The Treasure of Lei Fong Wu

Chapter Fifty Two

RESCUE PARTY -45:20

“We’ll break for ten,” Zoe called out, holding up a hand to stop the mule. Ever since they had left the forward sections of the ship, where everything worked, she had insisted on taking point, leaving the commandos to guard the flanks and rear. “This was the second-to-last position the Gamma Team reported from,” she noted as she unslung her Dragon. “Keep a sharp eye out for anything suspicious. Anything that might give us a clue.”

“Like corpses,” added Jayne, sounding authoritative, as he brought the mule to a stop. “Corpses’d be a dead giveaway.” It took him a moment to realize that he had inadvertently made a joke. When he did, he doubled over in laughter. No one else did.

“And to think I gave up the chance to ride on the mule with him,” Simon muttered to Campbell as he caught up.

“Where the hell are we, anyway?” Jayne asked. “Looks like a gorram snack bar! They got snack bars on warships?”

“Folks gotta snack,” River pointed out. She took a chocolate bar out of her bag to prove the point.

“Folks gotta pee, too,” Zoe said. “Campbell, can you keep an eye out while I squat?”

“Consider it done,” he said with an elegant bow. With a motion he dispatched two commandos to cover the intersection. They nodded and loped off, guns ready.

“It’s the Deck Eight Canteen,” Simon said. “You can tell by the big square thing over the bar that says ‘Deck Eight Canteen’. It’s a dead giveaway.”

“Ain’t you all . . . um . . . educated,” Jayne said without humor.

“This should lead us to the last place they reported in from, which was the Reserve Infantry unit. That should be up ahead a ways,” Campbell noted, as he scanned the fleximap he brought along. He gave River a casual glance. “Any idea what’s ahead, my dear?” he asked quietly.

“The frozen dead,” she replied airily. “Sleeping corpses.”

“Anything else?”

River closed her eyes and just listened for a while. Campbell continued to watch her long after the pause wou