Free Nu Trilogy 1: The Esss Advance by Charles E. Waugh Page B

exposing himself to enemy fire. As he looked at the camera display on his helmet video feed, he saw the occasional burst of laser fire from the far interior. In the vacuum of space, no sound accompanied the light, but every few seconds, Sted felt shudders through his magnetic boots.
     
    “ Charger , Gomez is running into more resistance than anticipated,” Sted reported. “The immediate area of breach appears to be clear. I’m going in without confirmation from Gomez. I’m leaving camera one at the breach to continue recording. I’m designating my shoulder camera as camera two. Once I’m secure inside the hull, I’ll activate my high-definition hand camera on feed number three.”
     
    With that, Sted released his boots and activated his back and side thrusters. From three meters above the breach, he oriented himself for a headfirst dive and then squeezed the thruster in his left hand just enough to get his whole body through the breach with minimal exposure.
     
    “Gomez report!” Sted ordered as soon as he was clear of the breach and had a good view of the entire cargo bay.
     
    “This is Gomez. We have an internal security force pinned down behind the cargo shuttle in the bay, sir. Chandler and Singleton are not responding and assumed down. The remainder of the cargo bay has been cleared.”
     
    “Keep their heads down, Gomez, while I start recording the cargo. If they get out of hand, blow up the damned shuttle as long as you give me a few seconds of warning to take cover.”
     
    “Yes, sir. I’m sending Corporal Allen to assist you with opening those crates tied down to the interior bulkhead. I have two corpsmen sealing the hatches from the ship’s interior. We don’t want to be surprised by unexpected company.”
     
    Sted accelerated over to the crates Gomez mentioned and considered which to open first. Their time would be limited, so his selection was critical. What he was looking for were control console-sized crates or anything that might hold military grade laser components. As he was considering his selection, Corporal Allen arrived. Sted directed him to open one of fourteen identical crates located halfway between the two hatches, which were now sealed.
     
    The Corpsman dialed down his hand laser and directed it at the closest crates, peeling back the outer packing material. Then he reached in and pulled out exactly what their intelligence report had specified. The writing on the console was in Chinese, but the function was obvious. The battle screens surrounded by missile and laser deployment controls had a universal look. There was no mistaking what this was.
     
    “Corporal Allen, set a charge in the center of these crates while I record as much detail as I can about the one you opened. Then we should move to the next set of crates. We only have five minutes left in our twenty-minute window, so be quick about it.
     
    “Gomez, get ready to blow the shuttle as we withdraw. We don’t need any live fire at our backs. Have the remainder of your squad prepare charges to take out whatever remains in the cargo bay as we head back to the breach. Every charge should be set on a ten-minute timer and then launched as we exit. I want the squad well clear of the colony when they blow.”
     
    With his orders clearly spelled out, Sted headed over to Allen, who was dismantling another crate. This time what he pulled out was completely foreign to Sted. All he could do was record everything and hope the intelligence team could identify its purpose.
     
    “Take cover. We’re blowing the shuttle in five, four, three, two, one, Now!”
     
    Three bright flashes bathed the cargo bay interior, and then pieces of the shuttle began flying everywhere. Sted and Allen just had time to hunker down behind the crate they were inspecting. That’s when the shuttle’s fuel tanks blew in a huge secondary explosion.
     
    As the lights died down, Sted gave the withdrawal orders, and everyone jetted for the breech,