Troopers - Book 1

Bug Tunnel

                “What’s wrong with him?” Medb asked

                “Do I look like Eastre?” Aasith snapped “Grab a shoulder and show us the way”

They slowly dragged Oakham forward, the weight of the man and armour was not a problem it was the rocks and boulder s that kept getting in the way, on route they saw various members of their unit getting up and removing rubble, most were unscathed only Nabu the comm’s specialist seemed to be injured, his comms set had been crushed by a boulder, it had saved him from being crushed himself but a shard of buckled metal had twisted out and he’d caught the underside of his arm. Eastre was already putting a dressing on it and had stemmed the blood flow with styptic powder, the empty sachets scattered on the floor.

                “Major Thorne?” Aasith called looking for the officer in the group that had clustered round.

                “I am here. Ten meters in front of you” The voice echoed back from behind a boulder. “Bring Oakham here and get Eastre to come over when she’s able.”

                Aasith checked her rifle as the multiple lights from the unit cast enough ambient light for her to see by, it seemed to have survived with only a few scrapes to it unlike her face plate. She went over to Eastre and tapped her on the shoulder to pass on Major Thorne’s words.

                Major Thorne lay still on the floor, his left arm caught under the boulder, so far no one had came past the boulder to check on him; he was projecting the sensation that all was well with him, he needed the unit combat ready, he could sense the arachnids coming closer checking for survivors in the tunnels after the destruction of the base above. Feeling the arachnid minds always gave him a sense of calm, they were not as they were perceived, mindlessly thinking of violence, they were eager to complete their tasks and calm, calm to the point of serenity as they were so sure what they did was the best. “Maybe ignorance is bliss” Thorne thought to himself as he waited for the last member of the team to awaken.

                Eastre moved over to the still form of Sergeant Oakham, a quick interrogation of his readouts showed nothing out of the normal; she gave his Stryker armour a quick visual scan and found the problem a large crack at the base of the helmet. She called Medb over who was still standing near and they lifted him slowly and removed the helmet. Eastre removed her gloves, feeling the cool subterranean air gaining a better feel and started to inspect the scalp, there was swelling, in some way she preferred, as the impact was swelling outside of the skull not just within. She forced his eyelids open and shined a light in his eyes, they responded well, so far she was happy it seemed he was only concussed, badly concussed. She moved round to treat the Major, he had directed her to get the unit ready first and that his injuries were minor. She passed the edge of the boulder and at a glance took in the pale clammy face, the left arm crushed under a boulder from the forearm onwards, blood was pooling around the elbow not much as the weight of the boulder seemed to be slowing the flow. His chest panel showed all the vitals were diminishing in strength except for brainwaves which were far beyond normal even for a psychic.

                “Luk! Morrigan! Thoth! On me!” she shouted as moving closer to inspect the damage, her hand instinctively pulling out morphine syringes.

                “I can control the pain do not worry about that, and do not hand it to me, it will intervene with what I am doing.” Thorne’s mouth never moved as he spoke to her directly.

                “Yes sir.” Eastre replied her voice calm and smooth as she set to work.

                “Bloody Hell!” Thoth exclaimed as he saw the state of the Major.