Imperial Guard by Joseph O'Day Read Free Book Online Page A

thinking all the time!
    Unger turned to Brogan and slapped him on the back. “Good going, Brogan, you passed your first test. It wasn’t real smart, but it was gutsy. Come on, let’s get some more grub.”
    *
    The days wore on, and the novelty of Brogan’s surroundings wore off. He pondered how consistently his assignments landed solidly on the dull side of boring as he labored over yet another stultifying task. He and Murphy were busy tightening down bolts in the engine room when the klaxon sounded a pattern Brogan had never heard before.
    Looking at Murphy, Brogan saw a mingled expression of astonishment and apprehension. Lurching to his feet he leaped over Brogan, knocking him off balance, and raced down the corridor. Not knowing what else to do, Brogan followed as best he could.
    As they were running, the klaxon ended and a voice came over the intercom: “Battle stations! Battle stations! This is not a drill! I say again, this is not a drill!” Brogan felt his chest tighten and his scalp begin to prick. In the crush of personnel, he focused all his attention on catching Murphy.
    As he rounded a corner, he glimpsed Murphy diving into their squad bay. I didn’t have to keep up with him after all, thought Brogan with disgust. But when he entered the bay, seamen were everywhere, frantically donning their spacesuits.
    As he calmly slipped on his own suit, he found himself grateful for the mandatory practice. He did not know what was about to happen, but he was sure he’d feel safer once he was into his suit. Part of him secretly hoped to get in on the action.
    Just then an officer appeared in the door. “Report to hatch four!” he shouted. “The armorer there will issue you your weapons. Let’s move! Hustle!”
    As they were on their way, the intercom cackled once again into life. “Now hear this! Now hear this! All assault personnel report to assembly points immediately!”
    The effect of this command was to strip the ship of everyone not absolutely essential for ship operations, namely, maneuvering, fire control, and atmosphere breech control. It sent the crew hurrying like so many ants to their various duties.
    A number of men had already assembled by the time Brogan arrived at hatch four. He was pleased to see that Unger was among them. The ensign immediately began to organize the newcomers into squads. Brogan was assigned to Murphy’s squad, which he was glad of, but he was not happy that Crow was also in his squad.
    “Oh, no!” Crow exclaimed. “We don’t have ta be saddled with this amateur, do we? He’s liable to get somebody killed!”
    “Stow it, Cromartie!” Unger said. “Try to be a professional for once. We need all the manpower we can get.”
    An old chief warrant officer plodded down the corridor. In his wake were four droids and a small sled, all supported by null-grav units. The sight reminded Brogan of an ugly mother duck leading her ugly ducklings, and he suppressed a grin.
    “All right, men, listen up. I understand there’s a new recruit here, so it won’t do any harm to review these weapons for everyone.”
    Lifting a short rifle with a disproportionately large canister in front of the trigger guard, the armorer began his monotonous monologue. “This is a naval shipboarding assault rifle, G76. It weighs seven kilos, is one meter long, and fires 3.6mm projectiles. It will fire 1,000 such projectiles without reloading. Sustained depression of the firing mechanism, or trigger, will cause the G76 to fire a three-round burst every nine-tenths of a second. If the firing mechanism is pressed briefly, then released, it will fire one three-round burst only.”
    Because of the disaster suffered by the Arcadian in a boarding skirmish—the hull was so badly breached by lasers that all hands were lost—boarding parties were forbidden by Imperial command to use laser or radiation weapons. Only droids were authorized to employ laser fire.
    The historical development of the personal laser weapon