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The patrol s orders were to find the colonists or die. Knowing Tarug that last part might not be an idle
threat. Raol could only hope the civilians were well hidden away and untraceable. Even so his stomach
soured at the news.
Tarug s fixation with killing innocents was increasingly hard to bear. Raol made a few more discreet
notes in his workpad. He needed to commission a new task for his contacts within the SSN Raol wanted a
history report concerning Tarug s past. If he could understand why Tarug was this way Raol might find
some grounds to circumvent it.
He toyed with the idea of pulling some of the patrols off the escapee hunt. Logically, they were
wasting manpower by chasing the low-risk targets, epecially since Raol s current losses in the war against
the Bolgër were surprisingly high. This last fact resulted mainly from the resistance s acquisition of
RPAPs which explained the mystery raid on armory number four. Depending on how much of a stockpile
they d managed to steal Raol expected a higher than normal rate of casualties until the Bolgër ran out of the
deadly ammunition. Once that happened, if his forces were still here, mopping up the small army would be
easier than eating a piece of Tarsiam fudge cake.
His stomach rumbled, reminding him he hadn t eaten for almost twenty-four hours. Another two
hours here and he d go off watch for a few; he needed to check up on Lilithia.
His workpad flashed a message. Tarug was attempting to get hold of him via comset. With an
imperceptible sigh Raol slipped the workpad earpiece on. This was a conversation he didn t want his crew
to hear.
 Yes, sir? Raol asked, opening the comset connection.
 What the fark are you doing? Tarug demanded.  Locking down the ships like this?
 Precautions, sir. Raol explained patiently.  The Bolgër are surprisingly innovative. I didn t want to
risk them succeeding with any unexpected surface action.
 Well, get the ship launched and our damn butts out of here. Tarug shouted.
www.samhainpublishing.com 131
S.J. Willing
 Sir, might I respectfully 
 Goddammit, Hardstine, I don t care how many men we have down in the colony. We can always
send the shuttle for them when this is all over. Just get the ship out of here now.
 Sir, understood, sir. Ordering an immediate launch now.
 I m glad you understand me, Commodore.
Tarug cut the connection. Bile burned in Raol s throat. Over seventy-five percent of their personnel
three brigades were in the colony, and his daughter would have been too if Marcella hadn t acted so
swiftly. The risk of leaving so many behind was incredibly high. Especially this close to Federation space.
He had no choice. Not after Tarug s direct orders.
 Caolwin, prepare the ships for launch. Set them up for a stationary orbit, three miles out.
Raol watched the workpad screen and scanned the reports, grimly aware he may be condemning
thousands of his men to death.
132 www.samhainpublishing.com
Chapter Fifteen
Marcus chuckled to himself as he finished the pre-launch diagnostics and powered up the drive
system. He d outsmarted everyone and was finally getting what he deserved, a life of luxury on any planet
of his choice amongst the Independent worlds.
He threw the lift system to full power and had barely risen ten feet above the asteroid surface when he
saw the dome beneath him explode outward, throwing with it cargo crates, attack bots and suited soldiers.
 What the& 
Marcus s curse fell to a stunned silence as fragments of tri-chesium alloy, plasglass and a rather large
battle-bot was sucked out of the colony to crash into his craft. He felt the first shreds of panic as the rear
hull ruptured. He felt pure terror when the engine screamed into overdrive as its outer casing split apart.
By the time the small inferno that had been his ship s drive unit ignited the stockpile of fuel beneath
him, Marcus was traveling rapidly through space as a million flaming sparks.
Marcella clung to the airlock as the Dante I colony fell to pieces around her. At least the huge
explosion somewhere on the other side of the airlock gave that impression. Probably one of Dante I s larger
fuel stores had blown. Whatever it was, it lit up the Rock s horizon, and now shrapnel, rocks and anything
that hadn t been tied down and fused into the colony itself was shooting everywhere. She felt the airlock
vibrate as debris struck it on the other side. Behind her several of the skippers bucked and exploded when
hit with the killer projectiles.
Somewhere past the skipper landing zone another vast explosion occurred. Another flammable
storage area must have been struck by the debris. Its seven-year occupation aside, the Rock just hadn t been
designed for war or catastrophe on this scale.
There were flares of light farther out into space too, hopefully indications that some Separatist fighter
craft and orbiting transshield satellites had been hit and destroyed.
That last guess was confirmed when her workpad lit up. Off-colony communications had been
restored. Good, once she got this damned door open she could contact her DIP superiors and get them
updated. Maybe even get some assistance out here before the whole rock blew up.
Using the handholds on the airlock, she pulled herself to her feet and tried the door one more time,
refusing to believe it had been sealed permanently.
S.J. Willing
She almost fell into the shaft when the door popped open with no effort at all. Everything had a
simple explanation, of course. The door had simply been sealed by the internal pressure of the airlock.
Pressure it no longer had because of the gaping tear down most of the rear wall which let the vacuum of
space pierce to the heart of the colony.
 That&  Marcella walked into the airlock and began climbing down the ladder the airlock s autolift
had been wrecked by the barrage,  & is going to play Sadie s Hell with the colony.
Dante went supernova.
At least that s the impression Yumi had. Tomas was kneeling beside her where they d both been [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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