal is located within the ship.”

Another guy rushes towards the first and huddles against the alien ship's hull for protection, panting heavily. I recognize him as the Long Island treasure seeker I briefly met. Axel Butler. This version of him seems to have been to hell and back though. His clothing is coated with mud, his face is red from violent welts and bites, and his sweat-matted hair is in disarray.

“We're on it,” Syndi 062 says, nodding at Tony. “Take a breather. Have your shoulder looked at.”

“Medic!” Evans shouts.

Syndi 007's reply is feeble as he looks at the Villein and says, “He's dead, sir.”

Syndi 062 responds, “I'll sort it. Don't move.”

I observe as Tony feels around aimlessly on the buried ship's exterior, as if he isn't sure what he’s looking for.

The other Syndicate agents, and Axel, pretend to be just moderately astonished by the alien's presence among them. Tony stands out enough from the other Trappers, though, that no one shot him in error.

“Who is he?” Axel asks.

“A friend,” Evans responds. “Do you think he can pull it off?” he demands, staring pointedly at me.

Tony murmurs a retort.

“The controls are buried and caked with dirt,” I translate. “He's looking for…”

Tony abruptly abandons his search and begins cleaning the panel furiously. With a twist of his wrist, his fingers dig in. The hull detaches in a rectangular piece. A chamber with characteristic black porous walls is lit up by dim green lights.

“Does it still have power?” I wonder.

“Let’s move,” Evans says, not questioning the fact that we’re extremely lucky, as Tony drops into the ship.

While he wraps a compression wrap over Syndi 007's shoulder, Syndi 062 offers, “We'll protect the exit.”

I speed after Evans and dive in beside him. Tony slips along a rough passage with the inner hatch open. When we reach the next bulkhead, Evans and I jump in and land heavily. It seems like the ship had gone down with its nose first.

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