Frost Station Alpha 1-6: The Complete Series Read Free Page A

think it’s going to send until the flare dies down.”
    “When will that be?”
    Tamryn pulled up the system meteorology report for Mysterium. “The prediction is thirty-seven minutes.”
    Wu’s expression was bleak. He didn’t voice what they were both thinking, that those intruders would probably find their way up here by then, and that they might be able to delete the message before it went out.
    “I’ll try to lock up the console,” Tamryn said, “make it so it only responds to me.”
    If possible, Wu’s face grew even bleaker. Maybe he was imagining them torturing her to make her unlock the station. She gritted her teeth. They would have to catch her to do that.
    She strode to the locker by the door and pushed past cleaning supplies to pull out her weapons belt. She buckled it on and checked the energy levels in the two pistols that hung from it and in the spare laser cartridges. Full. It also held a dagger, which she kept sharpened to a fine edge. She jammed her throwing knives into sheaths secreted about her body.
    Another explosion erupted somewhere on the station, causing the deck to rattle again.
    “Got any idea who these people are, Wu?” Tamryn couldn’t help but feel that the experienced sergeant must know more than she. “The way they moved...”
    “No,” he said. “Some of them might be androids, but that dress? That’s nobody’s merc team. Pirates, for sure.”
    “Androids with tattoos? I haven’t seen any that come out of the factory that way.”
    “Could’ve been modified. Branded.”
    Tamryn pulled out one more weapon, her Fleet issue anti-armor ballistic rifle with a sniper scope. The explosive rounds were rated to blow holes in combat armor. She looked around Comm and Control, not liking how little room there was to maneuver. There wasn’t anything to hide behind, either, other than the two chairs bolted to the deck.
    Wu had probably already assessed the area and guessed her thoughts, for he said, “If they rush in, willing to sacrifice the ones in the lead, they’ll overpower us quickly.”
    “Since this is locked down, it might make sense to remove the key.” She waved at the communications console, then flicked her hand at herself. “What if we head to Aux-Comm at the other end of the station? Make it harder for them to find us?”
    “We have our orders,” Wu said sturdily.
    “And the man who gave them is dead.” Tamryn regretted her bluntness when Wu winced. “Sorry,” she said, “but if we leave a trap and get out of here, it’ll help us buy time, right? That’s all we can do—make sure that message sends and then try to stay alive until reinforcements make it out.”
    “We have to keep the scientists alive too. That’s why we’re here.”
    They would be lucky to keep themselves alive. “Let’s start with the trap, all right?”
    Tamryn poked back into the locker. In addition to her own gear and the cleaning supplies, there were water and food rations, along with a personal forcefield and grenades, all the tools one should need to defend the area indefinitely. She palmed a grenade and held it up so Wu could see.
    He’d hesitated to answer, but now he nodded, his decision made. “I’ll do it. We’ll kill as many of those bastards as we can.”
    She tossed him the personal forcefield, figuring he would insist on standing in front of her if trouble charged through the door. While Wu rigged the explosives to blow when someone bumped into his tripwire, Tamryn double-checked the communications station, making sure that only the combination of her retina scan and password would allow access. Knowing she might die despite her best intentions, she also ensured Captain Porter and the lead scientist could get in with their passwords too.
    By the time she was done, sweat dribbled from her brow. She hadn’t even left the room yet, and her adrenaline-charged body already thought she had been fighting all day.
    Wu stood up, waving at his booby trap. The grenades