enough so they arrived at the abandoned compound just about the time the self-destruct went off.
He scanned the compound feeds, rolling from camera to camera. It hadn’t taken long to untag nonfunctioning feeds as more cameras were damaged from the missile attack than were working. He spotted Major Numos near the back door. Stone watched as the man performed a quick scan of the area. Apparently satisfied all of the living were gone and they’d retrieved as much of the dead’s remains as possible, he came to attention, saluted the field and stepped through Charlie’s back door, stopping to seal it shut behind him. Although Numos shouted at the three marines with him to run, they took up defensive positions around him as he ran a quick weld around the door.
Stone nodded at the weld. Anything to delay the Hyrocanians inside the compound was a good idea. What was a bad idea was Numos and his three marines were delaying their departure too long. They would have to run hard to get out of the blast zone.
Stone allowed the compound’s feeds to continue, but shut off the feed from Numos. Since the Major had finished the weld and left the compound—first place the Hyrocanians would look for prisoners—Stone wouldn’t take the slightest chance of tagging onto the Major’s feed that might give his position away.
He nimbly stepped around a downed tree trunk and tripped over a rock. Allie wasn’t there to catch him this time, yet he managed to keep his feet. He tried not to look up, but he did. Covering up his shiver at all of the open sky above him with his stumble, he yanked his eyes back down. The walls of the jungle weren’t much different from the walls of a corridor. Sure, he couldn’t see as far as usual, but he had been in many hydroponic gardens on space stations that gave the impression of forest depth. The ground, while rough and uneven, might be thought of as a lumpy deck floor. He could deal with uneven flooring. What he couldn’t look at without causing each sphincter muscle in his body to alternately tighten and loosen was all that clear sky overhead.
He walked at the front of his group, trying not to move faster than the slowest person. He finally assigned MCPO Thomas to ride herd on the civilian scientists whose tendency was to slow to a stop. Some were in a state of shock at the sudden death and destruction, stopping in stunned silence. Some were wounded, claiming a need to rest for injuries only to their legs, arms, or heads. The Emperor would have ensured each of them received the best civilian medical nanites available for planetary exploration. Those implants wouldn’t be as robust as their military cousins, but should keep a person up and moving until they could receive proper medical attention. Up and moving was as much mental strength as it was physical capability. Other scientists wanted to stop and gawk at each new plant, animal track, or rock outcropping they came to, like they’d already forgotten about the ruined compound and the dead, the minute the base was out of sight.
Stone couldn’t forget the compound. Damaged or not, it was inside. Even the parade ground had provided some comfort with a partial wall to protect him from all of the flora and fauna of Allie’s World. He’d only vomited once since exiting the compound from Charlie’s back door. Allie had expressed concern about him being nauseous because of his head injury. He let her continue thinking that, since it made him sound more heroic than tossing his cookies because he was scared spitless at being outside.
He looked behind him again. Damn! Dr. Triplett had stopped to paw through a pile of animal spoor. She ignored Thomas’s attempts to chivvy her on. Her sneer and snarl at the master chief was already a common occurrence. She made no efforts to hide her animosity toward anyone or anything military. Everyone had heard her opinion that this planetary exploration should be in civilian—educated civilian—hands. Her
He scanned the compound feeds, rolling from camera to camera. It hadn’t taken long to untag nonfunctioning feeds as more cameras were damaged from the missile attack than were working. He spotted Major Numos near the back door. Stone watched as the man performed a quick scan of the area. Apparently satisfied all of the living were gone and they’d retrieved as much of the dead’s remains as possible, he came to attention, saluted the field and stepped through Charlie’s back door, stopping to seal it shut behind him. Although Numos shouted at the three marines with him to run, they took up defensive positions around him as he ran a quick weld around the door.
Stone nodded at the weld. Anything to delay the Hyrocanians inside the compound was a good idea. What was a bad idea was Numos and his three marines were delaying their departure too long. They would have to run hard to get out of the blast zone.
Stone allowed the compound’s feeds to continue, but shut off the feed from Numos. Since the Major had finished the weld and left the compound—first place the Hyrocanians would look for prisoners—Stone wouldn’t take the slightest chance of tagging onto the Major’s feed that might give his position away.
He nimbly stepped around a downed tree trunk and tripped over a rock. Allie wasn’t there to catch him this time, yet he managed to keep his feet. He tried not to look up, but he did. Covering up his shiver at all of the open sky above him with his stumble, he yanked his eyes back down. The walls of the jungle weren’t much different from the walls of a corridor. Sure, he couldn’t see as far as usual, but he had been in many hydroponic gardens on space stations that gave the impression of forest depth. The ground, while rough and uneven, might be thought of as a lumpy deck floor. He could deal with uneven flooring. What he couldn’t look at without causing each sphincter muscle in his body to alternately tighten and loosen was all that clear sky overhead.
He walked at the front of his group, trying not to move faster than the slowest person. He finally assigned MCPO Thomas to ride herd on the civilian scientists whose tendency was to slow to a stop. Some were in a state of shock at the sudden death and destruction, stopping in stunned silence. Some were wounded, claiming a need to rest for injuries only to their legs, arms, or heads. The Emperor would have ensured each of them received the best civilian medical nanites available for planetary exploration. Those implants wouldn’t be as robust as their military cousins, but should keep a person up and moving until they could receive proper medical attention. Up and moving was as much mental strength as it was physical capability. Other scientists wanted to stop and gawk at each new plant, animal track, or rock outcropping they came to, like they’d already forgotten about the ruined compound and the dead, the minute the base was out of sight.
Stone couldn’t forget the compound. Damaged or not, it was inside. Even the parade ground had provided some comfort with a partial wall to protect him from all of the flora and fauna of Allie’s World. He’d only vomited once since exiting the compound from Charlie’s back door. Allie had expressed concern about him being nauseous because of his head injury. He let her continue thinking that, since it made him sound more heroic than tossing his cookies because he was scared spitless at being outside.
He looked behind him again. Damn! Dr. Triplett had stopped to paw through a pile of animal spoor. She ignored Thomas’s attempts to chivvy her on. Her sneer and snarl at the master chief was already a common occurrence. She made no efforts to hide her animosity toward anyone or anything military. Everyone had heard her opinion that this planetary exploration should be in civilian—educated civilian—hands. Her
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