by Scott Moon
He pulled free and struggled to his feet. The natural sanctuary was larger than he realized. Morning light filtered between rocks. A few moments of exploration revealed that he was in a space where two spires leaned against each other. Wind and rain had eroded the red stone, hollowing a bowl that welcomed life. Rich earth and vegetation had accumulated over the years. A rockslide covered the southern half of the clearing. Birds crowded into nests three meters above Kin. Hungry eyes watched his movements, scuttling deeper into the avian homes when he moved.
No sign of Dog or the other veterans. He sucked water from a leathery plant, attempted to chew the leaves, and explored with an empty belly. An FSPAA unit would have made things easier; the teamwork of a good squad would have rendered the miserable adventure exciting. He missed the sense of purpose, lost when he became the Traitor of Hellsbreach.
The orange sun, strange and distant compared to what he remembered of the place, rose above a beautifully harsh landscape. He was beginning to think he had found the first and only oasis on the planet. Shade cooled him. He inspected water plants and harvested nuts. The bland nuggets tasted bitter. He devoured them by the handful.
The fortification stared at him when he found it — metal blast doors framed by gray concrete. Running his fingers over the surface, he decided the structure was built from off-world materials; otherwise, the concrete would be dark red. It didn’t take long to find signs of humans. Someone conducted regular patrols in the area. Dog’s large boot prints were evident in the clay and gritty sand, but there were others as well. He found a child’s footprint and his heart fell into his stomach.
There were people on Hellsbreach. The fools were raising families.
Humans born on Hellsbreach; that was a horrible thought. No one would bring a family to this place. He wasn’t sure which idea was worse.
“I told you he’d find it,” Jojo said.
Kin looked up to see his three former subordinates watching him from a ledge.
“Just because we haven’t killed you, doesn’t mean we’ll let you inside,” Dog said. He lowered his frame onto a rock and watched Kin across the small, slanted clearing of Hellsbreach vegetation.
“How many people are inside?” Kin asked.
Dog looked to Jojo, but neither man spoke. Several moments passed as Dog fiddled with a knife, evaluated Kin as though they were playing poker, then sheathed the blade.
“None. We sent them back to the prison a few days ago. Too many Reapers in the area. Lost three foraging parties last week. This area isn’t safe,” Dog said.
“Safe enough inside,” Dwarf said.
Kin doubted Dwarf was a fool. The man only mentioned safety as a taunt. Reapers wouldn’t be able to penetrate the fallout bunker, but the place was a death trap without food and water.
“Why don’t you go inside and take a nap?” Kin said. “You’re a bit cranky. Find someone else to piss on.”
“I’ll piss on you,” Dwarf said.
“Better enjoy it because it will be your last piss this side of hell.” Kin took a step closer as Reapers howled.
“They never came up here before,” Dog said. “They’re following you. They sense weakness.”
Kin shrugged. “Let’s get down to business. I can’t survive without your help. You could have killed me already. Are we negotiating or playing games? Because I thought it was the Reapers who played with their victims.”
Dog snarled. “We’re not monsters.”
“Speak for yourself,” Dwarf spat. “I’m the worst monster out here.”
Kin backed away as the man advanced, clenching and opening his fists.
Dog spoke. His words cut through the scene with quiet authority. There was sadness, anger, and weariness in his tone. “You left us here, Kin.”
Dwarf stopped, glanced at Dog, then faced Kin. Jojo remained in the background, moving, seeking a better position, setting up his attack like a good sniper.
“I didn’t escape unharmed. Reapers took me into a pit.”
“Bullshit.” Dwarf punched his right fist into his left palm.
“Let him talk,” Dog said.
“He’d be dead. No one escapes a Reaper Pit. No one. I’d kill myself before they pulled me down.” Dwarf paced the uneven ground, sweating, clenching his jaw until cords of muscles popped up from his neck.
Kin watched the man, understanding his anger and fear. Being taken by Reapers was the worst nightmare of every trooper. He looked away from Dwarf, meeting Jojo’s cold, unreadable eyes.
Dog stood and rolled his shoulders, twisted at the waist to relieve pressure from his back, then worked his tongue over his teeth as he pondered Kin’s words. “Hard to believe a tale like that.”
How could Kin explain his captivity? What would they think if he told them how Reaper women had hidden the secrets of their species in his blood, only for Droon to hunt him like it had been some kind of quest? What would they think if they realized how Reaper words formed in his mind?
“You should have vaporized this planet,” Jojo said.
Dog and Dwarf looked at their companion, surprised. Jojo smiled unpleasantly. “Yeah, he was the one who was supposed to detonate the World Breakers. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if he had done his duty.”
Dog faced Kin. “That true?”
“I had the duty.” He pondered his failure but welcomed a warm sensation of rightness. Doubt receded. He wasn’t happy that Reapers were more of a threat to humanity than before the campaign, but he accepted his decision and would stand by it. Of all the people he might encounter in the universe, these men had a stake in the results. They could damn him with legitimate authority and righteousness.
The golden moment of confidence evaporated under the glare of Dog and the others.
“The Fleet court-marshaled me, put me into the void of space.”
“And you’re still alive,” Dwarf said. He sounded angry, but there was something different in his tone of voice. “You must be part Reaper. Not saying I believe a word of it.”
But he did. Kin saw wonder, confusion, and bitterness on his face.
“The thing is, Kin,” Dog said. “You didn’t know about the final mission at the time you ordered the retreat. I saw you running. Saw Sergeant Orlan standing in the side door of a copter. You betrayed us, left us to cover your escape.”
“You’re right. I gave the order to hold the line. You were one of the only troopers to obey.”
It doesn’t matter if I betrayed these men. Did I run that day? Did they see me running? He didn’t remember running. His body ached. They’ll never trust me again.
Jojo opened a small door nestled in the larger blast door and blocked it with his pistol drawn, sniper rifle protruding over his shoulder on his back.
Reapers howled. Rocks tumbled from the heights.
“Make a decision, Dog,” Kin said.
Reapers appeared at the widest opening in the rock, higher than Kin’s position, but on the opposite side of the crevasse. Purple flowers veined with white opened to the sun. Small animals Kin hadn’t seen before the arrival of the Reapers scurried into holes. Kin gazed across the scene at half a dozen Reapers.
Each of the demons carried weapons and tools.
“Jojo,” Dog said. “Show Kin the way. Dwarf, close the door once we’re inside.”
“They brought the cutting torches,” Dwarf said.
“They don’t know how to use them.” Dog followed Kin through the door, then turned around to watch Dwarf.
The powerfully built trooper trained his weapon on several targets as he walked backward but didn’t fire.
Kin examined the Reaper tools, alarm growing as he realized the technology wasn’t stolen. If the Reapers had learned how to build tools, they probably did know how to use them, no matter what Dog Rolston said.
The frame of each cutting torch was carved from bone — from something large, a creature no Earth Fleet trooper had ever faced. Kin saw light reflecting from the polished surface and bl
ack soot marring the hole at one end. He thought of dragons and Reapers and Clingers and all the alien races with biology unlike the descendants of Earth.
He wondered about the Slomn and their nuclear hearts, beams of fire cutting into the lost armada beneath the surface of Crashdown. He’d seen Reapers with weapons. The flaming whips and balls of lightning had killed many of his friends and inspired terror in the bravest trooper in the planetary assault.
He expected killers like Droon to improvise weapons. Nothing in his considerable knowledge of Reapers suggested the others understood the concept of tools.
A cutting torch was a tool. So was a spaceship or a radio. How long would it take for the Reapers to imitate all of mankind's technology?
Kin heard something and stopped to listen, unsure if he was hearing Droon or the Slomn-Reaper.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Way Station
THE inside of the way station was like a cargo bay of a Fleet ship; in fact, it probably was the cargo bay of a Fleet ship. Kin observed signs of retrofitting and thought portions had been cut away so that the structure would fit between the rock spires.
“I didn’t think the Fleet made it this far during the assault,” Kin said.
Dog looked him in the eye, turned away, checked atmosphere readers on the walls and locks on the interior doors. “This one came down on the Sorrow about three years ago. It's the only vessel we've found in six years that wasn't a prison ship.”
Satisfied that everything was in order, Dog faced Kin and crossed his arms. “I know you're dying to ask, so I'll give it to you straight. Hellsbreach has become a dumping ground for criminals, political dissidents, and anyone not wanted by Earth Government. There are a score of lockdown facilities between here and our original assault touch down.”
“I don't believe you,” Kin said.
Dog stared at Kin. Dwarf stared at Kin. Jojo stared at Kin's back; the only thing betraying his position was the scrape of his foot on the concrete.
“Earth Fleet blockaded the planet after the mission ended,” Kin said.
“You know that blockade was a farce.”
He's testing me, Kin thought. “What happened when the Mazz Imperials came? Did you fight them?”
Jojo moved around until he stood beside Dog. The two men exchanged a glance. Dog looked at Kin.
“Is that who they were?” he asked. “They punched through the blockade in one day and hit the other side of the planet. Saw the battle in the upper atmosphere. Waited for the invasion force to traverse the Poison Sea and wipe us out, but they never showed up.”
Dwarf laughed. “Anyone landing on the other side of the sea would have been in for a surprise. Damn fools must have ignored the seismic activity there or wanted to see volcanoes up close.”
Kin ignored Dwarf, though he was curious. The man's dialogue seemed to be a stalling tactic, a delay meant to give Jojo and Dog time to think.
Kin shrugged. “That's not why I think your prison tale is fiction. There are thousands of other planets closer to Earth-Fleet-controlled space better suited to be prison planets.”
“I don't care what you believe. I just want to know how you got here and how you're going to get us off this rock,” Dog said. He unlocked a storage container and retrieved a metal bottle. “Have a drink. It should taste better than Dwarf's piss.”
Kin pulled the tube from the top and took a sip. He counted to ten before taking another.
“You always had more self-control than anyone I ever knew,” Dog said.
Kin took another sip. “Why did you come here if this way station is too dangerous to garrison?”
“Just a patrol. Don't get excited,” Dog said.
“You're looking for something,” Kin said.
Jojo answered, “We investigate all crash landings.”
“There was a crash?” Kin asked.
Dog and Jojo looked at each other. Dog took his time but answered, “There was a disturbance. We also investigate disturbances.”
Kin choked on his water.
Dog scrunched his eyebrows together and frowned. “Are you saying you weren’t on a ship that ended up here?”
“He flew on his pixie faerie wings,” Dwarf said.
Kin finished the water and accepted a ration bar from Dog. “You've got balls, coming all the way out here for something you know can't be used to leave the planet.”
“Who says we want to leave?” Dwarf asked.
“Shut up,” Dog said. “He knows we want to leave. Go check the blast door.”
Dwarf stomped out of the room.
“You're looking for a ship,” Kin said.
“We're looking for the ship,” Dog said.
“Really? Why didn't you say so? Of course I know how to find the ship,” Kin said. Knowing nothing about the ship Dog was looking for, he decided to ambush Jojo. “How long were you with the Counterintelligence Division before joining my platoon?”
“I was recruited after we made planet-fall,” Jojo said. “What do you know about wormholes?”
“All wormholes are one,” Kin said.
“Interesting,” Jojo said. “A wormhole opening appeared near the edge of the Sorrow about two weeks ago. My controlling officer from the good-old-days claimed Earth Fleet lost a ship on Hellsbreach capable of calling a wormhole opening. I'm guessing someone with your security clearance, or your former security clearance, rather, would know about a wormhole jumper.”
“What he's saying, Kin, is that you better take us to that ship unless you want to take your chances with the Reapers,” Dog said, voice low. “You think we're pissed about what you did here, try explaining your nuclear mercy to the Reapers.”
Dwarf slammed the door when he entered the room, drawing Kin's attention. When he turned toward Dog, Jojo leapt forward and stabbed a needle into Kin's neck.
A spinning, backward elbow caught Jojo's helmet on the faceplate, damaging Kin more than the intended target, but Jojo tumbled backward.
Without waiting, Kin lunged at Dog and Dwarf, but both men retreated with hands raised.
“Settle down, Kin,” Dog said.
“What the fuck was that?”
“Just a little insurance,” Dog said. “You okay, Jojo?”
“Yeah,” Jojo said as he struggled to his feet. “My neck only feels like it's broken.”
“Look at the bright side, Kin. Once the serum takes effect, you'll be able to drink Reaper blood and live. On the downside, if you don't drink Reaper blood, your metabolism will shut down.”
“You're crazy,” Kin said.
“We all took the serum, so don't get your traitor panties in a wad,” Dwarf said. “Where we're going, there isn't water.”
“But there is Reaper blood,” Jojo said.
KIN wasn't allowed to take a turn keeping watch. He awoke several times to slake his thirst, and the water he consumed only made his need worse, just as Jojo promised. By morning, he felt he had been awake in his nightmares and unable to rest.
Dog handed him a ration bar, a bottle of water, and a small vial. “Don't waste the Reaper juice. It's damn hard to come by. Once we leave the way station, we'll have to raid Reaper holds for their water, if you want to call it that, or go full vampire on Reaper bodies.”
“You're going to try to cross the Red Plains of Sorrow,” Kin said.
“We're going to try to cross the Sorrow. And you're going to help us find Jojo's magic ship.”
“I don't know anything more about the ship than you do,” Kin said.
Dog leaned on his elbows, sitting like a soldier saving his strength for the trial to come. “We'll see.”
Dwarf led them out of the back entrance before dawn, using a basic night vision optic attached to his head with a plastic zip-tie. Dog and Kin wore similar devices. Jojo's helmet was the only piece of equipment actually designed for night combat.
Kin fell into the habit of squad movement. These men were professionals, better than Captain Raien's troopers, and they had been good. Pr
obably they were as good as Major Eagle’s elite commandos, minus the state-of-the-art weapons and armor.
Dog and Kin followed Dwarf. Jojo brought up the rear far enough back to make even Kin nervous.
“I guess you got used to Hellsbreach during the last ten years,” Kin said.
Dog looked back. “Jojo could do this without us. He's like a ghost. Moves with impunity.”
Kin remembered his solo adventures on Crashdown and thought Dog was wrong. Surviving without help on a hostile planet never ended well. He'd nearly died more times than he could count on Crashdown. At the time, he'd thought the wormhole planet was more deadly than Hellsbreach, but now he was here and his opinion changed.
“The Reaper pack we keep running into is led by a female strong enough to take the role of chieftain or grand chieftain,” Dog said.
“Like a Reaper Queen,” Kin said.
“You don't act as surprised as you should. Where the hell have you been for the last ten years?” Dog asked. “She's bad news. Her warriors are the worst I've seen, and I've seen a lot of badass Reapers, including lesser queens.”
Kin avoided making eye contact.
Dog raised his fist to signal a halt. “You know where the ship is.”
Kin shook his head. “No, I don't.”
“I see the craziest band of Reapers I've met in ten years on this planet, and it's old news to you. And you just got bounced onto Hellsbreach like the universe shit you out,” Dog said. “You know where this ship is. It's probably your ship.”
“Whoever put me back on Hellsbreach did the same to Droon,” Kin said.
Dog laughed, loud and deep like Kin had never heard. In that instant, he saw a piece of who Dog was before Fleet training and bloody service. Not a bad man, probably someone who could be a good friend. At the same time, there was something more in the big man’s expression. He had recognized Droon’s name. For an instant, there had been an expression of desperation and greed mixed together, which didn’t make sense.
“If I doubted you were the same Kin Roland I fought with during the assault, I've got proof you're the same reckless bastard I knew. Droon. Very nice. How many Reaper names do you know?”
