Grendel Unit 1: Bad Day at Khor-wa by Bernard Schaffer Read Free Book Online Page A

said. 
    Frank forced himself to turn so he could see S'bal better.  He struggled to raise his hand and point at the Cryndian's gills, "Maybe he's losing air through the gills?  Can we plug them?"
    "Thirty seconds until chutes deploy," Monster's voice crackled over the mask's radio. 
    "Dismantle S'bal's chute," Vic said. 
    "What?" Frank shouted.
    "Dismantle the chute!"
    Monster looked across the cockpit at Buehl and smiled, "It's about to be raining fish." 
    "The chute's disabled, Captain," Buehl said.  "I hope you know what you're doing."
    Vic scrambled through the air to grab S'bal, lunging with his hands and feet until he finally managed to latch on tight enough to pull the fish's limp form close.  He grabbed S'bal's long neck in a headlock with both arms, covering as many of the gills as he could. 
    "Chute's deploying," Monster said.
    The snaps holding their backpacks shut popped open and Vic could hear fabric and long lines of cord hissing out as they released into the air.  Vic bore down as hard as he could, squeezing around S'bal's neck tight enough to choke a man. 
    Suddenly, their chutes popped open with enough force to jerk them backwards, spinning Vic around in the air so hard he felt the bones in his spine pop as they straightened and realigned.  He had S'bal in an unwieldy clutch that included his arms around the fish's neck and his legs wrapped around one of his feet.  Eventually, their descent slowed and both of them swayed in the air,
    Buehl's voice came through the speakers in the mask's ear straps, "His breathing's stabilized, Captain. Just don't let go of him."
    "No kidding," Vic grunted, straining to keep hold of the Cryndian.  "How much longer till we enter the atmosphere?"
    "Touchdown in two minutes ," Monster replied.
    The rooftops of Khor-Wa were visible now, thousands of interstellar transmitters with long, spiky antennas that only seemed to grow longer and sharper as they descended.  Frank pointed down at a vacant lot behind one of the buildings and said, "Aim for that." 
    "Thrusters engaging," Monster said. 
    Vic felt the backpack shudder and two long cylinders emerged, releasing fiery jets of air in spurts that slowed their descent rapidly.  "This fish is freaking heavy," Vic grunted, blinking tears of sweat out of his eyes. 
    The jets on the backpack sputtered from the increased weight of both bodies and gave out completely five feet above the ground.  Vic cried out as they fell and did his best to land them, but wound up rolling sideways and landing directly on top of S'bal.  The fish let out a burst o f air from his stomach and groaned pitifully, his rubbery flesh rippling like a waterbed.  Frank's jetpack let him down softly on the other side of the lot and as Vic staggered to his feet, Frank lifted his mask and shouted, "You guys okay?"
    Vic tore off his own mask and wiped the sweat from his face with his bare hand, casting off droplets of water like a windshield wiper.  "Never better," he groaned.  He kicked S'bal in the leg and said, "You still alive?"
    The gills along the side of the creature's neck flittered as he sucked in air.  Finally, he raised a webbed hand and groaned for help.  Vic bent over and tried to catch his breath, ignoring him.
    Frank gathered up his chute and dragged it across the lot toward them , his baggy pants swishing together as he walked.  "What a great start to this op, Captain.  I'd say this is a portent of all the excellent things to come." 
    "You saved me , you saved me," S'bal sputtered as he pawed for Vic to help him get up.
    Vic kicked him away in disgust , "I should fry you into fish sticks for that stunt."
    "Even if he'd jumped on his own it wouldn't have changed the fact that he couldn't breathe," Frank said.  "That wasn't on him, it was on us."
    Vic unzipped his baggy flight suit and threw it on the ground at Frank's feet.  "Fine.  Since you're so in love with him, you two can get the gear cleaned up.  I'm gonna