Free Rift Breaker by Tristan Michael Savage Page B

standard issue Composite pulse rifle. And I imagine he has friends with him.’
    Milton looked again. Two others strode into view and crossed to Luylla’s ship, rapping their weapons on it. Another was speaking with the hangar owner.
    The green slug stood on tiptoes. Its eye stems stretched until level with the face of the soldier who yelled an order in response.Two more soldiers materialised from the crowd and proceeded to drag the slug away, its eye stems squirming out front in a feeble attempt to repel away.
    â€˜We need a distraction,’ said Milton.
    Luylla turned to him blankly.
    He smiled. ‘I’ve got an idea.’

Eight
    Milton strode inconspicuously across the hangar. Between moving bodies, he could see a Composite soldier scanning the crowd with a grimace and an upturned chin. Milton turned his face away and took a hard left behind a nearby group.
    He glanced up and around, noting the squad’s placement in the hangar. Two stood by the Inhibitan and another ambled along the central path that cut between the landing pads. The patrolling commando had a smirk that seemed frozen to his conceited face as he looked down on those who passed by, forcing them to step aside. Two raggedy shipmates hauled a container by hand along the path. The commando paused in their way and looked them over, running an open hand over his rifle. The crewmates exchanged a glance and obediently lugged the crate around the authority figure, having to grab their respective crate handles in both hands to compensate for the lack of momentum. The commando scoffed to himself and approached the entranceMilton had entered. Luylla pulled her head back from the opening. The commando stopped at the door and casually surveyed the street outside.
    Milton’s shoulder slammed into someone. He apologised, and the other guy, who had a face drooping with fat folds, grunted and mumbled as he kept walking. Milton went to the far wall and moved along it, towards the long-necked beasts. Darting quickly around a jutting pile of cargo crates, he reached the cages.
    The two wryhaidon wore restraints on their mouths; a good idea given their location. They snorted, breath steaming from their nostrils, and flicked their heads woozily, jangling the chains that ran down their backs. Milton saw the caretaker markings on the sides of their legs, indicating they were consummated mates. The wryhaidon bond was strong. This was all the more useful to the situation.
    Milton edged around the cage, glancing about and finding no wrangler on guard. He stealthily unlocked the door. The beast heard the sound and lowered its head to Milton, alternately blinking its transparent and non-transparent sets of eyelids. The animal’s eyes were glazed over, a sign of space travel drugging. The docile beast flexed its neck, touching the top of its head to the cage door. With a creak of the rusty metal, the cage swung open. The creature lumbered out.
    Screams rose from the hangar and the crowd shoved away to escape the path of the beast. The wryhaidon simply looked at them and continued exploring its surroundings. Its tail whippedout and toppled a pile of cargo crates as it turned its focus to a towering cargo crane. Hairy nostrils opened on its snout and sniffed along the piece of equipment. The wrangler darted to its side, waving his arms in a feeble effort to get the thing’s attention.
    A cargo loader backed up behind the wryhaidon, trying to install an oversized crate into a ship. Before the driver noted the shouts to stop, the loader’s tracked wheel met the wryhaidon’s tail tip with a crunch.
    The beast whipped its neck straight and let rip a bloodcurdling roar. It turned its head to the loader and struggled against the weight. The startled driver, finally noticing the animal loose in the hangar, escaped the loader and slunk away.
    The beast stood on its hind legs and lurched itself forward. The scaly skin where its tail met its body darkened to