Free Guerilla by Mel Odom Page B

pulled out his own weapons.
    Sage pulled up the note app and made a reminder for himself to make certain Jahup saw the company armorer to ensure the AKTIVsuit was up to spec. Jahup had only recently been issued armor, a hand-­me-­down that had survived when the soldier inside hadn’t. After the scout had agreed to work with the Terran Army following the events of the action against DawnStar, Sage had wanted Jahup properly outfitted. A lot of potential enemies existed within the corps, and Jahup had been identified as one of the soldiers even though he’d only been at the site to save Noojin.
    Jahup hadn’t mentioned his part in the attack on the illegal drug factory to anyone, but word about his presence had gotten around through DawnStar’s ­people who had been at the site. Sage still wasn’t certain where that was going to leave Jahup in the eyes of his own ­people. Some of them lauded him as a hero. Others seemed to think he had betrayed them by taking a position with the Terran Army.
    Noojin, the young girl who worked with Jahup’s hunting band, didn’t like her partner crossing lines. She liked to keep her distance from the Terran Army. Jahup still hunted meat with his band, since those efforts also served as scouting expeditions. Sage figured those trips were a lot more interesting these days than they had been.
    Jahup climbed aboard his RDC and switched on the magnetic drive. The crawler shivered to life and rocked forward until Jahup restrained it.
    Back on his own vehicle, Sage brought up the shared comm link. “You lead. I’ll follow.”
    Jahup nodded without turning around, picking up Sage on the 360-­degree view afforded by the helmet. Twisting the throttle, Jahup hunkered down over the crawler and rocketed through the jungle’s underbrush.
    Sage accelerated, following closely behind as they sped through the jungle. Keeping the RDC on track was mind-­numbing as the hardsuit’s AI and past experience kept track of Jahup’s route and the terrain without any real effort on Sage’s part. Idle, without true focus, his head filled with questions concerning the Phrenorian base and what the Sting-­Tails had hiding there.

 
    EIGHT
    Fort York
    Loki 19 (Makaum—­colloquial)
    0541 Hours Zulu Time
    T hey’re afraid of us, Sergeant.”
    Sergeant Kjersti Kiwanuka knew the assessment made by the corporal standing next to her was accurate. Kiwanuka didn’t need the hardsuit’s vision multiplier capabilities and body language interpreter software package to recognize the fear that gripped the Makaum onlookers and made them restless while causing them to stand packed together. She’d been in plenty of places where she’d seen it before—­from both sides of that line that kept the two groups separate.
    The Makaum ­people stood well back of the yellow warning laser array that marked the blast hole created during the ambush. The sizzling yellow lines were almost too bright to stare at with the naked eye, and the warning hum that accompanied them intensified when any non-­military person approached.
    The lasers wouldn’t do any real harm if physically encountered, but they did interfere with the central nervous system and render most intelligent creatures nauseous. Unfortunately, most of the life-forms on Makaum didn’t have high-­functioning central nervous systems and went through the lasers with impunity. As a result more soldiers had to be assigned to the barriers to keep out wandering reptiles and the larger insects.
    And the increase in armed guards worried the locals even more.
    â€œI know they’re afraid,” Kiwanuka said. “We’re afraid too.”
    Army sec drones zipped by overhead, scanning rooftops and trees. One sniper, properly armed, could take down a soldier in a hardsuit. Ten could take down just as many. The snipers might not get away, but escape might not be one of the