The Zeta Team by D.J. Goodman

Author:D.J. Goodman [Goodman, D.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2017-06-04T06:00:00+00:00

13

Marco had used the radio unit built into his armored chest plate on several occasions in the past during his less than stellar service, but this was the first time he’d had reason to use it since coming to 54174340. He activated it as he quickly threw on the chest plate, but it took him several seconds before he could get anything through other than static. The standard IPA personal comm units distributed among the common grunts were primitive compared to the hyper-beam unit Stonewerth had, and as such they weren’t intended for communication more distant than a few kilometers. They were for teams to communicate with each other over short distances, and that was it.

“All members of Zeta Team, come in! This is Glare! We have an emergency! Over!” Given the hiss and crackle that answered him, Marco thought briefly that the interference from the arch was also preventing these units from working. He was only partially right. He got a response back, but it was garbled and hard to hear.

“…that, Glare,” the ghost of Stonewerth’s voice said. “…unders… said. What’s…”

“I said we have an emergency in the Complex! There’s something else in here with us!” The comm responded with an especially loud burst of white noise. Marco switched it off, suddenly afraid that it might give his position away to any enemy that might be coming for him. Not that he had any idea what to expect, but he was pretty sure that whatever had come out of the prism was the source of the sudden power outage. Either that, or Hamlet had hit some especially wrong switches when trying to fix aIdI’s speech programs. Even if that were the case, aIdI had seemed pretty convinced they weren’t alone. There was still a possibility that their mystery visitor was friendly, but until he knew that for sure, Marco had to be prepared to defend himself.

Once he was fully geared up, Marco crouched low and took up a hiding space behind one of the lab tables. As far as he saw it, he had two options right now. He could either stay exactly where he was and keep hidden, or he could leave the room and try to make sure Hamlet was safe. Tactically, the first option was probably the smartest, but his sense of honor would continue to trouble him until he knew exactly where his compatriot was. Hamlet might be hiding himself, or he might be ripped into tiny pieces somewhere. Or he might be about to be ripped into pieces, and Marco could be the only one who could prevent it. Once that thought crossed his mind, hiding no longer felt like a viable option.

If Zeta Team had been issued some of the more modern helmets, they would have come with flip-down, holo-tactical readouts that would have allowed Marco to better see in the dark. Instead they had been issued older, no-frills surplus helmets that weren’t needed by any of the units that the IPA considered important.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.