The Smuggler's Ascension: Dark Tide Rising by Ingersoll Christopher

Author:Ingersoll, Christopher [Ingersoll, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2017-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

~Interlude 2~

Max pounded on the door before him, creating huge dents in the metal as he watched Kristof and Subat run off with the last trooper still trapped on the other side, followed by a hail of laser fire that chased them out of sight. Kristof’s last shouted command came back to him after a few moments, and he lifted his gun once more and commanded the remaining troops to move out.

The rebels took the lead as they progressed deeper and deeper into the moon. Max walked on autopilot, his thoughts far away as he went over everything that had happened again and again, looking for something that he missed that could have saved them all. Nothing came to him, however. Their enemy had planned the trap well.

Other thoughts ran through the android’s head as well, new thoughts that did not have words with them. With a start, Max determined that these new thoughts were not thoughts at all, but rather feelings and emotion. Rage figured prominently among them, as well as worry for his friend, especially after hearing the two loud explosions a time later.

Silence followed the explosions, and Max could only hope that Kristof and Subat somehow found a way out of this mess. Hours passed as the remaining team continued further and further into the shaft. No signs of pursuit came to them as they went, so Max finally called a halt so the humans could rest for a bit.

These new emotions confused Max as he tried to analyze them. They defied his logic processors, however, leaving him just as confused as before. He didn’t understand the nearly uncontrollable need to smash things around him in this dark, abandoned shaft. His first instinct had been to ask Kristof about it, but the memory of his loss brought with it new feelings of emptiness and regret.

Max would have turned these new emotions off if he could, but they came seemingly from nowhere and he could not rid himself of them, not matter how many processors and memory cells he tried to switch off. It was no wonder humans were so infuriating some times, he thought to himself.

The team moved out, content to let Max set the pace and trusting his vision in this black hole better than their own equipment. It was true that Max could see in several different wavelengths at once, so their choice was logical. Max tried to hold on to that logical thought, but the emotions kept intruding.

The team lost track of time in that abyss, but Max knew that two days had passed by the time they neared the end of the tunnel through the moon. They had been lucky to find an old, abandoned rail cart large enough to hold the remaining team and the rebels. Max had pushed the cart himself, and soon they had traveled through the moon at a good pace as Max went tirelessly hour after hour.

“We are close enough to the surface to send out a transmission now,” one of the troopers reported after checking his gear.

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