Free Arcadian Genesis by Greig Beck Page A

and secure zone for rendezvous. If we miss our bus, we walk home.’
    Bronson looked slowly along the line of faces. There were no questions. ‘Okay people, a few minutes until go time, so kick back and recharge.’ He pulled out a small canteen. ‘Dr. Khamid, you and I are just going to sit it out and enjoy the action.’
    Alex and the remaining HAWCs took up positions where they could watch the town, the forest, and Bronson for any further instructions. Kolchek also monitored a small radar imager, which bounced a signal over the surrounding landscape. The device could cover a mile in any direction, and about the same overhead – not much, but it would at least give them a heads-up if anyone got too near.
    Alex sat back against a tree and pulled out his own canteen. Ten feet farther down the line, Sam Stozer was on her belly with a scope to her eye. She turned to look over her shoulder at him, and smiled when she saw him looking.
    Kolchek dropped down beside him, and instead of his usual wisecracks he was silent for a moment.
    ‘You know, Hunter . . . You’re going to make it today.’
    Alex turned to him, expecting some sort of punch line. He sipped from his canteen, then offered it to Kolchek. ‘Sure, it’s my lucky day – I’ve already been blown up and shot. That’s enough for one mission.’
    Kolchek waved the drink away. ‘No buddy, I mean: I know you’ll make it today – I seen it in my mind.’ He chuckled softly and without mirth. ‘Not sure about me, though.’
    ‘Come on, pal; if anyone is going to walk outta here with a smile and a shoeshine, it’s you,’ Alex said.
    Reaching into a pouch on his belt, Kolchek held out a small, folded square of paper. ‘Give this to Hammerson; he’ll know how to get it to my —’
    Alex batted it away. ‘You’re shitting me. No way I’m taking that.’
    Kolchek pushed it back at him. ‘For fuck’s sake, just . . . humor me. You can always give it back to me later, right?’
    Alex hesitated, then snatched the paper from him. ‘Okay, but back home, the drinks are on you . . . for a week.’
    Kolchek smiled. ‘Sure, drinks’ll be on me, buddy.’
    Alex cast a glance at the sky: the lighter shades of gray had turned leaden now, and a cold, sharp breeze bit at his ears and nose. It was time.
    ‘Muscle up, people – it’s showtime. Bruda, stay at the tree line until we’re on the street, then keep one hundred feet behind us. Kolchek, Johnson and Stozer: on my mark . . . Go!’
    Alex started forward with Kolchek and Stozer at each shoulder, and Johnson close behind, in a simple, arrow-tip formation. Bruda crabbed along the tree line, keeping them in sight. He had the big gun set for semi-automatic and had pinned several of the double magazines to his belt for fast loading. The shotgun shells would come out fast and hard – each drum contained thirty-two twelve-gauge rounds. He would control his fire, but could get off a hundred rounds in under a minute. The thing kicked like hell, and would knock a normal man flat if he tried to open it up too quickly. But for a man like Bruda, who weighed in at about two-forty pounds, that wasn’t a problem.
    The HAWCs went down the street low and fast, their skeletal, black Colt ACRs held out in front of them. As they neared the corner, Alex paused, his gaze roving along the line of dark windows, over the rooftops, then down the darkening street. There was no doubt about it now.
    The town was deserted.
     

CHAPTER 10
     
     
    ‘Fuck a duck!’
    Hammerson’s screen flared red as the emergency alert banner passed across it. They had just leapt from DEFCON 5 – Normal Readiness, to DEFCON 2 – War Readiness, in the space of an instant.
    A one-megaton fusion device had detonated in Dubna. The seismic activity indicated that the blast had occurred on or below ground – a low-altitude earth-buster, and the fusion meant a lot of heat and power, but little fallout – a giant super-heated hammer blow to the Russian