Recon Marines II: Marine's Heiress, The by Susan Kelley Read Free Book Online

laser pistol and took up a sonic rifle. He judged the
footfalls as heavier than a man though the walls should have kept
the forest beasts out. Then again, he hadn’t examined the entire
surrounding structure. He navigated through the shop, avoiding the
work tables and equipment he’d organized. One of his first chores
had been to fix the door so it made no sound as he
exited.
    The boardwalk ran in front of the
buildings for the length of the town, a necessity on the rain days.
The buildings shared walls, three or four homes together, with
narrow alleys cutting between them to give access to the gardens
behind.
    Vin slipped into the one on the far
side of Moe’s café and immediately caught the gamey whiff of a
large animal. The slow shuffle of a hoofed foot drew him around the
back corner. The beast stood taller at the shoulder than Vin, with
a back broader than his arm span. Its massive head dipped down to
the herb garden he assumed belonged to Emma. Thick projections of
horn sprouted straight up from its forehead. An herbivore, but that
didn’t mean it was harmless. An animal as massive as it could crush
a man as easily as it stomped on the green plants beneath its wide
hooves and with as little notice. Its antlers didn’t look for show
either.
    Most of the houses had small gardens
planted in their rears. Vin could see the path of destruction the
animal had wrecked as it ate its way to Emma’s plantings. He
regretted letting it eat her garden but shooting the sonic rifle
would wake the entire town and alert anything else lurking
about.
    He backtracked the animal to where it
had squeezed between two buildings on the north end of the town.
The center street curved slightly east as he followed the
depressions left in the dry surface of the road. The thing must
weigh over a ton.
    Vin veered off the trail in the center
of the street and crouched near the corner of the last building on
the east side of the settlement. Ahead of him the north gate should
have blocked the road but the metal-banded panels stood wide open.
The narrow trail bordered by the jungle led away toward the distant
Hadrason Mine twenty miles away. The thick wooden locking bar sat
against the wall as it did during the daylight hours.
    The sounds of the wild crept in along
with the scent of damp green rolling down the street like an
invisible mist. After listening for any sound not of nature, Vin
left the cover of the building and edged closer to the opening. He
saw where the large foraging animal had gobbled and trampled the
garden closest to the gates.
    No whisper of cloth against cloth nor
scent of man sweat touched Vin’s senses, convincing him the man
who’d opened the gate hadn’t lingered. He would check for man sign
outside the walls after taking care of the creature.
    Should he try to herd the garden
destroyer back out of the gate? Then again, the settlement depended
on hunting for a fair portion of their food. Vin started for the
rear of the buildings, hefting his rifle. There was no way to quiet
a sonic rifle. An ear piercing howl followed the rounds when they
cut through the air at three times the speed of sound.
    Impatience, an emotion he’d only
learned through his interactions with civilians, spread through
Vin. Why did he care if he woke the entire town? He was here to
keep watch on Emma and only so he could capture her father. Why
should he care if someone sabotaged the colony? Damn it
all!
    Vin strode down the street, listening
for any other beasts that might have slunk inside the open gate. A
loud snort echoed off the walls from the large animal behind the
café but otherwise he heard nothing unusual. He’d learned where
Emma and Moe slept before he’d ever entered the town for the first
time and now knew Vannie shared Moe’s quarters.
    Vin took the narrow steps three at a
time that led to the rooms above the café. He tapped on the wooden
door at the top.
    Movement and gruff voices answered from
behind the thick door but it took a