Night Song (The Guild Wars Book 9) by Mark Wandrey (best ereader under 100 .txt) 📕

left after penetrating the Phoenix’s hull to get through a CASPer’s armor. The cockpit had been another matter. Flop had been hit three times and died within minutes. Ripley took one through the chest. Private Dyffid, Second Squad’s medic, said it had missed her heart by a couple millimeters.

“Seat back took some of the energy, too,” he said.

Well, she was luckier than Lieutenant Prendergast. He never had found out why his callsign was Flop. Knowing pilots, it had to have been a good story. “ETA to landing five minutes, Colonel,” Captain Tesfaye said from the cockpit. He’d been Silent Night’s chief dropship pilot for 20 years, a solid Ethiopian man who was fiercely loyal to their company ever since he’d come to live in Australia.

“Thanks, Yonas.”

“Is she okay?” Sonya asked quietly.

“She’s alive,” Dyffid replied. He’d also been monitoring Ripley constantly.

“I wish I’d been faster,” Rex said from inside his CASPer.

“She’s alive,” Drake repeated, a growl in the words to emphasize the point.

“You did what you could. You knew she was in trouble before any of us.” Sonya clapped her hand on his CASPer, the dull sound echoing.

“I wish—”

“She’s alive,” Shadow reiterated, and this third repetition seemed to unlock some tension in Rex, as his oldest son’s ears lifted to a more natural position.

Alan checked with Tesfaye. Still no word from the two Zuul assault shuttles. He’d been particularly quiet about the situation on the ground. “Captain Anderle will explain, sir,” was all he’d said.

True to his word, they set down on the dwarf planet five minutes later. Alan wasn’t sure he’d call it setting down. He’d reviewed the stats Tesfaye had forwarded. E’cop’k had an ambient gravity of just 0.2 G. Ambient because it was irregular in shape, so it varied as much as 20%, depending on where you were. Escape velocity was only 511 meters per second. A CASPer could reach orbit on jumpjets! Amazingly, it did have an atmosphere. At 522.5 mPa, it was about half sea level on Earth. It was also mostly carbon dioxide, and cold as Hades. You had to wear a mask and a cold suit, but you didn’t need a space suit or CASPer. Alan was no scientist, but the presence of a thick atmosphere on such a small planet was baffling.

Everyone in the Wasp’s hold was in CASPers or pressure suits, so the doors quickly opened to allow in a blast of local atmosphere. Alan’s sensors warned him it was unsuitable for Human physiology and -11 degrees. Better than vacuum, he thought.

A dozen men in cold weather gear were waiting at the bottom of the ramp. It was great to see some of his people again; the black logo with a single star over a mountain had never looked so good. He even recognized a few faces behind the breathing masks as they bounded up the ramp in the miniscule gravity, looking like ancient videos of Neil Armstrong on the moon. In particular, he spotted Captain Jill Anderle, Second Company Commander. He’d last seen her almost a year ago when he’d left her in command to finish the contract. She came to attention and saluted.

“Commander Porter,” she said.

Alan saluted in his CASPer. “Captain Anderle, I relieve you.”

“I stand relieved,” she said. “Gratefully.” She offered her hand, which he carefully shook in his powered armor. “Tesfaye was reluctant to give me details. You better fill me in.”

An armorer and a pair of medics had boarded immediately. The armorer took Ripley’s CASPer under remote and got it moving, while the medics plugged their slates into the suit and began checking her vitals. The armorer gawked for a second at the specially designed Mk 7 CASPer with its reversed knees, knowing who must be inside. The other four similarly designed suits fell in behind. It would do no good to suggest they not follow their sibling so Alan didn’t bother.

The rest of the squad began exiting the Wasp as Anderle spoke.

“There was some excitement right at the end of the contract. A light MinSha assault force showed up. Whoever hired them hadn’t told them they were facing CASPers, though. We mauled them pretty badly. They shot up Starbright as they were retreating.”

“Typical.” Alan snorted.

“We were on the way back as planned, when we started getting intel on what was happening on Earth. The Mercenary Guild was attacking.” Alan nodded, knowing only too well, having lived under occupation. “Well, Starbright was giving us trouble, so we decided to take an even more backroads route home. Ended up passing through the Klbood system. Didn’t expect it to be full of fucking cats.”

“Yeah, we followed you through. Saw the wrecked CASPer you traded.”

“I made sure it wasn’t any use to them.”

They’d walked down the ramp as the medical team moved Ripley’s CASPer like an automaton. It was easier to just keep her in the suit, since it was undamaged. A heavily armored cocoon. His first look at E’cop’k was a bit of a surprise. They were on an improved landing facility, almost a small starport. In one direction was a line of hangars and service buildings. Several had damage, indicating recent fighting. In the other direction were massive industrial buildings, some warehouses, and a strangely looming mountain. It almost seemed to be leaning toward them. Two mine entrances were clearly visible, and heavy machinery moved on the mountain’s face.

“We saw, good job.”

“Well, after that, we got the parts we needed and decided to GTFO while the getting was good. The cats were acting weird, but not as weird as the Sumatozou running the stargate. A Zuul merc cruiser was right behind us, so instead of trying to figure out what was happening, we got out. Then we fell out of hyperspace and ended up here.”

“How did that happen?” Alan asked. “Same thing happened to us.”

“That’s how,” she said, and