Soul at War Read Online Free PDF Page B

deck," A voice shouted,
though I couldn't tell who, I was still wearing the mask. Rising to
my feet I powered down the cutter.
    "Who gave the order to store Red
bodies in the morgue?” Lifting the mask I saw Burns behind the
short, stumpy Captain who searched the oil streaked faces with
beady little rat's eyes. He wasn't what I'd been expecting a
Captain to look like. I'd never seen one in the flesh
before.
    "I did, sir," I answered. The faces of
the crew turned on me. Teeth clenched ready to shatter, the Captain
raised a finger straight at me.
    "What the hell for!"
    "For examination before destruction
sir. Reports have shown genetic modification and part of my remit
is to make sure every body taken is examined thoroughly by the
medical team.”
    "Don't make me repeat myself,
Private."
    "That's Lieutenant Shap sir. The man I
was telling you about," Burns said with a hint of
trepidation.
    "That still doesn't give him the right
to decide what happens to the rotting corpses of my enemy." There
was silence.
    "Answer, Lieutenant," Burns
ordered.
    "I was enlisted under Military Office
orders and take authority in this area. Please allow me to go on
with my work. Sir.”
    "So you're the M.O special boy then?"
The Captain spat. His face had turned a bright cherry red and veins
bulged out of his left temple, shooting a glance at
Burns.
    "Sir, I've read the files. There is
more to this than we thought, these bodies must be examined for
genetic alteration. At least then we might have an idea what we're
up against." The Captain chewed it over like a bear does with a bee
in its mouth. Burns just grinned and looked up to the
ceiling.
    “Burns here might think you're
special, Shap. But I've read files too. I'll be keeping a close eye
on the man who walks out when the fighting gets too much for him.
Once the reports have been sent back to M.O I want these bodies
spaced and that ship destroyed. Are we clear?”
    “Yes sir.” I said as he turned to
storm away down the corridor.
    *
    The following day, the Midian had
resumed it's course for the Zion group, leaving the fragmented
remains of the ARC ship in its wake.
    "I think you made as many enemies as
you did friends today, John." We were sat in Burns private quarters
on deck twelve, a bottle of sixty-five year old scotch between us.
Burns held his up to simulated candlelight and i swilled mine
around the glass.
    "The Captain's an aresehole. He knows
why I'm here he should just let me get on with it," I replied a
little too coarsely.
    "There's a lot of hatred towards the
Reds but I suppose that goes for their side too. The Captain has
more reason than most to hate them. He served under Rorsch when he
was on our side. He felt the betrayal more keenly than
most."
    “Fair play.” I said. “But the only way
we're going to have a chance is to out think Rorsch because he sure
as hell will out think us. He was one of the best and he will now
make a formidable enemy. I can't think of anyone else I'd NOT want
to be up against.”
    “You were there, you served under him.
Why do you think he turned?”
    “He was a little bit mad to start
with. His genius on the field came at a price. He was quick to
adopt what ever the Chaplain said – what ever the denomination. He
was always looking for the answers to the big questions and every
victory on the battlefield brought him closer and closer to
believing he was blessed by deity.”
    “I never served near him. We always
ended up on other sides of the galaxy. He was a legend though.
People rushed to briefings just to hear what he'd done that month.
A lot of people were devastated once news broke from the
M.O.”
    “I was there at his peak. It was he
who got me the Lieutenants stripe.” I downed my drink and poured
another.
    “Seriously?”
    “Yeah. We'd just made planet fall when
we were ambushed. Our drop ship put us down on the outskirts of a
major stronghold we'd been given intel on. As Rorsch' ship landed
on the north side he and his crew were