Out of the Black (Odyssey One, Book 4) by Evan Currie Read Free Book Online Page A

the Priminae world, this world . . . her world, was most emphatically not unarmed and unwilling to fight
.
    That said, she was well aware that hers would only be able to hold out for just so long
.
    While the enemy controlled the orbitals, as well as the rest of the system, the end was already written. The only question was how long it would take to pen the final words
.
    That was wholly unacceptable
.
    Unfortunately, her ability to influence the physical world was limited. She could advise, should she decide to make her presence known to more people. She could coerce, but in the end it would come to the same thing
.
    Death
.
    Gaia seethed. Her breath was the howling wind, her anger buried deep in the Earth like the force of Quake waiting to be released. But for all that, she was impotent and she detested the sensation
.
    The entity turned her focus back to the city of New York, where her chosen champion was now resting. She had a plan. No, calling it a plan would be overly generous, she supposed. She had a concept, an idea, a hint of what was to come perhaps
.
    If all went well, Eric Weston would be her savior
.

    “I’ve got five more coming in from the east, but I see the Guard coming up Eighth!” Lyssa called out from the southeast corner of the building.
    When she got no answer, she turned around and saw that Weston hadn’t moved from where he was crouched on the northeast corner.
    “Hey, you listening?”
    Weston shifted, glancing back. “I hear you, Lieutenant.”
    “What are you doing?” she asked, walking over.
    “Pinging everything on my ship, seeing what answers.”
    “So? Is anything answering?”
    Eric looked over the list of equipment his armor was reporting. “Oh yeah.”
    “Well great. Let’s go get it.”
    “Slight problem with that,” Eric said. “Some of it is back in the habitation module, right over there.”
    She followed his hand to see at least a dozen of the damned things crawling over the module he was pointing at.
    “Where the hell did they come from?” She breathed, appalled by the very
look
of the things.
    “I’d guess they would willingly crawl out of hell for a chance to eat my ship,” he said sourly, cradling his Priminae assault weapon in the crook of his arm. “We’re not getting through those, and by the time the Guard gets here it’ll be too late.”
    “You’re going to let them eat your ship?”
    “That’s not my ship anymore,” Eric said stonily, “but no. They don’t get to chow down on the
Odyssey,
not while I breathe. Control, Weston.”
    “Go for Control.”
    Lyssa hissed, surprised that she could hear the conversation. Normally you didn’t put that sort of thing over a PA.
    “New targets for Strykers,” he said. “Tell them to come heavy. Targets are grouped in close. Will laze.”
    “Roger, Weston. Strykers inbound.”
    Eric sent the laze command to the micro drones flitting about the park and rose fully to his knees. He looked down at the crumpled and battered cylinder that had been his home for almost three years.
    The sound of the Mach Fighters breaking the sound barrier echoed in the distance as a pair of the high-speed craft flashed by overhead. Weston watched the bombs tumble from the rails of the fighters, straightening out in midair before slamming into the habitat module and everything around it.
    The explosive conflagration engulfed the street, the habitat, all the Drasin soldier drones, and two buildings. Eric flinched but didn’t turn away as the buildings shifted, their supports blown out by the blast, and then slowly began to topple into the street. They slammed into what was left of the
Odyssey
command module, a cloud of dust and debris sweeping out and rolling into the park. Eric finally turnedaway as everything was obscured. He had too many other things to do.
    “Come on,” he said to Lyssa, walking back across the rooftop.
    “Where are we going?”
    “To get some gear for you and whoever else we can recruit.”
    “I