Weapons Free (Drop Trooper Book 13) by Rick Partlow

Author:Rick Partlow [Partlow, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2023-07-17T23:00:00+00:00

17

“Wow,” Dr. Spinner breathed, his eyes wide. “I’d seen the pictures and video that the expedition took of this place, but they didn’t do it justice.”

It was impressive. A hell of a lot more impressive than the last system, the second Homeworlder colony. The Feds and the Grey shared a name for that one—Wasteland. That was a translation to English, of course, and I was sure their own word carried more nuance, but the description was apt. The planet had been more desert than anything else. Some high desert, some low desert, and small bands of green at the poles, a couple larger, lush islands where the population was settled, but not much chance of expansion without extensive planetary engineering. Which was centuries beyond these people.

We’d passed through the jumpgate with hardly a look backward, our attention and our worries all focused ahead. Duty stations were on high alert, Intercepts and assault shuttles were prepped for launch and, just in case, I even had Vicky ready with a platoon to repel boarders. No, that wasn’t likely, but part of being the commander meant preparing for every scenario, not just the likely ones.

“It seems like such a waste,” Dwight said and Spinner started, goggling up at the AI’s avatar at the side of the main display. “Two habitable planets, the third and fourth worlds out, plus the largest moon of the gas giant shows signs of being habitable as well, depending on the radiation exposure. And not a soul living here.”

The worlds were beautiful, both of them. Having two habitables wasn’t unheard of. 82 Eridani had both Eden and Inferno, and it wasn’t the only system like that. But generally, only one of the living worlds was hospitable. Eden was exactly as advertised, a world with huge temperate zones and a moderate climate, while Inferno was a hellhole, barely livable in summer and then only near the poles. That wasn’t the case here. These planets were twin sisters, each wreathed in blues and greens.

Even the moon of the closest gas giant to the primary star wasn’t bad, at least seen from a distance.

“We’re not picking up anything?” I asked Wojtera. The Tactical officer shook his head.

“Not around the habitables. No signs of ships, stations, satellites, and absolutely no energy signatures on the planets. There’s at least plant life there, but if there’s anything sentient on either of them, it hasn’t built anything hotter than a campfire.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Nance grumbled. “Why would they chase everyone out of here if they didn’t plan on taking advantage of the place themselves? This system is a gem. If it was in the Commonwealth, there’d be a billion people living in it, minimum.”

“You have a billion people living in your colonies?” Spinner asked me, disbelief strong in his stare.

“A lot more than that now,” I confirmed. “There’s at least as many people off Earth as on it nowadays.”

This time, I was strapped into the commander’s chair. We were decelerating at a comfortable one gravity at the moment, but God alone knew what we’d be facing on this side of the jumpgate.

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