TO THE SHORES OF TRIPLE, LEE! - Ray Gun Revival
TO THE SHORES OF TRIPLE, LEE! - Ray Gun Revival
TO THE SHORES OF TRIPLE, LEE! - Ray Gun Revival
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Jasper Squad by Paul Christian Glenn<br />
was so light that the ship’s deck seemed to<br />
spin in two directions at once. Gripping the<br />
access port, she squeezed her eyes shut to<br />
gain her bearings.<br />
“Rey! You okay?” Melendez’s voice sounded<br />
too far away.<br />
“Yes, Lieutenant,” she shouted, louder than<br />
she should have. She wasn’t about to crack<br />
in the middle of her first field crisis. She had<br />
worked too hard, come too far, to fall down<br />
over a stupid bump on the head.<br />
She forced her eyes open and saw red.<br />
With a grunt of defiance she brought her<br />
forearm to her face, wiped the blood away,<br />
and pushed off from the wall, stumbling back<br />
toward the open stairwell. As soon as she felt<br />
the railing beneath her hand, she grasped<br />
tightly and focused on her feet. Concentrating<br />
carefully, she reached the boarding chamber,<br />
where Captain Spill was once again yanking<br />
violently on his crowbar.<br />
“Well?” he demanded.<br />
“Planet Wroume,” she said slowly. “Coming<br />
in too fast.”<br />
The captain immediately took her meaning,<br />
released the crowbar and punched the engine<br />
room intercom on the wall.<br />
“Stamp,” he shouted. “I know you can hear<br />
me! Back it off; you’re taking us in like a flickin’<br />
meteor!”<br />
No response.<br />
The captain pounded on the intercom.<br />
“Stamp, you’ve got to slow us down!”<br />
Rey backed up to the wall opposite the<br />
engine room door and slowly sank to the<br />
deck. “Be nice,” she murmured.<br />
The entire ship began shake violently, and<br />
a sickening, throaty rattle echoed from the<br />
outer shell. Rey envisioned the Jasper disintegrating<br />
into a million pieces of flaming cosmic<br />
debris; despite her efforts to fight them back,<br />
hot tears welled in her eyes.<br />
The captain turned and saw her on the<br />
floor. “Stand up, Cadet,” he said, through<br />
gritted teeth. “Stamp is a dirtbag, but he’s not<br />
an idiot.”<br />
Rey pushed herself back to her feet and<br />
looked her captain in the eyes.<br />
With an acerbic whine the thrusters suddenly<br />
decelerated; the ship pitched forward,<br />
then back again, and the shaking subsided.<br />
“See?” said the captain.<br />
The Jasper shimmied as the cockpit took<br />
control, and at last the alarms ceased.<br />
<strong>Ray</strong> <strong>Gun</strong> <strong>Revival</strong> – August 1, 2006 Issue 03<br />
Pg.<br />
“You need a seal,” said the captain, nodding<br />
at her wound. “Stay here until we’re planetside.<br />
I’ll have Jackaby bring a medkit.”<br />
“Yes, sir,” she said quietly. Flushing inside<br />
and out with shame, she wondered what<br />
the captain was thinking as he ascended the<br />
stairs.<br />
The cadet cracked under pressure, that’s<br />
what.<br />
The next few minutes were a stomachchurning<br />
affair as the ship swayed back and<br />
forth, riding an uneasy balance between the<br />
cockpit’s controls and the engine room’s<br />
thrusters. Lieutenant Melendez and the<br />
criminal Stamp were trying to anticipate each<br />
other’s maneuvers, working independently<br />
to achieve enough equilibrium for a nonfatal<br />
landing.<br />
Rey racked her mind for information about<br />
Wroume. She recognized the name, so they<br />
must have covered it at Academy, but she<br />
was drawing a blank.<br />
With a swoosh, the thrusters shifted down<br />
to standby, and the Jasper was gliding. Stamp<br />
was evidently guessing that they were close<br />
enough to surface for a soft landing. Since<br />
nobody was rushing down in a panic, Rey<br />
decided he must have been right. The ship<br />
began to swing gently as Melendez prepared<br />
for impact.<br />
Suddenly, there was clank on the other<br />
side of the engine room door. Rey stiffened<br />
and stepped forward, hand on her holster. An<br />
electric hiss, and sparks began to fly out from<br />
behind the doorframe. Dull metallic chipping<br />
sounds confirmed her fear—Stamp was<br />
breaking down the weld on the other side of<br />
the door. He was coming through.<br />
Rey drew her shooter and called for assistance,<br />
but her voice was drowned out by the<br />
abrupt sound of the Jasper’s belly scraping<br />
along Wroume’s surface.<br />
The Jasper lifted momentarily, and Rey<br />
shouted for the captain, but again her words<br />
were lost in the roaring grind of metal against<br />
stone. The ship began to crash up and down<br />
as she skidded toward an uncertain resting<br />
place.<br />
Rey dashed for the stairs, but, before she<br />
could reach them, the engine room door<br />
ripped open. Tannen Stamp leapt into the<br />
boarding chamber, blocking her way. Rey<br />
jumped back and pointed her weapon at his<br />
leg, just as she’d been trained to do.
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