Beyond Mars Crimson Fleet Read Online Free PDF Page B

personal ambitions like they did. Perhaps, this
was one of the reasons why Paladin had turned a blind eye to his
fierce and solitary demeanor.
    Regardless, Wakinyan was
still Randall's best friend and his remark had brought out a smile
on the lieutenant's face.
    "You know, I really hate
every time you say that," Randall admitted.
    "Why?" Richard
inquired.
    "To put it simply, it means
fill our pockets with jam, because we're about to become
toast!"
    Suddenly, the bridge shook from a distant
explosion.
    "That's just great," James complained
further, "their aim is improving! DAMAGE CONTROL, REPORT!"
    "Minor hit on the stern,
Sir!" the crewman called out, "No casualties!"
    Satisfied with the summary,
Randall turned to Wakinyan. "Captain, you sure you want to go
through with this?"
    "Jim, there's no other way.
Without cover, they'll blast us into the Next Kingdom," Wakinyan
stated his reasoning bluntly.
    Randall snickered lightly. "You think they're dumb
enough to follow us?"
    "We'll soon see," Richard
said with a sly smile.
    "Sir, approaching the
Devil’s Furnace," the navigator alerted Wakinyan.
    Richard then turned to the
helm's man. "Smitty, what’s our speed and altitude?"
    "Two thousand air knots at
five hundred meters, Sir," the man replied.
    "Descend directly into the
Devil’s Furnace. Reduce speed to thirty air knots. Mr. Edwards,
stand by to begin your run."
    A huge,
black vent hole from one of Mars' largest volcanoes loomed before
the Crazy Horse. Appropriately named the Devil's Furnace, the ancient orifice
was a monument to Mars' violent beginnings.
    Plumes of hot gases still
escaped from the black opening, despite these volcanoes having been
classified as extinct. Some early explorers had even claimed to see
lucid flames and phantoms, possibly the souls of the damned,
dancing in the opening’s mist and giving rise to both myth and its
name. These were likely ionized auras that were created by regional
distortions in the magnetic field. Regardless, the Martian ship
slowed its descent and slid into the darkness of the Devil’s
Furnace.
    As the
Martian ship slipped and vanished beneath the ground, three
pursuing Earth fighters reached the entrance. Breaking off their
chase, they circled high above the cave and waited for the arrival
of their warships. Moments later, they were joined by the Earth
space destroyer Gladstone .
    Captain
Jamel of the Gladstone was in total disbelief at the flight leader's report. As the
officer studied the large opening, Jamel concluded that either the
Martians aboard that ship were extremely desperate or just plain
insane.
    "Jamel to
Ortega," the officer called the captain of the Earth cruiser Louyang , "We have stopped
pursuit. Repeat, we have stopped pursuit."
    A second later, Ortega's voice questioned the
decision angrily, "Captain Jamel, what do you mean you have stopped
pursuit?"
    "Just that, we have stopped pursuit! Those Martian
lunatics just flew into some old volcanic vent hole! They must have
just barely squeezed in!"
    Ortega was furious. "I don't give a damn where
they've flown, follow them!"
    Jamel's defiance hardened. "The hell I will! I'm not
going to risk it! There's no telling what's down there! If we try
to follow those crazy Martians…."
    "Captain Jamel, that's a chance you'll just have to
take."
    "Chance I have to take? If you’re so damn eager,
Ortega, why don't you do it?"
    "Don't be absurd. If a destroyer can barely fit in
there, how could I possibly do it with my cruiser?" Ortega
justified his reluctance. "Besides, it's evident that their
objective is our base at Epson Planum. And if they succeed in
destroying it, I'll make quite sure that your name and this
conversation is prominently displayed in my report to Earth
Command!"
    Jamel
gritted his teeth and glared angrily at the vent hole. A moment
later, however, he cut the communication's channel with the Louyang and issued new
orders, "Helm, make speed of twenty air knots and bring us down
into that cave! Mr.