Egg Hunt: Memoirs of a Space Ranger, #1

By C.S. Wright

In what should be a simple mission, Lieutenant Vogel and his squad of 'Space Rangers' are sent to a new colony where the colonists have been having some trouble with the local wildlife.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cogsmith Publishing
• Release date: Oct 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386120322

C.S. Wright

CS Wright is an engineer who has been writing science-fiction and fantasy short stories for over twenty years. He is currently working on his first novel, To Burn An Empire, a thriller set in an alternative Victorian London as well as a series of pulp style short stories about the adventures of a group of 'Space Rangers'. He lives in the West Midlands with his partner, Gemma, a self employed artisan who is also in training to become a mad cat lady.

Book preview

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

EGG HUNT

First edition. October 10, 2017.

Copyright © 2017 C.S.Wright.

ISBN: 978-1386120322

Written by C.S.Wright.

Table of Contents

EGG HUNT

EGG HUNT

The eggs looked unremarkable. Half a metre in length, blunt at one end, coming to a narrow point at the other, a pale shade of blue with a light covering of dark speckles. Sort of like an overgrown hen’s egg I thought, eyeing them critically and rubbing my jaw with a hand which I absently noted was covered with soot, blood and gore. At least none of the blood was mine.

The adults had fought especially hard protecting this clutch; perhaps some unconscious part of their unknowable reptilian minds had been aware it was the last. Six of my men were gone, ripped to pieces by those awful claws and teeth. Ablative armour designed to withstand projectile fire was no defence as the hunger-maddened beasts tore and clawed until they found weakness in the loose-fitting joints. The sheer numbers had threatened to overwhelm my squad for a while but eventually gunfire, flamethrower and the sheer bloody minded determination of a hardened bunch of soldiers too stubborn to die saw us through. The tunnels behind were now littered with charred and diced body parts – theirs and ours – and the smell of burned meat and bodily wastes was overpowering.

We hadn’t been expecting this much of a fight. The mission planners had messed up in a big way, grossly underestimating the numbers of the creatures so that what was expected to be a simple pest control operation had turned into a grim battle for survival.

I lifted my flamethrower. This was it. The last detail taken care of and I could leave this shit-hole colony and take the leave the brass had been promising my squad for months.

* * *

Well, there’s a nice little bit of action to begin my memoir. It’s a little taste of the life I led as what most people laughingly refer to as a ‘Space Ranger’. It’s not a term of respect and the general public, most of whom live nice peaceful lives and don’t really understand what it is we do, see us as a bit of a joke.

My name is Gordon Vogel and at this point in