Radko's War, #1 by David Whale

Author:David Whale
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: alien invasion, starship, military, scifi, science fiction, star wars
Publisher: OCTOSQUID
Published: 2018-12-12T00:00:00+00:00

The tower was the best view Fort Hathaway had to offer. Standing another nine metres above the wall on which it was mounted, a set of metal switchback stairs led to a three metre square box from which a lookout would have a clear view of the colony and the plains approaching the fort’s gates. In times of peace, when the fort wasn’t facing any threats, the tower was a favourite place for the garrison’s soldiers to unwind, have a drink, play some cards. It had even been used more than once for late-night sexual encounters, if a sympathetic guard was on wall duty. However, in times when there had been threats to the security of the colony – usually from the Soviets – the tower became a sniper position.

Sigurdsson leaned her head back against the cold concrete wall, her sniper rifle Vidar laying across her lap. With the temperatures dropping as they were with the fall of night, she had to change positions frequently to avoid the cold stiffening her muscles. She’d be no good to anyone if she couldn’t move when they needed her, so she’d be relying primarily on the sentries posted to the wall below to let her know if and when targets were presenting themselves. But in between rests and walking in circles in the small hut and jumping up and down to keep herself loose, Sigurdsson was at one of the tower’s viewports, switching between Vidar’s scope and her own multi-layered optics to scan the plains, trying to keep her own tabs on their attackers. Because though she was uncertain of a great many things, there was one thing of which Sigurdsson was absolutely certain: there would be more attacks.

Standing, she stretched her arms and back, rotated her shoulders a few times and winced, swearing softly under her breath. Whatever she’d done to her shoulder in the mad dash to the gates of the fort had been worse than she’d thought. The range of motion was still good enough to get by and to not affect her shooting, but Sigurdsson wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to say that, with the dropping temperatures and the cold starting to seep into her muscles.

Sitting at her side, Jaeger looked up at her and chuffed.

"I know, I should go to the infirmary. And I will, once my watch is done."

It may have just been her imagination or her weariness or more likely a combination of both, but Jaeger looked skeptical.

"I promise, okay?"

Picking up Vidar, she turned to the viewport, flipping down the rifle’s bipod. As she set up and began another scan of the snow-covered plains – this time with her night-vision overlay to compensate for the negligible natural light – Jaeger stretched and yawned and laid down beside her. His back pressed against Sigurdsson’s leg and he faced the only entrance to the tower. It was something she’d noticed about him in the time they’d spent together, that no matter where they were, when Jaeger lay down he always faced the door.

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