Until Relieved by Rick Shelley Read Free Book Online Page B

inserting another twenty meter spool. The carbine's power cell was good for two hours of continuous firing, but twenty meters of wire lasted no more than ten seconds on automatic fire.
    Al Bergon crawled around the Wasp pod, snaking on his belly to get to the canopy on the far side.
    "Can't tell if he's alive or not," Bergon said after he got his first look inside the cockpit. "He's unconscious at least. How do you open these things?"
    "Front end of the canopy, about twenty centimeters down, there's a panel that lifts out, and a handle underneath," Joe said. "Either side of the cockpit. If you can't reach the one on the low side, you'll have to try the one on top. Let us know. If you have to go for the exposed handle, we'll lay down covering fire."
    A moment later the others heard a grunt over the radio. "Damn, it's going to be close," Bergon said. "I think..." There was a pause, and then, "I got the panel up. Now, if I can get my hand under there."
    Joe waited, almost holding his breath. He heard the sound of the latch releasing before Bergon confirmed that he had it open.
    "The whole canopy slides backward, if it isn't too badly damaged," Joe said.
    "It's moving," Bergon said. Then, another "Damn!"
    "Now what?" Joe demanded.
    "Stuck. I don't know if I can wiggle in enough to... Yeah. I've got my head and arms in. Jeez, there's blood all over in here."
    "Is he?" There was no need for Joe to finish the question.
    "There's a pulse," Bergon said. "It's weak, but it's there."
    "Can you get him out by yourself or do you need help?"
    "I could use a hand," Al admitted.
    "Hang tight. Mort, see if you can get around there without getting your ass shot off."
    "I'll get there. I'm very attached to my ass. Never go anywhere without it."
    Joe raised up and started spraying wire over the top of the capsule, more interested in suppressing enemy fire than in finding any targets. There would be time for that later, once the pilot—and his own casualties—had been recovered and treated.
    Mort scooted around the capsule.
    "See if you can drag the canopy back a little more," Al told him. "Maybe both of us together."
    After a few grunts and curses, Al said, "There, I think that's enough. I'll open his harness. Be careful when we pull him out. He survived the rocket, I don't want to lose him to the rescue."
    "Oh, crap." That was Mort. "He can't have much blood left inside him."
    "Enough to raise a pulse," Bergon replied. "That's all we can ask for right now. Careful there. Let's slide him around... Hold on, his foot's caught on something. I'll have to get in there again."
    "Hurry it up," Joe told them. "We've got company coming." He switched channels. "Lieutenant, we have hostiles moving our way, two hundred meters out on a bearing of 325 degrees from the capsule, at least ten men."
    "You'll have help," Keye promised. "Hold one." When he returned to the channel, he said, "Two Wasps coming in right now."
    Ezra's fire team moved closer to the rear end of the escape pod. Ezra was moving with difficulty, but he was moving on his own. Neither Tod Chorbek nor Wiz Mackey showed any lingering effects from being shot. The wire had come from too far away to penetrate, though the side of Tod's helmet was badly cracked.
    —|—
    Slee and Zel came in fast, wingtip to wingtip. They triggered their cannons as soon as they saw their targets, riding their guns harder than the shooting instructors recommended. Rules went out the canopy when Wasp pilots were protecting one of their own who had been shot down—or the mudders who were trying to save him.
    "Come on, you bastards," Zel muttered under his breath. Out in the tall grass, the enemy soldiers were clearly visible. Even though they had dropped to the ground, they had nowhere to hide. The open patches where they had flattened the grass or pushed it aside marked them as clearly as spaceport beacons.
    Blue three and four came in low, below fifty meters at the bottom of their strafing run. Then they pulled out