Indigo Squad Read Online Free PDF
Author: Tim C. Taylor
weapons.
“It’s a trap!” Arun screamed.
But the screens had blanked again. No one was listening.
“Barney, bring down those emergency bulkheads. Leave a route open for Lieutenant Balor and seal off everything else around his force. Do you understand?”
The screens came back to life.
“Lieutenant, the enemy’s behind you.”
“Disappointing. Now your brain’s gone wrong too,” snapped back Balor. “Bulkheads have come down behind us. The enemy is to our front.”
Arun heard the shouts, screams and persistent magnetic humming of a firefight between railguns.
Then the screens came back on and stayed on.
Barney was right. The enemy had thought to catch the attackers from the rear, but the enemy force sent to do so was trapped behind a wall of emergency bulkheads that had descended on Barney’s orders. Bulkheads strong enough to seal the ship against decompression would be strong enough to withstand rounds from handheld railguns.
The enemy had dropped their weapons and placed their hands on their heads.
Balor’s force had taken a few casualties. Two Marines were down. So were both officers!
Barney zoomed the camera feed into the fallen Jotuns, as if gloating in their deaths. Arun had no love for aliens, but they deserved better than that. The six limbs of the officers gave them a vigor to their appearance in life. In death, sprawled on their chests having all six limbs splayed out looked even sadder somehow, like butchered dumb beasts.
He realized with a start that he’d never seen a dead Jotun before.
Without Arun’s controlling influence, Barney could display primitive emotions of his own. He seemed to be taking Arun’s resentment at his slavehood and redirecting it at the Jotuns. That would explain why he was glorying in their deaths, but that attitude was unfair. Marines and officers, everyone in the Corps family was a slave. All were Marines.
The camera feed played over the Jotun corpses.
Arun looked away, sickened.
But then he snapped his gaze back because he realized he’d misjudged Barney. Now he understood what the AI was so eager for him to see.
The Jotun suits showed multiple entry wounds from SA-71 railgun darts.
They’d been shot in the back.
Murdered by their own side!
— Chapter 07 —
“My twin brother did well in the boarding action,” said Fraser.
“Too well,” said Lieutenant Commander Wotun. “We’re allowing Marine Arun McEwan too much initiative. He could become dangerous. Eliminate him.”
“I respectfully disagree, sir. He’s not acting alone, I’m certain of it. Consider this: if I made sure he had a fatal accident we would be eliminating a single claw from our enemy. Allow him a scintilla of freedom and he will lead us to the entire fist. Claw or fist? Which would you prefer we strike off, commander?”
The lieutenant commander hissed and growled, a sound like boiling water.
“ We should have taken this ship before we ever left the Tranquility system. It is your brother who spooked the weakling Hardits on that moon into moving too soon.” The Jotun raised his lip to show off the fangs underneath. “If you value your life, do not remind me of your genetic connection to this individual who has caused more trouble than any other member of your species.”
“Yes, sir.”
The officer leaned his muscular bulk over Fraser, and exhaled hot alien breath over the human. “You are not as irreplaceable as you like to think, Sergeant Fraser McEwan.”
“I understand, sir. Although Ensign Purge has admitted that the ship’s security AI has become unreliable of late. Only I can track my brother’s movements reliably.”
“Enough! We proceed according to the revised timetable. I suspect you are playing games with your twin for your own amusement. Consider yourself indulged, human. For now. But if your hunter-and-prey games threaten the mission, I will show you what
“It’s a trap!” Arun screamed.
But the screens had blanked again. No one was listening.
“Barney, bring down those emergency bulkheads. Leave a route open for Lieutenant Balor and seal off everything else around his force. Do you understand?”
The screens came back to life.
“Lieutenant, the enemy’s behind you.”
“Disappointing. Now your brain’s gone wrong too,” snapped back Balor. “Bulkheads have come down behind us. The enemy is to our front.”
Arun heard the shouts, screams and persistent magnetic humming of a firefight between railguns.
Then the screens came back on and stayed on.
Barney was right. The enemy had thought to catch the attackers from the rear, but the enemy force sent to do so was trapped behind a wall of emergency bulkheads that had descended on Barney’s orders. Bulkheads strong enough to seal the ship against decompression would be strong enough to withstand rounds from handheld railguns.
The enemy had dropped their weapons and placed their hands on their heads.
Balor’s force had taken a few casualties. Two Marines were down. So were both officers!
Barney zoomed the camera feed into the fallen Jotuns, as if gloating in their deaths. Arun had no love for aliens, but they deserved better than that. The six limbs of the officers gave them a vigor to their appearance in life. In death, sprawled on their chests having all six limbs splayed out looked even sadder somehow, like butchered dumb beasts.
He realized with a start that he’d never seen a dead Jotun before.
Without Arun’s controlling influence, Barney could display primitive emotions of his own. He seemed to be taking Arun’s resentment at his slavehood and redirecting it at the Jotuns. That would explain why he was glorying in their deaths, but that attitude was unfair. Marines and officers, everyone in the Corps family was a slave. All were Marines.
The camera feed played over the Jotun corpses.
Arun looked away, sickened.
But then he snapped his gaze back because he realized he’d misjudged Barney. Now he understood what the AI was so eager for him to see.
The Jotun suits showed multiple entry wounds from SA-71 railgun darts.
They’d been shot in the back.
Murdered by their own side!
— Chapter 07 —
“My twin brother did well in the boarding action,” said Fraser.
“Too well,” said Lieutenant Commander Wotun. “We’re allowing Marine Arun McEwan too much initiative. He could become dangerous. Eliminate him.”
“I respectfully disagree, sir. He’s not acting alone, I’m certain of it. Consider this: if I made sure he had a fatal accident we would be eliminating a single claw from our enemy. Allow him a scintilla of freedom and he will lead us to the entire fist. Claw or fist? Which would you prefer we strike off, commander?”
The lieutenant commander hissed and growled, a sound like boiling water.
“ We should have taken this ship before we ever left the Tranquility system. It is your brother who spooked the weakling Hardits on that moon into moving too soon.” The Jotun raised his lip to show off the fangs underneath. “If you value your life, do not remind me of your genetic connection to this individual who has caused more trouble than any other member of your species.”
“Yes, sir.”
The officer leaned his muscular bulk over Fraser, and exhaled hot alien breath over the human. “You are not as irreplaceable as you like to think, Sergeant Fraser McEwan.”
“I understand, sir. Although Ensign Purge has admitted that the ship’s security AI has become unreliable of late. Only I can track my brother’s movements reliably.”
“Enough! We proceed according to the revised timetable. I suspect you are playing games with your twin for your own amusement. Consider yourself indulged, human. For now. But if your hunter-and-prey games threaten the mission, I will show you what
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