A Bad Day on the River

Summary

In the mountain valley, far from safety and with little hope of rescue, where the transport Cairo crashed after being damaged by fire from alien weapons, Commander Rick Cassidy has decided that the students from the New Hope Academy, some as young as 14, have to be treated as adults if they are to have a chance to survive to see their families again. These survivors are about to begin their training under the supervision of Gunnery Sergeant Molly Pickford and the handful of Ranger NCOs who survived the crash. They have all the gear, including the weapons and ammunition that were for the two Ranger companies that went ahead to New Cancun with Colonel Fox. Deadly predators inhabit the mountains where the Cairo crashed, and Cassidy and the other Rangers have to make sure there aren’t any of them living in their mountain valley before they can go outside the downed transport. Southport and New Cancun have fallen to the aliens, and their next target is the river settlement of New St. Louis, where the Rangers hope to delay the aliens long enough for the town to be evacuated. Short on weapons and ammunition, the "unauthorized" cache of ammunition and other Ranger gear that Cassidy and Pickford have been collecting may be critical in keeping the aliens at bay until help can arrive. But first, someone has to find out about it. The Rangers have to hold the aliens back until word gets to Earth, and that won’t be for several months, at best. Then, it would take months more for a relief force to get there.  The starship Asia is inbound to the colony, and the ship's captain is concerned about the loss of communications with the colony. Rick Cassidy’s daughter Ciara is onboard and has been helping the Rangers onboard improve their scores practicing fighting demon wolves in the ship’s virtual reality trainer. She’s the ship’s record holder for top scores at both levels IV and V, the levels the Rangers, all professional soldiers, train at.

©2018 Mike Adams (P)2020 Mike Adams