style="font-size:15px;"> – Roger that. We will accomplish the mission at any cost.
– Over and out,» the officer said and disconnected.
Lex turned back to his men, his face covered in sweat and dust:
– You heard the order. We have one hundred hours to catch the prisoner.
Rent growled, barely containing his anger:
– It’s pretty clear we have to catch the prisoner. Except I’d rather kill him. This mission wasn’t serious from the start.
Captain Lex turned sharply to the sergeant:
– What did you say, Lyle?
– You heard me, Captain,» Rant replied gruffly. – This mission is a farce.
– You think it’s funny that we lost a warship on a mission? – Lex’s voice was threatening.
Rent, ignoring the captain’s tone, continued:
– Funny? No, captain. I’m not amused. The prisoner is alive, well and armed. He wounded Zorn and me. And we warriors couldn’t stop a handcuffed prisoner.
Lex stepped closer to Rent, his eyes narrowed:
– You’re right, Sergeant. There’s nothing funny about this. It’s a disgrace. Is this really how a warrior fights?
Rent whispered angrily:
– No, sir.
The captain took a step back and loudly commanded:
– Everyone give each other first aid. Now.
The heat on the planet was becoming more and more unbearable. Sweat trickled down the Guardsmen’s faces, soaking their helmets. The armor that was supposed to protect them now seemed like a red-hot furnace.
The men began to look at each other, assessing their wounds and bruises. Zorn wrinkled his nose in pain as Rent tended to his chest wound.
– Lula, report on my condition,» Rent ordered his battle system.
Lula’s melodic voice came through the earpiece:
– Sergeant Lyle, you have a serious rifle pulse wound. Diagnosing active bleeding and multiple contusions. No bone damage. General body condition: Cortisol levels elevated, heart rate 110 beats per minute, blood pressure 140/90. The values are slightly elevated due to heat and stress. Overall, you’re in good physical shape, Sergeant.
Rent nodded:
– Good. Lula, start tracking the prisoner on the perimeter.
– Copy that, Sergeant. Beginning scanning the space around the elemental camp. Also activating a regeneration protocol to accelerate the healing of your wound.
Rent felt a slight tingling sensation in the area of his wound as the nanomachines in his armor began to work on repairing the damaged tissue.
– Thank you, Lula,» he said, looking out at the horizon. – Now we have to find the bastard before he figures out how to kill us.
Chapter 2
Two hours later, Lula reported:
– Sergeant Lyle, using the ship’s residual resources, I have located the prisoner object. It’s three hundred paces south of our camp and moving away fast.
Captain Lex straightened, sweat beading on his face:
– «The prisoner is leaving. Then it’s time for us to follow his trail. Pack up your supplies, and we’ll leave immediately.
Rent, breathing heavily from the heat, replied:
– Captain, there’s nothing left from the crash. Almost nothing.
Despite their fatigue and the pain of their wounds, Rent and Zorn began to gather the remains of the rations from the bodies of the dead Guardsmen. Their movements were slow, each effort difficult.
– Lula,“ Rent turned to his system, „where the hell are we?
– Sergeant, this planet is not on the charts. According to the battle sheet, your starship came out of hyperacceleration at unknown coordinates. You were attacked by an unknown force, but there’s no sign of them either. Possibly pirates.
– Give me full statistics on the planet,» Rent ordered, wiping the sweat from his face.
Lula began to report:
– The planet’s atmosphere is thin. Physical exertion may cause unconsciousness. The current temperature is forty-seven degrees.
Zorn, hearing this, cursed:
– Holy shit! It’s hot as a volcano’s ass!
Lula continued:
– My current charge is forty percent. Probably enough for a hundred hours before the unmanned rescue ship arrives. Daytime on this planet is 40 hours, nighttime is six hours.
Zorn swore again, his voice sounding tired and irritated:
– Better than the barracks. Maybe I’ll move here.
Captain Lex, despite the sweltering heat, tried to make a joke:
– That can be arranged, Private.
– We don’t doubt your abilities and desires, Captain,» Rent added dryly.
Lex, wiping the sweat from his forehead, summarized:
– According to the combat systems, we have less than three local days left to catch this thing. Let’s move out immediately.
However, Rent moved away from the group and began fiddling with the repairmen’s welding machine they had picked up from the crash site. He began to burn a rectangular piece out of the starship door with brackets in the center.
The captain, watching the sergeant’s actions, asked with obvious irritation:
– Lyle, what the hell are you doing?
Rent, without taking a break from his work, sarcastically replied:
– Making myself a door, Captain. I want to open it to make it a little cooler.
Zorn, trying to suppress an attack of nausea from the heat, inquired:
– Why don’t you fix the ship too, smart guy?
The heat was becoming unbearable. Sweat trickled down the Guardsmen’s bodies, soaking the clothes under their armor. Wounds throbbed with pain, and fatigue came in waves, threatening to knock them off their feet at any moment. Every movement, every breath was difficult in this fiery inferno.
Rent continued to work the
