Predator - Incursion Read Online Free PDF

habitat.”
    “Especially after this.”
    Niveau nodded. He didn’t like it, but he understood, and Mains respected him for that.
    “It’ll be fine. Seventy days to the drophole in your
Apollo
, and your indies can stay awake to keep track of things. Oh, and what I just told you about the Yautja habitat we’re watching? That’s classified.”
    “Of course.” Niveau stood and extended his hand. They shook. “Thanks.”
    “It’s what we’re here for.” But Willis wasn’t there any more. Neither was Reynolds. Mains saw their faces, Willis’s stern smile that always seemed to hide something, Reynold’s enthusiasm. For the first time since leading the VoidLarks out from the Excursionist base at Tyszka’s Star, he would have to officiate at a funeral.
    As he left the office, his comm implant chimed.
    “L-T?” It was Faulkner, the signal coming from back on the
Ochse
.
    “Yeah.”
    “I’ve picked up a sub-space signal from the 13th Excursionists. They’re in full contact with Yautja on a deserted asteroid station, seventeen light years away along the Rim.”
    “The SpaceSurfers,” Mains said.
    “Yeah, Golden’s unit. Shall I respond?”
    Mains closed the door behind him and stood in the silent corridor. It was quiet, peaceful, the air treated and scented for comfort, and far, far away, old friends of his might be dying. He felt like he shouldn’t be here.
    “Acknowledge the signal, but we can’t help.”
    “We need to get back on station,” Faulkner said.
    “Open channel,” Mains said, and their communication was opened up to all VoidLarks.
    It was time to move out.
    * * *
    Johnny Mains always thought that a deep space funeral was a strangely beautiful sight. An hour after lifting off from Southgate Station 12, he stood before his remaining crew and prepared to send two friends into the void.
    Neither Willis nor Reynolds had any religious views, so the committal was short and sweet. A few words about each of them, some observations about their personalities and the brave way they’d both died, and an anecdote for each that brought a smile to grim faces. Then they all turned to watch the holo frame in their rec room, and Mains muttered his command to their ship’s computer.
    “Frodo, vent the bay.”
    A gentle hiss was all they heard, and then Reynolds and Willis were spat across their view of the void, both of them tumbling slowly from where the atmosphere had vented from the
Ochse
’s hold. It appeared that they traveled together, although it was inevitable that even a slight difference in trajectory would move them apart over time.
    It was time that, for Mains, made this sight so enigmatic, even graceful. Gone from the world of the living, the two bodies now began their eternal journey through space. At every such funeral he had ever witnessed, it was always ensured that the coffin suits were fired away from Earth. Every moment of their journey was toward somewhere new and unknown, and whether or not they or their witnesses held any beliefs about soul, gods, or afterlife, this was a profound concept.
    The dead had lost the ability to comprehend, but they could still commit to their avowed mission, and the purpose of any man or woman who decided to make their lives in the heavens—to explore, travel, and be a part of whatever else was out there.
    “I always wonder if they’ll be found,” Cotronis said. Like everyone, she still wore her combat suit, and she had refused to wash the splash of Reynolds’ blood from her bald scalp—not until after the funeral.
    “Shouldn’t be found,” McVicar said. A big man, sometimes harsh, a man of few words, Mains knew that he and Reynolds had enjoyed a gentle romance. Uncomplicated companionship, casual sex. An Excursionist rarely displayed deeper feelings, on the surface at least, because of the proximity of their existence with the others. But who knew what hid beneath the surface?
    “No, I mean… later.” Cotronis brushed her hand over her