The Crucible: Leap of Faith Read Online Free Page A

something.
The injuries Weatherby had sustained weren’t natural. He hadn’t
fallen over. The ground hadn’t given out from underneath him and
crushed his body.
    No. His EV suit had been torn to
shreds, the flesh within ripped apart – leaving the unmistakable
impression of claws.
    Whatever had done this had torn
right through his chest.
    There was blood everywhere. It was
mixing with the condensation of this planet, but it was still thick
and sticky by her feet.
    Lieutenant Hargrove – the leader
of her Space Forces detachment – stood above the Ensign’s body, his
expression both grim and concerned.
    To him, this mission was simple.
This wasn’t the kind of operation where people died.
    Hating that her hand trembled, she
brought it up and wiped it over the visor of her helmet.
    “Just take the damn thing off,”
Hargrove growled, voice low and rumbling.
    “There’s no need for that tone,”
she managed as she reluctantly disengaged the seal of her helmet
and pulled it off, a cloud of condensation puffing around her face
before it dissipated.
    “Don’t you dare,” Hargrove
snapped. “The report you submitted to Star Forces said there would
be no threats on this moon. You said this place was
uninhabited.”
    “It is uninhabited.”
    “Something did that to him.”
Hargrove extended a stiff finger at what remained of the Ensign’s
body.
    “A ship must have landed,” she
began.
    “Our ship hasn’t detected any
incoming vessels. There is no one on this moon but us.”
    She shivered. The
move snaked deep into her body, making every muscle tremble. She
brought up her hand to wipe it over her face, but stopped when she
felt the rough fabric of the EV suit. As her fingers shifted in
front of her face, she saw a faint shimmer of red. “What the hell is this?” she hissed.
    Hargrove barely looked at her.
“It’s his blood. It’s evaporating and mixing with the air. It’s
this moon’s goddamn atmosphere. We need to act quickly if we are to
preserve the crime scene.”
    “Crime scene?” she stuttered,
finally tearing her gaze off that thin film of red and staring at
Hargrove.
    “You said yourself, this planet is
uninhabited, and if my ship hasn’t sensed anyone landing, that
leaves one thing.” He stared at her directly, his lined brow
pressing against his eyes.
    “… What?”
    “One of your crew did this to my
man,” Hargrove’s voice dropped so low she could barely register
it.
    “What?”
    “I will find who did
this.”
    Research Manager Lee was used to
holding her ground. Supervising dig sites, especially ones as large
as this, required a sense of discipline and control. She was never
afraid of a fight.
    Yet now she couldn’t stop the fear
from tracing up and down her back. It lodged deep into the base of
her spine, leaving her with the sudden urge to run.
    Not from Hargrove. Despite the
menace lacing his tone, she wasn’t scared of him.
    She was, however, terrified
because he was wrong.
    Her crew hadn’t done
this.
    She looked down at the remains of
Ensign Weatherby once more.
    Her crew hadn’t done
this.
    So who or what had?
    …
    Ensign Jenks
    I’d found an empty alleyway in the
lower quarters of the trade district.
    I was shaking now.
    Shaking so badly that everything
was shaking with me.
    I wasn’t crazy. It was really
happening.
    There were a few discarded mag
crates to my side, and as my body trembled, they shifted and shook
on the floor.
    I pressed a sweaty hand into the
wall and tried to stabilize myself. Closing my eyes hard and
clenching my jaw, I tried and tried and tried to control my
breath.
    I’d found an Omega weapon. And I’d
isolated the compound. Now I just had to calm down long enough to
use it.
    At my feet was an old military
grade medi-pack. Inside was an isolation needle. A small device
that sat in the palm of your hand, you filled the vial at the back
with whatever substance you wanted and rotated it to activate it.
An electro-needle would shoot from the tip.