It’s Snippet Time for Opus X!
Yes!!! It’s Friday and that means you get another taste of Obsidian Detective! Today’s snippet is the last one of Erik. Come next week I’ll be sharing 2 snippets with Jia in the lead up to going live! If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy of Obsidian Detective, you can do so here. And why haven’t you? LOL
The Knights Errant had earned a long leave, and he’d been promised one from up above. Just two more months and a garrison platoon would arrive.
Too bad the Zitarks won’t let us show up and hit their beaches. They’ve got to have at least a few decent ones.
A small silver card clipped to his belt vibrated; it was his PNIU, personal network interface unit. He tapped it and waited for a chime to signal connection, then put up a hand. Those around him lowered their voices and hit those who had loud voices behind them who hadn’t noticed Erik’s raised hand yet.
“This is Major Blackwell.”
“Sir,” came the response. The sound was transmitted almost directly to his ear, granting him some privacy. “That UTC auditor who is evaluating the mine just sent out an SOS. He says he’s under attack by terrorists.”
What the hell? I’d believe the Zitarks showed up all of a sudden sooner than terrorists.
“Terrorists?” Erik echoed. “What are you talking about?”
“We don’t know, sir. Just got a garbled transmission about him being under terrorist attack.”
Everyone fell dead silent and turned to look at him, excitement in their eyes. A little action, especially against terrorists, would be welcome.
Erik frowned. “Do we have any drones in the area?”
“No, sir. We’re getting some transmission errors. I’m also having some trouble communicating with the satellites.”
His frown deepened. “Prep additional drones. We’ll launch them ourselves on the way. Send out an all-call alert as follows.” Erik glanced around. “We’re suiting up. Full battle-rattle. We have a possible terrorist incursion at the mines. Enemy number and capability unknown.”
A moment later, a harsh alarm emerged from everyone’s PNIUs, the sound repeating from nearby rooms as his message was issued. There was intentionally no directional sound for full alerts.
Erik gestured toward the door. “Let’s move. Some poor bureaucrat probably just hit his head and is seeing things in the shadows. I expect everyone in this room to be suited up and ready to go before the rest of the platoon even gets to the armory.”
Terrorists? How could terrorists get from the gate all the way here without the destroyer picking them up? Infiltrators with the company workers?
If this auditor idiot is wasting our time, we’re going to have a loud, vociferous one-way conversation.
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I know you must be as excited as I am! Click here to see the book on Amazon and check out the audio link, too!
