pursuers that he failed to see the other group of armed men moving through the trees ahead of him and practically ran head first into their leader. Now at close range he could see that the men wore Marine Corp uniforms and body armour. In shock, he backpedalled and fumbled for his pistol, pointing it at the leader as he thumbed off the safety, the man’s face unreadable beneath his helmet and goggles. The men from the road were right behind now. He was surrounded.
Chapter 6
Chen’s left arm was almost entirely numb. The dressing that had been hurriedly applied to the wound was beginning to leak and the sleeve of her uniform was soaked with blood. She was starting to feel a little light headed.
Outside the ship, the massive relief operation to rescue the survivors of the Amazonia Port attack was underway. Under Chen’s direction, those warships that had suffered the fewest casualties had docked with the massive structure, allowing hundreds of desperate civilians aboard. The medical bays of the warships were handling the influx of casualties, triaging the wounded and stabilising the more serious cases before they could be transferred to hospitals on the surface. Meanwhile rescue teams probed the interior of the shattered dock, pulling survivors – not to mention large numbers of bodies – from the mangled wreckage.
The total number of casualties was as yet unknown. Chen expected the final figure to run into the thousands and had reported as such to the newly appointed President Sorenson. Sorenson had been the Minister for Trade who had avoided the cabinet purge orchestrated by Admiral Morgan by virtue of being in Esacir space at the time and had found herself the most senior surviving member of the government and thus President by default until elections could be held. She had seemed a little shell-shocked by events when Chen had spoken to her, as was everyone else, but she had a tough reputation that preceded her and lost no time in quizzing Chen on the situation and her requirements. Transport, search and rescue and medical vessels were already en-route both to Amazonia Port and to Jupiter space to hunt for survivors from the earlier attack on Galileo Station.
The Churchill and a number of the more severely damaged ships had hung back from Amazonia Port. The carrier was unable to safely approach the dock under her own power due to the heavy damage she had suffered to her manoeuvring thrusters during the battle and she had enough casualties of her own to deal with, though her complement of transports and assault craft had been despatched to help the relief operation. The carrier’s forward sections had borne the brunt of the enemy attacks during the battle. The upper hull was torn and cratered in dozens of places where kamikaze fighters had struck home and a long, twisted scar of torn and melted metal showed where the Hector had struck the carrier with its main gun. Two ugly, gaping holes like the wounds from recently pulled teeth marked where two of the Churchill’s forward turrets had been obliterated by the impact of the plasma bolt. The remainder of the ship’s fighter and bomber wings had also returned and SAR missions had recovered a number of pilots who had ejected from their damaged craft during the battle.
The carrier’s sickbay was overflowing with casualties, everything from vacuum exposure to burns, severed limbs and dozens of other traumas. Those that could be moved were being stabilised and then shipped down to Earth. The walking wounded would be kept aboard for now, and those that were less severely injured were, where possible, returning to their posts. Part of the hangar bay had been set aside for the bodies after the ship’s morgue had run out of space. It too was rapidly filling up.
Chen was immensely proud of her crew, and those of the other ships under her command. She
Chapter 6
Chen’s left arm was almost entirely numb. The dressing that had been hurriedly applied to the wound was beginning to leak and the sleeve of her uniform was soaked with blood. She was starting to feel a little light headed.
Outside the ship, the massive relief operation to rescue the survivors of the Amazonia Port attack was underway. Under Chen’s direction, those warships that had suffered the fewest casualties had docked with the massive structure, allowing hundreds of desperate civilians aboard. The medical bays of the warships were handling the influx of casualties, triaging the wounded and stabilising the more serious cases before they could be transferred to hospitals on the surface. Meanwhile rescue teams probed the interior of the shattered dock, pulling survivors – not to mention large numbers of bodies – from the mangled wreckage.
The total number of casualties was as yet unknown. Chen expected the final figure to run into the thousands and had reported as such to the newly appointed President Sorenson. Sorenson had been the Minister for Trade who had avoided the cabinet purge orchestrated by Admiral Morgan by virtue of being in Esacir space at the time and had found herself the most senior surviving member of the government and thus President by default until elections could be held. She had seemed a little shell-shocked by events when Chen had spoken to her, as was everyone else, but she had a tough reputation that preceded her and lost no time in quizzing Chen on the situation and her requirements. Transport, search and rescue and medical vessels were already en-route both to Amazonia Port and to Jupiter space to hunt for survivors from the earlier attack on Galileo Station.
The Churchill and a number of the more severely damaged ships had hung back from Amazonia Port. The carrier was unable to safely approach the dock under her own power due to the heavy damage she had suffered to her manoeuvring thrusters during the battle and she had enough casualties of her own to deal with, though her complement of transports and assault craft had been despatched to help the relief operation. The carrier’s forward sections had borne the brunt of the enemy attacks during the battle. The upper hull was torn and cratered in dozens of places where kamikaze fighters had struck home and a long, twisted scar of torn and melted metal showed where the Hector had struck the carrier with its main gun. Two ugly, gaping holes like the wounds from recently pulled teeth marked where two of the Churchill’s forward turrets had been obliterated by the impact of the plasma bolt. The remainder of the ship’s fighter and bomber wings had also returned and SAR missions had recovered a number of pilots who had ejected from their damaged craft during the battle.
The carrier’s sickbay was overflowing with casualties, everything from vacuum exposure to burns, severed limbs and dozens of other traumas. Those that could be moved were being stabilised and then shipped down to Earth. The walking wounded would be kept aboard for now, and those that were less severely injured were, where possible, returning to their posts. Part of the hangar bay had been set aside for the bodies after the ship’s morgue had run out of space. It too was rapidly filling up.
Chen was immensely proud of her crew, and those of the other ships under her command. She
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