Read Online Grendel Unit 2: Ignition Sequence by Bernard Schaffer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Bernard Schaffer
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or you'll be reassigned to the service corps," Hill snapped. He nodded his head for Frank to follow and said, "Are you ready? That jackhole Cojo is out there and the sooner we find him boozed up in some bar, the sooner we can get the hell off this dump."
"Wait a second," Buehl said, jumping out of his seat. "We haven't discussed what kind of gear you're taking for this mission."
Hill patted the pistol holstered on his hip and said, "I've got all the gear I need. Frank doesn't need a gun if he has me."
Frank looked sideways at Hill at that remark, then decided he was better off not commenting. He tapped the black medical bag strapped across his chest and said, "I've got my bag. What else did you think we needed?"
Buehl's mouth fell open, "What else did I…you seriously don't want a gun?"
" I said he doesn't need one," Hill said.
Frank shrugged and looked back at Buehl, "This is just a surveillance op and we're trying to blend in. It wouldn't exactly make sense for me to go around wearing one."
"That's why neither of you should go around wearing one ," Buehl said, looking directly at the gun on Hill's hip. "I've got guns you can conceal in your armpit. Guns you can hide in your hat. Guns you can hide inside other guns that are hidden inside other, bigger, scarier guns. Listen, I have got a lot of guns, okay?"
"I honestly don't think I'll need one," Frank said.
"And even if he did think so, I already said he won't be taking one," Hill said.
"Fine. Whatever," Buehl said, looking like Frank had just rejected him from playing on his schoolyard kickball team. "How about comms?"
Hill waved his phone at Buehl and said, "I can track Cojo on this and call you when we're ready to get picked up. Done and done."
"I meant between you two ," Buehl said. "You're going to need covert communications with each other if you get separated. How am I going to reach Frank if you go down, Lieutenant?"
Hill chuckled and said, "If I go down? You've been spending too much time with the jackhole, sergeant. Come on, Frank."
Frank watched the lieutenant exit through the side hatch into the murky mist of Iscariot- Four, and he looked back at Buehl and said, "Two clueless human Unification officers on a planet filled with hostile aliens. What could possibly go wrong, Bob?"
Buehl grimaced as he looked out at the city . Lieutenant Hill was already busily holding his phone up in the air, trying to get a bead on Cojo's signal. He glanced down and smiled at Frank's hand, held out toward him with the palm upturned.
"Give me something small that I can conceal," Frank said. "And make it quick before Lieutenant Lostlunch sees."
"Yes, sir," Buehl said , before taking off running for the equipment locker.
Hill looked back at Frank as he came hobbling up behind him. He frowned at the way Frank was walking, favoring his left side and wincing with every step, and he smirked. "I thought they trained you trainees for physical maneuvers. What's the matter? Can't keep up with a real field agent, academy boy?"
They were a block and a half from the ship and Frank had found the lieutenant pressed to the corner of a building, trying to stay out of sight. "I'm fine, sir," Frank said. "I just have a cramp from all that traveling. Buehl said it might be space bends."
"Not you too," Hill moaned. "Shake it off and let's go. I've got Cojo's signal and I want to get the hell off this sludgesucking planet."
A tall, cloaked alien being floated past the alleyway , its long, black fingers bent into sharp talons, moving like a wraith between the crowds of different species that covered the sidewalk. Soon, the figure vanished in the mist and Frank tapped Hill and said, "Let's go."
The street was a long stretch of bars and shops and bussing terminals, with a hundred different ships filling the skies above with thick streams of smoke and landing lights. Frank wondered how Buehl could have forgotten to recommend a breathing apparatus in his equipment prep.
From the
"Wait a second," Buehl said, jumping out of his seat. "We haven't discussed what kind of gear you're taking for this mission."
Hill patted the pistol holstered on his hip and said, "I've got all the gear I need. Frank doesn't need a gun if he has me."
Frank looked sideways at Hill at that remark, then decided he was better off not commenting. He tapped the black medical bag strapped across his chest and said, "I've got my bag. What else did you think we needed?"
Buehl's mouth fell open, "What else did I…you seriously don't want a gun?"
" I said he doesn't need one," Hill said.
Frank shrugged and looked back at Buehl, "This is just a surveillance op and we're trying to blend in. It wouldn't exactly make sense for me to go around wearing one."
"That's why neither of you should go around wearing one ," Buehl said, looking directly at the gun on Hill's hip. "I've got guns you can conceal in your armpit. Guns you can hide in your hat. Guns you can hide inside other guns that are hidden inside other, bigger, scarier guns. Listen, I have got a lot of guns, okay?"
"I honestly don't think I'll need one," Frank said.
"And even if he did think so, I already said he won't be taking one," Hill said.
"Fine. Whatever," Buehl said, looking like Frank had just rejected him from playing on his schoolyard kickball team. "How about comms?"
Hill waved his phone at Buehl and said, "I can track Cojo on this and call you when we're ready to get picked up. Done and done."
"I meant between you two ," Buehl said. "You're going to need covert communications with each other if you get separated. How am I going to reach Frank if you go down, Lieutenant?"
Hill chuckled and said, "If I go down? You've been spending too much time with the jackhole, sergeant. Come on, Frank."
Frank watched the lieutenant exit through the side hatch into the murky mist of Iscariot- Four, and he looked back at Buehl and said, "Two clueless human Unification officers on a planet filled with hostile aliens. What could possibly go wrong, Bob?"
Buehl grimaced as he looked out at the city . Lieutenant Hill was already busily holding his phone up in the air, trying to get a bead on Cojo's signal. He glanced down and smiled at Frank's hand, held out toward him with the palm upturned.
"Give me something small that I can conceal," Frank said. "And make it quick before Lieutenant Lostlunch sees."
"Yes, sir," Buehl said , before taking off running for the equipment locker.
Hill looked back at Frank as he came hobbling up behind him. He frowned at the way Frank was walking, favoring his left side and wincing with every step, and he smirked. "I thought they trained you trainees for physical maneuvers. What's the matter? Can't keep up with a real field agent, academy boy?"
They were a block and a half from the ship and Frank had found the lieutenant pressed to the corner of a building, trying to stay out of sight. "I'm fine, sir," Frank said. "I just have a cramp from all that traveling. Buehl said it might be space bends."
"Not you too," Hill moaned. "Shake it off and let's go. I've got Cojo's signal and I want to get the hell off this sludgesucking planet."
A tall, cloaked alien being floated past the alleyway , its long, black fingers bent into sharp talons, moving like a wraith between the crowds of different species that covered the sidewalk. Soon, the figure vanished in the mist and Frank tapped Hill and said, "Let's go."
The street was a long stretch of bars and shops and bussing terminals, with a hundred different ships filling the skies above with thick streams of smoke and landing lights. Frank wondered how Buehl could have forgotten to recommend a breathing apparatus in his equipment prep.
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