Violent Wonder by Fredrick Niles

Author:Fredrick Niles [Niles, Fredrick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781950021024
Publisher: Fever Garden Publishing
Published: 2020-05-27T22:00:00+00:00

7

Boarding Party

There was no viewing screen inside the airlock but they knew they had connected to the docking arm when the ship shuttered so hard that Raquel almost shattered a tooth. All wearing combat suits and wielding some form of energy weapon, the four of them doubled up with Nadia and Hector in front and Kit and Raquel bringing up the rear. The idea was to have a Marauder at both the front and rear so they could take point if an attack came from either direction.

This wasn’t Raquel’s first time in a combat suit but she still wasn’t used to it. The armor was a thick titanium alloy similar to the Arc Suits that Kit and Nadia wore, but theirs were hooked into a neural network that apparently made every inch of the armor feel like a natural extension of their body. Raquel and Hector’s suits on the other hand were big and unwieldy and made her feel like she was trying to steer a boat with her knees and elbows. She felt almost claustrophobic inside and was equally unnerved by how little material separated her from the vacuum of space or whatever deadly elements were out there. She kept compulsively reaching around to check her air tank until Kit finally reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

The gesture of kindness was small but it was enough. She still felt scared and angry at Ritz but at least she wasn’t alone out here. It made her feel better that there was someone watching her back.

“We’re docked,” came the captain’s voice over their comms. “Everyone engage your mag-boots. Atmosphere doesn’t look too bad from in here but you won’t know until you’re in it, so better to be safe than sorry. Don’t want anyone flying out into space.”

Mag-boots. Shit, where’s the switch for mag-boots. She lifted her left arm and quickly scrolled through the data-pad affixed to her gauntlet. There. Raquel engaged the magnetic field on her boots just as the outer door to the airlock opened.

But nothing happened. No screaming sounds of metal or venting atmosphere. Peering over Nadia and Hector’s shoulders, she could see only darkness and stillness. A beam of light snapped on in front of her and then another as the two turned on their under-barrel flashlights.

The passageway was short and narrow and turned at a 45-degree angle ahead. Motes of dust stirred in their flashlight beams as Raquel engaged hers. The stillness was so dense it almost had its own weight to it. No sound. No movement. Nothing.

The rifle she had chosen was a short automatic energy carbine; it fired high-density plasma bolts that wouldn’t go through a ship’s hull but would put a pretty good-sized hole through a person. The weapon’s weight was reassuring, and she had brought the Slugger as well. The big pistol wouldn’t fire in space, but if there was atmosphere on board it would work just fine.

She put her rifle to her shoulder and the four of them stepped aboard.

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