Dead Beckoning

falsetto. This was followed by a run of tense and slightly nervous giggles from the others, s

when plan 'b' didn't work, he would strive to also have a plan 'c' in place. In short, he was the kind of man who a

we do now

ful look. A few minutes later, the airlock door of the shuttle began to op

arine team leader warned over hi

h their hands behind their heads. Some sported bloodied bandages here and there, as if to back up the argument that

uddenly, one of the black-clad figures casually lowered an arm and tossed something away just as he reached the foot of the ramp – and the others followed after him. Without pausing, the

cover!" The s

y the Corsairs tore into unlucky marines who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bits of metal rattled and pinged as they struck objects around them. In the midst of the chaos, a few more men came running down the ramp from the shuttle entrance, bristling with what could only have been portable heavy artillery! Th

e used to hard fighting – in fact, they had all but cut their teeth on it. The marines were scattered, pinned down and too thinned out to be effective. They

arines who might have been listening. "Shu

lower back armor. The force knocked him to his knees. He collapsed, blood spraying from a wound in his neck, eyes

ammer', grinned an evil grin to himself, well pleased. He wished he could've seen the look on the face of Indomitable's Captain when he realized the tables had just been turned on him! The thought amused him. It was bloody hilarious! Kilroy cackled, reveling in this complete reversal of fortune!

ronicus. Tremaine was one of Earth's oldest extrasolar colonies, well-established colonial worlds, and typical of the older colonies of the Terran Empire.

dlife lived alongside imported Terran species in a carefully planned biosphere. Its cities, although slightly smaller and further apart than Earths', and its po

ouldn't even paint your mailbox in a color of your choice unless it was one of the approved colors specified in the regulations! People in the streets walked about with vacant, meaningless smiles displa