Battleground Mars Read Online Free Page A

efficiency. Two of the drillers managed to get off shots, but their laser pistols were clearly not powerful enough to penetrate the scaly, armored skin. The Taurons staggered as the shots hit them, but kept on coming forward. The clawed hands reached out to drag the last two men to the ground, and then the clip ended.
    “Oh my God,” Kacy breathed. “They’re huge.”
    “Jesus Christ!” Rahm breathed. “I’ve never seen anything like that. What about the rest of it? What happened next?”
    “Nothing very pleasant, they sure wouldn’t want you to know about the next bit. The company makes sure that the goriest parts are erased.”
    “But you know, don’t you?”
    Josh nodded. “Yeah, I do, I’ve seen it happen.”
    “What do you know, Mr. DeVries?” Tobin Ryles asked as he walked into the room.
    Josh reached forward to clear the screen, but not before Ryles saw what was on it. The man’s face darkened.
    “I thought that particular clip was restricted to management only. How did you find it?”
    “Must have been an accident,” Josh mumbled. “We were looking for something else.”
    “I see. Would you let me have the terminal for a moment, please?”
    He sat at the screen and furiously keyed in a series of commands. The ‘Mars Miscellaneous’ clip disappeared. He stood up and looked at them, his face set in a taut smile. A smile that was more of a sneer.
    “If you need to know anything about Taurons, you can ask me or Jacques Fechter. Don’t listen to gossip from some of the old ‘Mars hands’ they think they know it all. But they don’t, the Tauron threat has been neutralized. All you need to do is get down on the planet, mine the trevanium and go home in two years time with lots of money in your bank accounts. Josh, would you come with me, I need to have a word with you.”
    They left the library, and two new arrivals brushed past them in the doorway and entered the library. A man and a woman, the man of about his age, and the woman a little younger. But what a woman! She took his breath away, as she was so beautiful, so totally out of place on this ship, rubbing shoulders with the tough Mars drilling crews. Her beauty was not something she’d constructed in front of a mirror. She had a natural, glowing, outdoor beauty. He watched her walk, when she moved. It was the delicate grace of a ballet dancer. Dark haired and dark eyed, her skin was a contrast, smooth and ethereal. He swallowed, she reminded him of Christine, his fiancée. The girl he’d failed in Afghanistan, the girl who’d died when he froze. The guy greeted him and Josh.
    “I’m Grant Merkel, crew boss, this is Gabi Aaronsen. You’re crew bosses, aren’t you?”
    Josh and Rahm nodded.
    “Yeah, I thought I’d find you here. By the way, Gabi is on my crew, she’s a trainee technician. Despite the different surname, she’s also my sister, so be warned. Big brother always looks after her.”
    They smiled. Gabi shook hands with them and Rahm warmed to the friendly pair. But he was wary with the girl. She was an unwelcome reminder of something he was working hard to bury in the deepest recesses of his mind. A different surname, did that mean she was married? She seemed to read his mind.
    “Mom remarried after her first husband died, it was shortly after Grant was born. Technically he’s my half-brother, but I can tell you he’s always looked after me. I couldn’t wish for a better brother.” She smiled at him. “What were you guys looking at?”
    “A clip about the Taurons,” Kacy replied. “But Tobin Ryles, the assistant base manager, came in and wiped it.”
    Gabi laughed, it was a sound that was light, with a musical ring.
    “Who’s afraid of the big bad Taurons, is that it? That’s silly, aren't they’re supposed to have them under control on Mars. They said they’re corralled on the opposite half of the planet from where we’ll be working. Why should we be worried about them?”
    Rahm thought about the huge,