Excerpt from Edengone: A Different Matter by J.P. Dold.

Tinear turned to Colem and asked, “Can you fire a shell through that window?” He pointed at the observation slit at the top of the building.

“That window?” Colem asked, pointing to the impossibly small window in question. “Halibut! We didn’t need to come all this way for that! I could have made that shot from the headquarters’ cafeteria back home. It hurts that you asked,” he replied, while feigning injured pride.

“That’s what I like to hear,” Tinear said. “Get it done.”

I picked up the radio. “Gunners, take aim and wait for the signal,” I ordered over the radio. “Fire when you’re ready, Colem,” I said.

“Years of planning, weeks of traveling, and the lives of us all rest in your hands,” Ron said in a narrative voice.

Colem glanced curiously at Ron.

“No pressure. Take your time,” Ron quickly said.

Colem sighed and turned his attention back to the scope of his cannon. I unlocked the rear hatch and waited for the signal from the shot. The moments slowly ticked by. I could hear my ears ringing. My thoughts dragged out and slowed nearly to a stop. My heart steadily thumped through my neck. The adrenaline built up pressure. My sight began to tunnel as the anticipation neared its peak. I watched Colem’s finger slowly squeeze the trigger.

Then the silence was shattered with a ground-shaking boom. I threw open the hatch and ran out with half of my team following me. We raced to the front doors of the laboratories under the deafening booms of the other cannons and the explosions of wood and twisted metal from the barracks. The control tower above us billowed black smoke and flames leaped from the narrow windows. Colem had scored a direct hit.

The other half of my team rushed across the facility’s yard from their half-track, and we stacked up at the doors. Again, time seemed to stop as I positioned myself for the strike.

I took a deep breath. I tightened the grip on my weapon. I took my thoughts to the deepest parts of my mind, and I tightened the grip on my senses. I didn’t just hear what was around me. I didn’t just smell. I didn’t just see. I reached out with a sense that is difficult to explain, as difficult as explaining a color to someone who has been blind their whole life. But I reached out and took hold of my surroundings. I sensed my comrades in arms. I sensed their fear or anticipation. I sensed the fiery power of the capsules in our weapons. I sensed the lives that would be laid down when we entered those doors. And I sensed the consequences that would ensue. Then I joined those senses to an imbued strength of resolve and adrenaline, and I kicked in the door.

 

Science Fiction, Action, Adventure, 16-18+