Warrior Chronicles 2: Warrior's Blood

by Shawn Jones

  “Send someone to help Rand suit up. And get him some fortified food. Now. If he is hurt, I will kill you all.” Cort turned a corner and headed for the Governor’s quarters.

  --

  “I’m going to enjoy this, Governor,” Cort said after he bent the door off its hinges. “I’m going to enjoy this very much.”

  Taps was standing in a corner and had wet himself as the door folded backward into the room. He held up a disruptor and fired it. Cort crushed the weapon while it was still in the man’s hands. When he let go, the metal was wrapped around Taps’ fingers, which were smashed and bleeding.

  “It is unfortunate, but where I come from, we are much more adept at torture than you are. And I am more adept at it than most. After my family died, I withdrew from society. Before coming here, I read a profile that my government had done on me. A psychological profile. It said that, since the death of my family, I have begun to develop an ‘Antisocial Personality Disorder’. Do you know what that is, Governor?”

  Taps couldn’t speak. The monster before him was so calm. He felt as if he was being toyed with. He shook his head.

  “It means I have little or no conscience when it comes to those I don’t care about. It means I feel no guilt or remorse for my actions. Do you know what that means for you, Governor?” Cort stepped on the man’s foot, crushing the bones in it.

  Taps screamed and shook his head again.

  “It means I am going to enjoy killing you. It means that every ounce of suffering my grandson has felt since arriving here will be felt tenfold by you in the next hour. Now do you understand?” Taps couldn’t know it, but Cort was smiling grimly inside his suit.

  “Your grandson? My Gods. That’s you inside there, Dar? Please Dar, no. I’m sorry. What do you want?” Taps begged.

  “I want you to suffer. And I want your family to know how much you suffered. You and yours started this feud on another planet. I will end it. Here or Earth or across the galaxy, there is nowhere your people can hide. But today, I will be content with your suffering.”

  Steve Taps screamed for the next half hour. He did not last as long as Cort had hoped he would. People could hear his screams throughout the corridors of the colony. No one raised a hand to help him. Cort stepped on the bodies of the ‘Prowler team’ as he walked back to the cell where he had left Rand. A medico had given him a ‘traumatic injury’ dose of synthetics, and the man looked healthier already. They were replacing his suit when Cort walked in.

  He looked up at the monitor inside the cell and said, “Are you still listening?”

  “Yes. I am listening. We’ve done as you asked,” Rhodes said.

  “Put me on the speakers. I want every person in this colony to hear me,” Cort demanded.

  “Okay.” Rhodes pushed several buttons. “You can speak to everyone now.”

  “People of Oxia Palus, hear me and hear me well. I am Cortland Addison of the Pack Addison. I have come here to right a wrong done to my family. It needs to end here. It needs to end now. I am truly sorry for the death I have brought to you, but do not doubt for one moment that, if you seek retribution, I will come back here and kill every single one of you. Every man. Every woman. Every child.” Cort paused for his words to take effect.

  “I did not want this. I only wanted to rescue my kin from the injustice you allowed your governor to exact up on him. We are leaving now. We are going to the Aeolis site. We want only to be left alone. And we will leave you alone. But if you come to us, you will only find death. We will not be your friends. We will not help you. We don’t want your help. Leave. Us. Alone.”

  --

  “Are you really Addison?” Rand asked as Cort carried him to the MERV. “Are you really the legend?”

  Cort stopped and put him down next to the vehicle. “We have several days of travel ahead of us, so there will be plenty of time to talk. But yes. I am your legend. There is a scar from here to here.” Cort drew a line down the front of his armor and continued, “And my...our wolf Sköll is back at Aeolis with your Mother. Let’s go to our new home.”

  Three

  Oxia Palus Colony

  “You mean to say that after all that, you just let him walk away?” Tom Smith was fuming. His cousin had called him to Mars to add additional security now that the Addisons had taken over one of the other colony sites. Smith brought thirty troops with him from Earth, and after what he saw when he arrived, he immediately asked for ninety more.

  “We did not have much choice in the matter. You’ve seen the vid. And we are leaving him alone, just as he asked.” Dave Keen was now acting Governor, until the emergency election was held.

  “You may be, Keen. But we are not. As he said, this is a blood feud that spans the solar system, but my family will end it, not his.”

  “Smith, you are making a mistake, and I will not risk the colony for your vendetta. This is not Earth where you can just walk away and start over. If he comes back here and carries out his threat, this colony dies. That is not going to happen. Not on my watch.”

  “Your ‘watch’ can end, Keen.” Tom Smith turned and walked out of the room.

  “Gods damn it!” Keen turned to Rhodes. “Watch them. I want video on them every minute. Audio when you can. I want to know what they eat, who they mate, and when they purge. Do we have a way to communicate with Aeolis?”

  “Not at the moment, except to relay through Earth. Are you going to warn Addison?” Rhodes asked.

  “Warn Addison?” Keen laughed. “I tried to warn Smith. His hubris is going to kill all of his people. What message did he try to send by the way?”

  “It was encrypted, but my tech said it was a request for more people. I dumped the transmission. So why do you want to talk to Addison if not to warn him?”

  “I want him to know we had nothing to do with this.” Keen stared at Rhodes. “And that once they leave this colony, they will not be allowed back in. That however he sees fit to dispose of them is okay with us. I don’t like having a man like him on our planet. But I’m starting to see the need for it. I just hope he isn’t another Taps.”

  “Do you really think he is who he claims?”

  “No, I don’t. People don’t live that long. And back then, they only lived eighty years or so. But the trust found a cache of twenty-first century artifacts last year. They didn’t mention any weaponry, but clearly that’s because they sent it all here. So whoever is in that suit is sitting on an arsenal the likes of which hasn’t existed for centuries. And he knows how to use it. Our job is to make sure he doesn’t use it on us again.” Keen looked up at the ceiling. “Even if that means making a pact with him.”

  Aeolis

  “Oh my Gods!” Kay ran to her son the moment he was through the airlock. “You’re really okay!”

  Cort knew Rand was in for a lot of nightmares and rough times psychologically, but they had decided to minimize what they told Kay. Over the trip home, his physical injuries had healed completely. Rand held his mother for over a minute before raising her chin and kissing her on the cheek. Then he sat down on the floor and waited for Sköll to approach him. The huge gray wolf looked first at Cort, then at Kay. Since they were both calm, he stood in front of the newcomer and allowed him to scratch behind his ear. Committing his scent to memory, Sköll accepted him into the pack.

  After a meal and a shower, Cort joined the others in what had become the common area. “Kay, tell me what you’ve accomplished while we were gone.”

  Rand turned to him. He had seen Cort’s face in the MERV, but this was the first time he had seen the giant outside of his armor. “My Gods! You’re huge! I thought it was all the suit.”

  “I thought I would just show you. Rand needs a tour anyway.” Kay paused, her eyes watering up. “Thank you Cort.”

  Cort said, “Let’s get that tour started.” Sköll stayed near him the whole time. Even when he was showering, the wolf stayed where he could see the man. As he bathed, Cort thought, Maybe he’s still mine after all.

&n
bsp; --

  There was a message waiting in control room when the tour was over. It was from Dar.

  “Cort, Kay, and now I hear that Rand has joined you. Thank you for that, Cort. I’ve been contacted by the other colony. A man named Dave Keen has taken over until their next election. He says that Taps had requested troops from Earth and that they have arrived. They are loyal to Taps’ family. They intend to come for you.” Kay held Rand’s hand a little tighter.

  “Keen says they have thirty total, and that Smith tried to send for more, but he blocked the transmission. There was an independent burst transmission from Smith’s quarters later. He assumes it’s related to the request for troops. Keen has asked for a direct line of communication with you. I think it’s a good idea. He doesn’t want Oxia Palus caught in the crossfire. Also, he’s said that he’s not going to interfere with Smith’s men while they are at his colony, but once they walk out the airlock, it will be locked behind them. Once they are outside, he is washing his hands of it all. They will not be allowed back in under any circumstances. Even if they abandon their plan for revenge.”

  “Cort, I’ve analyzed his message. Keen is sincere. He doesn’t want a war with you. But he doesn’t have the ability to fight Smith and his men. He feels his only option is to wait until they leave. But he wants Oxia Palus to remain safe from you. Talk to him Cort.”

  Dar went on to outline the next two shipments. Afterwards Clare came took over the message and passed along her greetings. The transition of the trust control to other members of the family was expected to be complete in a few months, at which point she would make the move to Mars. A separate trust was being set up with profits from the sale of the artifacts from Cort’s cavern and Clare’s cloning program with the wolves. Dar and a legal representative would administer that trust to fund shipments to the colony site.

  “Cort, you’re in charge of all this. I have a thought, though. Since the trust bought Aeolis, several family members have come forward and asked to emigrate to Mars. Obviously, we haven’t told them about you, but we have started getting calls about you freeing Rand. Family and non-family are asking who “Cortland Addison” is. The family members think Grandfather hired someone to play you. The press is digging, though. Your legend is pretty commonly known in Atlantica now. You won’t be a secret much longer. I think you should allow family members to join you on Mars. You said once that there is safety in numbers. There are a lot of good and smart people in our ‘pack’. Use that to our advantage.”

  Clare smiled. “I love you all and can’t wait to see you. Bye for now. Oh. There are some surprises for you all on freighter 12. It should be about three days out. And Rand, all your personal effects will be on the next launch.”

  “She knows I hate surprises,” Cort said. “Okay, thoughts?”

  “Open communications with Keen,” Rand said. “He did not have to warn you. Clearly he’s acting in good faith. And if he betrays us, you know where to find him.”

  “I agree. It doesn’t hurt to talk to him. I’m more concerned about what’s going on back home regarding you. It’s better to share the story ourselves than to have some reporter break it and paint us adversarially.”

  “Send a message to Dar. Find out the legal ramifications of my existence, the monies in both trusts, my actions here, and the legal status of Aeolis. Everything else is secondary. I agree with you both across the board, so we’re moving forward with announcing my existence.” Cort turned to Rand. “You open up a dialogue with Keen. You harbor enough resentment toward Oxia Palus that it will hard for them to pull the wool over your eyes. Questions?”

  “Why would they pull wool over my eyes? I don’t think we even have a source for wool on Mars?”

  --

  Three days later, Cort was listening to the latest message from Dar. “So unless you claim your previous status as an American, you are not a citizen of Atlantica and are not subject to its laws. They have suggested that the Oxia Palus government take you into custody if you go there again. But it is just a suggestion, not an order. Keen will not enforce it as such. Regarding the trusts, we are fine. None of the trustees have been implicated in any crime. They can’t even prove that we transported illegal artifacts in the form of your military hardware.”

  Cort was relieved at that. One of his biggest concerns had been Dar, Clare, or Dr. Wills being charged with a crime for covering up his existence.

  “Aeolis is a little more complicated. No government can own another planet. They do have areas of control. Oxia Palus is an area of control for Atlantica. Basically that means Atlantica has full governing and defensive control of the colony. They had the same status with Aeolis until we bought it from them. Technically that leaves the entire facility independent of any government alliance. We are our own country. So, Your Majesty, you need to form a government.”

  “Aw, shit,” Cort said to the video replay.

  “I jest Cort, but it’s really true. You now own a nation. On another planet. and you’re going to need a lot of help. So I’ve started to arrange it. Begin recording a speech. Actually two of them. One for your descendants, from whom I am recruiting your citizens. In time, you will have to accept others as well, but for now a blood link is the main requirement. The second speech is for your announcement of our independence from any existing government.”

  “We’re sending a lot more gear to you, too. I have some developers and colony specialists working with me on that. In the meantime, I have attached a provisional charter. Look it over and let me know if you want any changes. It’s not technically necessary but it adds clout to all of our legal proceedings. Anyway, that’s all I have for today. I expect your thoughts about the charter and some ideas about your speeches in a transmission tomorrow.” Dar was clearly pleased with the steaming pile of crap he had just handed to Cort. His grin was almost unbearable as he ended the transmission.

  Fuck.

  “Cort, the ‘surprise shipment’ is here. Can you come down?” Kay asked over the intercom.

  “On my way.” Fuck.

  --

  Freighter 12 was identical to every other freighter in the colony, from the outside. Cort had suited up two days before to prepare for it. With CONDOR’s strength, he was able to place its guide rails in just a few minutes. Whenever a new freighter module was about to arrive, Cort would go outside and prep the area it was to be attached to the rest of the colony. First he would level the area and clear it of obstructions. Once perfectly level, he would drive anchor piles into the ground. This could take days with traditional tools. With the augmented strength of either the CONDOR or the much larger HAWC suit, Cort was able to accomplish the feat in hours, sometimes even minutes. Once the structural anchors were imbedded in the Mars ground, alignment members were run between them. Then the actual module rails were extended. They protruded twice the length of the freighter module to be placed and were aligned to within millimeters of true. Once set, the freighter would land on the far end of the rails by way of an onboard system similar to the old ILS system used by airplanes on Earth. After touchdown, a cable would be attached to the unit and it was pulled into place with a winch. Then connections were made and the module was opened and if necessary, unloaded.

  Cort was able to modify the last steps thanks to the powered armor suits. Using the CONDOR, Cort would just push the module along the rails until the magnetic locks grabbed it. Then while he inspected the outside of the module, Kay, or now Rand, would make the power and environmental connections. By the time Cort was back inside, they were ready to open the airlock between the old ‘end’ of the colony and the new addition. If there was heavy gear to be removed, Cort would remain in the suit until the new equipment was out of the module.

  This time, once Cort was back inside, Kay activated the airlock system and nine wolf pups ran out of the module. One of them growled at him and peed on the foot of the armored suit. Sköll barked and all the pups immediately gave them his attention. Suddenly they acted as if they were in t
he presence of royalty. Sköll snarled and walked away with nine pups following him. As they walked away, a shorter than usual man walked out of the airlock.

  “John!” Kay jumped forward and threw her arms around the archaeologist. “What on Earth are you doing here?”

  They all realized the joke and laughed at once. “It’s good to see you, Doc. This is my grandson Rand.” Cort pointed at the younger man. As they shook hands, Cort continued, “I thought you wanted to go the Bering Sea.”

  “I did, Cort, but with all the press about you, I decided it was smarter to pass on it. I suggested the area to two colleagues based on ‘information from the cavern’. And, well, I missed you guys.” Cort didn’t miss the way the man looked sidelong at Kay. You sly dog. Good for you.

  “Doc, we’ll catch up later. Right now Rand and I need to get this module unloaded. Kay, why don’t you take our new arrival for a tour? We’ll catch up with you afterwards in the commons. Come on Rand.” Cort took the young man by the shoulder and practically shoved him into the new section.