Chains of Duty (Survival Wars Book 3) by Anthony James

Author:Anthony James [James, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Published: 2017-11-20T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

The morning passed slowly. They’d exhausted their few options when it came to repairs. Without proper tools and with only a passing knowledge of how the tank worked, they ran quickly into a dead end. Corporal Hammond had found a hand-held analyser, which he’d plugged into one of the mainframe’s interface ports. The device ran through a number of routines to try and kick-start the vehicle’s main computer. After a while it, too, gave up, having exhausted its own pre-programmed list of options.

Duggan was just about to call for them to return to the pyramid and plant every last explosive device they possessed onto the door and see if it would blow open, when his suit comms crackled faintly. He jerked in surprise. The crackling didn’t go away and he heard a voice amongst the harsh static, repeating a message over and over. He tried to respond, convinced his words would be lost in the noise. After a few minutes, he was able to make it out what was being said.

“This is Terminus Shuttle One. Do you copy?”

“This is Captain Duggan. I copy.”

“Captain Duggan, this is Sergeant Washington. We’re approaching your coordinates. Please hold your position. ETA twenty minutes.”

“We’re not going anywhere,” said Duggan, relief flooding into him. He spoke into the open channel. “We’ve got a rescue coming. Everyone get off the tank and be ready to give them a wave.”

“Damn, I’m glad to hear those words,” said Ortiz.

Duggan had plenty of questions, which he kept to himself for the moment. Twenty minutes wasn’t long and the shuttle was soon visible in the distance. The vessel was about fifty metres in length and it hovered for a few seconds while its landing computer checked the solidity of the ground below. When it was satisfied, the autopilot set the craft down a short distance away from the tank. The squad ran over, as the boarding ramp folded quietly outwards.

“Sergeant Washington, I’m glad to see you,” said Duggan to the first man off the ramp.

“I thought you might be, sir. Want me to fill you in on the details?”

“Fire away, Sergeant. Where’s the Terminus?”

“The ship’s still up there, sir. Commander McGlashan spoke to me directly. The Ghasts are following some crazy pattern around this system. She isn’t certain, but she thinks they may be purposefully taking a route that keeps us out of contact with the ground deployment.”

“She said that?”

“Yes sir. The Ghasts finally responded to our request for information and they claim they’re doing engine tests after the recent damage they suffered.”

“What did Commander McGlashan say about it?”

“She believed them, sir. She also believes their deep fission drives have sufficient output to take them into a medium lightspeed. The engines on the Terminus won’t be ready for another few hours. Commander McGlashan is continuing to shadow the Dretisear as per orders.”

“How did you get here? There were launch problems.”

“Those problems remain unresolved, sir. However, the men and women onboard have worked tirelessly with metal cutters and managed to remove the magnetic clamps from this craft, thereby allowing it to leave the Terminus.

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