Andromeda's Choice by William C. Dietz

Author:William C. Dietz [Dietz, William C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781783290338
Google: SUq_BgAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 15808702
Publisher: Ace
Published: 2013-12-02T11:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER: 11

“There are many enemies” applies when you are fighting one against many. Draw both sword and companion sword and assume a wide-stretch left and right attitude. The spirit is to chase the enemies around from side to side, even as they come from all four directions.

MIYAMOTO MUSASHI

A Book of Five Rings

Standard year circa 1634

PLANET ALGERON

The squad had been on the go for more than two hours, and another period of daylight was about to end. McKee figured it was a good time to pause, give the bio bods a break, and make contact with Major Hasbro. So she was looking for a good place to hunker down when they came across the ruins of a barn. The roof had fallen in, but the walls were made of stacked stone. A good fort in a pinch.

“This is Eight,” McKee said. “We’re going to take a fifteen-minute break. There won’t be another squat for quite a while, so eat, pee, or whatever. But keep your heads on a swivel. The digs would like nothing better than to catch you with your pants down. Over.”

It was dark by then, and the night-vision technology built into McKee’s helmet gave the other members of the squad a ghostly appearance as she sought a moment of privacy behind some bushes. Then it was time to switch to the emergency freq and contact Hasbro. McKee knew the Naa might be able to detect activity on that channel but wouldn’t be able to understand what she said since the transmission would be scrambled both ways. “Bravo-Eight to Echo-One-Two . . . Do you read me? Over.”

Silence.

“Do you copy One-Two?”

Nothing.

McKee removed a trail bar from one of her cargo pockets, stripped the wrapper off, and took a bite. The lack of a response from Hasbro could be attributed to all sorts of things. The officer could be on the move, too close to the enemy to talk, or sound asleep. Or, and she hated to think about it, he might be dead. Still, the emergency locator beacon was on. But what if the Naa had the legionnaire’s handset—and were using it to suck her in? There were a lot of possibilities and no way to know which one she should pay attention to.

They were back on the trail ten minutes later. The darkness could be dangerous, but so could daylight, given the increased likelihood that they would be spotted. That’s why McKee preferred to travel at night. Yes, an ambush was always a possibility, but an unlikely one so long as the Naa remained unaware of them.

That’s why McKee’s greatest fear was that the patrol would blunder into the enemy. A firefight would follow, and even if the legionnaires won, the Naa would know where they were. That would reduce the chances of a rescue to near zero.

But the next three hours passed without incident, and when they stopped for a break, it was just past dawn. The sun was a seldom-seen bruise in a lead gray sky, and the clouds were so low they seemed to touch the hilltops.

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