Extinction (75 page)

To the rest of
the fire
team
,
Surgeon said,
“
The
captain
needs more time. We need to hold this line for as long as
possible. If she makes it in to the chamber
,
then we’ll
head out in our scout craft and drop a tactical nuke behind us as we leave.
Our ships in orbit are still engaged with the enemy and keeping them
from landing at our six, so we still can’t get orbital fire support from them.
I’m open to suggestions other than keep shooting and don’t die.
”

The warrior who
was on the firing line next to Fang spoke up first.
“
My personal shield will be fully charged up in less than five
minutes. Give me four grenades and strap some explosives to me. I can make it
to their center before my shield goes down and then set off the explosives. It
will take a lot of them out and cause a bit of mayhem.
”

Surgeon looked
at their newest soldier and realized that his suggestion just removed any
lingering doubt Surgeon had about his allegiance to the Coalition, or at least
to the soldiers he fought alongside of. This warrior had left the dogfight
against Daria’s team
when they stole the ancient
warrior ship from the dig
site
at the abandoned base a little over a year ago.

A month ago, the
top brass had decided
to
put the
warrior
in the field with Surgeon’s team to
see
whether
he truly had changed sides. The
warrior
had answered every question posed to
him and even gave over much
more
information than he had been asked for
,
all
without any nudging or torture required. The
warrior
had said that there was something wrong with him, that he hadn’t
been grown correctly, and that defect gave him the ability to think outside of
his genetic programming. He wanted to be a part of the Coalition and what it
stood for. So they let him.
At this point, they didn’t
have much to lose.

“
Thanks for the suggestion
,
Baldylocks, but
I’m not throwing away a soldier to buy us only a few minutes. Anyone else?
”
Surgeon turned to look at his other flank
of soldiers.

The
wa
Hillstep
rrior
looked
at Fang
.
“
Humans.
”

“
Tell me about it
”,
Fang snarled.
“
I’d
send you out there. Sounds like a good plan to me.
”

“
Right?!
”
The
w
arrior
fired a few more rounds.
“
And I thought my
new name was ‘Cue Ball’? What does
Baldylocks mean?
”

Seth came up
beside the
warrior
.
“
I’ll explain that one later. For now, give me your shield
. Y
ou
gave me an idea.
”

“
What have you got for me
,
Cadet?
”
Surgeon was watching his prot
é
g
é
hurriedly
working on his idea.

“
We’re going to put the shield on our combat mule and load its
payload wagon with explosives.
”
Seth was moving fast on his idea, getting the pieces in place.
“
We run the shielded mule past their front
lines, drop the wagon, send the mule on a wide return course, and blow the
explosives.
”

Joker had
started helping Cadet with his plan as soon as he saw what was being done.
“
Sounds good to me. The mule can run faster
than any of us can so he’ll get more use out of the shield than we would
anyway. And, maybe
he’ll be able to get far enough away
th
at the explosion doesn’t rip his
mechanical hide to hell. If he gets away
,
we’ll still have the shield and mule as assets.
”

“
Good plan. Let me know when you’re ready to send it. We might be
able to plow the path for the mule so it will take less shield damage.
”
Surgeon grabbed his own rifle and got into
a firing position.

The mule was
released and sent downrange, much to the surprise of the enemy. It took at least
thirty meters before the shielded robot began to take any fire at all. The mule
ran through the front line, taking out one of the alien enemy along the way.
Fifteen meters in
,
the mule
dropped its payload wagon and began to arc away from the explosives. Once Seth
thought the mule was at a good enough distance, he detonated the charges.

“
Nice!
”
Reaper was
patching up a small shrapnel wound on Fang’s leg.

“
Captain.
”
Surgeon
opened his
comlink
again.
“
We just bought you a little more time, but
don’t take it for granted.
”

“
We just got through the door!
”
Emily’s excitement could be heard even through the muting effects
of the
comlink
.
“
We’re making entry now. If it’s sa
fe, we can fall back to the cham
ber interior
and close the door. There’s no way they’re getting through it.
”

“
Copy that. We’re ready to fall back, sooner rather than later would
be nice.
”
Surgeon added to
himself,
They can’t get through it unless they have
the key. They did build it
,
after all.

The mule
returned a few minutes later and Seth retrieved the shield from it and gave it
back to the
w
arrior
.
“
Here you go
,
Cue
B
all
. Thanks for the loan.
”

“
I really don’t care what you pink hairless monkeys call me, but pick
one name and stick with it.
”
The
w
arrior
fired a few more
rounds from his plasma rifle, indicating he was done with the verbal exchange.

“
Apes, Baldylocks. We’re pink apes, not monkeys. Totally different
species.
”
Surgeon hadn’t heard
back from Emily yet but he wasn’t going to wait any longer.
“
Al
l
right everyone,
we’re falling back to the chamber. Get your asses moving, regardless if it’s
primate or genetically engineered.
”

The fire
team performed a textbook peel-off into the
tunnel system behind them. With his shield back in place and mostly charged,
Baldylocks was
the
last man through the entrance,
taking rounds
that harmlessly deflected off his shield
as he moved backwards. Once they reached the chamber’s entrance,
Seth announced over the team push that friendlies were coming in.

Once inside
,
they were greeted by Jeeves.
“
Hello sirs. I was left here to close the door after your arrival.
You seem to be missing three men. Shall I wait for them or will they not be
joining us?
”

Surgeon would
never get used to losing men, and the relief he felt from not losing more
during any given mission always made him feel worse.
“
Close it
. T
hey
aren’t
coming.
”

“
Yes
,
sir.
”
Jeeves began to turn to
carry out his
orders when he paused
.
“
And
sir, if later we could discuss the tactical use of the combat mule to deliver
an explosive payload...
”

“
No
,
we can’t
,
Jeeves.
And now’s not the time to discuss
AGAIN
how you are different from the automatons we use in the field. I
wouldn’t send you out there like
that
, you should know that by now.
”
Surgeon was almost at his limit with the robot
. H
e
would need to see
whether
Bloom could correct some of the
“
issues
”
Surgeon had been noticing lately.

“
Now what?
”
Joker was
looking around the
small room they were now safely
occupying.

Outside they
could hear enemy gunfire hitting the chamber door
. T
he
aliens were obviously trying to shoot the door open. Based on the
experimenting Emily’s team had done during the several weeks prior to the
Cherta attack, Surgeon knew that even the advanced enemy weapons wouldn’t make
a dent in the door.

“
We go find the rest of our team and see if this chamber was worth
it.
”
Surgeon motioned
to Seth to take point and the rest of the team to fall in and move
out.

Jay was born in California and
moved to Tucson with his family when he was seven. At eighteen he joined the
United States Navy and became a Hospital Corpsman. Jay worked in the Emergency
Room at the Navy Medical Center San Diego (dubbed “The Starship of Navy
Medicine) in California. After four years of service, HM3 Korza took his leave
and went into the private medical sector, a decision he has regretted more than
once.

Jay has managed a private medical
practice, worked on ambulances in Tucson and Massachusetts, and has been a
paramedic for the US Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons. In 2000
he started his career in law enforcement and has ever since been elated with
being a deputy.

Jay currently has thirteen years
of law enforcement service and seven years on the SWAT Team. He is currently
assigned to a specialized support operations unit as well as being a medic and
sniper for the SWAT Team.

In his spare time, Jay also
teaches at the local college’s paramedic program and he has desperately been
trying to finish this book. If you’re reading this, then he finally has. For
more information about the author, please visit his website at
www.1393productions.com
. Any and all
feedback or questions are always welcomed.

And join the conversation on
Twitter with the characters from
Extinction
.

@Bloom_1393
 
@Daria_1393
 
@Davies_1393
 
@Emily_1393
 
@Jeeves_1393
 
@Jockey_1393
 
@Reaper_1393
 
@Seth_1393
 
@Surgeon_1393
 
@Snake_1393
 
@Warrior_1393
@Wilks_1393
 
@Scan_1393

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