Battle Earth: 11 Read Free Page B

little, but more from being awoken than hit.
    "Oh, come on," she complained.
    She looked her watch.
    "Two hours? You kidding me?"
    "You could always sleep in your own bed," he replied.
    She wasn't sure if he was joking or not, but jabbed him in the side as she felt he deserved it either way. The clenched fist struck a rib, and he winced as it struck far harder than she'd intended.
    "Sorry," she quickly added.
    "No, it's okay. That's about the most excitement I've had all week."
    She laughed, but only briefly as she felt the same weariness.
    “Think they’ll ever get back to us?” she asked.
    “We’re sitting on their doorstep. Sure they will. What worries me is their response.”
    “But they fought with us once already?”
    “Not through choice. It’s pretty clear they are intimately familiar with the Krys. They have set up a life out here in peace. It’s what we came out here to do, isn’t it?”
    She shrugged as if to agree in part.
    “Well then wouldn’t you be pretty pissed if some random race turned up with your old enemy in tow?”
    She couldn’t think of an answer, but they were soon interrupted anyway.
    “Colonel Taylor to the bridge,” a voice called over the comms, with no regard for the many still sleeping around them.
    “News?” Parker asked.
    “I doubt it. Probably just more bullshit.”
    He pulled on his BDUs and sidearm and carried on promptly. As he weaved his way through the corridors of the vessel, he could see the same dreary boredom mixed with anxiety that he felt inside, too.
    This is getting old, he thought.
    He reached the bridge to find himself being directed into the Admiral’s quarters. He entered to find another six officers already sitting around the desk. Clearly, they had been there for some time. Before he could even stop with two feet together, Huber was hounding him with a question.
    “Colonel Taylor, you think those things down there are spoiling for a fight, don’t you?”
    He could tell Huber had made up his mind, but he couldn’t mindlessly go along with it.
    “I wouldn’t like to say, Admiral.”
    “Damn it, don’t skate around with that nonsense. Give us your honest opinion, and don’t hold anything back.”
    They all looked to Taylor and awaited his answer.
    “Well…okay. I saw what tech this race has, just a little of it. I think if they wanted a fight, it would already be over, and we wouldn’t be here to have this discussion.”
    “And what makes you think they just haven’t made up their minds yet?” asked one of the other Captains.
    He shrugged.
    “They don’t seem anything like the Krys. I don’t think they’ll harm us unless we present a danger to them.”
    “A danger? We’ve got a whole fleet parked in their backyard,” replied Huber, “We have no chance to escape this place now. We are either going down there peacefully or with force, and if they make the first move, I want to know we are ready for it.”
    “Yes, Sir,” Taylor replied.
    "You seem unconvinced, Colonel?" Huber asked.
    "Ball's not in our court, Sir. I'll fight to the very end if they come at us, but there is nothing more we can do than we are already doing."
    "Not good enough, Colonel. I want your marines ready for assault around the clock. I want boarding teams prepared to assault any enemy vessels, and heavy weapons teams deployed at strategic locations around the ship. I want you to do your job, Colonel. You will liaise with the XO and ensure we are at full combat readiness for whatever might be thrown at us."
    "Aye, aye, Sir," he responded.
    "That will be all, Colonel."
    Taylor turned and left quickly. He sighed as the door shut behind him.
    "Waste of fucking time," he muttered to himself.
    "What was that, Colonel?"
    He looked up to see Vega had heard, but he wasn't going to repeat it.
    Two hours later, he sat before a group of marines that had assembled for his briefing. A screen replayed video footage captured from the battle on the surface of the planet below. They