Hardcore - 03 by Andy Remic

Author:Andy Remic [Remic, Andy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Solaris Books
Published: 2011-02-24T05:00:00+00:00

the Zeppelin3 moved up to the roof of the cavern, then into a wide tunnel which swallowed the vessel like a pea in an ocean. Franco and the squad took seats behind Zegg and Paddy, and as they rose through the vastness Franco experienced a strange sensation, as if he was rising from the belly of a beast, up its vast oesophagus to be vomited out into freezing ice air.

As they rose, so the temperature fell and fell and fell, until they saw a distant oval of light. Gradually, the tunnel was filled with a grey-white aura and they emerged into a perfect snowscape, cruising from a sloped shaft and up into the heavens which were gloriously clear. A white world spread out around the Zeppelin3, and Zegg manoeuvred the cumbersome vessel with skill, lifting it gradually to a high altitude where the breeze was crisp, cold and violently refreshing.

Zegg continued to prattle on, in what Franco termed a Terminally Useless Talk; he would speak, gush, froth and ejaculate, but rarely did his dialogue make any sense except to promote his own sense of self-worth and importance.

"...yes and now the Para-Medics are at the forefront of all military medical battlefield technology, and you'll find that the Para-Medics - did I mention I was a Para-Medic? - well the Para-Medics are the most lethal in battle, the most terrible in combat, and between us we are a collective genius in the art of destruction." He beamed.

"Is that so?" said Franco.

"Oh yes," said Zegg, plodding his zeppelin through the cold skies. "Once, millennia ago, these airships were Air Ambulances, they were used for emergencies across the entirety of Sick World and the Para-Medics, even then, were held in a very high esteem but not in the same high esteem as we now demand, due to our terrible lethality in battle, did I mention we were terrible in battle? The Para-Medics are supreme in battle, and it's rare any other army can get the better of us but as I was saying, the Air Ambulances were used in emergencies and Para-Medics like me, with the Red Band, we were the top notch guys better believe it but the bureaucracy kept trying to mess with us because, hey, that's what bureaucracy does right and I soon learned that even if an emergency call came in, and say, some loon or doccie needed emergency treatment for a heart attack or vertical vein strip or something just as life-threatening, well, because of that dang bureaucracy I'd just sit there and eat my sausage and egg sandwich and to hell with all those the bastards."

Franco frowned. "So, you'd let people die?" he said. "For a muffin?"

"Oh yes," beamed Zegg. "They're all moaning whining cripples anyway, every last one of them using our dang Air Ambulances as a taxi service from one continent to another. I realised that if I made them suffer, as you do, then they'd never try it again oh no so they wouldn't."

"That's because they'd be dead," pointed out Franco.

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