The Battle for the Ringed Planet by Richard Edmond Johnson Read Free Book Online Page B

the air.”
    “I’m not a rebel! You scanned me before!”
    “Still, the Imperium is very resourceful at creating mutations and implants.”
    A tear of disappointed anger ran down her cheek as she undid the belt and raised her hands while he walked around behind her. “I’m not your enemy,” she pleaded.
    “We’ll see.” He held out his Con and scanned her more thoroughly, and then felt her arms, “Pull your hair up.”
    Slowly she complied and he felt around the base of her neck and skull for any indication of scarring from surgery, though the level of sophistication required to implant a scan resistant communications array would probably leave no evidence. Then again, the effect on her eyes was a dead give away.
    Defiantly she growled, “If you touch me anywhere else I’ll scratch your eyes out.”
    Ignoring the girl, he finally lowered the weapon, “All right.”
“That’s it? Just all right?” She wiped away another tear, seething in frustration. “For now.”
    “Well what about you?” She snapped her belt back on, “Who were you talking to?”
    “Nobody.”
    “I heard you tell someone to ‘Shut up’!” Then she pointed at him, “How do I know you’re not going to infiltrate my village and destroy it all, especially the school and children like other Sky Demons on other planets?”
    “I didn’t even know the village existed, and you could still be using that as a cover story.”
    “Well, I’m not!”
    “There’s something strange going on with you.” Glancing away, she refused to reply, so he sighed and walked ahead.
    After an hour of forced silence, they carefully made their way down the streets in the empty city, passing pieces of debris causing small fires in the grass and bushes. Torian and Siiri spotted the crater billowing smoke near a small wooded area next to the Norstrom River. Inside the crater was a gigantic cylindrical blackened hulk of twisted melted metal, unrecognizable as anything manufactured, red hot.
    Torian crouched near a small rock formation examining the holo readings on his Con while Siiri sat on a flat rock away from him watching the sky, overcast with smog from the burning wreck.
Then he slumped down on the ground and sighed gloomily, “It’s the Callisto.” Siiri turned back, “How do you know?”
    “A very faint signal from the black box; I’m reading their last few minutes.”
    She got up and stood over him watching the floating screens, trying to decipher the meaning of the numbers and words, and without emotion he interpreted, “It looks like there were 3 enemy cruisers, Emperor Class, and Callisto took out two of them sustaining heavy damage. They tried to evade the last one in low orbit, but they didn’t make it …” he swallowed hard.
    “How many soldiers?” tenderly she placed her hand on his shoulder.
    “All 500 …” he thought of his bunkmate, another LRRS tech.
    Then angrily he jumped to his feet, brushing away her hand and staring at the burning wreck. He strode up close at the same time drawing his pistol.
    Siiri immediately shied away while he shouted at the inferno, “Damn you!”
    Then he fired a succession of plasma bolts into blackened mass, “You sent me here to die! And now look at you!” He fired repeatedly, and then spoke softly; “You’re all dead …” He stood pointing his pistol and staring with wet cheeks.    
    Creeping up behind, Siiri whispered soothingly, “I’m sorry about your friends.” She touched his gun hand, “Maybe we should put that away…” Torian did not resist as she gently guided his hand placing the pistol back into the holster.
    Walking around to face him, she stared directly in his eyes, “Were there life pods?”
    “No, they were too low in the atmosphere.” He was calmer now, “But they got a Hawkeye out. If fighters didn’t get it, the 4 th fleet will respond.” 
     
        
     

Chapter 5: Grondalle
    After a few moments, Torian collected himself and peered momentarily into