One Roll of the Dice......Chapter 5

[Witchking]

Chapter 1 Click Here

Chapter 2 Click Here

Chapter 3 Click Here

Chapter 4 Click Here



Chapter Five


Geiger was sure he detected more then the usual degree of concern in Spinoza’s voice, “What’s going on, Arturo, what kind if business is Chris involved in….Drugs?…..Booze?”. Spinoza shook his head, “I wish it was that simple Sal”, he looked uncomfortable, “S**t, Chris will go nova when he finds out I’ve been talking about it”. Geiger leaned forward and pointed to the squadron tattoo on his left arm, “Chris has one of these, just like you and me Arturo, we’ve all saved each others lives more times than we care to mention over the years and if Chris has gotten into something that has you this worried for his safety, then he’d better deal with it, cos I’d expect him to tell you if I was in trouble………so…..what gives?”.

Spinoza, sparked and took a deep hit on a joint before passing it to Geiger and clearing his throat to speak, “Three Tazura’s ago, this guy comes in to the bar, halfway through uptime, the place was almost empty so it struck me as kind of unusual. Anyways he orders a soft one and sits in the corner for the next stazura, nursing his drink, watching the door. By the time Chris showed up for the downtime shift, I was convinced that this guy was a contract killer waiting for his mark, so I mentioned it to Chris and he looks over and his face goes white, then real quiet like, he asks me to cover for him for a while. I said sure and asks him what’s up but he says its nothing, he’s just got some business to attend to and over he goes and talks with this stranger for…I don’t know maybe half a stazura. Finally the stranger gets up and leaves and Chris just comes to the bar and tells me to go home and get some rest. I could tell there was something wrong, you know Chris, wears his heart on his sleeve. Well not this time Sal, this time he’s shut down real tight, tells me it’s nothing to worry about. Next tazura, when I get here….there’s a note saying he has business in Herron’s Neb and that he’ll be back in 3 –4 tazura’s”.

Spinoza took another hit off the joint, “Ya know Sal, I’ve been thinking about that stranger ever since. At the time I was convinced he was an assassin or some kind of tough guy civilian but the more I think about it, the more sure I am. That guy had Shadow written all over him”.

Geiger felt as though his jaw had become unhinged and was about to hit the table. The Shadow Units were the most secret and elusive of the already paranoiac Military Intelligence wing of the Federal Argon Navy. A Black Ops Unit that existed more in legend and rumour than in reality. Their exploits always related as having been witnessed by someone’s, best friend’s, third cousin.

Like most people, the members of Wolf Squadron didn’t really believe they existed at all, until the tazura they were ordered to the Wastelands and landed on ASD-538. The briefing said it was a scientific colony, a hollowed out asteroid served as their home and base of operations. Contact had been lost for 20 tazura’s and had not been re-established. Wolf Squadron was ordered in to offer whatever assistance was required.

Geiger stared bitterly at his drink, “Whatever assistance”, he thought, “the only assistance those poor bastards required was a burial detail”. Eleven hundred and thirty seven men, women and children lay dead in the passages and caves of asteroid ASD-538, even the scientists, god-damned pets had been slaughtered, in the coldest most clinical act of brutality, Geiger and his men had ever witnessed. The perps had been very careful, even the stray weapon blasts had been treated in a way that made them unidentifiable. But someone had ******-up, deep inside the asteroid there was a passage where probably the last group of scientists had tried to find refuge. High up on a gangway a solitary securicam had remained un-noticed by the killers, and it recorded for posterity the final moments of the scientists lives as several masked men, wearing Argon military uniforms murdered 25 unarmed Argon civilians as they begged for mercy.

The camera even managed to get a close-up of an officer delivering the coup-de-grace to a woman who had survived the initial barrage of laser fire. Although he was masked, the footage showed the unit insignia on his sleeve. A stylised backlit doorway, with a crooked shadow protruding beneath.

Geiger’s C.O. Colonel Petrie Vandoren, personally destroyed the recording, with a warning to his men that if any of them spoke of this ever, both they and their families would likely meet the same fate. To this tazura, Geiger still had night-terrors about that mission to ASD-538 and lying in his bunk, while cold sweat dried on his skin, often wondered what act or crime the scientist's could possibly have committed that would warrant such a response. The answer would probably never be known, perhaps they had uncovered a secret too dangerous for anyone to know, maybe they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the dark power games played by the faceless, a pawn or in this case 1137 pawns were expendable. Someone once said, “A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic”. Geiger shook his head and slapped Spinoza on the shoulder, “Don’t worry Arturo, we’ll get him back safely”, hoping to hell, he sounded more confident than he felt.

[Howlingmad]

As posted on TMG.

Good stuff buddy.

[Witchking]

As posted on TMG.

Good stuff buddy.

thanks mate

[Sagan]

Simply Excellent

[Witchking]

Wayhay, it's the Mad Goner Mutual Appreciation Society.

Seriously, thanx Sagan, much appreciated

jeez it's quiet round here isn't it

Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello,

[Howlingmad]

Dead more like.

[xxl_and]

Really nice..

[RJV]

Excellent stuff. Really shaping up now. (Like the SHADOW logo btw!! )

Cheers,

Rob.

[KiwiNZ]

At last I had the opportunity/tim to read through the first five chapters of your story. Very good read! Nicely kept tension and funny inclusions of station announcements

Looking forward to the next installment!

[Witchking]

Thanx everyone for the comments thay are much appreciated, part six is in the works

[Malcolm (Cyteen)]

Good read, a lot to keep you captivated. Nice writing style btw, enough detail to paint a picture but still easy on the eye. Cracking. More more more!

Cyteen out