Waters of the Moon: Tranquility Besieged
by
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On the storage level, the securatrons began shifting into their final positions, forming a crescent along the east wall. Within minutes, Tamera saw four more units arrive to strengthen the center, then two nightwatchers appeared, using their hover jets to perch in the high corners of the ceiling. She glanced to her left and discovered a mobile retractor placed between two large steel canisters, angled in such a manner that the energy cannon could not be detected from the west end. There was another retractor to her right underneath the northside catwalk. Was a trap being laid for the Governor, she wondered? "What are you doing here?" a voice suddenly called out from the accounting station. Tamera was startled to see black signature patterns dominating the monitor screen. What would the computer do to her? she wondered. "Answer the question!" Security demanded. Tamera stood up and put a tentative hand on her blaster. "I wanted to speak with the Governor," she said. "There's no time for that now! Quickly, take shelter behind the securatrons! Stay low and don't transmit any signals. Hurry, there are only seconds left!" Relieved she wasn't going to be hurt, Tamera moved behind a row of lockers where several securatrons were well dug in. The computer was correct. Seconds later an explosion rocked the deck, clouds of smoke and blown debris obscuring the far end of the storage level. Out of the smoke, Grey appeared, sidearm blazing. A seeker followed him, and then another. Grey turned to make a stand and exchanged fire at point blank range. One seeker was knocked off course, the wing jet badly damaged, but the other struck back fiercely, striking armor with good effect, then trying to turn Grey's flank. Grey turned with the seeker, maintaining fire while covering his left flank with his shield. He moved forward, cut off the seeker's flanking effort, then gave ground as a third seeker emerged from the smoke. Grey briefly turned to bear down on the new threat, then ducked as two more explosions demolished an entire section of the south wall. A seeker emerged from the smoke damaged, wing jets barely functioning. But when Grey emerged a moment later, it was apparent he'd been injured. Beginning in a half crawl, he regained his feet and limped in a hasty retreat, then turned to make another stand at mid-deck, throwing his weapon aside and drawing a fresh one. The damaged seeker tried to close, only to take another hit. The other two seekers emerged from the smoke, each circling for a different flank. Grey spun, skipped and fired, scoring two hits before taking a hit that knocked him down. Both seekers closed, one ripping his e.s. system and converter cables, the other challenging his shield flank. The damaged seeker swung wide probing for weakness. And found it. At point blank range, the seeker punched a hole through the right side of Grey's armor as he struggled to hold the other seekers at bay. Blown off his feet, Grey rolled over to present his shield on the weak side, then fired from his knees, driving one seeker back, then the other two. He stood for a moment before sinking back to the floor, gun hand clutched over his wounded side. When he raised the weapon to fire again, blood dripped from the sleeve of his gauntlet. His return fire was effective, holding the seekers off as he slid backward. A third explosion shook the walls, disrupting the seekers flight patterns. When the smoke began to clear, a fourth seeker appeared amid the flames at the far end of the storage level. Grey reached the east end several paces ahead of the pursuit, fired the last charge to bunch the seekers up, then dropped the expended weapon and staggered to an area well within the crossfire zone. There he turned to make a stand, drawing his remaining weapon. The seekers delayed as the fourth seeker slowly came forward, giving Grey a chance to kneel down and catch his breath. The e.s. system was gone, forcing him to open his visor and suck the hot, battle scorched air. He felt something welling up in his throat, possibly blood, and hoped the anti-shock drugs being pumped into his body would buy him a few more seconds. "Governor! Fall back!" he heard the Security Computer shouting through the com. "Fall back now! Fall back! Fall back!" The damaged seeker entered the trap first, flying low and waiting for the others to provide support. Then the second seeker crept within range. Grey delayed fire, then took a pot shot at the third seeker, giving it just enough motivation to move up. The three seekers opened fire, blowing through the last of his shield power and ripping armor, but Grey scored three successive hits, driving them back just far enough to entice the fourth seeker forward. He hoped. "Grey, get out of there!" he heard Security implore. But Grey wasn't willing to retreat. The fourth seeker needed a target. He decided to give it one. Struggling to get up one last time, Grey shook off the damaged shield and raised his weapon, standing erect as all four seekers accelerated at him in a closed front formation. Though he might have gotten away, Tamera saw Grey turn to make his final stand. She could hear the Security Computer urging retreat, but he would not retreat. He waited for the fourth seeker, then rose to his feet, standing defiant against the backdrop of the burning storage deck. Through the com, Tamera heard Grey's voice, a ghostly echo at first, then stronger; "With his sword, he drew a line; 'tween the living and the dead. And from his pocket, took his speech; trembling as he read. Fear not, dear Lord, who loves us still; To you our lives are rendered. In freedom's cause we serve thy will, death but not surrender!" The last line of the old barracks ballad was nearly washed out as the enemy charged down upon him with pulsars blazing.
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About the Book
In July of 2049, Dr. Thomas McKinsey and a small band of scientists rebelled against the recently installed Congress-in-Council to declare the Moon a republic. Six months later, McKinsey's followers were dead and he was dying. With the world below him entering a prolonged global struggle, McKinsey programmed the computers of Tranquility to continue his strategic vision, a plan to establish world unity even at a terrible cost. As an afterthought, he instructed the machines to raise the colony's only surviving resident, a baby destined to grow up on an abandoned moon base with computers as his only companions. Now it's twenty years later, and having defeated the computers in a desperate civil war, Grey Waters is at last Governor of the Moon. But will his victory only lead to an even greater defeat? Still recovering from battle injuries, and trying to fathom his new companion, Captain Kris Fairfield, Grey learns the Congress-In-Council is planning to launch a major invasion of the moon. Must he destroy the invaders, or can he find a solution that will fulfill Tranquility's destiny?
About the Author
Greg Urbach is an urban historian living in the San Fernando Valley with his wife, Kwei-lin Lum, a paperdoll artist. Tranquility Besieged is the fourth of six novels in the Waters of the Moon series. The seventh novel, Tranquility Divided, is scheduled for 2004.