Chapter 7

The overhead panel sparked, fizzled and went dead. The scout vehicle was jammed at a slightly upward angle, creating a heavy list to port. Sergeant Deakins reached over and pulled the circuit out on the power panel. Emergency lighting had turned on as soon as main power was lost. He looked over to the co-driver, Sergeant Crowe. Crowe's head was against his shoulder, the restraints keeping him upright in his seat. A small cut above the right eye had formed a partial blood mask on his face. Deakins released his harness and turned to look behind him. His actions were rewarded with a sharp pain between his shoulder blades. He winced but continued the movement. The dim lights did little to illuminate the interior. He could barely make out Sergeant Roberts still seated in the sensor tech position. Roberts was looking back at him through the haze. He gave Deakins thumbs up. Deakins nodded and turned back to Crowe. He reached out and checked for a pulse. Crowe moved just then with a groan.

"Crowe? Crowe? Hey in there, wake up." He said as Crowe slowly turned his head and lifted a hand to his face. Deakins spoke into his mike. "Systems check. Everybody sound off." He said as he reached for the aid kit.

"Sensors off-line. Weps off-line." Roberts reported. He turned and looked at the Weapons station. That section of the scout had been sheared off and now only solid rock was visible.

"Hull breech. Weapons station is gone. Wood is gone." Roberts stated. Deakins looked back to the area behind his seat. Shaking his head, he returned to the task of bandaging Crowe's head injury. Deakins finished the field dressing and moved to the rear of the vehicle. His door was jammed shut by the rock. He looked at the area where the Weps station had been. Rock had sheared it off smoothly as if by machine. He turned to Roberts.

"Anything?"

Roberts fiddled with a few switches before answering.

"Primary systems down. Secondary systems heavily damaged." He shook his head as he flipped switches. Reaching down between his legs, he stabbed the reset button hoping to restart the sensor systems. Sparks arced from the overhead panel followed by the acrid smell of burning insulation. Finally, a small cursor appeared in the corner of his monitor. Deakins crawled over his seat and was releasing the interior cargo door when Roberts got the monitor to work. On the screen, a systems check was running which calculated the damage and time to repair. The onboard computer was running a continuity test of all operating systems and giving a complete list of it capabilities. The information on the screen stopped with an audible tone. Both men looked at the monitor.

"That's that. Commo, Weps, main sensors, propulsion, out of commission."

Roberts turned to Deakins. "Game over."