The Trilisk Supersedure Read Online Free PDF

looked more sunken.
Holtzclaw thought Silvarre looked worse than when he last saw him, but said
nothing.
    Holtzclaw
thought about their other ordnance. He had four lightly armed assault ships,
designed to carry his men from world to world. The ships had been able to
produce just enough food and parts to keep them going. He could scramble those
and try to attack the enemy ship while they were on the ground. If the UNSF was
conducting an armed drop, though, there would be other ships in orbit prepared
to interdict.
    More
men started to arrive.
    “Crack
open the backup magazines,” Holtzclaw ordered. The men obeyed, showing him the
reloads they had waiting for the artillery machine. Silvarre and Holtzclaw
examined what they could and ran some diagnostics while their UED remote sensor
probes waited for signs of an incoming attack.
    Fifteen
minutes ticked by with no sign of the enemy. If the space force came, he would
order his officers to disperse, have the link jamming turned on, and bolster
the defense. They saw only the red rocks pocked with holes, the tall alien
plants, and the old buildings of the Konuan ruins. All their scans,
electromagnetic, seismic, and chemical, indicated nothing amiss.
    “They
must not know we’re here,” Silvarre said. “There would be no reason to hold
back after a drop in the open like that.”
    “Then
why are they here? This isn’t exactly a point of strategic interest. And they’ve
won the war, at least for now.”
    “It’s
time to reexamine our assumption that it’s the space force,” Holtzclaw said.
    “Whoever
they are, maybe the damn monster will get them,” Silvarre said.
    “It’ll
get a few of them, sure,” Holtzclaw said. “Then they’ll get wise and start
hunting it. Unlike us, they’re bound to have plenty of supplies to use against
it.”
    Which
means we should make their supplies our supplies, he
thought.
    “Maybe
it’s just a big science expedition,” Silvarre suggested. “We could take ‘em.”
    “Hang
low. Maintain surface camouflage discipline. We’re getting close to some of the
inner chambers. I’d like to see if we can find what we want before they notice
us.”
    “Yes,
sir.”
    “Send
out a couple of probes under cover of darkness. Don’t let them get too close,
you hear me? Set up some surveillance about a kilometer out from where they
touched down.”
    “Yes,
sir…” Silvarre hesitated. “It’s going to be a dicey night here without those
sensor probes, sir.”
    Silvarre
referred to the monster that hunted them. They had just enough detection to
make it challenging for the creature to hunt them. Every now and then a scout
probe spotted the thing and recruited a nearby Guardian to take a few shots at
it. When that happened it usually retreated.
    “I know
it. But we won’t be here much longer. Either we’re going to get out of here, or
we’re going to hit them and take everything they have. Just sleep with your
finger on the trigger tonight.”
    Silvarre
nodded grimly.
    Maybe
we’ll get lucky and blast the monster’s brains out this time. Or maybe it will
find easier prey across the ruins.
    The
next hour drew itself out slowly, agonizingly. Holtzclaw finally decided no
attack was coming. He left men at the ready by Thor just in case. He went down
into the tunnels to check on progress. The arrival of the strange ship meant
the schedule had to be accelerated even further.
    He
entered the room near the heart of the Trilisk complex, or at least the spot
they had decided had the most promise. Men worked all around him.
    We’re
already working as fast as we can, he told himself. You can’t
make it any faster. You just can’t.
    The
room had been enlarged, though it had cost them dearly. The Trilisk walls were
strong, amazingly strong, and self-healing. After a few failed attempts, the
UED soldiers had placed large steel columns around the room and slowly jacked
up the ceiling after they had cleared the stone above the room from the
outside.