Soul of the Reaper: A military Scifi Epic (The Last Reaper Book 11)

by J. N. Chaney

  “Bottom right pocket of the backpack, Reaper Cain. The ignition source is a standard survival tool,” X-37 said.

  I retrieved the small, brightly colored lighter and fired up the cigar.

  It tasted like a wet dog getting blow dried. Exhaling a plume of bluish smoke, I shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”

  20

  “The journey to Marsi is less practical without transportation,” Bug said. “But going back isn’t much better. You know what we’ll find there.”

  “Oh, I don’t know, maybe the JFT will loan us some ships. Write off our early encounters as a misunderstanding.” My mood was picking up despite being tired, hungry, and in need of a long shower.

  “They would probably apologize,” Bug said with a rare laugh.

  X-37 went into coaching mode. “Now would be a good time to present a test question—something designed to elicit new information or otherwise advance your alliance with Bug.”

  It was good advice, and I had a theory. “I would demand cigars, of course. Maybe some Gronic Fats for old-time sake, and a bargain size box of cheese crackers.”

  “Good one, Reaper Cain. He will remember that from Dreadmax,” X said.

  Bug looked at me like I’d punched him in the gut. His laughter died and he focused on his zone like we were once again in hostile territory—which we probably were. All of Maglan had problems since the invasion.

  I stood on the ridgeline and shaded my eyes, hoping my reference to our mutual past would bring Bug closer rather than drive him away.

  Marsi sprawled across the foothills of the front range of the mountains. Maybe I could see it, but it was more likely my imagination at this distance. “Three or four days, at least.”

  “Assuming everyone in this group can keep the pace of professional soldiers.” He looked back to the family on the run away from the fort—eight people neither of us wanted responsibility for.

  “We continue inland. Find a vehicle, or don’t. Avoid raiders, or walk right into one of their traps,” I said. “We’re committed. There better be a starship.”

  Bug nodded toward our followers. “What about them?”

  “We do the best we can for them, and they find their own way once we reach the city. Or is that another problem?” I was starting to get annoyed with all of these setbacks and worried that he was sabotaging my mission.

  “Conditions change. I haven’t been to Marsi for over a year. It was one of the better places after the exodus,” Bug said. “I’ll stand guard on the ridge while everyone eats. Fire shouldn’t cause a problem. Keeps away animals for the most part. I’ll watch for anything on two legs.”

  “Give me a signal if you see anything,” I said, then listened to his bird whistle. “Perfect.”

  I went down to the camp where Andre and Jessica faced off with Roadkill—the girl with the shaved head and unclear intentions. The younger children stayed close together, watching the confrontation without a word. I doubted more than two of them were related, but strange times made for strange families.

  “I don’t care about that. I’m not changing my name. Had it as long as I can remember,” Roadkill said, rubbing her fingers over her buzz cut hair. “And I don’t steal, or eat people. It was never like that at the fort. I just showed up when things were getting desperate.”

  Andre put his hands on his hips. “Jess and I think it’s for your own good. I don’t care what they call you. You need a new one. What happens when we run into some of your old companions at a market or a race?”

  “I’ll run just like always. No one cares about Roadkill. They ain’t gonna come this far. Not when there’s a Reaper with us,” the young woman said.

  I sat down near Andre. “What’s your story? Why all these kids?”

  He shrank away, then looked to his wife before saying anything, like they were accustomed to getting the stories straight before talking to strangers. I doubted they were about lying, yet.

  “This was a good area, the last time we heard. There were lean times on the coast. We kept moving, and eventually followed reports of a better place,” he said. “All we wanted was to get away from Scheid.”

  “Who is that?” I asked.

  Jessica jumped into the conversation. “We always heard people talk about a bridge by the river and bountiful harvests. This clearly wasn’t the one we were looking for.”

  I leaned forward with my hands on my knees and touched my fingertips together. She didn’t pull back, but looked profoundly uncomfortable. “Neither one of you answered my question.”

  She swallowed, unable to tear her eyes away from mine even though I was certain she wanted to be anyplace but here.

  “We lost our own children on the first day of the invasion. Separated. Andre thinks they made it onto one of the evacuation ships. We fled the shock troops, then hid underground. Gregory was the first new member of our family,” she said.

  Thoughts of Grigori Paavo, aka Path, caught me off guard, softening my act.

  She continued more easily. “We haven’t adopted everyone we find. It’s hard to explain how we became family, but it’s real. They find us, not the other way around.”

  “Fair enough.” I looked to Roadkill, noticing that Jessica retreated the moment she escaped my attention. “What’s your story?”

  Roadkill shook her head. “These two nice people are wrong. The fort was good. I wandered to the bridge with my parents and some of their friends years back. Most of them got sick or killed or wandered off since then. I was little.” She shifted nervously. “I’m about twenty, I think. I remember having a tenth birthday party about the time of the invasion.”

  Andre and Jessica had their children pulled in close for some kind of family meeting. My natural skepticism kicked in. “I think they’re going to run,X.”

  “What?” Roadkill said. “Didn’t catch that.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I talk to myself. All Reapers do.”

  “I’ve never been this close to one before, so I wouldn’t know,” she said.

  The family slipped bedrolls back into their travel packs, then acted like they were just going to sleep on the grass when they had a better option. Roadkill looked at them in disgust.

  “This is an interesting dynamic, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “I don’t believe the Roadkill woman will be leaving with the family.”

  “I was hoping she would,” I said, turning away from the young woman for a sliver of privacy. She ignored my muttering this time. “People around me get hurt. I don’t think she understands that.”

  I stopped wrestling with the dilemma of civilians the moment I saw a squadron of ships moving through the night, possibly heading toward the bridge fort—good in the short term, but if they were looking for trouble, Roadkill’s old friends would point them our way—no doubt.

  No one moved but everyone watched. The airships barely had lights. At times, they disappeared in the darkness, only betrayed because of the inconsistent engine noise that reached us.

  “What do you make of that, X?”

  “From what these survivors have told us, those are most likely vessels belonging to Doctor Scheid. They are moving away from us, toward the bridge fort. In the morning, they may begin searching in this direction,” X-37 said.

  “What are you going to do about Scheid’s ships, Reaper,” Roadkill asked.

  I bit on a cigar but didn’t light it. “I’ll start with strong language.”

  None of my new associates laughed. All the color drained from Roadkill’s face, like she suddenly believed leaving the fort had been a mistake. Andre and Jessica urged their family to be ready to run if they had to, barely attempting to disguise their intentions now.

  I approached their gathering. “You don’t have to stay with me. You’re not my prisoners or slaves or whatever.”

  Jessica jumped to her feet. “We’re with you to the end, Reaper. Wouldn’t be right to run off right when there was going to be a big fight.”

  Andre and the children nodded vigorou
s agreement.

  “Is that so?” I asked.

  “Of course, we can’t fight,” Jessica pointed out. “You might find us more of a burden than an asset. But we’re not disloyal. Everyone knows never to cross a Reaper. We don’t want to see your war walkers again.”

  “Tell me about the war walkers,” I said.

  “They mean mechs driven by other Reapers. Exactly like you, is what they look like. Down to the way you walk. I’ve seen a few at a distance,” Roadkill said.

  “You’re a liar,” one of the younger kids said. “You never saw one. They would’ve burned out your eyes!”

  Jessica grabbed the little girl. “Shush.”

  Arguing broke out. I chewed on the cigar until I couldn’t take it.

  “Everyone shut up. Get some sleep. You’ll need it in the morning because we have a lot of ground to cover. I’ll find a place to hide you in Marsi, then continue my mission,” I said.

  Every last one of them backed away from my tone, which made me feel like a grade A jerk. Roadkill even joined the family in this retreat, and they didn’t shove her out of their circle.

  “What the hell, X? Am I that mean?”

  “You must face facts. These people are not the crew you brought all the way to Maglan. They don’t trust you. I suspect poor imitations of Reapers have ruined your reputation,” X said.

  “Fine.” I lifted the unlit cigar to get their attention. “I’m going to stand watch with Bug. Go to sleep or I will put you to sleep.”

  Bed rolls and blankets came out of backpacks like magic. Roadkill moved away from the family circle, but also tucked herself in for dreamtime.

  I found Bug twenty meters out watching the darkness carefully. “The hell was all that racket? I nearly came into camp to see if you were okay.”

  “They aren’t the army we were looking for,” I said.

  Bug chuckled. “That’s the truth. But for the record, it isn’t we. I’m not building a fighting force to do all that galaxy saving stuff.”

  “Neither am I.”

  “You keep chewing on that cigar, it’s gonna fall apart. The thing isn’t wrapped that well in the first place.”

  I put it away. “I noticed.”

  “They’re scared of you,” Bug said. “Get used to that reaction.”

  “You’re not scared of me.”

  “Everyone dies. Why be scared?”

  “Tell me more about what happened. About my family.”

  “Your kind doesn’t ask about the details,” he said, then swept the night with his rifle scope.

  “I’m going to punch you in the throat,” I said. “My kind. Who are you to talk?”

  “Meaning?” he asked.

  “Meaning I’m cranky. Let’s drop it.”

  Bug continued his work, only lowering his rifle when he had exhausted all the angles he could see from this position. “I need to move around the perimeter and look for more of those ships. Did our refugees say who they thought they belonged to?”

  I tried a new angle. “Jessica mentioned Scheid.”

  Bug picked a new spot and began working his rifle optics again.

  “No comment?” I asked.

  Bug didn’t flinch. “Nope.”

  I tried to wait him out. In ten minutes, the family and Roadkill would either be asleep or sneaking toward freedom—freedom from me, I thought.

  “Give me something, Bug. I’ve been asleep for a long time,” I said.

  “Never seen Scheid, though I’ve heard the name,” he finally said. “The early days were rough. The nukes caught people off guard. No one trusted anyone who didn’t look and act like their neighbors. Shock troopers came shortly after that. It didn’t feel like they were related but no one listened to me because I had no proof. I could be wrong. Gut instinct only takes you so far.”

  “Agreed.” I waited for X-37 to offer his breakdown of Bug’s story so far, but the LAI held his tongue.

  Bug continued, still doing his job. “HC attacks came more and more frequently. No more nukes, but squads of Halek Cains. That upset your mother but was a blessing. She realized immediately that they were clones, programmed or brainwashed for total subservience. Once, she said that was the easiest way to spot them because her son wouldn’t have taken orders like that—especially when the real killing began.”

  “Mom knows what’s what.”

  Humor twinkled in Bug’s eye even if he kept his face hard as stone. “She said you were a difficult child.”

  “I resemble that remark.”

  A real smile opened his face.

  Now we’re getting somewhere, I thought.

  I stared into the night, counting on Bug to sound the alarm if needed.

  “Your predecessor stayed one step ahead of them. I saw two of the battles. They moved in with mechs and fell into a sinkhole. He didn’t even bother to finish them off—just stood on the edge smoking his Goldband, looking down like a boss. The other fight was a running gun battle through Maglan City,” he said. “He took a lot of damage, and I mean a lot. But the HC assassin squads that came after him died, no survivors. I think he killed three with just his blade.”

  “Did you team up?”

  “No time, and I had my own people to worry about by then. Regretted the decision because then I could never catch up to him again. Elise and your sister were furious I lost contact.” He motioned to a new place on the perimeter. “I did see the mechs. They were after your predecessor like he owed them money.”

  “He is using the term predecessor much more readily. I believe he is learning to trust you,” X-37 said. “Do not mess this up.”

  I gave X a hand signal, just a slight movement he should interpret as an acknowledgement.

  “Do you want me to stop the party from breaking up?” Bug asked.

  I watched Jessica and Andre leading their kids into the night. Roadkill wasn’t with them. “They’ve made it this far. Let them go.”

  “Okay.” Bug squatted down, still watching and waiting. “The girl went the other way. She was definitely trouble. Good riddance to her.”

  “I hope they make it to wherever they’re going,” I said. “Get some sleep.”

  He didn’t hesitate. “Two hours should do me, then we can get after it.”

  I let him sleep three before warning him there was a vehicle coming. “Wakey wakey. Company’s here.”

  21

  We arrived in Marsi two days later, feeling pretty good about ourselves. Long hours of running kept conversation to a minimum and also prevented me from overthinking recent events. I definitely had a mission now. Save X-37 and get home to see for myself what happened. After that, who knew? I could crusade against the unfair universe, or keep to myself.

  Maglan was a hard place but nothing I couldn’t handle if I avoided making friends. Just me, X, and a tobacco patch. Maybe a microbrewery.

  Or I could straight kick the asses of whoever did this to my chosen home, locate more of my old companions, and just keep being the universe’s punching bag.

  Bug maintained the pace out of pure toughness. He had been a young man the last time I saw him. Now he was a hardened veteran in his early thirties who still didn’t trust me. I thought I was wearing him down, but only time would tell.

  “I see movement, looks like a vehicle,” I said as we crossed through surprisingly clean suburbs into the metropolitan area.

  Bug moved behind the corner of a hardware store, his HDK at low ready. “You will see that here. People are living actual lives. Doesn’t mean we want to talk to everyone we encounter.”

  I joined him, then faced the other direction along the wall of the building. Ten seconds passed. I lowered my D3D.

  “There’s only one spaceport here, a public-private co-op with no significant military contracts prior to the invasion,” he said. “Mostly commercial freight and military transports.”

  “So by no significant military contracts you mean nothing with weapons,” I clarified.

  He was about to answer whe
n a ship flew out of the city, heading south by southwest. We watched and waited. From this distance, I couldn’t decide if it was an assault craft or just an ugly freight hauler.

  “Like I said, business as usual around here but with a lot less people. I doubt the locals will welcome strangers.” He adjusted his pack, gripped his weapon but left it attached to his sling, and headed up the street.

  I followed. “X, can you tap into the local information networks?”

  “Not at this moment, Reaper Cain.”

  “Let me know the moment you have something.”

  “Of course. There are almost no power sources in this area. You probably don’t remember that Maglan had strict safety protocols that required each power plant or transfer station to maintain a beacon. I have not located one. There should be twenty-seven of them in a city this size.”

  I left the information alone. Bug wasn’t pretending this place was perfect. From what I’d seen so far, it was still paradise compared to Maglan city.

  The farther we ventured into Marsi, the more I appreciated X-37’s warning. Anything that could support a war effort had been blasted from orbit and it looked like the northeast industrial area had been devastated by a limited nuke. Did I think we were safe from radiation? Not even X could answer that right now. For all I knew it was just a larger kinetic strike, a bigger better space rock thrown from a nastier slingshot. A moderate meteorite could do a hell of a lot of damage.

  We entered the high-rise section and passed three intact buildings before the ground started shaking. I couldn’t quite see the building coming down, but once you had seen one go, it was hard to miss the clues.

  Bug and I turned and fled the way we came. Two blocks later, we tucked in behind some trash dumpsters and waited for the fallout.

  Dust rolled around the corner, filling the space between buildings like waves crashing through a canyon. The sky turned gray. Concrete dust and fragments of glass rained down for ten minutes. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to taste it.

  Bug closed his helmet and adjusted his filters. I tied a bandanna over my mouth and hoped for the best.