Free Conquest of Earth (Stellar Conquest Series) by David VanDyke

the coffin he was in opened to vomit him out onto the warm, living deck. Rolling over and coughing effluvium, he crawled to the largest coffin nearby and began to pound on it, his fist making meaty smacks.
    Whether from his efforts or something Bogrin did, the enclosure split, revealing the half-ton Sekoi inside and repeating the procedure that had ejected Spooky. A moment later, the two stood, looking at each other.
    “Well, friend,” Bogrin said, his real voice rough in the moist air, “we live.”
    “For the moment,” Spooky replied. “I’d feel a lot better if I knew what was going on. Is Roger injured? Should we try to wake Ezekiel?”
    “As Blend, I monitor some of Roger ’s sensations. I believe laser struck water above us as we descended into ocean, flash-boiling it. Ship is in pain, but will recover. Cannot maintain VR space for us. We must wait.”
     

Chapter 13
    Bull awoke, his heart pounding, and came close to panicking. He hit the eject button and rolled out of his armor as it cracked open. Doc Horton grabbed him and tried to stabilize him, but the small woman couldn’t prevent the big man from sprawling on Conquest’s flight deck.
    How did I get here?
    “I’ve got a gurney, Major ben Tauros, if you’ll just hold still.” The doctor signaled two telefactors, which quickly and precisely lifted Bull’s half-conscious frame onto the rolling bed. “You’re back aboard, and you’re going to the infirmary.”
    “I’m fine,” he muttered, and then his head seemed to swell up like a balloon and his eyes went fuzzy. “Just hungry.”
    “No, you’re not fine,” the doctor said firmly, walking alongside for a few steps as the machines carted him away. “You’re concussed, you have stress fractures running throughout your body, and half your cybernetics are burnt out. If not for your support systems you’d be dead. Now just stay horizontal and hope for no brain damage. Not that anyone would notice.” Horton muttered this last.
    “I heard that,” Bull mumbled, then let himself fade from consciousness as the gurney stabbed him with a needle.
     
    ***
     
    Sergeant Major Repeth traded looks with Horton as she stepped out of her own armor onto the deck. “We got nine or ten other bad ones, Doc,” she said as two armored Marines carried a third one in. “Set her on the deck,” Repeth ordered, then keyed in the standard code to crack the armor. It opened along the seams like a split lobster tail, allowing the medical bots to lift the injured Marine out and place her on another gurney. A dozen more automated beds waited behind with perfect patience, their trauma arms ready to help stabilize the casualties.
    “This one is expectant,” Horton said, peering down at the remains of a man inside another battered set of armor. “Vitals are flat, no brainwave. Record TOD at…1223.40 hours.”
    Repeth stared at the remains of Corporal Salen, remembering his ready smile as he spotted for her in the gym. Another good kid gone because of the Meme and their lust for domination. She hoped losing half the company had been worth it.
    Moving on down the line, she helped Horton and two medics with the rest of the casualties, paying special attention to the five Ryss. All of these had been severely wounded and left behind by their own. Amazingly, all had survived. Tough critters, Repeth thought. None of those that had made it through to the Weapon had lived, but the HUD network had recorded Slash’s last moments before he blew the nuke.
    Someone grabbed Jill from behind and she almost clocked him before she saw it was Rick. Burying herself in his arms for a moment, she fought back tears, saving them for later.
    “This is the worst part, isn’t it?” he said. “But I’m glad it isn’t you in the infirmary.”
    “Or worse, you mean?” Repeth shook her head to dry her eyes. “Ultimate liability clause in every Marine contract. You know that.”
    “I do, but I’m selfish enough to be happy you didn’t