by Kacey Ezell
“He must be tough, if he’s drinking that. Perhaps he’ll decide to attack rather than talk.” Deluge said softly, for Rurranach’s ears alone.
“I’m certain you can take him, Hunter. And I always carry a Medkit,” Rurranach quietly replied. But the figure must have heard, for he lifted his head and stared at the two of them with a slightly unfriendly look.
He was Human. Taller than Susa, and powerfully built. His eyes were dark and large, and his square jaw and somewhat prominent chin were covered under a layer of dark stubble, though not enough to be considered actual fur. Like Susa, his legitimate fur was confined to the top of his head, though his was shorter, and sort of stuck out in several directions at once.
He gave off an air of muted menace, and he lifted his eyebrows as they walked up to his table.
“Wasn’t looking for company,” he said.
“Were you not?” Rurranach asked, tilting his head and giving his version of a smile. “I rather thought you might be interested in what we have to say.”
“You rather thought wrong.”
“Who pissed in your cereal this morning?” Deluge said, using an idiom that he’d learned from Susa. Back when he and his siblings were going through their difficult adolescent year, she used that phrase in exasperation more often than not.
The Human blinked, then let out a short laugh.
“Where’d you learn that expression?” he asked. “We’re a long way from Earth.”
“I am acquainted with one of your race,” Deluge said, and took the opportunity to leap up to the surface of the table. Once there, he opened up the clasp on the annoying cloak and let it drop. The Human’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of him.
“That makes one of us,” the Human said. “I recognized the Sidar. What are you?”
“I am a Hunter,” Deluge said. “Your kind call us the Depik. My name is Choking Deluge, and I greet you, Human. Welcome to our negotiation.”
“Negotiation?” the Human said, letting out a flat kind of laugh. “Is that what we’re doing?”
“Are we not? I have something you want, and you have something I want. We are in a position to benefit each other.”
“What could you possibly have that I want, cat?”
“A mercenary company.”
“You want to hire me for your mercenary company? Neither the Sidar or the-whatever-the-fuck-you called yourself are recognized mercenary species.”
“No. But the Lumar are. Unfortunately, they’re not equipped to lead themselves, so they require a leader from a different race. My familiarity with Humans led me to conclude that a Human commander would fit that bill nicely.”
“You have a Lumar mercenary company?”
“Yes.”
“And you want me to command it?”
“Perhaps, yes.”
“What’s in it for you?”
“I don’t have to command them. As you noted, I’m no mercenary myself. My skills lie…elsewhere,” Deluge said, slow blinking and opening his mouth with a smile. Behind him, Rurranach chittered softly. The Human reached for his bottle.
“I gotta say, this is not how I expected to spend this evening. My name is Gage, by the way. Alton Gage.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Alton Gage.”
“That’s another Human phrase.”
“You are clever,” Deluge said, slow blinking. “And observant. Are you interested in my offer?”
“Hell, why not?” Gage said.
“Excellent. Then perhaps you will not mind telling me about your background as a mercenary?”
Had Deluge not been watching closely, he might have missed the way Gage’s shoulders and jaw tightened, just a bit, at his question. But as it was a reasonable question, politely phrased; the Human could hardly refuse to answer. He took a deep breath and looked up, eyes narrowing as he started to speak.
“I started when I was just a kid. Barely twenty or so. I honestly forget. Anyway, I went out on the Alpha Contracts with a bunch of guys. Shit got bad…I survived. Luck, I guess. And the caprice of a Veetanho I’ve never seen again.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean they were all dead around me, all of my guys. Goddamn Goka massacred us, and I was nearly dead, too. But when the enemy comes through, they’re led by this Veetanho, and she slaps a Medkit on me, and I survived. She said I reminded her of her young, all hairless and vulnerable.” He broke off and poured another small glass of the clear liquid and drank it all down at once. Deluge held still, despite the pungent scent of the drink. With a story like that, perhaps Gage needed to drink his engine cleaner, or whatever it was. Deluge would not stand in his way.
“Anyway, I healed up, went back to Earth. Didn’t like it, didn’t fit in. Not after what we’d seen. So, I went back out, picked up work here and there for whatever company came through. Eventually, I got my hands on a CASPer and started learning how to use them. Got a few jobs training new recruits how to use ‘em, too. Did some user testing on the Mark 3 that’s in use now…it’s a good rig. Just finished another gig as a trainer, and decided I needed a drink.”
“Have you ever commanded?”
“Me? Not in combat. Nothing larger than a platoon, anyway. But I’ve run training courses that had several platoons of recruits and all their instructors. So that’s something.”
“One last question, if you don’t mind,” Rurranach said, leaning forward to enter their impromptu interview. “Mr. Gage, I apologize for the bluntness of my question, but it is important to our situation…if you could go back and speak to your first commander, during the Alpha Contracts, what would you say to him?”
Gage was silent for a long time, his haunted brown eyes boring into those of the Sidar. Deluge could see the hinge of his jaw working as he ground his teeth together, and a fine tremor came over his hands. Finally, after several tense moments, he let out a long exhale, and reached for his bottle again.
“I’d tell him to back the fuck out of that contract,” he said, looking down as he poured yet another drink. “And I’d shoot him if he didn’t.”
“And that is why you are perfect,” Deluge said.
* * *
In a private bet with himself, Deluge gave even odds that Gage would actually use the transport ticket they’d provided for him to show up on ‘Tlor. But sure enough, when he and Rurranach showed up at the arrival gate for the shuttle, the Human merc stood up from where he’d been leaning against a wall and walked toward them. Though he still towered over Deluge, he looked small compared to the various Lumar milling around the place. Perhaps that accounted for the scowl that creased his face as he approached.
Perhaps that was just his customary expression.
“I greet you, Alton Gage,” Deluge said, holding out a paw.
“I greet you back, Deluge,” the man said. He walked up and bent to place his own hand, briefly, under Deluge’s fingerpads. “Hello, Rurranach.”
“Hello, Gage,” Rurranach said. “Would you like to follow me? Our transport is out this way.”
“Sure,” Gage said. He hefted the bag he carried up onto his shoulder and fell into step behind Rurranach as the Sidar turned and weaved through the shuttle port pedestrian traffic. “This place is crowded. Do you…ah, are you all right down there?”
“I can care for myself,” Deluge said, a glimmer of humor in his tone. “But it might be easier for us to talk if I ride on your shoulder.”
“Oh. Um. Sure, if you want,” Gage said.
“I don’t need to, if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting it. Come on up.”
Deluge slow blinked, and then dropped down to all four feet before making a simple leap. He gripped Gage’s shoulder with his front paws, careful not to extend his claws. Then he hauled his back feet up and adjusted his balance to account for Gage’s gait. It wasn’t, perhaps, the most inconspicuous way of traveling, but he’d been on ‘Tlor for quite some time at this point, and there had been no pr
oblems, so he was willing to relax a little bit.
“I’m very excited to see you,” Deluge said once he was settled in place. “I was half afraid you wouldn’t come.”
“I almost didn’t,” Gage admitted. “Part of my brain kept trying to convince me that you were a vodka-induced hallucination.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here. I think you will find the Proud Fist to your liking, and I remain convinced you are exactly what they need.”
“Why do you care so much?” Gage asked. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is. Why do you care about what happens to these Lumar? I read everything I could get my hands on about your race—which wasn’t much, by the way—and they all agree that you Depik are pretty much sociopaths by the standards of any other species.”
“That’s not entirely true. We are highly social as a race.”
“I meant in the sense of being amoral.”
“Well, that’s not entirely true either. Some things are right, and others are wrong. Our definitions may vary, though, compared to those of other beings.”
“You don’t mind killing in cold blood.”
“No. We don’t.”
“And you don’t mind killing for profit.”
“No. But then, you’re a mercenary. You don’t mind it either.”
“It’s a bit different.”
“Is it?” Deluge slow blinked and let his jaw fall open. “You use your skills to enact violence; so do I.”
“Yeah, but I’m enacting violence against other mercs…combatants who know what they signed up for.”
“Do not kid yourself, Gage. If someone is willing to pay my fee to take your life, you know what you’ve signed up for, too. My services cost too much to be squandered on innocents.”
“That seems…inexact. How do you know in advance?”
“I don’t, but the market would suggest it. As would the evidence. Take this company, for example. The commander was an embezzler and a thief, as well as a sadist who allowed her sister and deputy to enter into suicide contracts that killed hundreds of her troopers for no reason other than to better enable their money laundering and embezzling schemes. Add to that, she cheated her own sister on top of everything. She was not an innocent being, not in any sense of the word.”
“And you killed her because of that?”
“No, I killed her because her sister paid me to do so. I killed her sister because of that. And almost immediately regretted it, because now I have a Lumar merc company on my hands.”
“Ahh…so who paid you to kill the sister.”
Deluge said nothing for a moment. He felt his tail twitch down Gage’s back in irritation at himself.
“No one,” he admitted finally. “I did it because I did not like the way she wasted the Lumars’ lives.”
“So, taking suicide contracts is wrong in your eyes?” Gage asked. When Deluge twitched again, he spoke quickly before the Hunter could reply. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to judge. I just want to understand.”
“Waste is wrong,” Deluge said with a sigh. “Though I think perhaps not all of my kind would act as drastically as I’ve done. I blame my Human upbringing.”
“Wait…what?”
Deluge twitched his ears and felt his good nature return. This clever Human merc hadn’t expected that.
“Yes. Remember, I told you I’m acquainted with one of your kind. The woman who raised me like a second mother is Human. So, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that some of my racial sociopathy, as you call it, has been diluted by Human mores.”
“Oh,” Gage said. “Okay. Fair enough. Is that why you wanted a Human? Because you like the way we think?”
“I suppose so,” Deluge said. “I didn’t overthink it.”
That got a laugh out of the man, and a few heads turned to look as they passed out of the shuttle terminal and into the bright daylight of ‘Tlor. Deluge’s goggles snapped out and into place. Rurranach led them to the thoroughfare that was typically choked with vehicles on- and off-loading passengers and luggage. Deluge leapt from Gage’s shoulder into the cabin of the well-appointed vehicle, and the other two followed.
“Headquarters, please,” Rurranach said, and the automated system beeped in acknowledgment as the door closed, and the thrusters pushed them into the crowded sky.
* * *
Uban had outdone himself.
When they returned to headquarters, the Lumar Merc had rounded up all of his fellows and organized them into blocky formations. Each of them carried an energy rifle and wore his full battle kit as far as Deluge could tell. They stood arrayed in the open basement room of the headquarters building, looking like proud, formidable, uniform warriors.
Even the Hunter had to admit, they were impressive. Maybe it wasn’t his way of enacting violence, but it was impressive just the same.
“Greet you, Hunter. Sidar. This new commander?”
“I greet you, Uban,” Deluge said as the three of them walked into the basement. Uban stood in the center front of the formation, and he walked toward them with a puffed chest and formal, stilted movements. “Your troopers look formidable. Well done.”
“Thank you, Hunter,” Uban said and looked pointedly at Alton Gage, who stared back with something that might have been a tiny smile curving his lips.
“Ah…this is Alton Gage. A Human mercenary commander. We brought him to see how well you liked each other,” Deluge said, feeling somewhat at a loss for words.
“Is smart?”
“I’m smart,” Gage said for himself.
“How smart?”
“Smart enough to help develop the tactical manual for the Mark 3 Human CASPer suit.”
A murmur of sound rippled through the ranks of the Lumar, as if nearly all of them had inhaled sharply at Gage’s words.
“Are you familiar with the Mark 3 CASPer?” Gage asked softly, his smile deepening.
“Fought CASPers in Kendry mining belt operation. Hard to fight. Most died,” Uban said, and though his words were clipped and professional, Deluge realized that there was real pain in the big Lumar’s eyes.
“Yes. I’m sorry for your losses, then, Uban,” Gage said.
“Bad contract,” Uban said quietly. Very quietly.
“Yes. I don’t like bad contracts,” Gage said.
“No.” Uban said in agreement. He paused for a long moment, looked Gage up and down, then looked at Deluge.
“Good commander, Hunter. Uban thanks.”
“You’re welcome, Uban,” Deluge said, his ears twitching in laughter.
“Commander,” Uban said, turning back to Gage. “Come inspect.”
“Ah…well…” Gage said, glancing back at Rurranach and Deluge. “That’s not…I haven’t…”
“You might as well, Gage,” Deluge said, lifting one paw and beginning to groom his face. “You’re eventually going to do what Uban wants anyway. He’s uncommonly good at getting his way.”
“Yes,” Uban said. “Come, commander.”
“Fuck,” Gage whispered, and he dropped his head down, shaking it from side to side briefly before straightening up and throwing his shoulders back. Deluge continued to groom his face, and he heard Rurranach stifling his chittering laughter behind them.
“All right, then, First Sergeant Uban,” Gage said, his tone firmer, his voice carrying through the ranks of massed Lumar. “Let us proceed with the inspection.”
Deluge settled in to wait, fascinated despite himself. The interplay between Uban and Gage had been amusing, to say the least, but the near-instantaneous transformation in Gage was something he’d never seen before. The changes in the Human merc’s demeanor were enough that he would probably have noticed even had he not been familiar with Humans and their non-verbal communications. With every step, every look at a Lumar weapon, Gage seemed to solidify and harden. Like a being given purpose, or another chance at life.
Fascinating.
He was still raptly watching the inspection process when the southern wall of the
basement exploded inward, spraying concrete and metal shrapnel in a deadly cloud right into the ranks of the assembled Lumar.
Deluge picked himself up off the floor, only then realizing that he’d been thrown across the room from the force of the explosion. A high-pitched ringing in his ears deafened all other sounds, and he couldn’t see anything but dust, couldn’t smell anything but flame and fear. He stretched out with his quintessence, using it to locate the bodies around him. Most were still living, warping the quintessential web the way vital beings did. Some were not, that warping starting to fade as they ceased to live and became more like the objects surrounding them. Deluge bent the light around himself and began searching for Rurranach, or Gage, or even Uban. What had happened?
The ringing in his ears was just starting to fade when he heard a series of short, staccato pops. Somewhere, he caught the faint edge of Gage’s voice, shouting commands. A rumble came from the southern wall, and Deluge turned just in time to see a flood of Goka scuttling on the ceiling through the breach left by the explosion. Before he realized what he was doing, he had two knives in his hands and was snarling up into the mass of attacking insectoids.
It was an almost fatal mistake.
Something heavy hit him in the back, and pain like fire erupted in a searing line behind his ear. He fell forward, collapsing his body around himself in a defensive roll. Something caught at his hind feet and followed him through the roll, preventing him from regaining his footing. He found himself flat on his back, barely able to bring up his knives to defend his face, before his assailant was atop him.
She dropped her quintessential cloak and snarled in his face.
“You’re mine, murderer,” the female Hunter said, her teeth snapping in exhilaration.
“Me?” Deluge gasped as she bore down on his throat. “You’re the one attacking a fellow Hunter!”
