Ceaseless Read Online Free PDF Page B

over.
    “How?” Allan asked, recognizing both men from the mission profile. One of them was the man in charge and the other, the one Bell was investigating, was the communications expert. It was fairly obvious how they both died, but Allan felt it necessary to ask anyway.
    “Someone crushed the commander's neck with what appears to he raw force. As you can see from the comms tech, someone punched straight through his ribcage and crushed his heart,” Bell said, his voice unsteady.
    “Any ideas on how this could be accomplished?” Mitchell asked.
    “Armor,” Allan replied simply. “Someone in a suit of top-of-the-line, military-grade power armor could accomplish this.” He fell silent for a moment, thinking. “Okay, finish up here, then take on the comms tower. Carter and I will finish sweeping the back buildings. I want all four personnel found. And be careful, whoever did this might still be around.”
    There were some affirmative replies. Allan stepped back out into the quiet morning and glanced around once more. He swapped out his rifle for his shotgun, feeling the familiar apprehension of being in hostile territory settle in once more. As he made for the second to last building, a small structure that was marked as the recreation room on the map, he pondered over the scenario as it was presented to him. Who could be doing this?
    They came to the rec room and opened up the door. There was nothing inside but a handful of couches, chairs and holovision screen. He and Carter checked out the only conceivable hiding places and then moved on to the final structure besides the comms tower: the dormitories building. Was it some nutjob in power armor? A serial killer mercenary maybe? But why? There was nothing intricate or drawn-out about those two deaths. If you wanted to torture someone to death, this would be a good place to do it, Allan supposed.
    But why the power armor? He tried to come up with another means of being able to punch through a man's chest or a generator casing. He could think of none. They came to the dormitories building and stepped inside. The pair came to a narrow corridor with two doors on either side of them.
    They found nothing in any of the bedrooms. Just signs of humanity and lives once lived in the remote outpost.
    Mitchell reported in as Allan and Carter finished up their search. “The comms tower is clear. We found a third body: the base medic. His neck is crushed as well. It looks like someone really went to town in here.”
    “Got it,” Allan replied. “Banks, come on in. Get to work.”
    “On my way,” Lucy said, sounding forlorn and apprehensive over the radio.
    Allan looked around the room he was in once more. The place was a mess, but likely not from any kind of attack, just messy living. Cans of vex on the desk and the ground, a pile of dirty clothes in one corner, an unmade bed. He tried to imagine living in such a remote place with the same three people for months on end.
    He'd probably go crazy.
    That thought made Allan grin darkly. He rejoined Carter back out in the small hallway and they headed back outside. The pair came into the base of the comms tower the same time as Lucy. Allan looked around, studying the damage. Mitchell was right. Someone had really gone berserk on the communications gear. If there were any power running to it, Allan imagined that the gear would be spitting sparks.
    He noticed Lucy staring at the dead body in the middle of the room.
    “Get to work,” Allan said.
    She gave him a very cutting look, but didn't say anything and moved forward, stepping over the corpse that Bell was now kneeling beside and began investigating the ruined equipment. Several minutes passed as Allan considered the situation in contemplative silence. He kept glancing out the windows, expecting to see someone or something, but there was nothing out there but the sun-drenched structures of the outpost.
    “I'm going to go up top,” Carter said suddenly. “It's conceivable that