Read Extinction for Free Online Page B

next
to her sidearm. She looked Davies square in the eye. “I have something for you.”
It came almost as a whisper. She handed him one of Mike’s old bandannas. He
took it from her and realized that something was wrapped in it. He gently
unwrapped the cloth and a wave of emotion welled up from within.
    “I can’t take this; it was Mike’s prized
possession.” Even as he spoke, he couldn’t take his eyes off the fighting knife
that was a twin to Daria’s own.
    Although it was Mike who had taught
Daria how to fight, it was her natural ability and prowess as a hunter that
made her the master she was today and that had also allowed her to far surpass
Mike’s teachings.
    “I already have one and there’s no one
else that Mike or I would rather want to use this weapon. Of course,” she added
with a wry little smile, “knowing how agile you are, I’ll probably be sewing a
finger back on you by the end of the day.”
    “Thank you,” he said softly, almost
choking on his own words.
    “Come on, marine, I’ve done enough crying
for the both of us in the past two weeks. So if you’ll just get your sorry ass
out of my way, we’ll get this show on the road!” She started past him toward
the hatch, but paused beside him and reached up with her hand to touch his
shoulder. With an almost unseen wink, she squeezed tightly and let go just as
fast and continued towards the assembly area.
    With that, Davies took one more look at
Mike and Daria’s quarters and turned to follow her down the corridor.
Unbeknownst to him, that would be the last time Davies ever saw those quarters.
    When they reached the assembly area five
minutes later, he was still looking at the knife in its sheath. When he finally
looked up, he saw the biggest FUBAR he had ever seen. As the old saying goes, “Idle
hands do the devil’s work” and so it was with this group.
    Heated arguments had broken out here and
there, what with all the different special divisions so close to one another
and trying to out story tell each other. Claims of lies and other bantering
ended in yelling and MPs threatening the use of mild stunners to break things
up.
    Everyone then stopped what they were
doing at once and stared blankly ahead at the podium. The 1MC had just come on
their comlinks and they listened to the base commander’s speech. To an onlooker
without a comlink, it would seem that thousands of people had suddenly become
zombies and were listening to a voice that only they could hear.
    “Congratulations, everyone,” the voice
began in their heads, “you have assembled in record time. Very impressive for a
group this size. I am now, more than ever, certain that I have collected the
finest group of marines ever assembled under one command.
    “I remember when I was a second lieutenant
and my CO loved to call the entire base for gear-up drills. I hated that SON OF
A BITCH!” his voice boomed at his podium. Luckily, comlinks are equipped with a
noise cancellation device that keeps the sounds entering the user’s head from
rising above a comfortable level.
    “So I know,” he continued, “that when I
tell you this was just a drill, you’ll be swearing my name for days to come.
But that’s all right because I now know that I can count on my marines to get
the job done and I guarantee you that the next time you’re called to gear up,
you won’t be heading back to your quarters anytime soon.”
    Low murmurs and whispers covered the
crowd with innuendos and personal translations of what each soldier thought the
base commander might be saying. Were they going to war soon? What wasn’t the corps
telling them about their current post? Why such a huge drill if nothing was
going to happen?
    “Now, everyone return to your previous
duties. Fall out”,  he concluded.
    As the crowd started to disperse, Daria
began to bitch in the direction of Davies when they both went back into a blank
stare, listening to the same unseen voice.
    “Attention all hands. Any