JORR (Jim Able: Offworld Book 7) by Ed Charlton (ebook reader ink .txt) 📗

must have gone through in the attack. He had done well: chasing off the animal, finding help, nursing him while he was unconscious.

Daum Robertus will be proud of you.

Jim was also aware of how close he had been to death. He would not have been able to dress his wounds, assuming he had survived the initial attack. He would not have been able to find help. Jim felt both uncomfortable, being the recipient of Tamric’s aid when he was the one who should have been looking after the monk—and grateful. He owed the youngster his life.

Chapter Nine

Their first sight of the base did not inspire them with confidence. The supports for the canopy were also used to mount perimeter lights. Outside the fence was a flat, well-lit strip of land in sight of regularly placed guard towers.

“Perhaps here would not be good,” Tamric whispered in Jim’s ear.

Jim nodded, and they retreated to the riverside path.

“Let’s try to find the outflow that feeds the stream.”

Again Jim nodded, too tired and dizzy to speak.

They moved carefully across dried mud until they found the course of the black evil-smelling water. It wound down nearer the other bank. They followed it, keeping to the dry areas, trying to avoid the damp irregularities of its course.

“There, Jim! See?”

“What?”

“They have it dammed. There are walls and walkways instead of the minefield.”

Jim peered into the gloom. Walls and walkways indeed blocked the old riverbed from bank to bank. The black water trickled out of a large pipe to their right. “See any activity?”

“None,” said Tamric with a smile. “Our luck may be changing.”

“Don’t count on it. We have to find a way up yet.”

Tamric took off the helmet and pulled binoculars out of his pack. He studied the dam for what seemed to Jim to be an eternity.

“At the far right, beyond even the discharge pipe, there is some sort of ladder. Perhaps from the days when boats were here.”

“If it’s that old, it’ll be rotted through.”

“Let’s find out.”

What Tamric had seen was not a ladder but a series of handholds built into brickwork at the side of the dam. As they made their way up the wall, they found each handhold was partly filled with powdery mud and dust. Tamric stopped just below the top. He raised himself slowly, just high enough to see over the edge.

Jim waited, looking at Tamric’s boots above him, gritting his teeth to counteract the swimming sensation in his head. He followed the monk over the top of the wall and caught a glimpse of several huge lagoons shimmering with water.

“Keep down!” Tamric whispered, pulling Jim down by his arm.

Tamric steered him along a narrow metal gantry and down a short set of steps.

“Are you okay?” he said with a deepening frown.

“Sure, just a bit dizzy, that’s all.”

“We’ll wait here a bit.”

“You sure it’s safe?”

“For the moment, I think.”

Jim looked around. They were crouched on a metal walkway bolted into the upper part of the wall of an almost empty lagoon. Below them was a foul-smelling blackness. A loud hiss from the other end of the lagoon sent a shiver through them both.

“It’s just chemical processes, I think,” Tamric whispered.

“Relax, nothing can go wrong,” said Jim, grinning faintly.

“There is a series of these ponds, perhaps twenty of them. I didn’t recognize what they were from our observations. It looks like each one will have one of these inspection ramps.”

“Sounds good.”

“Except that to go from one to another, we have to go up and over the walls. You’ll have to be much quicker than just now if we are to avoid being seen.”

Jim nodded and tried to clear his head.

“Let’s get to the end of this and rest a few moments.”

Tamric nodded and crept along the gantry. Jim waited and closed his eyes. Waves of despair washed through him.

Okay, Jim, you’re either going to get us both killed or do this! Time to choose. There’s no other way out. Get a grip or die here!

Jim opened his eyes and saw Tamric looking back, concerned. Don’t let the kid down. You owe him. Do it for him.

Jim crouched low and made his way toward the monk, muttering promises to get himself “a proper job.”

“Do you want to go back and try this tomorrow?” asked Tamric.

“It wouldn’t help. This is as good as it’s going to be.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize...”

“Realize what?”

“The...the effects it would have on you...the effects of the attack, I mean.”

“Well, like you said, you got off lightly. I’ll be okay. Let me at one of those ships and I’ll get my second wind.”

***

It seemed to take hours, but they skipped over wall after wall, along gantry after gantry, until they squatted on the last steps, peering over the last wall.

The fleet was laid out before them, row upon row of angular jet-black shapes covering three-quarters of the field.

“Holy shit! There must be a thousand of them!” Jim breathed.

“They look operational. See there? There is a dump of ammunition cases.”

Between them and the ships was a large sunken area. Jim could see broken crates and cases tumbled on top of one another. The piles filled the dump and overflowed in careless disarray. He recognized containers used to carry rockets and other weaponry. His heart sank seeing the vast quantity of garbage, knowing the amount of destructive cargo it represented.

“Whatever we are going to do, we have to do it now,” Jim said, his voice sounding a lot stronger.

Tamric was scanning the base with the binoculars. “There is a series of buildings to the right of the first line of ships. I think that is where I’ll find number forty-two, where the plans are stored.”

Jim nodded, taking the binoculars and looking for himself.

“Motorized patrols are going around the perimeter of the field. We should get nearer, under some cover, and work out their routine.”

“Agreed. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

“Yeah, I’ll be okay.”

Looking closely at the dump, they decided to use it as their first cover. A cluster of sheds stood an easy