The Infinity Brigade #1 Stone Cold by Andrew Beery Page B

going on. Our HUDs were reporting simulated mortars and the Drills had buried small charges under the lunar soil. It was extremely effective tactic for causing recruits to soil themselves in fear.
    As the latest simulated shell went off very near JJ’s position disaster struck. Sam McDullis was barely keeping it together. Flying down from the top of their observation peak had to represent the worst possible nightmare for him. When the mortar simulator went off near him he panicked. A man wearing a powerful piece of military gear, in a hostile environment, surrounded by hard vacuum is the last person you want to panic.
    Somehow he hit the override on his suit’s thrusters. He smashed into JJ and Johnston causing both of them to spin out of control. Both crashed into the side of the rock wall they had been flying next to. Johnston’s suit ruptured a seal as a result of the impact and emergency alarms began to go off in my suit indicating he was in serious trouble. The suit’s limited AI clamped an emergency seal down on his right calf. He howled in pain as the mechanism sought to save his life while sacrificing his lower limb.
    Fortunately JJ had the presence of mind to grab him and get the two of them back down to the ground. As much as I wanted to check on Johnston I knew that McDullis had to be my priority. His suit was on a high-power burn that might not get him into lunar orbit but it would be damn close. I tried to take remote control of his suit but he had shut down his AI. His Mark Two was essentially a dumb missile at this point.
    Between McDullis and Johnston the comms were filled with screaming. It was almost impossible to make anything out. I was operating on pure instinct at this point.
    As McDullis rose in altitude he crossed the lunar terminus. His suit was bathed in sunlight. Unfortunately with Sam’s AI shut down the suit’s visor did not darken until Sam, whose face was literally burning and who was now quite blind, managed to fumble the correct switch. His screams intensified a hundred fold. I suspect those terror-filled wails would haunt me for the rest of my life.
    I commanded my AI to plot an intercept course that preserved as much fuel for landing as possible. The computer complied but it indicated the fuel reserves would be unlikely to be sufficient to land safely. In my mind, an unsafe landing was better than none at all. I waved Private Benson over. When he arrived I placed both hands on his shoulders and ordered him to give me a ten second boost with his suit’s engines. I wasn’t sure if it would be enough but I didn’t have time to run another set of simulations.
    The moment I let go of Benson, I ordered my AI to engage the intercept program. I would do a max burn for one minute thirty two seconds. The AI would handle the steering. All I had to do was grab Sam as I passed him.
    At this point the yelling that I was hearing resolved into distinct voices. Senior Drill Sergeant Harris was ordering me to stand down.  A smart man would have done that but McDullis had been under my command. I’m the one that put him in a situation that he was not emotionally equipped to handle. I disconnected my suit’s commlink. This would prevent the Drill Sergeant from talking to my AI and overriding my controls. I lowered my sun visor and watched as the flailing body of Sam McDullis slowly got larger as I approached.
    My thrusters stopped firing and I began to drift. I had been in sunlight now for a good thirty to forty seconds. My suit’s power systems were already humming to dissipate the excess heat. At last I was close enough to Sam to grab him. He spasmed when I grabbed a leg. I lost the grip and had to grab wildly. I managed to get an arm. I held on tightly this time and brought my helmet to his. I knew that if our helmets where physically touching he would be able to hear me.
    “SAM! SAM! Snap out of it! I’m trying to help.”
    “I’m blind,” he sobbed.
    “Don’t worry. Your nanites will