Andromeda Breakthrough [antikvár]

, ( , ih'-chapter oneOUTLOOK UNSETTLEDThe alarm signal buzzed quietly but insistently above Captain Pennington's head, a discreet echo of the bell jangling outside the guard room across the parade ground of the headquarters unit No. 173 Marine Commando.Pennington groped for the bedlight switch and sat up. He stared uncomprehendingly at the vibrating clapper arm. In every officer's room were these littie buzzers. They were painted red; they existed for No. 1 alert. It was accepted that a No. 1 would in reality mean only one thing: notification of the seven minutes the ballistics people had worked out as the breathing space before World War Three came and went.Captain Pennington heaved himself out of bed. He was conscious of running feet as the Marine Commandos observed their long-taught procedure. The bedside phone rang as he was struggling into his denims.'Major Quadring,' came the abrupt, clipped voice. 'Sorry about the panic measures. Orders from Whitehall. It's not the big thing, so ease up. But it's bad enough. Thorness. Major fire. Probably sabotage. Can't be sure that the trouble isn't sea-borne. Hence the S.O.S. to your boys.''Thorness!' Pennington repeated. 'But that's the king-pin of-''Exactly. Save your mental reactions till later. Get over here within an hour. Four groups, with amphibians and frogmen, of course. I'll be at the gates to get you through. Tell your men not to fool around. The guards here won't be waiting to ask questions.'The phone clicked dead. Pennington checked his assault kit and ran from the officers' barrack hut into a night of soft-falling snow. He could make out shadowy figures of the men already standing to by their trucks and amphibious!j,vehicles, the engines ticking over. Not a light showed.I ''f ;-.1 :' L