Lazarus Rising by David Sherman; Dan Cragg

Author:David Sherman; Dan Cragg
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Space Opera, Fiction, Science Fiction, Adventure, Life on Other Planets, Military, Marines, General
ISBN: 9780345443731
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 2003-01-01T11:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

"Sir! I lost the Fly!" the surveillance technician shouted.

"You don't just lose a Fly, what are you talking about?" The lieutenant looked up from the RPV console he'd been trying to repair. Everything in the RPV section was breaking down these days. In fact, everything everywhere in the Army of the Lord seemed to be breaking down. He got up and leaned over the technician's shoulder.

The screen was blank.

"It just disappeared," the technician confessed. "There was this flash and it was gone. Someone shot it down, that's what I think."

"What sector were you searching?"

"X-Ray Romeo 546371, an abandoned village named New Salem, sir. In support of 2nd Regiment's reconnaissance platoon."

The lieutenant thought for a second and remembered that the platoon was commanded by Lieutenant Ben Loman. His upper lip twitched; he had no use for Loman.

"What is the position of the village relative to the platoon?" he asked.

"It's about forty klicks to the south of the platoon's last reported position, sir. Heh heh, guess New Salem ain't so abandoned after all, eh, sir?" The lieutenant gave him a hard look. "The platoon is preparing to fort-up there for the night," the technician continued quickly. "The lieutenant asked me to use the rest of the daylight to extend my surveillance area."

"Play it back." He turned to his sergeant, who was also busily trying to repair something. "Sword, get Battalion. I think we've found a hot one here. Tell the duty officer to hang on, I'll be with him in a minute. And get a message through to Ben Loman to hold where he is until further orders." He turned to the technician. "Play it back," he said again.

"This is where I first got suspicious," the technician said as the trid played back on the monitor. The remotely piloted vehicle was poised before a window in what looked to be an unoccupied dwelling. "The people who lived here were members of the City of God sect that was wiped out by the demons out by the Sea of Gerizim,"

the technician volunteered. "Look! I thought I saw movement in there! Can't be sure, the way the light plays tricks on the Fly's optics."

"This equipment is obsolete," the lieutenant muttered behind the technician's shoulder. "Maybe our Glorious Leader will ‘reform’ our procurement system so we can get something that works." Then in a normal voice, "Hmm, yes, something sure moved inside there."

"I thought it was just the optics, sir, so I zoomed off down the main street. That's what you're seeing now. Place looks deserted, doesn't it?"

"Hold it! Back up the image," the officer said. "There! Freeze it." He stared intensely at the image on the monitor. "Look here." He placed a finger on the monitor. The technician looked. The lieutenant removed his finger.

The technician automatically wiped the officer's smudgy fingerprint off the screen.

"I don't see anything, sir."

"I think that's a footprint there. Can't tell if it's human or one of them. Look again."

The technician stared hard. He still couldn't recognize a footprint in the dust of the street.

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