Just Another Day Read Online Free PDF
Author: Isaac Hooke
and globules of blood pulsed out. When someone's suit depressurized, normally the skin formed a seal, along with the coagulating blood. I didn't know what was happening inside his suit right now, but I did know that he was coming straight for me.
I launched myself from the far wall and we collided in midair.
He tried to unlatch my helmet. I fought off his arms and spun him around. In one smooth motion I snapped the cord that fed his rebreather and gave him a good kick.
As fast as it began, it was over.
Mao Sing Ming floated away from me, struggling to reconnect his rebreather, not realizing that the cord was fatally torn. Globules of blood continued to float from his chest wound. His movements slowed as the seconds passed, until finally he ceased all motion. His lifeless body floated to the far side of the shuttle and stayed there.
"Nice of you to keep us updated, sir." Big Dog peered through the broken shuttle window, and squeezed past the ATLAS to crawl inside.
"Sorry. Thanks for that." I nodded at the immobile mech.
"Don't thank me. Trace fired the kill shot."
I was going to say it wasn't the kill shot, but bit back my words. Let Trace take the credit for it. That's how I'd let it stand in the official records. Maybe he'd get a medal. I certainly didn't want one. Just doing my job.
So ended Mao Sing Ming, privateer extraordinaire, kidnapper and murderer, Malefactor of the East. No passenger ship would have to fear his like in UC space again. We hadn't been able to get to the privateer vessel in orbit, but we'd already gone above and beyond the call of duty as far as I was concerned. We'd dealt this group of privateers a heavy blow. They'd be severely demoralized with the loss of their Captain, not to mention the ATLAS.
We secured some C4 to the ATLAS and detonated it. Trace and Ghost retrieved Mao Sing Ming's body while Big Dog lent me two of his osmium weights. Then we space-hopped toward the dark side of the asteroid, heading for the pickup point.
All the excitement had made me forget the decompression sickness symptoms. But I remembered now, don't you worry. The joint pain, the headache, the itching skin. And this was new: Incontinence. Yup. Both number two and number one. Good thing I was in a suit and that stuff just went right out into space. But still.
I couldn't wait to get myself to a hyperbaric chamber.
Ah well.
Just another day in the life of a MOTH.
I lived for this.
Thank you for reading!
I hope you enjoyed this short story from the ATLAS universe. " ATLAS , " a full-length military science-fiction novel, was released at the end of December 2013. Facehopper, Big Dog, Trace, and Ghost all make an appearance when Special Warfare Command sends Alfa Platoon on a covert operation 8,000 lightyears beyond the furthest reaches of explored space, on a mission that could either save humanity, or destroy it.
To be notified when my next novel comes out, click here to sign-up for my New Release mailing list. This list is only for new release announcements—no ads, no blog posts. You can unsubscribe at any time.
A lso feel free to check out another story I've written in the ATLAS Universe, " Caterpillar Without A Callsign ."
Postpartum
Please help spread the word about ATLAS by leaving a one or two sentence review of the short story you just read. The number of reviews an ebook gets on Amazon has a big impact on how well it does, so if you liked this story I'd REALLY appreciate it if you left a quick review on Amazon. Anything will do, even one or two lines. Thank you!
You can keep in touch with me or my writing through one—or all—of the following means:
Twitter: @IsaacHooke
Facebook: http://fb.me/authorisaachooke
Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/isaachooke
My website: http://isaachooke.com
My email: [email protected]
Don't be shy about emails, I love getting them, and try to respond to everyone!
Thanks again for reading.
About the Author
Isaac Hooke is the author of
I launched myself from the far wall and we collided in midair.
He tried to unlatch my helmet. I fought off his arms and spun him around. In one smooth motion I snapped the cord that fed his rebreather and gave him a good kick.
As fast as it began, it was over.
Mao Sing Ming floated away from me, struggling to reconnect his rebreather, not realizing that the cord was fatally torn. Globules of blood continued to float from his chest wound. His movements slowed as the seconds passed, until finally he ceased all motion. His lifeless body floated to the far side of the shuttle and stayed there.
"Nice of you to keep us updated, sir." Big Dog peered through the broken shuttle window, and squeezed past the ATLAS to crawl inside.
"Sorry. Thanks for that." I nodded at the immobile mech.
"Don't thank me. Trace fired the kill shot."
I was going to say it wasn't the kill shot, but bit back my words. Let Trace take the credit for it. That's how I'd let it stand in the official records. Maybe he'd get a medal. I certainly didn't want one. Just doing my job.
So ended Mao Sing Ming, privateer extraordinaire, kidnapper and murderer, Malefactor of the East. No passenger ship would have to fear his like in UC space again. We hadn't been able to get to the privateer vessel in orbit, but we'd already gone above and beyond the call of duty as far as I was concerned. We'd dealt this group of privateers a heavy blow. They'd be severely demoralized with the loss of their Captain, not to mention the ATLAS.
We secured some C4 to the ATLAS and detonated it. Trace and Ghost retrieved Mao Sing Ming's body while Big Dog lent me two of his osmium weights. Then we space-hopped toward the dark side of the asteroid, heading for the pickup point.
All the excitement had made me forget the decompression sickness symptoms. But I remembered now, don't you worry. The joint pain, the headache, the itching skin. And this was new: Incontinence. Yup. Both number two and number one. Good thing I was in a suit and that stuff just went right out into space. But still.
I couldn't wait to get myself to a hyperbaric chamber.
Ah well.
Just another day in the life of a MOTH.
I lived for this.
Thank you for reading!
I hope you enjoyed this short story from the ATLAS universe. " ATLAS , " a full-length military science-fiction novel, was released at the end of December 2013. Facehopper, Big Dog, Trace, and Ghost all make an appearance when Special Warfare Command sends Alfa Platoon on a covert operation 8,000 lightyears beyond the furthest reaches of explored space, on a mission that could either save humanity, or destroy it.
To be notified when my next novel comes out, click here to sign-up for my New Release mailing list. This list is only for new release announcements—no ads, no blog posts. You can unsubscribe at any time.
A lso feel free to check out another story I've written in the ATLAS Universe, " Caterpillar Without A Callsign ."
Postpartum
Please help spread the word about ATLAS by leaving a one or two sentence review of the short story you just read. The number of reviews an ebook gets on Amazon has a big impact on how well it does, so if you liked this story I'd REALLY appreciate it if you left a quick review on Amazon. Anything will do, even one or two lines. Thank you!
You can keep in touch with me or my writing through one—or all—of the following means:
Twitter: @IsaacHooke
Facebook: http://fb.me/authorisaachooke
Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/isaachooke
My website: http://isaachooke.com
My email: [email protected]
Don't be shy about emails, I love getting them, and try to respond to everyone!
Thanks again for reading.
About the Author
Isaac Hooke is the author of
Similar Books
Artemis
Andy Weir
The Russell Street Bombing
Vikki Petraitis
Wanderlust
Elisabeth Eaves
Breath of Earth
Beth Cato
The Last Reporter
Michael Winerip
He's Got Her Goat
Christine
Promenade a Deux
ID Locke
Death in a White Tie
Ngaio Marsh