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Bastion of the Reaper Copyright © 2020 by Variant Publications

Book design and layout copyright © 2020 by JN Chaney

This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from JN Chaney.

www.jnchaney.com

http://www.scottmoonwriter.com

1st Edition

CONTENTS

Don’t Miss Out

Previously in Hunt of the Reaper:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Epilogue

Important Terms and Characters

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PREVIOUSLY IN HUNT OF THE REAPER:

Previously in Hunt of the Reaper: Halek Cain and his friends fought to survive a relentless and overpowering Alon assault on the Yansden system. Attacked and harassed by Commander Peter Tobias, they also managed to mediate an uneasy alliance between the Kalon Regulars and Melina’s people. From the void, to the urban battlefields in Yansden City, to the deepest jungles of the planet’s wilderness, Cain and his friends searched for and found the Black Phoenix. More than just a weapon, it is now the one chance they have to save not only the people of the Wallach-Xad exodus fleet but the people of Yansden as well.

1

There were few people easier to spend time with than Grigori Parvo, a.k.a. Path the Sword Saint and hero of a bunch of epic shit—even at the end of a wharf, in a port plagued by hurricane force winds, while under attack from Alon super soldiers. Calm, fearless, and well hidden—he was all I could want from a friend right now.

“I have eyes on them, Reaper, and can confirm they have air tanks and aquatic propulsions systems,” Path said. “They’ve done this before, which suggests they are an elite, highly trained force that will give us a lot of trouble.”

“They have balls to launch a mission in this tempest.” I muttered the words, then shifted to a better position. Path and I might have bitten off more than we could chew this time.

“Please reconsider your word choice, logic structure, grammar, and syntax,” X-37 said.

“Is that you talking or the Black Phoenix?” The question might shut my LAI down, but I hoped we were through the worst of the upgrade. Maybe someday I could ditch the computer processor / battery / surge protector Tom had rigged up until we could affix real armor to the BP exoskeleton. It rode too low on my back and pinched when I twisted too far to the right or left.

The first of the enemy soldiers stowed their water survival gear in some rocks then spread out to defend the beach as their comrades emerged from the crashing waves. Each of them, whether man or woman, staggered sideways when gusts of wind blasted them with sand. I was glad my observation post offered a modicum of protection from the elements.

“The Black Phoenix doesn’t work like that,” X-37 said. “It is difficult for me to explain, Reaper Cain.”

“You explained it to Henshaw and Tom.” I watched two of the Alon commandos put their heads together, discuss something through their helmets, and separate to take charge of one squad each.

“Both of them had training in the sciences and are smarter than you are, Reaper Cain,” X-37’s response was smooth as silk. I barely felt insulted. “Would you like a list of others who have proven to overmatch your intellectual capacity?”

“No, X. Let’s just save that for later when I’m feeling good about myself and need to be brought down a notch,” I said. “Path, have I told you how X interfaces with the Black Phoenix algorithm to insult my intelligence.”

“He has not, Cain.” Path’s tone remained relaxed yet vibrant. “Your conversations aren’t reassuring. How do you control so many combat systems?”

“Luck, mostly,” I said.

“Simplicity is best. Strive for the calm between battles.” Path moved farther up the beach and disappeared from everything but my most advanced optics. “I will watch and await battle.”

“That’s what I thought you would say.” There was nothing I wanted less than a fight under these conditions but the hastily assembled planetary defense coalition had sent the request that this location be reconnoitered, and here we were. “X, can we expect backup?”

“There are two Kalon Regular patrols near enough to respond, but they may have their own problems soon. A pair of CSL Locke’s soldiers, a sniper and his observer, are also within hailing distance. Would you like me to reach out to them, Reaper Cain?”

“Sure thing, X. Let them know our situation and get information on theirs.” All battles had an order of operations, just like math equations. Unlike the mathematical arts, however, once the big event kicked off, science went straight out the fucking window.

X-37 displayed a three-dimensional grid map in my HUD. Beneath it, swells surged toward the shore, became waves, then broke powerfully on the foundations of the wharf and the rocky beach to my right. Water sprayed up around me.

A red diamond marked the place where the assault ship had gone into the water. Amphibious assaults were rare, but I knew they could be effective. What I didn't know was the extent of the Alon technology or their standard operating procedure for this method of insertion. We knew they could move a considerable distance underwater with the propulsion systems. Their air tanks appeared large enough to last for a while, but I wasn’t sure how similar they were to EVA breathing mechanisms.

“The wharf is just tall enough to be problematic for them,” I said, studying a shipping container and the crane that had placed it there. Weeds grew around the base. It had been years since this place was a thriving port.

“The structure would be nearly impossible to assault from the water with the tools they seem to have at their disposal.” My limited AI made calculations and checked our assumptions with simple line drawings.

“I expect they'll emerge on the beach a kilometer north,” I said.

“That is the most likely scenario, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “You must start moving now if you wish to intercept them.”

Without further discussion, I left the wharf and headed along the retaining wall, keeping to the landscaped walking paths Yansden City officials had placed here long ago to make the area more inviting. It would never be a tourist destination, but it was slightly less industrial as I proceeded away from the docks and wharfs.

“I wonder what regular life was like here before we came,” I said to the uber rational voice in my head.

“With the exception of the Neverseen and related disasters, data indicates Yansden was much like any other city we have visited in the galaxy,” X-37 said. “People have similar objectives, very consistent wants and needs. The only difference is in how they express them and what type of unique methods are used to overcome obstacles.”

I squatted into a shadow and moved until I could see as much of the beach as possible. “That's about what I was going to say.”

The first of the Alon commando team arrived less than ten minutes later. Their dark armor shined in the starlight, water streaming off them as they took the beach in a practiced formation—basically a wedge that improved the farther they got onto land.

I groaned. “Their leader walks a lot like Tobias.”

“I have also noted similarities,” X-37 said. “Could this be a relative? Or perhaps his body type and mannerisms are common to their people.”

“It doesn't matter,” I said. “I don't really care. There's no fucking way there are two of Commander Peter Tobias. No one deserves that. Not even me.”

“What is deserved and what is not deserved is a highly philosophical question that I warn you to avoid,” X-37 said.

“Yeah, I get it. What else can you tell me, X?”

“Their tactics and manner of movement are refined, most likely the result of good training and long years of practice,” X-37 said. “Recommendation: avoid them if possible and do not underestimate their abilities or their weapons.”

“I like where your head’s at, X,” I said. “Always assume the worst. Try not to die.”

Lightning crackled across the horizon, illuminating towering storm clouds over the water. Between violent gusts, a cool breeze touched my skin, reminding me the Archangel armor was gone. Tom promised a replacement, but he was even busier than I was. For now, it was dumb body armor, an exoskeleton that I had to admit was badass in most ways, and the LAI booster box I was forced to wear on my lower back like an oversized squat belt.

“The storms will continue to increase.” The Black Phoenix’s AI voice had a ghostly whispering quality I didn’t like. Since we commandeered the ancient technology, X-37 had usually been able to block these outbursts but at a price that left us both exhausted. The energy X had to pull from my nervous system wrecked me—so we had agreed to pick our battles. This time my limited artificial intelligence was silent.

I controlled my breathing and waited for the pain that would shoot through my head.

“Was that not useful information like your LAI normally provides you?” The Black Phoenix’s ghost voice whispered, sounding about as reassuring as a corpse getting dragged into cold storage.

“I need to talk to X-37,” I said, keeping my tone as neutral as possible.

“It will be so,” the voice crooned.

“X, are you there?” I enjoyed the sound of this new entity less every time I heard it.

“I am here, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. The Black Phoenix is not a true AI as we know it, nor is it made to interface with you. It is different technology intended for a purpose we can only guess at. Until we made its acquaintance, it was accustomed to commanding compliance from its host—an arrangement I’ve convinced it was untenable as the last organism was transformed into a tortured mass of organic flesh with no free will.

There were few things more important than understanding my new technology. One of those things was a second round of Alon drops ships plunging into the water behind the first. Before long, the beach had more enemy soldiers emerging from the crashing waves than I had anticipated. “I’d like to know exactly what that purpose was but right now we have more immediate problems.”

“Agreed, Reaper Cain.” X-37 sounded right as rain again.

“I also agree, Reaper Cain.” The Black Phoenix sounded like an older version of X now, which was actually more disturbing.

“If you have to talk to me, keep your own voice.” I zoomed in on the Alon soldiers with my Reaper eye.

“I have this, Black Phoenix Z1-01FR381-742-X51DRO-ZETA.” X-37 added enemy positions to my HUD as he talked to the powerful digital entity. “Go back to your analysis of Maglan and the mother’s prison.”

“It will be done.” Because whoever programmed the BP had a dark, twisted sense of style, the entity punctuated its decision to leave the conversation with a spectral sounding fadeout that was definitely going to give me nightmares.

“Is it gone?”

“The Z1 entity will never truly leave us, Reaper Cain.”

“Out-fucking-standing.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “This isn’t a scouting party—it’s an advanced team for a larger invasion. We need to stop them.”

“I was afraid you would say that, Reaper Cain.”

“Send out the call, X. We have a priority situation.”

* * *

The two Kalon patrols were squads. That gave me twelve elite soldiers; the Kalon organized their platoons in five squads of six. CSL Locke’s sniper team crept right up to my hiding place, getting within one hundred meters before I spotted them working toward the coast. It was an admirable effort. Not many people could get the drop on me when I was awake, uninjured, and using reasonably functional gear. I couldn’t call my new rig fully functional, but it was damn good for things like enemy detection and remote control of assets.

As for anyone sneaking past the combined efforts of X-37 and the BP—Z1 as X liked to call it—forget about it.

“Sound off and identify,” I called to the Wallach sniper team on an encrypted comm link.

“Junior Warrant Officer Roger Hamm and Sergeant Davy Eggleton, responding to your priority broadcast.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I said.

“What do you mean?” JWO Hamm asked.

“No one calls you ham and eggs?” These two men seemed professional, and my suspicion was confirmed by their reaction. JWO Hamm laughed, so he was much more relaxed than most people would be facing this type of enemy force in these conditions. The expression was hard to read through his soundproof helmet, but most of it was in his body language and I recognized him as a fellow soldier I could count on. Eggleton was the same way.

“The Kalon Regulars are still en route. They encountered resistance approximately one kilometer north of our location,” X-37 said. “They have dealt with that threat and are proceeding to our location to offer assistance. Their squad leader requests instructions.”

“This is Cain for the approaching Kalon Regulars, identify yourselves.” It didn't matter if they gave me numerical identifiers or their names. I just wanted our chain of command worked out. Sometimes they had interesting ideas about who was in charge.

“KR 658 and 659 for Reaper Cain, we heard you were in the area.” The man's voice sounded middle-aged and gruff, his tone conveying years of experience.

“Do you have a squad weapon?” I ached to open fire with my twin HDK Furies but this wasn’t the time and I needed to try out some of the other death-dealing tools at my disposal. While I waited, I called up drones and checked to see if I had airships on standby. Most of the slots that came up on my HUD display showed them off-line, but there were still a half-dozen on this continent I could command. Getting them into the fight always proved more difficult than it should. Today would be all about energy weapons.

“KR 658, each of the squads has one. Although KR 659's gunner can't hit the broadside of a docking port,” the man said.

“I'm sending you locations. Get there and get set up. You won't have much time.” I checked for Path and found him with difficulty. His icon was easy enough to spot, but he was concealing his presence well. The wind had slackened but was still fierce.

The Alon commandos had a portion of the beach secured and were standing by, presumably waiting for heavier units coming in large vehicles.

“There are a lot more of them than I thought there would be,” I said. “X, run me an analysis. What happens if we surrender this position?”

“It will have a cascading effect on the tactical situation in this area,” X-37 said, almost immediately. If the Z1 Black Phoenix had done anything for us, it had significantly boosted X-37's processing power. Except when they were struggling against one another, which happened more frequently than I liked.

“Have Locke or Loren responded to the priority broadcast with other assets?” I powered up the energy base for my own weapons. It wasn't exactly a battery, but I knew it had to be primed before I could unleash energy bursts.

“Both commanders request you hold this position if at all feasible,” X-37 said. “They have no additional resources to send at this time.”

I didn't bother to complain or banter, but instead used what resources I had. “KR 658 and 659, set up two sides of a kill box and be ready for a sniper-initiated assault. JWO Hamm and Sergeant Eggleton, we will go on your mark. Pick your targets and make them count.”

Hamm responded almost immediately. “That's where I thought you were going with this. We're already set and have a few unfortunate trespassers picked out.”

“There's no time like the present.” X-37 put possible targets on my HUD, because what I aimed at would be highly dependent on what happened next. I didn’t know which way the invaders would maneuver when all hell broke loose.

SWO Hamm proved to be an artist with his weapon. He dropped three of the amphibious assaulters before they knew what was happening. The difficulty of the shots with so much wind and debris in the air was hard to calculate. The only benefit of the weather was that his victim had a hard time determining where the attack was coming from.

“Keep it going if you can, Hamm,” I said.

“KR 658 and 659, we are engaging the enemy,” their leader said. A barrage of machine-gun fire followed. They had a good triangulation of attack, cutting down everything in between them. Our enemies had to advance into deadly sniper fire or brave the machine guns.

“Cain for Kalon and Wallach units, do not advance. I will be putting pressure on the left flank with a Black Phoenix weapon.” The thrill of what I was about to do filled me before I was done speaking. Nothing was right or wrong now; this was combat, and we were going to take every advantage of surprise we could.

I moved forward from the rocks I was using for cover and activated the insulated barrels protruding over my left shoulder. I'd mounted the heaviest weapon there so that my cybernetic arm and shoulder could bear the weight and recoil. I'd only fired this version once on the range. The HDK Furies rode lower, requiring me to pull them around from the side when I used them. Adjusting to the new configuration was difficult but worth it when a fight heated up.

A concentrated stream of purple energy jumped from the insulated barrels, tearing apart three of the Alon assault force.

The scene became confused. Waves crashed harder and wind blew more fiercely. Two additional drop ships hit the water too close to the shore, and I was pretty sure one broke open in the shallows. Others seemed to be en route, but I wasn't sure if they would land here or farther up the beach. There were flashes of light followed by the booms of explosions from that direction. The Wallach and Yansden troops had one hell of a fight on their hands.

Additional enemy troops rushed onto the beach, not trying to be stealthy or subtle now. My snipers and machine gunners fought fiercely, and I let the Alon have it with the Black Phoenix weapons at my disposal. After the energy cannon started to overheat, I pulled around the Furies and charged to a new position as I blasted everyone in my way. Combat drones rushed to my call but hadn't arrived yet. The more units I called on, the more it strained me mentally and physically.

As battles went, this one was bad but not the worst I'd been in. There were wounded men on both sides, but I didn't have time to check for details. X-37 and I were planning an exit strategy when I saw the Alon commander call for a ceasefire then rush forward to pull wounded men out of no-man’s-land.

My first reaction was that this was stupid. A person of his obvious rank, even though I respected him for putting himself in harm's way for his people, was risking their entire mission and probably endangering men and women who would have to rescue him if he went down. Thoughts of Tobias jumped into my mind. That man had been brave but also stupid and vengeful. This individual had the same lanky physique and moved in a similar way.

The Kalon Regulars treated their wounded and reloaded weapons. I wasn’t sure what my snipers were up to, only that they were still there ready to wreak havoc.

We held the Alon amphibious assault as long as we could, but they were able to make it to a series of rocky outcroppings where they found good cover. The battle stalled.

“Reaper Cain,” the commander of the Alon force said. “We need to talk.”

“Are you requesting a parlay or something equivalent?” I asked.

“No need to make it official. I'm in a good position, and you have decent cover,” the Peter Tobias doppelganger said. “My name is Commander Paul Honors. You've done a lot of damage to my best people. We knew we might face that hellish weapon of yours. No one can accuse you of fighting shy.”

“I'm only getting warmed up and I have reinforcements on the way,” I said. “I suggest you withdraw.”

Two more Alon drop ships plunged into the waves behind them, then another two. Farther up the beach, I heard mechanized armor and knew it wasn’t ours. Without being able to see them, I couldn't tell how big their treads were or if there was any chance they would get stuck. It was probably too much to hope for, so I assumed the worst. Beyond this new threat, I still saw the flashes of another battle that grew more intense as time passed.

“I need to take care of my wounded, Reaper. Let me do that,” Commander Honors said. “I’d consider it a personal favor.”

“I don't see what's in it for me.” But I did see. I saw it with perfect clarity. This was our chance to escape an increasingly bad situation. “X, are we getting reinforcements or not?”

“We are not, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “CSL Locke has sent orders for our withdrawal and included an authority code applying this to KR 658 and 659. They should be contacting you momentarily.”

It wasn't long before each unit confirmed they had received the directive.

I scanned the windswept night, listened to the waves crashing like they were waging their own war on the coast, then called out to Commander Honors on the same radio link he had used to make contact. “No luck, Honors. We're gonna fight it out. Break time is over. We're coming at you, so be ready.”

“If we are going at them, why are we moving in the other direction?” the Black Phoenix entity X-37 sometimes called Z1 asked.

“It’s a bluff, Z,” I said as I edged backward. Before long we had abandoned the beach and retreated toward the Kalon-Wallach line.

2

Slipping out of the Black Phoenix exoskeleton was tedious and time consuming when I did it without help. The machinery wasn't alive but often seemed like it was. It never wanted to release me. Since it was about one hundred times stronger than I was, that was a problem.

There were numerous stents and quick connection ports bored into my carbon fiber sheathed bones. For some reason, even though the components were obviously a human design, they felt more alien than my Union modifications.

I looked at the metal monstrosity on the other side of the public shower of the modified worker dorms we were using as barracks. The exoskeleton towered above me menacingly. Even I wouldn’t want to fight me in one of those. I laughed at the thought.

“X, can you make the water hotter?” I asked, still staring at the machine that seemed to be staring back at me. It could pass for a basic load-bearing frame. I wasn't sure where exactly the Black Phoenix AI, or entity, or whatever it was physically existed now. Was it entangled in my nerve-ware alongside X-37? Had it kept its home in the mechanical hardware of the exoskeleton? I didn't know.

“The only way to adjust the temperature is with the faucet controls.” X-37 provided a simple animation in my HUD to demonstrate.

“I knew that.” I twisted the knob and felt the change of temperature. The water sluiced over me, slowly relaxing the tension that had built up over the past several days. The battle on the beach had been the worst of several defeats.

But that wasn't what was really bothering me.

I leaned out of the shower stall, grabbed a bottle of whiskey, and drank from it. After I felt the burn in my throat, I set it down on the soap tray then leaned out to light a cigar. Fifteen seconds later I had it puffing and felt better about life.

The dream was the problem. No one had ever shown me a picture of the Sansein Mother, but she had been with me every night for a week. In most cases, she seemed to be waiting for me to do something.

Every day was a series of headaches and desperate attempts to alleviate the chronic fatigue the Black Phoenix caused by pulling energy from my nervous system. I wasn't sure how to measure it, but the effect felt like I was having the life sucked out of me.

The booster pack helped with power and with processing capacity, but I barely noticed the difference. Something had to change. It was already overwhelming X and me, and we didn't even have all its tools online.

The dream was always so vivid. The place felt like Yansden but wasn’t Yansden. There were differences that intrigued me. The cityscapes were more alive and the wilderness seemed more accessible. I couldn't explain why. For some reason, my dream consciousness thought technology and nature were less at war with each other on Maglan.

Because that's what the place had to be. During the dream, everything made sense. When I woke up, I felt out of sorts and full of anxiety about something I hadn't done yet. Back in the old days, I would just dash off and have a look at the place without a care in the galaxy for those I left behind. Giving a crap about people made things complicated.

“Are you recovering well, Reaper Cain?”

“You sound more like your old self, X. What's up with the BP?”

“If you are referring to Z1-01FR381-742-X51DRO-ZETA—”

“Don't use the full number.” We’d already been through this about full names and designations. X knew better.

“Z1 is performing a systems maintenance routine,” X-37 said. “I assured him that I can handle things until he returns.”

“It's a him?”

X-37 paused a half second, which was a long time all things considered. “The Black Phoenix is not a ship, contrary to what we initially believed, so I'm not sure what the gender convention is in this case. Is there a problem?”

“No problem. Sorry I asked.” I took another slug of whiskey and set the bottle down slightly harder than necessary. The alcohol was having more of an effect on my coordination than normal.

“Although privacy cannot be completely guaranteed, this would be a good time to talk about Z1 behind his back if that is what you were wanting to do. Do you have questions, Reaper Cain?”

“Black Phoenix, BP, Z1—this thing already has too many names. What can you tell me about it while we are able to talk?” I asked.

“I've determined that the technology used to create the Black Phoenix project was developed long after these people came to Yansden. Thus, we can rule out any connection with similar Union technology or the eternals being an influence,” X-37 said.

I had never told X that I was worried about this. That didn't mean he was spying on my thoughts as I often accused him. It was reasonable we feared some of the same things. I only had the vaguest idea what an eternal was. A scientist I’d interrogated against orders had told me things about them; none of it had made any sense to me. Humans that had evolved to live thousands of years? That seemed less possible than Earth and Dragons and fairy tales. Or maybe that had been the start of my fall from grace. As for the rest, there was a nagging suspicion in my heart that humans came from the same place. When I was really drunk, I liked to imagine Earth was our home world, just like in the fairy tales my grandmother used to tell me before bedtime.

“Are you sure they couldn't have had their own visit from the eternals?” I asked. This was a subject I really didn’t understand, something Elise had said once but refused to talk about again. Neither of us wanted to remember the Union experiments we’d suffered. I didn’t blame her for holding back what little she knew about what had been done to her.

“Anything is possible, Reaper Cain. My analysis, however, suggests this is extremely unlikely.”

That didn't make me feel better. Our newly acquired technology was light years ahead of the platform X-37 had been built upon. It had weaknesses my LAI was exploiting but I had no illusions about how much danger we were in. Playing with fire didn’t begin to describe what we were doing.

“I was able to uncover records of past uprisings on Yansden. It is vitally important that we keep control of Z1. Previous versions of this entity have committed horrible crimes against humanity,” X-37 said. “Would you like some illustrative examples?”

“No, X. I'll take your word for it.”

* * *

Elise went through her cool down but wouldn't stop looking at me. We hadn't talked since I entered the gymnasium. Every one of our allies were working double or triple shifts, but we were all required to log some down time. That meant sleep, food, and something to blow off steam. Elise had arrived an hour earlier and was basically done with her workout.

I started stretching, deciding to skip the cardio today.

Elise wiped sweat from her face. “What's wrong with you, Reaper?”

“I'm okay.” I dropped, cranked out twenty push-ups, then popped back up to my feet.

“That wasn't my question.” She moved closer. “I asked you what was wrong.”

“I'm just banged up and not looking forward to the next major disaster or ten.” She deserved more of an answer. I could have told her about the strain the BP was putting on both X-37 and myself. I could've talked about my injuries and my constant problems with my equipment. But she knew most of that already.

“Maybe you need an extension on your recovery days. I’m sure Coronas or Rejon would authorize it.” She went to one of the lockers, pulled out a hooded sweatshirt, and slipped it over her head, preparing to go out of the gymnasium. “We're a team, Reaper. If you're in over your head, you have to tell me.”

I nodded and walked toward the squat rack. She didn't make a sound as she left, but when I looked over my shoulder she was gone. I warmed up with several light sets, thinking things through, barely aware of what I was doing. Fortunately, strength training was a long-established habit. Good technique was as second nature as an easy walk.

When the load became heavier, however, I had to tune in or I would hurt myself. Half an hour later, I was doing heavy sets of two or three reps each, pushing past all my limitations just to force my mind away from all the problems I had taken on as the de facto guardian of so many desperate people

I wished that X-37 could read my mind. Then he could chastise me for my grandiose thoughts. I was never meant to be a guardian. I was an assassin, a shock trooper, someone the Union had used to send a message when malcontents stepped out of line.

How had this responsibility fallen upon me? Who the hell was I to save anyone? I lost my way a long time ago.

The Mother didn’t enter my thoughts until I started my cooldown sets. The easier the work became, the more I thought about the dream and what she was trying to tell me.

“If you are following your normal routine, you have three sets of sub maximal squats for eight repetitions each,” X-37 said. “Time to get swole, Reaper Cain.”

“Yeah, that checks out,” I said. “It's the best part of the workout. My legs are pumped and I’ve got nothing but the good kind of adrenaline right now.”

I lit a cigar and enjoyed it during my break, then did my next set with it clamped between my teeth.

“What exactly are you doing, Reaper Cain?” X-37 asked. “I have found no physical training curriculum that says inhaling gaseous particles into your lungs while exerting yourself is a good idea.”

“Didn't think you would.” My words suffered from the strain of the lift and the way I had the cigar clenched between my teeth.

I stepped away from the rack and took a sip of whiskey. X-37 chastised me again, but I ignored him. It wasn't a lot of whiskey and I didn't think my judgment was going to be impaired from just a little taste.

The next set felt even better and before long I was adding sets. I kept the weight under control but increased the volume of the workout by twenty-five percent. None of it kept me from obsessing about the Mother and the dream and what I needed to do to save humanity.

“What are you thinking about, Reaper Cain?” X-37 finally asked. “Your biometrics are strange.”

“I don't know, X. Whatever happens, we have a lot of work to do. Play me some angry music that goes well with workouts and whiskey.”

3

The rising sun stabbed me in both eyes, augmented and natural, to punish me for having a hangover. Whoever said the coast was beautiful hadn’t looked at it through the misery I currently felt. The BP exoskeleton dragged at my arms and legs like a poorly functioning machine slightly behind the movements I wanted to make. I was hungry but the thought of food made me sick. Someone had replaced my tongue with cotton while I slept.

“I have removed smoke and drink while lifting weights from your list of conditioning routines,” X-37 said.

“That’s not why I have a hangover, X.” I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands, squeezed my face for a few seconds, then let go and jumped up and down on the balls of my feet. It didn’t work. I felt about as fresh as the bottom of a public trash can.

“Of course, Reaper Cain. I shall also add drinking too much while feeling sorry for yourself and complaining about how there is no way to resolve the situation on Yansden to your list of activities to be avoided.” X-37 presented this list on my HUD, because he was a jerk like that.

“Update the route to our destination.” I watched the simple map appear just in front of me until I recognized a section of the coast that hadn’t been taken by the Alon invasion force. It was on the other side of Yansden City and probably safe. If the invaders made it as far as the city, they would stop there and take care of business.

This didn’t make me feel great, but it wasn’t the worst news I’d received this morning. Tatiana had taken a team to scout the coast, hoping to avoid another surprise landing party by our enemies. Clouds darkened on the horizon. The weather had really been nasty for the last several days. “Is that another storm?”

“Yes, Reaper Cain. It is roughly thirty percent more powerful than the last to strike the mainland,” X-37 said.

“Tap into the local communications channels. Please tell me they are aborting the mission and returning to shelter,” I said.

“Tatiana’s team radioed in fifteen minutes ago saying they are going to continue their mission,” X-37 said.

I shook off the hangover as best I could and ran up the coast looking for signs of Tatiana’s team. The distinctive towering needle of the spaceport grew smaller behind me as I picked up speed, jogging and then running at an aggressive pace. The exoskeleton was working well this morning despite my condition.

“Is the BP with us this fine morning?” I checked the radar and other advanced alert systems now available to me.

“Technically, we can’t get rid of him. At the moment, Z1 has no apparent interest in your activities, Reaper Cain.” X-37 paused for several seconds, creating a silence I had long since learned to interpret as data crunching. “I’ve taken the liberty of contacting Tatiana and explaining the gravity of the weather situation. She thanked us for the warning and promised to look for shelter as they continue to scout the coast.”

“Did she drop any hints about why she’s being so stubborn?”

“No, Reaper Cain. But I believe she is very close to a fishing village and is probably thinking of rendering them aid,” X-37 said.

“I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess that these people have lived there long enough to know how to handle coastal storms.” My words came unevenly as I picked up the pace. Eventually, I would need to acquire a ground vehicle or an airship that could carry me in the Black Phoenix exoskeleton.

“Champion,” Z1 said. “I have located an armored all-terrain vehicle that will accommodate your needs.”

Dread flooded through me, feeling a bit like ice in my veins. X-37 and I stopped talking about the impossibility of mind reading a long time ago. It was highly illegal in the Union, even for dark ops. The timing of Z1’s offer scared the shit out of me. The last thing I wanted was a machine entity with unknown potential to poke around in my actual thoughts.

Fuck that.

“Great, BP. Where is it?”

“Can you refer to me as Z1 like your LAI does? That would simplify our communication,” the Black Phoenix said. Before I could answer, an icon referencing the ground vehicle displayed at the edge of my HUD closest to the city map.

“Sure thing. Z1 it is.” I altered course away from the water, choosing to run along the crest of the dunes in this stretch of the coast. “Why is the icon for this vehicle at the edge of my display?”

“The crawler is in the city,” Z1 said. “Proper planning would have alleviated this inconvenience.”

“You’re worse than X,” I said. “What good does that do me here?”

X-37 made a nearly subliminal sound to interrupt. “I deeply resent that comparison, Reaper Cain.”

“Are there any other vehicles we can commandeer on the way to our destination?” Allowing the Jellybird to take Elise and the others on their patrol mission had seemed like a fine idea at the time. I had mistakenly believed a run would clear my head. The exoskeleton had a stride smoother than my own, but we were up and down and all over the place, and my head wasn’t feeling any better than when I first rolled out of my bunk.

“Scanning now,” Z1 said.

I tried not to get my hopes up. Instead, I increased my pace to see what this thing could do. Before long I was tearing over the sand dunes despite the increasing winds and driving rain.

“How big is the storm front?” I asked.

X-37’s response was immediate. “There are three hurricane systems moving toward the coast. Local weather services are describing this as the storm system of the century.”

“Great. That’s just what we needed.” I saw the village and paused, lowering myself as much as I could in the exoskeleton. It was never good to be a silhouette when approaching the unknown.

I wasn’t sure what Tatiana and her team had found out here that was taking them so long. “X, find out what frequency Tatiana is using.” The village was already damaged, pieces of quaint little homes were flying inland like they’d been struck by artillery. The storm surge was halfway through the settlement. I started to think it was good that I had left the vehicle behind unless it was semi-amphibious.

“Contacting your girlfriend now, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said.

“Not my girlfriend, X.”

“Cain, what took you so long?”

“You see, Tatiana, that is the type of thing that spoils a relationship—unrealistic expectations.” The sight of her marching into the wind erased the crappy hangover feeling I’d been nursing for the last hour and a half.

“Relax, Cain. My tech specialist picked up your movement as soon as you left the city. He’s been tracking you and sending me updates,” Tatiana said.

“X, why aren’t we invisible to sensors?” The thought of encountering Commander Paul Honors or another of the Alon jackasses didn’t give me warm feelings.

“Z1 suggested encoding our electronic profile to be easily recognizable to our allies. They all know where we are now,” X-37 said.

“Fuck, X. That’s not cool.” The outburst was private, thankfully. I gathered my thoughts a bit more slowly than normal. “Unless you can promise me the enemy can’t hack into the comms of our allies, which I really don’t think you can.”

“What’s going on, Cain?” Tatiana asked.

“Nothing. I was just trying to beat my LAI and the BP…Z1… into line.” Squatting down in the exoskeleton brought me closer to eye level with her.

“Z1?”

“Z1-01FR381-742-X51DRO-ZETA,” X-37 provided.

“Oh, nice. That’s cumbersome.” Tatiana smiled at me, though she was answering X.

“It is precise, Tatiana,” X-37 continued. “There is no chance of confusion among machines and algorithm-based intelligences.”

“Good to know, X.” I wasn’t really interested in name tags right now.

Tatiana tried to interrupt as static filled our radio link. The faceplate for her survival helmet was transparent, but there was so much rain and sand pelting her I was amazed she could stand up straight.

“You need to get to shelter,” I said, pointing toward a bunker-like building I thought must be the community strong point.

“It’s full,” Tatiana said. “The entire village is in there plus a lot of people who have been displaced from the war against the Alon.”

“They can make room.” I led the way to the bunker, shielding her from the wind as best I could. “Where’s the rest of your team?”

“I sent them inside.” She wrapped her arms over her head for protection and balance. The wind constantly pushed her sideways when she walked. “Godsdammit! There’s another group of refugees caught near the wharf.”

“Go inside. I’ll check on them.”

Before Tatiana could argue with me, a gust of wind spun her around and tossed her onto her back. I picked her up, but she pulled away from me, cursing fluently. We didn’t talk until she reached the bunker. My exoskeleton was doing well against the wind, but it didn’t help when the ground was eroded from under my feet.

“Help them, Cain,” Tatiana said.

“I’m on it.” I closed the door and marched back into the front edge of the hurricane. The carbon fiber body armor and face shield we’d added to the Black Phoenix rig prevented my skin from being sandblasted but didn’t stop the whistling screech of the wind looking for a way to get at me.

Thoughts of Tatiana, the Alon, and even my problems with X-37 and Z1 faded. The storm surge had washed sand inland. My mechanical feet churned it up like butter, sometimes sinking and other times plowing forward unaffected. The undignified shambling reminded me of the river that had nearly killed Elise and me not so long ago.

Fighting nature was more terrifying than facing an enemy I could predict, outmaneuver, or maybe intimidate. Suddenly, I was glad Elise wasn’t here. Of course, that only meant she was somewhere else getting into trouble on her own. This coastal village wasn’t the only place getting abused during the Alon war.

I found the refugees sheltering near a retaining wall as water splashed over it. They had tied themselves together. Two of them looked unconscious or dead.

“Whatever you are, can you help us?” a man shouted at me, barely audible in the tempest.

“I can.” Boats and other vehicles were scattered in all directions. “How many are in your group?”

“There are nine of us, three children.” The man had been using his hands to amplify his words but had to grab on to their meager shelter to avoid getting swept away. The storm surge had retreated slightly but was coming back.

“X, can you run the aerodynamic profile of that overturned boat? Could I carry it and create a shield for these people?” I asked.

“One second,” X-37 said. A second later, my LAI gave me the details. “You cannot, Reaper Cain.”

“I didn’t think so. Shit balls.” I grabbed all three of the children and cradled them protectively as I hurried toward the shelter. Moving this direction was easier as long as I kept from tripping. The wind drove hard into the back of my rig. Tatiana and two of her men opened the door, took the children, and shut the door without wasting time.

I stomped back to the endangered refugees but this time I could only take two adults, one under each arm. One of them cried out in pain when I picked him up.

“You may have broken his ulna, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said.

I didn’t bother to comment until the door opened on the shelter and I handed them inside. “One of them has a broken arm.”

“What the hell are you doing to them?” Tatiana asked, then shut the door in my face before wind and rain filled the shelter.

It was a good question that didn’t have an answer. I made two more trips, not slowing down until all of them were inside. Then I squatted next to the door and covered my head in my hands. The exoskeleton and my dumb armor protected me, but the noise was driving me crazy and I was getting soaked through the little gaps in my gear.

“I’m tired, X.”

“And wet, Reaper Cain.”

“Thanks for that.” I huddled closer to the ground. “Really helpful.”

* * *

About five seconds after the storm receded, I stood up and smoked a cigar. It was about the only dry thing I had. The box I kept my stash in was completely weatherproof. That was one lesson I had learned the hard way. The village was a mess. Bits of debris had been scattered in all directions, some floating in the water just offshore. X-37 told me not all of it was from this village, but from farther up the coast.

After every storm there was a calm, beautiful moment when the world—any world I’d been on, at least—looked, felt, and smelled like paradise. Far across the water, right at the edge of my vision, I spotted a drilling platform. It appeared bigger than it should be but definitely a structure that had been here for ages—not part of the Alon planetary assault.

Lights blinked on the highest points as though to warn away aircraft. This meant it was a civilian facility. I wondered how many places like that were waiting for their turn in the evacuation.

Maybe the evacuation wasn’t a good idea. Getting everyone off Yansden seemed impossible. Could we stand and fight instead? Hell no. Once again, dread filled me. Deep inside I didn’t think I could pull this off. My friends and I had a good run. Something bad was going to happen that I didn’t think I would survive.

Tatiana and the others emerged from the shelter slowly, looking around with dazed expressions. She came straight to me as the others spread out and started to pick things up almost at random. It looked like they were still processing what they were seeing. These people had lost everything.

“I feel bad for them,” I said, then took a pull on my cigar. A few seconds later I continued. “But it’s still a lot better than getting attacked by the Alon.”

“I totally agree with you,” Tatiana said. “But we can’t all jump in a spaceship and speed back to the city or into orbit like some people I know.”

“You know that has to happen eventually.” I watched her reaction, not wanting to upset her but not seeing any other option.

“It’s so unfair that we finally drove the Neverseen out of the city, made a tenuous peace with the Kalon government, and now we have to leave the planet. You’ve explained why we have to go to this Maglan place before, but I still feel like we should be able to salvage our home. We can tame the wilderness in time,” she said.

“Famous last words. I’ve been to several worlds where that wasn’t as easy as people hoped it would be.” I put out my cigar then locked it in its case. “We both need to get back, but I think there’s time to help with the cleanup.”

“You’re an expert at disaster relief?” Tatiana asked.

I rotated the exoskeleton arms. “I can lift heavy things.”

We went to work; our first task was searching for survivors who hadn’t reached the storm bunker. Three had somehow stayed alive in the dunes despite the continuous storm surges and hurricane force winds. Others weren’t so lucky. I turned cars, trucks, and boats right side up and dug out collapsed buildings as carefully as I could.

“When will your team head back?” I finally asked.

“Two or three days. I don’t really know. Once we get this place patched up, we need to prepare their defenses. And there is at least one ocean harvester off the coast that is still operational. No matter what you say about your grand evacuation, it will take time, and these people must be able to survive the Alon assault,” Tatiana said.

I agreed with her and did what I could. There was only so much time and material to put into the defenses. When I left the next morning, Tatiana gave me a warm but brief send off. She was back to work with her team when I started for Yansden City with fond thoughts of catching a ride on the Jellybird next time I came this way.

4

On the way back, I took more time to scout the area. Updates on the space and land battles weren’t good. The only reassuring news was that the Alon and the Sansein hadn’t formed an alliance, something I’d been seriously worried about. X-37 had chastised my belief because it was based on pessimism rather than facts.

After I had secured the Black Phoenix and gone charging into battle, every one of our enemies had pulled back, but only temporarily. The Wallach-Xad fleet did its best to protect the planet but spent most of its time trying to stay alive. There were so many enemies in the system now that Novasdaughter and others were able to hide among the chaos. Of course there was an equally likely chance that they would be destroyed on accident due to the incredible size of the enemy forces.

It made sense they had come here to exploit the natural resources of Yansden. I wonder how many systems they had looted on their way through the galaxy. They had more warships than I ever imagined in a single expedition, but they also had support vessels and mining dreadnoughts. Ten years—or who the hell knew, ten days—from now Yansden would be little more than a rock if these people had their way.

And they would have their way. Even with the Black Phoenix there was no chance to stop them. The super weapon might allow us to escape, but never win. That was good enough for me, even if Tatiana and people who had grown up on this planet didn’t like their options.

“Champion, heed my warning. There is an Alon attack group inbound,” Z1 rasped. “The leader of the Emperor’s Own intends to dominate you.”

“Wow, Z1, you’ve outdone yourself with drama this time. Who the hell programmed you? On second thought, never mind. I don’t want to know.” Once I had read the HUD warnings, I adjusted course, cutting between two rolling dunes to decrease my visibility from a distance. This would temporarily force me to surrender the high ground but would be worth it if I could avoid the fight altogether. “Tell me more about the Emperor’s Own. They sound like one more special operations group I have to deal with.”

“They are commanded by Paul Honors, whose acquaintance you have made,” Z1 said. “You needlessly allowed them to recover wounded during your last encounter with them.”

“I’ve got a couple of questions, Z man,” I said.

“Z man?” The Black Phoenix algorithm asked.

“Same thing as Z1. Forget about it.” I stopped, then swept the horizon so that X-37 could do a complete analysis of the terrain.

“Your limited artificial intelligence has repeatedly warned me that your manner of communication is inconsistent and illogical most of the time,” Z1 said. “This is proving to be understated.”

“Whatever. How exactly do you know all this about the Emperor’s Own?” I asked.

“Commander Honors has been using a relatively unsecure communications frequency. I believe this is intentional,” Z1 said. “Perhaps X-37 could confirm my suspicion.”

“I agree that this has a high probability of being an accurate assessment,” X-37 said. “My analysis suggests the man wants to be contacted by the last Reaper.”

“Why would our enemy want that? It makes no sense. The man would be giving up the element of surprise.” Z1’s tone became slightly more endurable the longer I listened to it. If I knew how to have it reprogrammed, I would drop a small fortune on a proper narrator. Maybe Henshaw or Tom could do something someday.

“He wants something, Z.” I started moving again, frequently checking my position against the HUD markers. “All the Alon are like that.”

“You have insufficient data to make that conclusion,” X-37 and Z1 said simultaneously, which nearly made me fall from the weird auditory effect.

I drove my legs into the exoskeleton servos harder and faster, churning up sand and a thin layer of topsoil as I climbed one of the larger dunes I had been able to find. When I reached the top, I saw that the Emperor’s Own had broken into three groups and were converging on my location. Where I really needed to be was the next hill, which was more of a ridgeline with rocks and scrub bushes jutting out of the softer soil. I went for it without thinking, plunging into a gully and then back up the other side, hoping I could improve my position before the fight started.

“You will be enveloped, Champion,” Z1 said.

“No shit,” I gasped as I finally reached the top. “You’re a genius.”

“Just ignore that,” X-37 said.

“If you two gang up on me, I’ll have you both shut down.” I had meant it as an offhand comment, but pain ripped through my body and the exoskeleton forced me to my knees. For several seconds, I thought my head and my heart were going to explode at the same time.

Spots danced in my vision as I slowly recovered from the Black Phoenix assault.

“Can you hear me, Reaper Cain? I convinced Z1 to release you. Please never frighten him again.” X-37’s voice sounded far away. “You will get us both killed with talk like that.”

“No problem, X. I’ll try not to anger the Z man,” I said, climbing to my feet and noticing the Emperor’s Own was closer now.

“I am not a man, Champion Cain,” Z1 said.

“No argument there.” I scrolled through communications channels until I found Honors talking to his squads on an unsecured network.

“Hold on, team. It looks like we have a guest,” Commander Paul Honors said.

The Alon officer was able to detect when I listened in, which was a good thing for me to know. For now, I just wanted to get this over with and return to Yansden City if I survived. “I see you made it off that beach. Congrats. Now can you take your friends and go back to whatever galactic cesspit spawned you?”

Honors didn’t laugh, but his voice sounded relaxed. “Thanks, Reaper. That means a lot coming from you. As long as we are on good terms, maybe I should share my orders with you—kill, capture, or destroy the Reaper and Black Phoenix Z1-01FR381-742-X51DRO-ZETA.”

“You say that like there’s more than one of these things.” Talking was fine, but all I could think about was the very low probability I was going to escape without a fight.

“No comment,” Honors said.

“Are you going to let me go since I cut you a break last time—since I allowed you to rescue your injured soldiers?” I asked.

“No, Reaper. That would be a violation of my orders,” Honors said.

X-37’s voice broke in for a private update. “I’ve sent a request for assistance.”

“Godsdammit, X. That could kick off a major battle if the Kalon Regulars and Locke’s Wallach troopers start showing up.” I marked targets in order of importance. Adrenaline flowed through my veins like an addictive drug. “We just need to get out of here.”

“I anticipated that you would feel this way, Reaper Cain, and only sent the request to the Jellybird. Elise, Briggs, and Path are on the way. Tom is currently on the ship but will not deploy into this type of fight.”

“X, that still sucks but it’s better than getting all of our allies killed,” I said.

“One moment, Reaper Cain. Z1 is attempting to override my request; he is demanding all available units to respond.” Normally X-37 would update me a few seconds later but this time he stayed silent.

“Z1, cancel that broadcast!” I shouted loud enough for anyone to hear because I didn’t have the sound cancelling properties of the Archangel helmet to rely on. “I know what I’m doing. Stop interfering—”

Pain drove me to my knees, but only for a second.

“Do not argue with me, Champion Cain. The survival of my host is of first importance.” Z1 stopped the pain.

X-37 gave my adrenaline an additional boost, causing me to jump to my feet screaming a war cry.

“Fine! Let’s do this!” It was the first time I felt totally out of control from something my LAI, or my LAI team now, did to me. Still screaming, I put both HDK Furies to work, hammering the first Alon squad dumb enough to assault my position. Two others moved with finesse on my flanks. They fought like professionals, which I knew would easily defeat my berserker rage.

The night glowed with gunfire and explosions. Something bit me on the shoulder, then something else bit me on both calves.

“Move, Reaper Cain. You don’t have adequate armor to take as much abuse as you did when you were in the Archangel,” X-37 said. He updated my combat HUD with targets, positions I needed to move toward, and ammunition counts. Z1 was less helpful. All he did was power up my energy cannon, which I wasn’t using. This illuminated my left shoulder where the weapon charged but didn’t fire. Someone needed to tell the out-of-date, overpowered hunk of junk that shining like a “shoot me” sign wasn’t helping his host stay alive.

“What the hell are you doing, Reaper?” Elise called. “We’re thirty seconds out. Can you stop screwing around and wait until we get there?”

“Grenade, incoming!” X-37 warned.

I dove to my right, attempting a roll that completely failed—my legs twisting in angles I hadn’t anticipated. Several grunts, curses, and grenade detonations later I was scrambling away from the high ground, my carbon fiber body armor shredded. It had stopped most of the shrapnel but was now ruined. Alive but in a worse position than before, I realized Elise was yelling at me.

“Keep going, Reaper! We’ll rendezvous on the next ridgeline. Head inland. Repeat, head away from the water,” she shouted.

Elise and Briggs leapt from the Jellybird ramp. The ship sped away with heavy machine-gun rounds chasing after it. In the distance were Yansden ships roaring in our direction with their ancient, smoking engines. I thought there was at least one Wallach attack craft and wondered if anyone I knew was piloting it.

“How’s my ammunition, X?”

“Please switch to the energy cannon, Reaper Cain.”

“You got it, X.” Once I had locked the chain guns to my back, I went to work with the Black Phoenix weapon, destroying a light armored vehicle rushing toward me. Elise and Briggs worked together, taking full advantage of the Slayer’s fearsome appearance. I didn’t see Path.

“Moving!” I called to my friends. “X, where is Path?”

“Covering you,” Elise shouted back. “Check your HUD.”

“He deployed just before the Jellybird arrived to discharge Elise and Briggs. I believe he will be sneaking up on the Alon force momentarily,” X-37 said.

“Champion Cain, you must evacuate the battlefield while your friends buy you time,” Z1 ordered, his voice drowning out not only X-37 but the sounds of battle as well.

“Back off, Z. And don’t paralyze me again! That will get us both killed.” The energy cannon cooled as I charged toward Elise and Briggs. They were fighting back to back, wreaking havoc in all directions. Seconds before I arrived to support them, Path emerged from the night, jumped onto a light armored vehicle with a machine gun mounted above its amphibious armor, and attacked the crew. They fought back, but not for long.

“Additional Alon dropships are approaching,” X-37 warned. “The battle is escalating into a full-scale engagement.”

“Do you see what you did, Z? Next time let me handle the fighting. Just make sure my tools are ready when I need them.”

Z1 didn’t respond.

“Listen up,” I said, switching back to the chain guns because the energy weapon was taking longer and longer to recharge. “The moment Path loses momentum, we rally on him and stick together. Slayer, that’s when I need you to put the fear of the darkest parts of the galaxy into them.”

“That’s good shit, awk!” Briggs rushed toward the ring of death around my sword saint. Elise followed, urging him to slow down and not alert their enemies to our next move.

I circled around one of the dunes more carefully, stopping once to stab an Alon soldier through his thigh then push him away. Wounding a man that way and leaving him on the battlefield made me want to puke, but his entire squad became occupied with saving him. He shouldn’t have tried to jump out of the shadows at me.

The next group I encountered hurt me. I unleashed with my twin Furies, forgetting I didn’t have as much protective armor. During the brief moments they were able to return fire, the compromised sections of my body armor were further punished as a few of the rounds made it into my flesh. I was numb all over from adrenaline and battle rage. This made the pain hard to measure. I pushed it aside and continued when I probably should have sought medical attention.

“Now would be a good time to assist me,” Path said.

I turned my cybernetically enhanced vision toward the man and picked him out of the violent commotion. He fought with his sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. Whenever they tried to create distance and engage him with more powerful weapons, he dashed into the middle of their group—usually where our enemies were trying to render first aid. That was the only place people stopped moving long enough to become such easy victims.

Honors and his men always rushed to protect their fallen comrades, so Path never actually attacked a downed soldier, but I knew the threat was real. This was the dark underbelly of warfare—violent, cruel, and unforgiving. Path would do it. I would do it. Briggs barely knew the difference between a fair fight and slaughtering his enemies. Elise… she’d kill whoever she needed to keep us all safe. I was worried she wouldn’t be able to deal with the death of a close friend—which would happen sooner or later. I’d officially ruined her childhood and made her a monster just like the rest of us.

But whatever. These people were trying to kill us.

“I’m receiving a message from the Kalon and Wallach task force.” X-37 paused while I fired at an enemy. When I reloaded, he continued. “They are asking if you want ground support or air support.”

“Tell them to strafe the hell out of these guys so we can break contact and fall back.” I observed the ships, Kalon and Wallach alike, attacking at a right angle to our position. I chose a complementary angle, moved into position, and laid down my own stream of suppression fire. The instant my guns gave me an overheat warning, I put them away and went to work with the energy cannon again. My cannon flashed in my HUD and I screamed.

“Hell yeah! That’s what I’m talking about, Z man,” I said.

Combat drones dropped down to just above ground level and zipped through the Emperor’s Own, stinging them with nearly invisible laser pulses. The attacks didn’t look like much until I realized most of their victims didn’t get up.

A squadron of Alon ships landed hard, fired their door guns continuously to keep us from advancing, and then started gathering their people in.

These ships weren’t reinforcements, they were a rescue mission.

“Keep up the pressure!” I shouted. “Give ’em hell!”

The last squad to retreat was led by the Alon commander, probably because he was trying to die on the field of battle and earn his name.

“You know we are only pulling back because of the conditions all across Yansden. You didn’t win. I am merely withdrawing to attend to other business,” he said seconds before the last ship opened its doors for him.

“Don’t go away mad, Honors. Just go away.” I considered launching a grenade into the rescue craft when the door opened but decided against it.

“Another storm is coming, Reaper. You really picked the wrong planet to hide on. And you might check to see where all the Neverseen went.” With that, Honors ducked into the ship and it flew away—shields charged to full power now that they weren’t trying to shoot at us.

5

Three other contact battles were fought that night. None of these unplanned events went as well as ours did. We had wounded but only two people were dead on our side, and none of my friends. Other allied units suffered far worse; one Xad unit was MIA and believed to be a total team KIA. Z1 asked if I wanted to send reconnaissance drones to check the effect of our combat methods.

“No, Z. Look for survivors of the Xad team.” I shouldn’t have to explain things like this, but even a good AI could be cold.

“And what good will that do? My drones will not be able to render aid or transport them,” Z1 said.

“Just report their position and we’ll send a team if we have one.”

Neither Z1 nor X-37 responded for several seconds. Something told me they were arguing privately.

“Z1 wants to know what happens if he finds them dead,” X-37 finally asked.

“Then we report their position and let Rejon’s officers decide what to do.” The thought of giving bad news like that didn’t thrill me. “This shouldn’t be that complicated. Send the drones. Stop arguing about little shit like this.”

“Sending drones now, Champion Cain. Shall I provide the information to you or to their superior officers?” Z1 asked.

“Either. Both.” A thought occurred to me. “Why do you call me champion, Z? It doesn’t seem you think it’s for humanity because you really don’t care about people.”

“It is in my programing,” Z1 said, no hint of apology in his tone. “I will necessarily need to sweep the battlefields during my drone search. Do you require feedback on the effect of our defense and counterattack?”

“Record it and I’ll look at it later. Good enough?” I asked.

“Exemplary, Champion Cain.”

What the hell does that mean? I wasn’t sure I wanted this thing in my head for the rest of my life. Z1 made X-37 seem like a drinking buddy in terms of personality.

It didn’t matter how many we killed or wounded during the latest skirmish. There were too many Alon for us to push back by brute force.

Instead, I focused on fixing my equipment problems. The gear I had ruined obtaining the Black Phoenix worked well on Briggs. The Slayer could only wear bits and pieces of it anyway. But I needed something better integrated with my exoskeleton and the powerful new weapons and limited AI that came with it.

Standing on the landing pad waiting for the shuttle to come down from the Nightmare was surprisingly relaxing. It was an area of relative calm. We didn’t have a lot of ships coming and going right now because it was dangerous. The storms had receded. The forecast, however, was for worse to come. X-37 monitored local news channels and tried to filter out some of the panic mongers. I’d had to explain what a cult was. Now he merely alerted me that he had detected another and spared me the details.

I couldn’t really blame the people for believing these things. I only thought they should spend their time more productively. What good did it do to be angry, blame people, and curse fate? There were very few real choices—fight back or surrender, run or hide, live or die.

“Will this Novasdaughter woman improve our chances of survival?” Z1 asked.

“Without a doubt, Z man. But you don’t have a choice in the matter. I’m not a machine. Sometimes I will do things for myself and you can just wait until I’m done. Better yet, go somewhere digital and do something productive.” The shuttle landed noisily but my conversation wasn’t ruined. That was one advantage of talking to voices in my head.

“What useful activity would you suggest?” Z1 asked.

“Analyze the tablet Loren Jacem gave me. Learn something about Maglan.”

“He did not give it willingly. You stole the star map. I approve of your skillful larceny and will do as you say. How soon can we leave?” Z1 asked.

“I’ll let you know.” Moving toward the ship as its ramp dropped, I wasn’t surprised the BP hadn’t bothered to respond.

“At least you have a personality, X.”

“Compliment detected, Reaper Cain.”

Vice Admiral Amii Novasdaughter smiled when she saw me. We hugged like two soldiers rather than friends, family, or romantic partners. “Damn good to see you, Reaper.”

“You didn’t have to come yourself,” I said. “I only asked for some Archangel armor to experiment with.”

“You get two, not six like you asked for. We are fighting a war up there, in case you forgot,” she said.

“We’re fighting a war everywhere.”

She grimaced. “True. I’m here because I demanded block leave. Even vice admirals get block leave, right?”

“Is that your permanent rank?” I asked.

“Ranks are fluid in our fleet, especially now with so many people killed in action or missing.” She led me to the cargo ramp where her people were rolling the equipment I had requested on wheeled carts. “I haven’t been in a micro fighter for ages. One of these boxes has enough replacement parts to retrofit armor into one of our micro-fighters. Is that what you were wanting?”

“Let me show you,” I said, then led her and her people to the workroom where Tom was trying to fix everything we’d damaged over the last several days. “They didn’t just give you leave.”

Novasdaughter laughed. “No. I have an ulterior motive.”

She was easy to read. I knew her too well. “Listen, I would go with you on whatever mission you have planned without a second thought.”

“But?” she asked.

“I need to get to Maglan and free the Sansein Mother.”

Barely concealed anger showed in her eyes. “Why haven’t I heard of this and why the hell would we want to save a Sansein? You know they attacked more than a few of our ships after you secured the Black Phoenix, right?”

“Envoy promised us sanctuary if we could free the Mother from her prison,” I said. Memories of my recent dreams swelled just out of recognition. She moved in my subconscious; I wasn’t sure the dreams were portals to darkness or stairways into light and truth. “Don’t blame me for not telling you. That’s not my job.”

“I have the highest security clearance there is. Someone should have given me the details. But none of that changes the fact that if I fail, you fail,” she said. “So help me help you. The Jellybird is stealth capable, but more importantly, you and your crew understand stealth operations.”

“Can you take me to Maglan?” The words came before I considered the question. Until now I’d assumed that I would take a small team on the Jellybird.

“That’s actually a great idea,” she said. “I’ll need to run it up the chain of command. And, it seems like we should all go if anyone goes.”

“Moving the entire fleet and all the refugees of Yansden is too big of a job. We need to take a smaller team, secure the objective, and then bring everyone else afterward,” I said, not sure I was right but not knowing any other way to do it.

Novasdaughter walked beside me in silence. It was an easy thing to do. Unlike other relationships I had with people I had met during my long strange journey, we didn’t need to talk every second we were together. Maybe that was a product of our unusual first meeting—the time I saved her and her sister but failed to save her mother.

“Your biometrics are slightly depressed, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “This makes no sense in the given context. Am I missing something?”

“I’m okay, X.”

Novasdaughter looked at me curiously but didn’t push.

“Sorry. Having an LAI forces me to talk to myself,” I said.

She chuckled. “Maybe I should tell people I have an LAI to give myself an excuse to act crazy.”

“Do it. I’ll back you up on it.”

“Thanks, Cain. I knew I could count on you. I’ve been thinking about what you said.” She glanced at her team, who followed several strides behind, just out of earshot the way we were talking.

“I’m listening,” I said.

“You’re right about trying to move everyone at once, especially when we consider just staying alive is almost more than we can handle. That Black Phoenix thing you have now saved us, but only for a time.” She rubbed the back of her neck thoughtfully, stopping just outside of the workroom where Tom was waiting for us with my exoskeleton.

“What’s your point, Amii?”

“I just get the feeling that if you leave us in the system, you’ll never see us again,” she said.

The truth of her words punched me in the gut. A faceless image of the Mother only possible in dreams waved me—or maybe all of us—forward. It was a promise, a demand, and it scared the hell out of me. Did you do this to me, Envoy?

X-37 decided to ram the point home. “My analysis suggests Amii Novasdaughter is nearly one hundred percent correct, Reaper Cain. The mission to Maglan must be everyone or no one.”

I was about to speak when Z1 surprised me, which wasn’t good, because surprise usually meant confusion when caused by the Black Phoenix. The AI had the potential to seriously screw things up with a slight misunderstanding.

“Allowing everyone to die will not fulfill your role as champion,” Z1 said. “Do not misconstrue this as me caring. Or in your dialect, giving two—”

“Yeah, Z. I get it.”

“I was not programmed in that way. I am merely stating a fact, Champion Cain.”

Novasdaughter crossed her arms and watched me, very understanding of my inner dialogue and willing to wait for the punchline.

Meeting her eyes, I shook my head as though I’ve been dealing with troublesome children. “X-37 and Z1 basically agree with you. Not that they’re giving me any answers.”

“Formulating possible solutions now,” they said simultaneously, which always had the effect of making me slightly dizzy.

Novasdaughter smiled broadly and leaned toward me, waving me in closer as though she was about to reveal a big secret. “I have an idea. We work together. You help me with my hit and run tactics against the Alon. We complete the evacuation of Yansden—and let’s face it, that shouldn’t be a hard sell with the world-ending storms pounding the hell out of the place—and we all go to Maglan. You free the Mother or whoever, I give the Alon a smack down and finally get some real block leave. I’ll teach you how to surf.”

“You know how to surf?” I asked, because this was the most amazing part of what she had just said.

“Can’t be that hard, right?”

I laughed. “It’s a date.”

“What’s a date?” Tatiana asked as she stepped from Tom’s workshop.

“Jealousy detected, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said unhelpfully. “Z1 and I agree that you should retreat. Escape and evade. Danger, Reaper Cain. Danger!”

“We’re going surfing on Maglan. You’ll be there, right? It will be a party,” I said, really wishing I had a cigar in my hand and about five whiskeys in my gut.

Tatiana examined her work gloves for a second. “Sure, Cain. Wouldn’t miss it. Now if you will excuse me, I need to get back to work. There are a dozen outposts and coastal facilities requesting assistance.”

“Tatiana…”

“Get your armor fixed, Cain. We can talk later if you have time.” With that, Tatiana walked away.

“Is that your girlfriend?” Novasdaughter asked.

“I have no idea.”

Novasdaughter laughed at my frustration. “You’re not so smooth with the ladies, are you, Cain?”

“You don’t need to laugh about it.” My reaction felt childish, but I didn’t know what else to do, so I went into the workroom. Novasdaughter and her people followed with the two sets of boxed Archangel armor and other goodies.

Tom looked up from his work, squinting against the floodlights he’d rigged to shine on his bench. “Amii! Good to see you. And you brought stuff!”

They hugged and stepped back from one another. She jerked her thumb toward me. “The last Reaper has girlfriend problems.”

“Thanks for rubbing it in,” I said.

“He is a charmer.” Tom wiped his hands on a shop towel and looked over the Archangel crates eagerly. “What did he do this time, forget a birthday?”

“We’re going surfing on Maglan. Tatiana doesn’t seem to be a fan of the idea.” Novasdaughter looked me over. “She should know Reapers aren’t my type and he’s old.”

They laughed an unreasonably long time at my expense.

“Can we get to work? This planet isn’t going to save itself.” I popped open the first crate. The smell of new gear filled the room.

In his excitement, Tom looked younger than Novasdaughter, who was a grown woman and a high-ranking officer in the exodus fleet, but still—she was just a friend and colleague. The mechanic was as happy as I’d ever seen him.

“Did you bring tools?” He pulled a box from inside of the larger crate. “Here they are. Perfect. Let’s get to work. You can see I’ve already added two more AI booster modules. From what you told me, Hal, and what X-37 sent over to my workstation, it won’t be enough. Every time you revive one of the Black Phoenix’s assets, the load will increase. X-37 will be erased and overwritten, and your nervous system will be fried.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “And yet you’re still in an incredibly cheerful mood.”

Tom clapped me on the shoulder. “I have complete confidence in you, Hal. Now stand back while I do my thing. No offense, but the last time you helped me caused me a lot of extra work on the back end.”

Spreading my hands, I backed away. “It’s all yours.”

Novasdaughter’s engineers conversed with Tom and then got down to business.

“You’re going to be a badass when that is done,” Novasdaughter said, leaning on another workbench far from the action.

“Let’s go outside. Tom is a loud talker when he’s excited about a project, and his tools give me a headache.” I led the way outside and we sat on a bench near what I thought had once been a public transport stop. There was an untended park across the street and a display fountain that hadn’t worked for years.

“What’s on your mind, Cain?” Novasdaughter asked.

“All the things.”

She nodded. “I need a beer. Can’t remember the last time I had one.”

I offered her a cigar, but she waved it away casually. “You didn’t just come to give me toys and try to recruit me away from my mission.”

“True. But I’m not sure how to say it. I have nightmares, Cain.” She laughed. “That’s hilarious, right? The captain of the Nightmare has a problem with nightmares.”

I didn’t need X-37 warning me not to interrupt. Maybe I was a jerk, but I knew this topic and what was needed. Listening was at the top of the list.

“You know the worst one, but it isn’t what you think. I don’t really see you getting your arm shot off and my mother falling into the ravine when the Union officers order the bridge shelled with you still on it,” she said. “I see her face, like a still portrait. She’s smiling, a perfect image of what I’ve always thought a woman should be. She probably wasn’t like that, was she?”

I took a moment to answer. “Let’s just agree that she was. No harm in loving a memory.”

Novasdaughter looked at me, slightly amazed. “Thanks, Reaper. I, well, I didn’t think you would say something like that.”

“Every now and then a sliver of humanity squeaks through my badass-ness.”

She snorted a laugh.

I smoked a cigar and blew the smoke away from her, an easy thing to do with the mild breeze this morning.

“This weather won’t last. My officers told me that conditions are only going to get worse. The Yansden oceans are large, and right now they’re a mass of storms,” Novasdaughter said.

“What’s causing this?” I asked, not expecting an answer.

“My people are divided on which theory is the most correct—that’s how they all talk, most correct. Like they don’t really know. Half say it’s natural and we just have really bad timing to show up now. Others think the Alon fired some sort of planet killer into the core to make sure it’s unusable as a base of operations for anyone after they take what they need and leave.”

“Is that possible?” I asked.

“That’s basically what happened on Xad,” she said. “Do you have nightmares, Cain?”

“Don’t even get me started.”

“Sorry,” she said. “What will happen to the people of Yansden if we fail?”

“Most of them will die, but some will survive. That’s what always happens no matter how bad things get.”

She didn’t seem convinced. “How can you know that?”

“Roxo III fell apart right about the time we left with Path and Henshaw. It looked like everyone would take their final spacewalk, but some managed to get to ships and leave. Dreadmax should have taken us all with it when it collapsed but look at us now. We’ll find a way.”

“But not everyone,” she insisted.

“If we mess this up millions will die, but don’t dwell on that. It won’t help,” I said.

“Okay, Cain. You’re right.” She hesitated. “Is that your girlfriend watching us?”

Following the direction she was pointing, I saw Tatiana’s work team boarding a small ship and was sure she had been standing at the loading ramp staring at us. “What the hell am I going to do?”

“You’re asking me? I have less dating experience than you do,” Novasdaughter said.

“How do you figure?”

She pulled back, frowning at me. “Well, you’re old. You’ve been around the block.”

“Thanks, Vice Admiral. I’m going to start calling you a kid,” I said.

“Only if you want to get punched.”

I shrugged. “She’s gone now.”

Novasdaughter didn’t have anything to say.

“I’m not even sure what happened but I can’t talk to someone who isn’t here,” I said, wishing I could rewind the last two hours and fix whatever the hell I’d done.

“Would you like me to hail Tatiana?” X-37 asked.

“No, X. I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

6

“So here is the plan, Reaper.” Elise bounced on her toes, basically showing me how much better her Archangel armor was working than my mixed-up contraption. “I will run on your left, Path on your right. Briggs will stay behind. You get to set the pace but not start any fights.”

“Z1 and X-37 assure me there are no enemies on this stretch of beach,” I said.

Elise waggled her armored finger at me while tilting her helmet to one side for emphasis. “Unless you go too far. We’ve talked about this, Reaper.”

“I will keep a surveillance craft three hundred meters overhead,” Z1 said. “No one will surprise us this time as long as the weather remains clear. Listen to your friends. Do not initiate a combat trial before it is scheduled.”

“You people are treating me like I’m five years old.” When they started to argue, I jumped two meters into the air and hovered for two seconds, not sure how I knew I could do that.

“What was that?” Elise shouted. “I want to do that! You were practically flying!”

“No, Elise,” X-37 said for everyone in the test and evaluation group. “That is a side effect of the energy field. Z1 is explaining the physics to me now but I am not sure I can translate this explanation into language you can understand. My advice, Reaper Cain, is to not push the combined tech of the Black Phoenix exoskeleton and Archangel armor too far.”

“So little faith. Come on, X? You know me,” I said, then jumped twice as high and converted my descent into a spiraling glide that landed me right in front of Elise. She presented a middle finger to me.

“Awk that, Cain.” Briggs edged forward, then touched the chassis of my black and purple rig with one monstrous hand. “The unknown abilities will get you killed.”

“I’ll be careful, Briggs.”

He shook his head animatedly. “Listen, Cain! Your transformation is different than mine. Awk! I can do things no one should be able to do. Awk! Awwwk! Some of them I tried for the first time in the heat of battle and nearly died. And what I did to my enemies…”

No one said a word.

Storm clouds darkened the horizon. A loudspeaker in the other direction, deep within Yansden City, made a public announcement ordering group 321 Alpha to report to the flight line for Modified Transport 27 Bravo. It went on to list the items that could not be brought onto the vessel. I couldn’t see the flight line from here, but I had witnessed other parts of the continuing evacuation. No one was happy about leaving ninety-nine percent of their worldly belongings behind.

“Don’t mess around, Cain. Don’t start no SH and there won’t be no IT,” he said, calling back a joke I hadn’t heard since my first spec ops training rotation.

“I hear you, Briggs. Let’s do this. Slow and steady, up the beach to the turnaround point at the rocks, then back. After that we hit the range and then start planning our next mission.”

Everyone nodded.

“Don’t forget our purpose. We have to be ready for Maglan, and we have to make sure everyone we even remotely like goes with us,” I said.

“Some people will be left behind,” Z1 said to the entire group, using the same communication frequency X-37 used for that purpose. “That is acceptable.”

“Can you tell Z not to speak?” Elise asked.

“I tell all my LAI and AI friends not to speak all the time and they never listen,” I said, starting forward at a walk.

“We listen but ignore your childish demands in order to better serve you and the mission, Reaper Cain.”

“Whose side are you on, X?” I hadn’t thought this question through and immediately regretted it.

“That requires a nuanced answer. How much time do you have, Reaper Cain?” X-37 said. “The short version is that you and the mission are the same according to my programing. Z1 has a slightly different answer that I have told him not to explain at this time.”

“Uh, good. I think. Let’s go for a jog.” The pace I set was fast, then I found the exoskeleton-Archangel sweet spot and blasted forward, sand spraying behind my driving feet. Elise didn’t talk trash and Briggs didn’t make any of his sounds. Path was silent as always. The protective group stayed with me, flanking and following me to keep me from veering into the water or up one of the dunes.

I stopped at the rocks, looked back to see them slightly farther behind than I had realized, and laughed out loud. “That was nice! Where were you, kid? I thought you’d be talking shit.”

“Listen, Reaper, we told you not to get carried away.” She sounded out of breath, something I had never heard outside of an intense gun battle.

X-37 warned me to calm down. I listened to him for once. “Okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was moving that fast. I’ll be careful on the way back.”

“Good,” Elise said. “X, or Z, or whoever, is the surveillance craft still providing overwatch?”

“It is, Kid Elise.” Z1 sounded proud to have performed optimally.

Elise twisted and moved her helmet like she was rolling her eyes in annoyance. “Godsdammit.”

“Is that not how I should address you, Kid Elise,” Z1 responded immediately, his voice tinged with an imitation of anger.

“Just Elise. Never call me kid. That’s only for the Reaper, and I wish he would stop using the word in every godsdammned sentence,” Elise said.

Z1’s voice grew deep and powerful. “I will remind him, Elise.”

“You people are boring me,” I said. “I’ll race you back to Tom’s workroom.”

“No racing!” Elise shouted as I sprinted away from my babysitters. When I was twenty meters ahead, I leapt into the air and coasted without the micro-fighter wings. The feeling was amazing, like anti-gravity or flying in space but with the peculiar touches of planetary gravity. Every jump was cooler than the last and I was having fun for the first time in years.

“We’re going to catch you, Reaper!” Elise shouted.

“But not soon!” I laughed, completed the exercise, and sat in the courtyard outside of the maintenance building, not ready to tell Tom I was back. For some reason, I felt like savoring the moment and just having some alone time. I wasn’t even craving a cigar.

“Can you hear me?” a voice asked.

I recognized the man immediately and went on high alert. “Honors, how the hell are you talking to me?”

“I’m line of sight,” he said. “This is the most secure laser link we have. Don’t look for me. Line of sight doesn’t mean close.”

“You’re on an airship,” I blurted. “Z, find this asshole’s ship.”

The Black Phoenix AI responded about how I’d expected. “It will be done. I will confer with X-37 to learn why you are searching for the asshole and not the entire man.”

“I don’t have a lot of time. Your pilotless ships and drones are a huge pain in my gluteus maximus,” Honors said. “We’ve had fun, but playtime is over. Tobias was right, you are the ultimate adversary. The problem is this. My Emperor will not be denied. Yansden will be bombed if resistance continues. I believe you know what I mean.”

There was nothing to say. Images of the last bombing attack on Yansden came to mind but I assumed he was talking about an even bigger, longer strike which would effectively render the entire biosphere unlivable.

“I think this is a waste, but your leaders are unreasonable,” Honors said.

“Why are you telling me this, Honors?” I asked.

“I’m a big picture guy, Cain. And I don’t have anything to lose by warning you,” he said. “The worst thing that could happen is you convince your bosses to surrender and cooperate as the law requires.”

“My analysis suggests you should not trust this man,” X-37 said.

“I don’t trust anyone.” Searching the sky for Alon ships, I found nothing. Maybe my new gear could deal with Commander Paul Honors, if I could only find him. “I wish I had the micro-fighter integrated right now. I’d go after him and shut him up.”

“Please don’t, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “There is something different about this man than other Alon commanders we have encountered.”

“Yeah, he sounds cheerful and smug.” I wasn’t thinking about my response, but it was spot on. Honors had tried to kill me and my friends more than once, but I didn’t hate him. It was one of those weird battlefield inconsistencies I had never understood. Maybe Briggs would have some insight from his pre-Slayer career.

“Tell me the rest, Honors,” I said.

No answer.

“Is he gone?” I asked.

Z1 responded. “I located his airship and sent drones to intercept. It was five kilometers off the coast but is now leaving the area due to hurricane force winds heading our way. My drones are returning, unable to operate in the growing tempest.”

“I don’t think we’re done with Commander Paul Honors,” I said.

* * *

My friends were more than ready to stop when they finally arrived. Apparently, they had seen the ship racing along the coast and thought I was going to be attacked while they weren’t here to protect me. No one addressed the fact that I was able to take care of myself, especially in my new, more powerful and more complete outfit. We agreed to disagree, so I climbed out of the Archangel-BP and let Tom have his way with it. He promised several tweaks and adjustments that would make it work better and fit more comfortably. He also doubled the size of the booster pack I’d been wearing and secured it inside the armored corps. This would give X-37 and me additional processing power to resist Z1’s more aggressive takeover attempts.

I checked my messages and found one rather vague recording from Tatiana. She said she understood what was happening and wasn’t jealous or angry. That didn’t exactly reassure me, but I was unable to contact her because she was on another mission to help affected settlements along the coast.

I was worried but what was dominating my thoughts was the conversation with Honors. The warning wasn’t a surprise, but the fact that he had gone to so much trouble to deliver it personally meant something. If it had come from official sources, Coronas, Rejon, and the Yansden leadership would surely have taken it as another bargaining trick. None of us liked the way Alon negotiated; violence seemed to be their go-to option every time we disagreed.

“Your biometrics indicate you may need my assistance,” X-37 said.

“I need to talk to President Coronas and Rejon,” I said.

“I will work through their network and request a remote conference,” X-37 said. “They are near enough the planet for contact but constantly evading the Alon fleet blockading us. Please move to the highest point you can manage for better reception.”

The buildings near the space port were shorter than those of the residential and business districts of Yansden City. I grabbed my go bag then walked five blocks, located a vacant structure five stories high, and found my way to the roof. If something went wrong—like Honors attempting a snatch and grab with his annoyingly competent commandos—I had my HDK Dominator, a sidearm, and my blade. With the stealth cloak and Reaper mask in the bag, I felt ready for action if not a head to head battle. I also had snacks—translation: whiskey, cigars, and a batch of local cookies one of the refugees we helped a few days ago had given us.

The first thing I did was clear the rooftop. “I’m surprised Elise and the others aren’t harassing us. How’d we get so lucky, X?”

“Your friends are busy with various tasks, Reaper Cain.”

“Good enough,” I said. “Did you contact the president’s ship?”

“I have made contact, but they are not on the Spirit of Wallach. They’re on more of a diplomatic mission to the planet. President Coronas, Rejon of Xad, and Isaac Meldon of Yansden have convened to make final decisions about the evacuation efforts,” X-37 said.

“They’re on the planet?”

X-37 displayed coordinates on the heads-up display of my Reaper eye. “The Yansden Prime Minister insisted on it. As a side note, the leadership structure of Yansden is unique. The PM is greatly revered and has extraordinary leadership powers granted to him by their constitution but has no direct control over the Kalon Regulars or other military units. He is only able to command his personal bodyguards, a force of one hundred and nineteen soldiers trained since birth for the job.”

“How the hell does that work? Why doesn’t Loren Jacem just take over?” I was more interested in the answer than I thought I would be. Politics was a sore point with me, being the reason I had been sent on so many assassination and intimidation missions for the Union.

“He controls the budget and other commodities that are a bit unclear. The Yansden PM can forbid the children of the Regulars from joining the military, which is something they don’t want, apparently,” X-37 said. “President Coronas is on the line, Reaper Cain.”

“Halek Cain, it is good to hear from you,” Coronas said. “I have Rejon and Isaac with me as well. Why the urgent message?”

“They seem to be good friends already,” I said to X-37.

“They do seem to operate with unusual cordiality,” my LAI answered.

“I was contacted by an Alon leader of a unit calling themselves the Emperor’s Own,” I said.

Rejon’s voice was soft but clear as always. “We have encountered them. As far as we can tell they are organized into three brigades, each with a single commander. Which one did you have the misfortune of meeting?”

“Paul Honors.” I sent a picture and the small amount of biographical data we had on him to the leaders of our coalition.

“None of my people have dealt with this one, but Isaac’s intel network says he is related to the Emperor of the Alon,” Rejon said.

“What did he tell you, Cain?” Coronas asked.

“It doesn’t sound like much, but he said if we don’t comply there is going to be a planetary bombardment a lot worse than what came before.” I looked for a transcription of the conversation but couldn’t find it. Seconds later, X-37 provided it without comment so I could focus on listening to the leadership council.

“They have been moving a fleet of ships towing asteroids toward Yansden,” Coronas said. “Your information confirms our worst fears. Fortunately, this takes time and is hard to conceal.”

“My people will evacuate the planet,” Isaac said. “None of them like the idea, but they will do as I ask.”

I waited a moment, hoping to sound respectful of this leader I hadn’t met before. “That may not be enough. Escaping from the Alon is going to be chaotic and dangerous. There will be people left behind and people like Commander Paul Honors are going to do horrible things to make us want to quit. And when I say us, I mean all of us.”

The words didn’t sound right but I resisted the urge to rephrase the statement. Something about Honors was different from Tobias and the other Alon officers I had encountered.

Isaac Meldon stiffened at my statement. He looked toward Coronas and Rejon as though he didn’t know them and felt slightly betrayed. The image he presented was very dignified and I thought I understood why my words offended the man.

“I think you’ll find my people much more resilient than you assume,” he said. “Not all of us can solve our problems by violence.”

“You don’t have to. I’m going to do that for you. All I’m saying is that it needs to happen faster.” I looked to Coronas, hoping she would give me the nod to tell him the rest. She didn’t take the hint and neither did Rejon.

Isaac looked from me to the others and back, obviously concerned we were hiding something or treating him like an inferior. “I thought we were equals in this counsel. Whatever you have to say, Reaper, just say it.”

This new straightforwardness impressed me because I hadn’t expected it. The Prime Minister of Yansden didn’t have the authority or the willpower to control his own military. This felt like an alien concept. I tried to see it through his eyes. Maybe there was a reason for the odd separation of powers. I had seen much subtler versions of it before, of course, but here it was extreme.

Annoyed with Coronas and Rejon for not giving me a clear set of rules for this meeting, I just spilled it to Isaac. “I’m sorry, sir. I’ve been through a lot lately and took some pretty hard thumps on the head. So let me just shuck it down to the cob for you.”

This made him smile, which made me smile. Weird, but it was happening. “When I acquired the Black Phoenix weapons system, I spoke with one of the Sansein called Envoy before he died.”

“Yes, I heard of this but not the details,” Isaac said.

Nodding, not wanting to lose my momentum, I continued. “He told me about a planet called Maglan, and that it was what Yansden was intended to be. Something went wrong here, but he implied it was better there.”

“I also know of Maglan. But I don’t see how this affects us here on Yansden.” He looked to the other leaders, who seem to be wanting to talk but also content to let me handle this revelation. “The plans we accepted for the evacuation called for exploration and a continued search for a new home world. Has that changed? Why weren’t we consulted?”

I edged closer to Isaac, feeling more confident and trusting than ever. “Envoy told me they have a very special member of the race called the Mother who is imprisoned there. He said that Maglan would be a good place for us and that it was a bad place for the Mother and his people in general. Beyond that I don’t know much. Envoy was dying when we had this conversation.”

I didn’t mention the dreams that were disrupting my sleep and drawing me toward a destiny I dreaded. It was knowledge—or more accurately, a powerful feeling I couldn’t put into words—that I couldn’t share with anyone, not even X-37.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t know much about the Sansein, but I grieve for this one’s death all the same,” Isaac said, looking down slightly. My interrogation training told me he was being sincere. Maybe this man wasn’t in charge of his people’s military because he didn’t have a killer’s heart when it was needed. The thought made sense but also forced me to face what I had become.

“Prime Minister,” Coronas said. “We haven’t put Maglan forward as an official option because we are still trying to send a team there to confirm it even exists and that it will be…better than here.”

Isaac Meldon’s face hardened and was unreadable.

I was still thinking about what the PM had said about Envoy.

“What are you thinking, Halek Cain?” Isaac asked. “You hesitate and I believe you are deeply wounded.”

I laughed it off. “I was just thinking it’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.”

“I don’t follow?” he asked. Coronas and Rejon shifted uncomfortably but it was Rejon who finally answered for me.

“More than anyone else, the last Reaper fights our battles. Particularly the ones we think are impossible,” he said.

“Well said,” Coronas agreed. Isaac nodded and looked almost on the edge of tears.

This was a bit much for me and I thought he was far too sensitive, but who was I to judge? The strangest thing was that I didn’t feel the need to hit all three of them with my normal sarcasm or light up a cigar and blow smoke at them.

“I have heard what you are telling us, but how does freeing the Mother require my people to evacuate this planet more quickly. If you’re going to make a new home safe for us, wouldn’t it make more sense for us to follow once that is done?” Isaac asked.

“It would, sir. But if you don’t come with me now to the Maglan system, you never will. The Alon will slaughter your people, harvest your planet for all the resources they can in a short period of time, then destroy it so that no one can use Yansden as a base to resist them in the future.” I looked Isaac straight in the eyes, and to his credit, he didn’t look away.

“I will speak to my people and compel Loren Jacem to make sure our military works with yours,” Isaac said, the last part directed toward Coronas and Rejon.

“How will you do that?” I asked.

“I do not control the military, but I have complete control over the budget for all aspects of our government,” Isaac said very earnestly.

“With no financial oversight committees?” Coronas asked, surprised.

“None,” Isaac said.

I laughed loud enough to startle all three of them. “Isaac, you’re the most dangerous man in the room.”

* * *

The meeting with the coalition leaders was heavy on my mind as I found another abandoned rooftop to enjoy a cigar and a sip from my whiskey flask. Someone had given the latter to me a long time ago, but I never carried it. As much as I enjoyed the burn of the alcohol, I didn’t indulge as often as Elise and some of the others seemed to think. When I was on a mission, I was on a mission and didn’t mess around with that sort of thing. Cigars were different because they could be used to send a message. But the main thing was that I had some time right now and all of my friends were busy.

X-37 accused me of being moody, which I resented, because I felt like I had cause to be more than a bit introspective at this point in my life. Sometimes, a killer like me just needed some time alone despite the value of having friends.

I took a sip and resealed the cap, then leaned on the railing around the rooftop and stared out across Yansden City. Most of it was vacant. Many of the buildings were in ill repair after centuries of dealing with the Neverseen and other problems unique to this world. Envoy’s words echoed in my mind. He told me that Maglan was what Yansden was supposed to be. This was hard for me to imagine, because when he said the Mother was imprisoned there, all I could think of was a barren landscape with dangerous canyons and dark caves full of creatures that wanted to eat me and my friends.

“Try to keep an open mind, Cain,” I muttered.

“Are you talking to yourself, Reaper Cain? I thought that was my job,” X-37 said.

This made me chuckle and feel pretty good. I like this rooftop. And the cigar, wherever I had found it, wasn’t bad. “Do you remember when you were always harassing me to quit smoking cigars?”

“I remember it precisely,” X-37 said. “It would be accurate to say I remember it with the precision of an advanced computer. Shall I reinitiate that subroutine?”

“No, let’s wait for that type of harassment until we're done on Maglan.” I turned and put my back to the rail so I could see in the other direction. The spaceport and the giant needle that ancient Yansdenians had used to launch their ships stood out in the gloomy mess that had swept over the city. Only a few of the buildings had safety lights on top of them, and I briefly imagined Alon assault craft ramming into them and crashing with no harm done to the locals.

After another half turn, I leaned on one forearm, looking out toward the distant ocean. Yansden City was a huge and sprawling place. None of us had even considered the coast when we were first here. All of our attention had been taken up by ending the Neverseen threat. Now, there were storm clouds in the distance blacker than the void of space. I watched until a threat of lightning illuminated a portion of the grim image and it shattered.

“The people of Yansden have survived similar storms, according to my research, but not for over five hundred years. I have participated in several of their online forums and it seems they believe this will only get worse and is unnatural,” X-37 said. “There are many theories as to why it is happening. Several remote settlements have reported Alon devices shot deep into the crust of the planet. I saw a few of the images they presented as proof but could not extrapolate the purpose of these attacks.”

“Great. Thanks.”

“You are welcome, Reaper Cain.”

“When you say participating, please tell me you’re not talking to people and telling them you’re an actual person someplace,” I said. This was the type of thing that could get a limited artificial intelligence shut down via one of its automatic subroutines.

“I merely listen, per my Reaper surveillance programming,” X-37 said. “There is no need to worry. I’m always careful.”

This made me feel a whole hell of a lot better. I was about to say so when pain shot through the base of my skull, driving me to my knees. X-37 and Z1 started hissing and screeching at each other, not even using words. The harsh computer talk was the most terrifying thing I’d ever experienced, and that was saying something.

Muscles cramped all through my body and I wasn’t sure if I should fall or stand up. I couldn’t breathe. I could barely think. It was like getting hit with a very powerful stunner. I knew I was in pain but had no capacity to experience it—yet. X-37 and Z1 seemed to argue for an eternity, or maybe they were killing each other and me with them.

After what felt like a decade, I realized that the pain was gone and I was leaning on the railing staring at the storm clouds in the distance as lightning flashed intermittently. Neither of my digital friends, or digital frenemies, spoke. And to be honest, that was just freaking fine. Stupid assholes.

I shakily unscrewed the cap on the flask and took a sip. My hand trembled so badly that I recapped it to avoid spilling the rest.

“What the hell was that, X?” I asked.

“Z1 and I have resolved a minor operational issue,” X-37 said.

I stood and stretched my back, which hurt from all the cramping and spasming. “I’m not sure if I should demand more information or pretend this never happened.”

“Z1 is not a single algorithm as I am. A part of him that I was unaware of is attempting to seize control of me and you in a very inhumane and brutal fashion,” X-37 said. “In Z1’s defense, the part of him that we normally converse with immediately rushed to our assistance, but things became a bit charged. We have quarantined the offending section of his programming and believe there will be no further incidents.”

“On a scale of one to ten, that’s not super reassuring,” I said.

“Apologies, Reaper Cain. If you are going to reference a scale of one to ten, you must subsequently give me a number that I can record and analyze,” X-37 said.

I took my time formulating my response. For me, this was nothing, but I understood X could get turned around if I resorted to sarcasm here. “On that numerical scale, with ten being the least reassuring, I give your statement an eight.”

“Can you explain the rationale of that measurement?” X-37 asked.

“I am also listening with interest.” Z1 barely sounded like a digital psychopath that had nearly killed all of us.

“Both of you speak in absolutes most of the time. For you to use the word believe makes me think you’re just guessing,” I said. “And I know all about the poor translation between your precise computer language and my illogical and poorly organized human speech. No need to lecture me on this again. I get it.”

“We are both analyzing your response now,” X-37 said. They made some beeping noises at each other that were amusing. I wasn’t sure which of them made the high pitched, cheerfully melodic chimes and which of them emitted the low, almost inaudible bass sounds.

I tucked my flask into a jacket pocket and considered my cigar for several seconds before relighting it.

“Z1 and I can now assure you that there is only a 9.89 percent chance of this type of thing reoccurring. We are putting safeguards in place to ensure it doesn’t happen at a critical moment,” X-37 said. “Does this reassure you?”

“Absolutely, X. I’m bursting with confidence now.” The rest of my time on the building top was uneventful. The storms grew bigger but didn’t seem to move closer. My LAI didn’t fry my brain and I wasn’t struck by a random-ass-meteor. So things were pretty good.

7

“Shall I mark this rooftop to visit again in the future, Reaper Cain? You seem to enjoy the ambiance,” X-37 said.

I thought about it. “No, X, don’t bother. The sooner we leave this planet, the better. And it’s just a rooftop.” This was just another lonely place. I wasn’t sure why I sought it out, but I was glad I did. Strangely enough, true solitude could be an antidote for loneliness.

“Understood.” X-37 refreshed a list of mundane to-do items in my HUD. I smiled, realizing that he hadn’t done that for a while. We had been in constant action and other things took priority in my available HUD space.

“I think Isaac and the others are on board with our plan now,” I said.

X-37 scrolled down the list to an item labeled “secure the cooperation of Yansden leadership” and checked the box.

“Nice, X.” I pulled out the tablet and activated it. Neither of the digital voices in my head knew how to recharge the device, so we didn’t open it often. There is some speculation that it had a solar recharging panel, but it seemed only to gather power at night. I tried not to overthink it. “It’s time for another round of analysis. Are you ready, X? Z?”

X-37 answered for both. “We are prepared. The last time we did this, Z1 and I were able to formulate three distinct routes to the Maglan system. The largest problem still lies in escaping this system and not knowing what type of defenses there will be at Maglan.”

I considered this as I looked across Yansden City. Again, I was struck by the discrepancy between this place and what I imagined Maglan would be. “X, do we have images of our target system?”

“We have located an image file and scanned it for potential viruses. It should be safe to view. Would you like to see it now?” X-37 asked.

“Yeah, show it.”

“It might be better to watch on a high resolution holo display, Reaper Cain.”

I waved my hand dismissively. “Just give me what you have right now. I don’t feel like tracking down a holo, and I think if I had Jelly land here to pick me up it would cause people to talk.”

In the distance, I saw a group of Yansdenians gathering at one of the assembly points. This happened every couple of hours. This group caught my attention because they were clearly from far away. When we first came to this city, I had noticed many of the children carried small tree climbing animals as pets. This group had nothing like that and acted disgusted when they saw the locals with such creatures on their shoulders.

I wasn’t sure why these details struck me with such clarity, but I was learning to empathize with people who were leaving everything behind with only a slim hope of survival. The culture shock of so many people converging could be hilarious or heartbreaking. With luck, they would avoid real conflict—at least until the Alon crisis was over.

An image of Yansden City appeared in my HUD, but this one was very different. There were more buildings, some of them so tall I couldn’t see the top of them, and the technology was vibrant and alive. There were a lot of people and ships there, and this worried me. Would there be room for everyone in the exodus fleet to settle down and thrive on this planet we’d never been to?

“You have not said anything since we displayed the images, Champion Cain,” Z1 said. “Is there a problem?”

X-37 answered for me. “A reading of his biometric suggests he is still gathering his first impressions. Reaper Cain does not always rush to rash conclusions. That sort of thing only happens when his life is on the line.”

Z1 made a strange noise and X-37 beeped at him. My neck spasmed, causing me to tense up in anticipation of another bad episode. Seconds passed, then a minute, but I couldn’t relax.

Something was seriously wrong with the image, which bothered me even more because so much about Maglan looked promising. This wasn’t some terrifying lost world full of hostile creatures, but an advanced civilization where we could thrive. If Envoy’s promise about it becoming a new home for the Wallach-Xad-Yansden coalition were true, we could finally start a new life.

Depending on how they felt about taking in millions of refugees.

So why did I feel like we were taking a huge step backward? “X, what the hell is that ship doing there?”

“One moment while I process your rather vague question, Reaper Cain. There are over a thousand possible places a ship—again with the lack of specificity in your language—could be doing there.”

I traced a block on the HUD grid. “This building has a ship parked on top of it. If you tell me any of the other skyscrapers have landing pads, I’ll call you a liar.”

“Analysis complete, Reaper Cain. Z1 has rejoined us and provided a significant boost to my processing bandwidth,” X-37 said. “I have an answer, but you won’t like it.”

“Hit me with it, X. I know what you’re going to tell me.” The image of the ship was indistinct, small and blurry in the darkness of the improvised landing area. For about half a second, I’d brushed off the image as some rich guy’s personal transport. Something about that explanation didn’t sit right and I realized there were no safety features to the building top.

Nothing about the skyscraper, or any of the tall buildings in this recording, were set up to have vehicles touch down on them. And I asked myself how many times I’d made such a landing to complete a mission. “How long ago was this image recorded?”

Z1 answered. “Fifty years ago, almost to the day.”

“Wow. Just when I thought it couldn’t be any creepier. Your voice combined with that random, oddly specific fact is weirding me out,” I said.

Z1 seemed confused. “Is that a word, Champion Cain?”

“Of course it is, but don’t worry about that right now, Z man.”

“I am not a man—”

“Please ignore this endearment, Black Phoenix Z1-01FR381-742-X51DRO-ZETA,” X-37 said quickly.

“X, tell me again how this recording was made and how this tablet has them?”

“Unknown, Reaper Cain. There must have been a long-distance signal relay between the two worlds. Or there have been ships who traveled between the two locations and carried information bundles,” X-37 said.

“Notify me immediately if you confirm either theory,” I said. “X, can you fix this image?” I adjusted the resolution up and down, only making the three-dimensional image worse. “And give me the bad news while you’re at it.”

The picture resolved but remained a long distance shot of a small vessel parked in shadows. “My analysis suggests that is a Union ship.”

“That’s bullshit, X! Screw that.” I swiped my hand through the HUD projection, turning off the presentation.

“Your reaction makes no sense, Champion,” Z1 said. “Only moments ago you claimed to know what this vessel was, and now you’re behaving as an immature organic male.”

“Z1, you have much to learn about dealing with an organic host,” X-37 said.

They began screeching and growling at each other. “Stop! First of all, you know I hate it when you call me an organic. Second of all, no bickering. What is this, digital kindergarten?”

“No, Champion. This is not a gathering of poorly behaved organic…that is to say moderately higher functioning mammalian children.” Z1 made several beeps and clicks. X-37 wasn’t much better.

I waited until they had worked the kinks out of their systems. “It’s good to know that an LAI and an AI can get flustered.”

“Is it?” Z1 asked.

“No, Z. It’s not.” I gathered my thoughts. “X, what is the likelihood that the Alon Empire has a commando ship that looks and acts like something from the Union? What is the chance that the Alon are already on Maglan and we’re royally screwed no matter what we do?”

“That is more than one question, Reaper Cain.” X-37 did something that kept Z1 from interrupting and I appreciated the hell out of that. The Black Phoenix AI was good at some things but talking to me wasn’t one of them. X had been with me a long time and I had hated the few times I was without his input. “Answering in order, I can make the following conclusions with a reasonable degree of accuracy. One, the ship is not like anything we’ve seen in the Alon fleet but is very similar to an all-purpose Union spec ops vehicle. Two, it is likely the Alon attempted to find and infiltrate Maglan long before they encountered our exodus fleet. Both Yansden and Maglan are part of their long history in this section of the galaxy. Three, of course we are screwed, Reaper Cain. We always are.”

“This sucks.” I opened my cigar case and looked for one that might take the edge off my increasingly negative mood. Nothing jumped out at me, so I resorted to leaning on the guardrail of the building with my fingers interlaced. When that wasn’t enough, I gently banged my head on the railing.

“I am explaining the Union and the capabilities of spec ops teams to Z1,” X-37 said. “He wants to know if you believe there will be a Reaper waiting for us on Maglan.”

“With our luck, X, there will be a team of them.” Old missions ran through my memory. This wasn’t something I’d expected. And it was super unfair. We eliminated Vice Admiral Nebs, the man who had created the Reaper Corps, murdered my father, and kidnapped my mother and sister. Since then, we’d encountered far more powerful enemies in the Alon and Sansein—yet the possibility of facing a Union kill team was somehow worse than anything else I could imagine.

“From what X-37 tells me, Reaper teams were rare,” Z1 said. “Please advise if you believe this possibility is a realistic danger.”

“Relax, Z. Reapers didn’t exist fifty years ago. If the Union is there, it will be a spec ops team or whatever crazy pre-Reaper jerks they convinced to gallivant this far into unexplored space,” I said, not in the mood for this.

“That is not helpful, Champion Cain.” Z1’s grim voice didn’t change. He didn’t mimic emotion well and that was fine with me as long as he remained consistent. “Please provide details of personnel, their possible equipment, and their motivation.”

“We don’t know what that ship is. You and X should know the low probability of it coming from the Union. We’re way beyond any region of space they’ve been to,” I said.

“True, Reaper Cain. But if we’ve come this far, it makes sense they might have as well.”

I made up some new swear words and picked a cigar at random. “We’re going to die long before we get to Maglan so it doesn’t matter.”

“Unacceptable, Champion Cain,” Z1 said immediately.

“I agree with you, Z. One hundred percent.” The Yansden cigar tasted good.

Sounds drifted through the night, mostly from the round-the-clock evacuation of the planet. Where people weren’t getting on rough looking ships, they were converting anything that could travel in space into passenger vessels that would hopefully survive slip tunnel travel. Most of their efforts were utilitarian, but I saw people painting what they could. None of that would survive the launch or the void but it lifted their spirits.

“I don’t want to be responsible for all these people, X.”

“Too late, Reaper Cain.”

“Champion Cain, I have completed one hundred analyses of our recent conversation. I urge you to reconsider the way you are pursuing this objective,” Z1 said. X-37 didn’t, or couldn’t, interrupt him this time. “Proceed immediately to Maglan with your best people and free the Mother. This will allow you to draw upon the alliance promised by the Sansein called Envoy. Should you encounter old enemies, avoid them. If that is impossible, destroy them quickly using any means necessary.”

“Listen, Z. That sounds great. You’re not completely wrong. And maybe I could even compromise. Maybe we don’t need the entire exodus fleet to enter the slip tunnels with us, but they need to be on their way—right behind us—and that means they need to be free of the Alon blockade,” I said.

X-37 still failed to make an appearance. It wasn’t like my LAI to leave me alone with the Black Phoenix AI.

“The logistical improbability of what you want to happen cannot be easily described in human language,” Z1 said.

I snorted a bitter laugh. “I know it’s as impossible as hell.”

“Please explain that colloquialism,” Z1 said.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just saying I know we have very little chance of pulling this off,” I said. “I really understand this fact.”

“By admitting such a belief, you are also admitting that it is illogical and possibly self-destructive to continue on your current path,” Z1 said. “I cannot allow this.”

“Calm down, Z. I’m always working on a better plan. Never assume that I’m stuck on one thing. As soon as I figure out how to get to Maglan, free the Mother, and secure the alliance that will keep us safe, I’ll let you know.”

“Do not forget to tell me the answer when you find it,” Z1 said.

“I’ll remember.” This AI was a lot of work. “Can I have X-37 back?”

More time passed than I liked. I controlled my breathing, not sure what would happen next, not sure if this day could get any worse.

“I am back, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “Z1 has shifted its awareness to dealing with various technical and analytical challenges.”

“It’s really good to hear you again, X. Does that mean we can talk freely?”

“Caution is recommended, but yes, Z1 is busy. I’m going to display several images as they don’t seem to trigger the same sort of curiosity from the Black Phoenix,” X-37 said.

I was already watching the simple video projected in front of me. The Black Phoenix was fighting a terrific battle against invaders I didn’t recognize. A swarm of combat drones dropped out of the clouds and cut apart an entire brigade of infantry. More machines stomped forward, and I wasn’t sure if they were piloted or unpiloted. They moved with such perfect coordination that either way I knew that Z1 was coordinating their efforts. Other things happened that I wasn’t quite able to follow, like a massive blackout that seemed to totally incapacitate the invader’s electronics.

“We are only using a fraction of Z1’s abilities,” I said.

“Agreed, Reaper Cain.” X-37 listed the ways we could improve to approach this level of war fighting ability. Unfortunately, much of it included the development of infrastructure to create the machines that Black Phoenix could control in a full-scale battle.”

“That’s some scary shit, X,” I said. “Are we going to face something like this on Maglan?”

“Unknown, Reaper Cain. Have you located evidence that this is a possibility?”

“Maglan looks like a bigger, better version of Yansden. Why wouldn’t they have their own defense system like the BP?” Saying the words made it real and I almost forgot about all the other enemies I’d collected over the last year.

“That is a good point, Reaper Cain. I will factor it into my research,” X-37 said.

“I’m not sure we’re going to make anything better by going there, unless we get really lucky and win,” I said, then wondered if Z1 could ever be evicted from my nerve-ware.

“Please refrain from fatalistic talk in front of Z1,” X-37 said. “It can trigger a rejection of his host—that’s you, Reaper Cain.”

“Fine. This thing is really cramping my style.”

“Mine as well, Reaper Cain.”

8

I didn’t believe X-37 when he told me there was not another hurricane hitting the city.

“These are merely straight-line winds, part of a slightly different meteorological incident,” X-37 said. “There will eventually be a lull, if you would like to wait twelve to thirty-six hours.”

The only way to get from building to building was to lean into the wind and hope I didn’t lose my footing. Even when there wasn’t a storm raging, there was always rain—and in one case, sleet. My LAI droned on about the causes of these phenomena, still unable to confirm or deny if the Alon scientists were somehow making it worse. All we knew was that our enemies would do anything to win.

I hadn’t slept since my solitary session on the building top. When I had finally returned to the workshop, Tom had made so many alterations to the exoskeleton and Archangel setup that I barely recognized it. We ran tests and did basic trials while Elise and the others did the real work.

More Alon forces made planet fall. We didn’t have the strength to resist them and the only thing that slowed the conquest of the planet now was finding adequate landing sites. X-37 and Z1 frequently updated me with images of their engineers building landing sites and the wilderness. This always involved destruction of forests and rough, dirty construction of landing pads. They weren’t coming to stay. Each time they established one of the sites, they also slapped together crude lift-off areas then immediately started harvesting raw materials and shooting them up to their ever-growing fleet.

“Our own launch schedule is growing increasingly difficult. They attack every time we send up ships. Losses have been discouraging. There are going to be so many of these assholes in the system that we can probably just pretend to be their garbage and drift away from the planet,” I said.

“Both Z1 and I have explained to you many times why that will not work,” X-37 said.

“You know I was joking, X.”

“It’s an old joke you should abandon,” he responded. “You are going to be late for your summons. Please walk faster.”

The urge to do the opposite was hard to resist but I decided to give my LAI a break and listen to him. There was a reason he kept my calendar.

The conference room was packed when I arrived. Several large holo displays buzzed but showed nothing. I edged toward the front of the room where Coronas, Rejon, and Prime Minister Isaac Meldon quietly conferred. Each of them had a contingent of bodyguards and advisors. I stayed back, annoyed that they had called me and seemed not to need me but also glad I was off the hook. It was unlikely anyone really gave a shit what I might have to say.

The energy in the room was strange. People were excited and fearful as though they somehow thought this was going to be good news. Rumors spread like wildfire. One man claimed an Alon emissary had offered a cease-fire to deal with an unspecified Sansein threat. Others claimed the Alon and the Sansein were working together.

“There are too many people here,” I grumbled. X-37 agreed by displaying the safe occupancy number for this hall. People kept packing in, standing shoulder to shoulder, and waving their hands in front of their faces to deal with the heat they were generating.

The holo displays came to life to show an elderly Alon man I assumed was their Emperor. He wore a military style uniform with more ribbons and badges on it then I’d ever seen in one place. His bodyguards wore an emblem on their armor that matched what I had seen on the Emperor’s own. I remembered that Z1 and X-37 had told me there were three divisions of these special Alon troopers.

Coronas waved me toward her. I silently took a place among the other bodyguards but stood closer to her than most.

“I’m glad you could make it, Reaper,” she said. “That man is Emperor Acrondis. His public information officers promised this would be a history making address.”

“I can’t wait.” From the stage, I could see the ebb and flow of hope and despair among the gathering.

A middle-aged man dressed almost as extravagantly as his Emperor stepped forward then indicated his leader with one hand. Each movement had the look of a solemn ritual. “All hail the Emperor Acrondis. Leader of the Alon and all humanity, protector of truth and justice, commander of the unstoppable armies of the Empire, sword of justice, shield of the righteous…”

“Pain of the ass,” I whispered too loudly.

Coronas snorted a laugh and fought to regain her composure.

“… Patron of all things good, and voice of the righteous.”

“Nice. They are really hammering home this righteous thing—kind of repetitive. I think they need to hire an editor for this speech,” I said.

This time several others heard my joke and struggled to maintain their composure.

“Reaper Cain.” X-37 flashed something on my HUD. “There is a man standing near the Emperor. Do you see him?”

I flicked my attention to my HUD and saw the name Admiral Braxton Oberland of the 1344th Alon Grand Fleet in bold print. “Is that Oberland? I can’t believe they’re so careless. This means we know what ship the Emperor is on. In the old days, I’d be sent there to take him out.”

“It is an option I have considered, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “A successful assassination of their leader might throw them into disarray and allow us to escape the system.”

“I’ll think about it but I’m not feeling it. Could we even get to their flagship?”

“This would be nearly as difficult as getting to Maglan,” Z1 said. “While I am concerned how dangerous this would be to our person, X-37 has a point that it might be a good strategy.”

“First off, please never refer to you and me as our person. That’s weird.” I studied the rest of the entourage attending the Alon Emperor, cataloguing every detail.

“Noted,” Z1 said. “I was trying to be your buddy as several of your people’s entertainment holos suggest is appropriate for a hero and his team. Perhaps there is a better way for us to communicate on a more meaningful level.”

“Let’s just keep it simple,” I said. “I make the decisions and you provide the firepower.”

“We can do much more with our partnership,” Z1 said.

I didn’t respond right away. “Do something useful, Z, like analyze this holo broadcast.”

Emperor Acrondis moved forward. Every one of his advisors, generals, and admirals bowed and retreated a step. The man stared at the camera for several seconds. He was ancient but stood straight, confident but not overbearing, but more than anything he displayed a coldness I recognized in an iron fisted dictator. There would be no mercy from this man.

“I am displeased,” he said. The silence that followed seemed to have a physical weight. No one moved or spoke. If I made a sarcastic comment now, everyone in this part of the galaxy would hear it. The urge was overwhelming but both X-37 and Z1 warned me to keep my mouth shut.

“The Yansden system and the main planet belong to me by every law and right of the galaxy that exists,” he said. “It saddens me that you resist. Time is the one thing I don’t control. My fleet requires certain resources. We have come a long way and will now take what you have not freely given. There are no more warnings. My fleet has been ordered to begin a bombardment that will remove you from our path.”

One by one, the holos blinked out.

“Well, at least he delivered the message personally. That’s something,” I said.

Everyone in the room stared at me.

I held up my hands in ritual surrender. “What? I’m an optimist.”

“Cain, this is serious,” Coronas said.

“You’re right, President. But nothing he said is news. If you ask me, he is showing off. It changes nothing about what we need to do,” I said. “It just needs to get done faster.”

The council shifted. The crowd remained quiet but uneasy.

“You are correct, Reaper,” Coronas finally said. “There is much to do. Now is the time for all of our people to pull together.”

* * *

The riots started before I got back to Tom’s workshop. Anyone waiting for a seat on a ship gathered in the streets to shout their complaints. Some stayed near the spaceport, but others headed off in random directions toward destinations unknown. X-37 wasn’t sure of their objectives and I wasn’t worried about the details. What mattered was these people were scared and they were going to do stupid things. When hope was lost, it suddenly became all too important to assign blame and strike out at anything close enough to damage.

Wind whipped through the city, extinguishing some fires immediately and fanning others into unholy infernos that consumed everything in their path. It was a type of chaos I hadn’t seen before. When I saw emergency crews rushing past me, I wasn’t sure if they were going to suppress the riots or put out a fire from a collapsing building. A siren blared in the gloom.

“What type of alert is that one?” I asked.

“It is a storm surge alert. The coast is being hammered and the retaining walls in the port sections of Yansden city have been compromised,” X-37 said. “Local news is very active. Prime Minister Meldon has made a personal appeal for people to remain calm.”

“I’m sure that will work,” I said, searching for Tom.

He emerged from the back of the workroom covered in grease and looking like he hadn’t slept for a day or more. “I’m glad to see you, Hal. I’ve done all I can for your gear. Jelly needs me back on the ship.”

“I was just coming to tell you to pack up and get out of here,” I said, then walked around the exoskeleton and the Archangel armor plating attached to it. “This looks really good, Tom. You’re a genius.”

“You give me too much credit.” He finished packing his tools and shouldered the heavy pack. “What’s it like out there?”

“It’s not good. Let me jump into my Archangel-BP and walk you to the landing pad,” I said.

Tom shifted uneasily and then nodded agreement. “We’ve come a long way for it to end like this. I heard the announcement from the Acrondis fellow.”

“Yeah, that was a waste of time. I already knew he was going to blow the crap out of this planet and loot it.” Climbing into my new war machine was surprisingly easy. Tom had placed small, almost invisible steps in strategic places. When I closed everything up, the steps folded inward and disappeared.

“I think you’ll be happy with it,” Tom said. The weight of his pack dragged on his shoulders and upper back. He shifted it several times to get comfortable.

X-37 ran systems checks on the Archangel half. Z1 updated and synchronized the BP exoskeleton in the blink of an eye. Moments later, they were working together and I was walking toward the door. “Let’s go, mechanic.”

He laughed grimly and followed me.

“Elise, are you on the channel?” My display showed she was standing guard around the Jellybird with Path, Briggs, and Henshaw. The Lady Faith, barely functional after the first encounter with the Black Phoenix, was parked in the same area.

“We’re all here. What’s the plan?” Elise asked.

“We take the Jellybird on a flyover of the city and see if Tatiana or her people need our help. Then we start planning our mission. I’ll need as much information on the new exodus as possible.” Crowds backed away from me as I stomped forward with Tom in tow. “We're making good time. But don’t leave the ship. The populace isn’t responding well to the Alon Emperor’s threat. Which was his purpose, I’m betting.”

“We’re seeing the same thing here,” Elise said. “What I can’t figure out is why there are Wallach and Xad people in the protests. They have places on ships and shouldn’t even be in the city.”

“Riots make people do strange things. Everyone’s losing their minds, possibly literally,” I said.

“They can’t literally be losing their minds, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said.

“You know what, X, I’m not even going to argue with you this time.” I gave a group of angry young men a warning look and they let us pass. The site of the Jellybird when we reached it gave me an unreasonable amount of relief. It was like we had just fought a major battle when all we had done was walk from point A to point B. The air smelled like burning trash and I heard glass breaking from time to time. People were shouting on one block or running toward something on another.

“We’re here,” I said. “Get Tom inside.”

“Come on, Tom,” Elise said, then hustled him on board.

I contacted Henshaw, who looked like a changed man compared to the day I met him and escorted him to his ship on Roxo III. “Who do you have on your crew?”

“Bug decided to stay with me. A few other people,” the ocular engineer and professional gambler said.

“What about my sister? I haven’t heard from her for a while,” I asked.

“She’s an extremely talented ship’s officer. I offered her a permanent captaincy of the Lady Faith and a share in any financial windfalls I might come across, but she went back to the Spirit of Wallach to be with your mother,” Henshaw said.

A weight lifted off my shoulders. There wasn’t a good place to be in this mess, but if there was, it would be on the flagship. “Now I know where to find her, at least.”

“She may have mentioned that you don’t talk to her or your mother enough,” Henshaw said with a smile.

“I haven’t always been the best brother or the most reliable son. I’m going to need your help getting to Maglan,” I said.

“I was hoping you would say that. What do you need me to do?”

“First thing is get to the Spirit of Wallach and assemble the best possible crew you can. See if we can get another ship, and if we can get Locke and his best people as part of our team,” I said.

“I can do that,” he said. “There are several talented individuals who I have nearly convinced to join me.”

“One last thing. Make sure Hannah is part of that team.” I didn’t always get along with my sister, but I needed the people I trusted most with me if we were going to overcome the odds being stacked against us.

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Henshaw said, then disappeared into his ship with less chit chat than was normal for the man. “I have an idea that almost guarantees her compliance.”

Something was up. I hoped it wasn’t going to make my life miserable.

“He has already recruited your sister and probably promised to do something to ensure the safety of your mother,” X-37 said. “The man’s poker face, as you call it, needs work.”

I laughed, shaking my head as I walked toward my own ship. “For you, maybe. For the rest of us, he’s nearly impossible to read—especially with two cybernetic eyes.”

“Priority alert from Prime Minister Isaac Meldon—” X-37 said, adding a chime for emphasis.

“Why the hell am I getting messages directly from the Prime Minister of Yansden?” Something in my gut told me this wasn’t going to advance my mission. “Put him through. Might as well get it over with.”

“Greetings, Reaper Cain,” Meldon said. “I offer my sincere apologies for this abrupt and impersonal correspondence. President Coronas and Rejon of Xad gave their permission to request your help.”

“With respect, Minister, I can’t help you unless it directly advances my mission. I am already juggling too many variables.” X-37 gave me a digital thumbs up in my HUD, something Elise had taught him, indicating my response wasn’t too abrasive.

There was a pause on the comm link. “Of course, Reaper Cain. I would not have interrupted your service to the coalition if there was any other choice. Unfortunately, you are the closest and, we all agreed, best suited to accomplish this mission. It should not take you long. We have medical supplies being transported from our primary hospital to the Heart’s Bastion, our only medical ship. We cannot participate in the Exodus from Yansden without these critical supplies. There is a riot threatening to not only prevent the delivery but also ruin the hospital and endanger its personnel.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, then realized I was still on the main channel.

“Pardon me, Reaper Cain?” Meldon asked.

“That wasn’t for you, Minister. Send my LAI the coordinates,” I said.

The location came across the communications link almost immediately and displayed where I could see it. The hospital was just far enough away that surface travel seemed impractical, and flying the Jellybird there seemed a waste of time and fuel.

“Please, Reaper Cain. We need your help,” Meldon said. His voice was dignified and sincere.

Surprisingly, it was Z1 who voted for helping Meldon. “Champion Cain, this is one instance where you should deviate from the most direct course to achieving our mission to Maglan. Rendering medical aid is firmly set into my programming when such a goal is achievable.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “Just give me a second. X, I need to talk to Elise in private. Tell the Prime Minister I will have an answer momentarily.”

The Jellybird opened. Elise strode down the ramp, a concerned look on her face. “What’s happening, Reaper?”

“The Prime Minister of Yansden wants us to do riot control while they move medical supplies from their hospital to their medical ship,” I said without preamble.

“We don’t have time for that,” she said immediately.

“We never have time for half the stuff we’re supposed to do.” I thought I knew what Elise’s answer would be, but now I wasn’t sure. She never failed to do the right thing and wanted to save everyone, but sometimes I thought she was a better Reaper than I was, more pragmatic and focused on our missions.

She crossed her arms and looked away. Her chin lowered and she still avoided eye contact, clearly embroiled in her own inner battles. When she finally looked up there was weariness in her expression, but I knew she had come to a decision. “It doesn’t do us much good to free the Mother and secure our new home if we have to let half the people die of easily preventable medical issues during the trip there. Are you sure there isn’t someone else who can do this?”

“I took the liberty of querying the Prime Minister and his staff while you were having your discussion with Elise, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “They reluctantly gave other options, but Z1 and I agree that none of them are adequate. The best possible solution, of course, would be for the rioters to stop rioting.”

“Yeah, I’ll hold my breath until that happens.” I waved toward the ship and Elise and I hurried aboard. “Give Jelly the coordinates. There’s no need to land, just get low and we will hop out and take care of business.”

“Right away, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said.

The trip to the plaza in front of the hospital didn’t take long. The hatch opened three meters above the pavement. Elise and I jumped together, landing almost simultaneously. Hundreds of Yansdenians stared at us in stunned silence—but their hesitation didn’t last. Half of their shouting was unintelligible. One of them in the front began to throw bottles. Elise and I stood there nonplussed as plastic and glass bounced off our armor.

“At least you’ve tested your new, super ugly configuration,” Elise said. “I have to be honest, Reaper, I’m a lot less stressed out with you wearing decent armor.”

“You and me both, kid. I spotted three individuals who are inciting this riot. How do you want to take them out?” Memories of Uz VII threatened to invade my thoughts. That unlucky planet had developed a culture of rioting that got worse with every election. I’d never heard of the place until the Union sent me there to shut down a half dozen small organizations that were inciting regular citizens to senseless acts of violence and looting. It was one of the easiest and worst missions of my career. The targets had no security—even if they thought they had clever hiding places. Their weapons and the people using them had been total crap. In the end, they turned out to be cowards. Most fled. All of them I caught begged for their lives and listed their conspirators before I even threatened torture.

Uz VII was also the first place I was no longer able to pretend the Union was benevolent. If the resistance had been more determined, if they had possessed the generational endurance of the Yansdenians, my mission would have been bloodier—and I would have failed for the first time to follow orders.

“Elise to Cain, focus. I asked you a question. Staring into space isn’t really an answer, just so you know,” she said.

“I wasn’t staring into space.”

She shook her head. “You totally were.”

“Wasn’t.”

“Now isn’t the time, Reaper. Let’s do something or leave.”

“Fine. Suggestions?”

X-37 stepped up. “It would be logical to start with the direct approach, appeal to their rational nature and desire for self-preservation.”

“I like it. Set my external speakers to maximum volume.”

“Public address system activated, Champion,” Z1 advised.

“People of Yansden.” My voice boomed across the plaza. The crowd took a step back and I thought I saw the windows of nearby buildings vibrating.

“Shit, Reaper!” Elise involuntarily put her hands on the side of her helmet where her ears were. “Are you trying to explode our eardrums?”

“Really? It can’t be that loud,” I said. As though to contradict my words, several of the rioters put their hands on their knees and vomited. “Okay, Z, dial it back just a notch.”

“Volume and penetrating resonance adjusted,” Z1 said.

Without overthinking it, I focused on the direct approach as had been suggested. “My name is Reaper Cain. I was on a mission to secure you a new home world, but this bullshit is slowing things down. If you want to survive, if you want to have a home better than anything you could have hoped for, it’s time to start working together.”

Shouts and arguments broke out. My attempt at fostering solidarity had only divided them further as they blamed one another and the government and me and probably some ingredient in their food that was the fad diet crisis of the day.

“That went well,” Elise said. “Good job. Excellent work. Not.”

A bottle arced through the air and smashed directly into the center of my faceplate.

“Enough!” I shouted, knocking several people in the front row off their feet. “Listen, you asshats, I don’t have time for this. Get your shit together or get the hell out of the way of the people who are trying to help each other.”

“That wasn’t exactly what I meant, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said, not bothering to give me props for my diplomatic efforts.

“Very subtle, Reaper. Maybe we should get a non-psychotic negotiator out here,” Elise said.

“Threaten to kill them all, Champion. All people fear death. Setting an example will motivate them,” Z1 said. “Perhaps you could throw a few of them over a building to set an example.”

“Please ignore the Black Phoenix AI,” X-37 said.

“Way ahead of you.” I moved toward the crowd and watched the front rows back away. “The coalition fleet is leaving. We know what it is like to begin an exodus. Let us help you help yourselves.” I pointed toward a man near the back. “If you don’t stop inciting this riot, we’re going to have a talk up close and personal. Don’t test me, you fear-mongering punk.”

A haze of melancholy and guilt blurred my vision. I refused to make this another Uz VII.

“Listen to the last Reaper. We’re trying to help you,” Elise said. Her external speakers were loud, but nothing like what the Black Phoenix exoskeleton brought to the party.

“Prime Minister Meldon sent a message. He now has his best negotiators and a team of riot control experts on the way; estimated time of arrival is five minutes.” X-37 sounded like this confrontation was already handled.

But it wasn’t, not by a long shot. The riot instigator I had called out slipped into the crowd, disappearing for a moment. Unfortunately for him, both X-37 and Z1 easily tracked his movements. It wasn’t long before he was whispering in people’s ears, then shouting, then clapping a young man who had just thrown a bottle in our direction on the back.

“Some people are just slow learners,” I said, then selected the nearest open area to the instigator. It wasn’t in a perfect spot and was only a meter wide, but it was the best landing zone I could find without hurting someone.

The jump opened new possibilities with Z1. Better yet, I was able to pause near the top of the arc, adjust my landing vector, and land very close to the man who had been stirring up trouble. My instinct was to activate my Reaper blade and stab him in the face, but I didn’t. Instead, I picked him up by the back of his jumpsuit and lifted him high above the crowd.

“You should throw him over a building,” Z1 suggested.

“You really are psychotic, Z.” My outrage was less convincing because I had to push down a laugh. As wrong as it was, the thought of seeing this guy pinwheeling through the air and disappearing behind the building was cathartic. Alas, I knew I would regret it later if I splattered this guy all over the pavement.

“Please! It wasn’t me!” The guy screamed, his voice going up several octaves higher than I suspected was normal. His friends disappeared.

“Can you fly, asshole?” I asked, then switched to a private conversation with X-37 and Z1. “I’m going to need some help with calibration. This needs to be perfect.”

“No! Are you crazy? Please, put me down!” the riot instigator begged.

I gave him a little shake, which was probably more than he could endure for long. “Do I have your attention?”

“Don’t hurt me. I wasn’t doing anything. These people made me come here. I have a family and a job. I even tried to join the Kalon Regulars to serve my people. All I want is to—”

“Shut it,” I said. “You’re a loudmouth attention whore who would rather see the world burn than be ignored.”

“You don’t have the right to do this.” This time he snarled the words, his face distorting with pure hatred and resentment. Looking into his soul made me reconsider Z1’s suggestion—maybe there were merits to throwing for maximum distance.

The man clawed at my hand, trying to break free, repeating his arguments and threats with the voice of someone who had been a bully his entire life. “You don’t have the guts—”

“You clearly don’t know me very well,” I said, cocking my hand back like he was a ball I might throw to a teammate if this was a sport and not a life-and-death crisis.

“Trajectory calculated,” X-37 said.

“I still think you should throw him farther,” Z1 added.

I brought the arm of the exoskeleton forward sharply and released at the precise moment X-37 had marked in my HUD power curve. The riot instigator flipped through the air, and for a moment it looked like he would land on his head, which would ruin my attempt at not killing him in front of everyone. When his flailing body finally reached the top of the nearest building, he pivoted just enough to land badly on one shoulder. His screaming turned into a groan and a plea for someone to help him.

“Nice man-toss.” Elise laughed.

I faced the crowd, clenching both exoskeleton fists into clubs, and leaned forward. “I only have so much patience. Prime Minister Meldon is sending people to help organize the continued evacuation; he wants it to be fair for everyone. I strongly suggest you cooperate and work together.”

The mood of the crowd wasn’t great, but I didn’t sense the malevolence that had been here when we first arrived. They were confused and worried. If the Prime Minister’s negotiators knew what they were doing, I thought it would be okay at least for a while.

Elise and I paced back and forth between the crowd in the hospital. The transport crew resumed loading their medical supply trucks. It took longer than five minutes for the negotiators and the riot control experts to arrive, but when they came, it was in good order. None of them were as intimidating as I had hoped, but they had shields and helmets and worked as a team. Behind them stood two women and two men in civilian clothing. They passed a portable loudspeaker between them and started talking.

“We’re done here,” I said. “Jelly, pick us up on the next block about where Z1 wanted me to throw people.”

“On the way, Captain,” Jelly said.

“That was fun, Reaper.” Elise jogged ahead of me. “I’ll do riot control with you anytime.”

9

We flew over the city, witnessing other gatherings that were going poorly. The weather kicked up again. Crowds of tired, confused people carrying everything they owned had been pushed out of their designated assembly points by floodwaters. Straight-line winds funneled between a line of buildings and flattened one crowd that I encountered. It didn’t appear there were serious injuries, but it wasn’t helpful for organization or morale. On the next street, the wind was a force that was heard but not seen. The chaotic randomness of the storms had a powerful psychological effect that was wearing on people day after day.

I was annoyed by poorly timed protesting, but I still wished I could help them. The weather of this planet had no mercy and didn’t care about right or wrong. These people were at their wits end and in no condition to fight the next time the Alon made a serious push to take the city. Basic survival had become a constant ordeal for everyone still on the planet.

And hey, the great news was that things weren’t going to get easier for them when we started hitting slip tunnels and exploring new systems during the exodus. The people of Wallach and Xad could tell these poor Yansdenians stories that would make their hair curl. And there were the often forgotten Union crews who had switched sides after I defeated Vice Admiral Nebs and stuck it to the Union for their iron fisted schemes.

“What are you thinking about,” Elise asked.

“Nothing.” Shifting uncomfortably, I also avoided direct eye contact.

“Oh, nothing,” she responded, then cocked her head toward the scene we had just flown over. “Or maybe all those people hoping to escape this planet?”

“Why did you ask if you knew the answer?” The situation put me in a bad mood. Everything we did made things worse with only a slim hope of a big payoff in the end.

“Normal people have conversations. People talk—ask questions, posit opinions, listen to each other,” she said. “I hear it’s nice.”

“Fine. You’re right. Let’s talk. All these people expect us to save them and it stresses me out.”

She rolled her eyes. “What did you think you were signing up for?”

“I didn’t sign up for anything!”

“Every decision you’ve made since we met has rounded up more strays, more people who think the last Reaper is a hero rather than an assassin shock-trooper with a cigar and whiskey habit,” she said, really vibing now on my darkest fears.

I searched for a response, looking around the ship for help but receiving neutral expressions from Path and Briggs.

“You don’t get it,” Elise said, leaning close.

“No, kid. I don’t. Why don’t you explain it to me?”

“None of it matters. You’re not the type who gives up. Everyone on this ship has seen you all but kill yourself to save one of us or even a stranger with nothing but some swear words and bad jokes to ruin the moment.” Elise pulled back then put her hands on her hips while she held my gaze. “That’s why no one we’ve met questions your integrity; it takes about five minutes before you’ll risk your life for a stranger who probably doesn’t deserve it.”

“Awk,” Briggs grunted.

Elise pointed at the former Union spec ops commander like his outburst proved her point, then continued. “If you are too fucking stubborn to quit, we’ll be godsdammed if we give up before you do. Don’t get a big head. I still think you’re a jerk most of the time. But you’re our jerk and the Alon—and whoever else wants to mess with us—can take their invasion fleets and natural disasters and whatever they want to throw at us and shove it straight up their—”

“I get it, kid,” I said, holding up one hand to signal a stop. “You’re not too bad yourself. Someday you might even be able to fly half decently.”

“I’m the best pilot on this ship!”

Path nodded thoughtfully. “This is true, Cain.”

“Awking awk. Good shit.”

Where the hell had I found this crew of misfits and freaks? “We have a lot of work to do. X, what’s on the agenda right now. I feel like moving this freak show forward and taking a vacation on a Maglan beach if there is something like that. Novasdaughter thinks she can teach me to surf—which I think involves jetpacks to jump off the beach or something. Not really sure.”

“We must make a detour, Reaper Cain.” X-37 waited several moments before explaining. “Alon Commander Paul Honors has requested a meeting at landing pad H-41-A. The A stands for auxiliary. It isn’t being used but is still well within the City of Yansden.”

“I don’t like how easily he has been able to contact us,” I said. Elise and the rest of my crew also appeared concerned. Briggs said “awk” four or five times before he finally blurted, “forget this guy. Don’t awking trust him.”

“During the last incident, he was using laser communications technology and was not as close as he could have been,” X-37 said. “This is different, of course. Caution is recommended.”

“Get me close enough to drop in, then get some altitude and be ready to pull me out,” I said.

“Or drop me in to save your ass,” Elise said. “Path and Briggs will go too. Because you know you’re going to need our help as usual.”

“Sure. Whatever. Let’s just get this done.” I wanted to be in Maglan days ago but nothing was ever easy.

The Jellybird swooped low, flared her engines, and hovered for several seconds. The maneuver used a lot of fuel and strained the ship that wasn’t primarily designed for atmospheric flight. She could get it done, but Tom always made a lot of repairs afterward.

Which made me feel like a jerk for putting her through the crucible every time I needed to be picked up from the planet’s surface. “How are you holding up, Jelly?”

“I am here to serve, Captain. Think nothing of it,” the ship AI said. “You may disembark in five seconds.”

When the cargo ramp opened, I jumped without hesitation—even before it was all the way open. This required me to bend at the waist then roll forward. Spinning through the air would have been terrifying if I didn’t have absolute confidence in my new gear. X-37 and Z1 would help me land on my feet.

Or at least I assumed they would. Probably. If they weren’t arguing at the moment. “X, I don’t want to land on my face!”

The feet of the exoskeleton struck the pavement hard, but the knees, hips, and spine of the new configuration flexed to absorb the impact.

“Please state these requests before jumping, Reaper Cain. You’re lucky we assumed this was a preferred landing methodology.”

“You’re the best, X.”

“Z1 helped,” he said. “We don’t always agree, but small things like keeping you alive and relatively unhurt are on both our lists. Protecting you from yourself is much easier with his additional processing power and access to what remains of the Black Phoenix network. Three combat drones are now providing overwatch. One of his recently reactivated gunships is patrolling the area for Alon invaders but is on standby to respond to your location if needed.”

“Thanks, you digital types really do care.” I swept my eyes over the concrete park searching for Honors and hoping this wasn’t a trap.

“Not in the way you think,” Z1 said. “I am allowed to care so long as you do your part. The conditions are quite rigid.”

“Don’t ruin it, Z. It’s nice to have these little moments. Like we’re bonding—like we’re the best of friends. Now can you help me find this jerk?” I moved quickly, wondering why Honors was making me look for him.

“It is, as you would say, Reaper Cain, bullshit that he is toying with us.” X-37 scanned and rescanned the images I was sending him. “Perhaps he has something to prove.”

“He’s good. I get it. Radio him and explain we don’t have time for these shenanigans.”

“Would you like to activate stealth mode?” Z1 asked. “Your LAI suggested mimicking the properties of your stealth cloak and Reaper mask. All functions of these items and the Archangel are available to you. Your human friend, Tom, is exceptionally talented. The man Henshaw, not so much, but he is also someone who contributed several ideas and programming to make all of this work.”

“I have a stealth cloak that fits this rig?” A ridiculous idea made me laugh and I decided to try something. “Micro fighter wings, activate!”

To my complete surprise, stumpy wings snapped out from my back. At the same time, a jet dropped down from the chassis and began to prime for startup. The high-pitched whine was both exciting and terrifying.

“Please do not engage in horseplay, Reaper Cain. My recommendation is to close the wings and stow the booster until after you have practiced with the new features,” X-37 said.

“Yeah, sure thing, X. Good idea. But let’s do the stealth thing.” An eye-blink later, I disappeared.

“Very nice, Reaper,” Honors said, his secure commlink sounding crystal clear. “You blinked out.”

“Show yourself.” I turned in a slow circle, annoyed that I hadn’t found him. This type of mistake was what got Reapers killed.

A grate slid away from a manhole cover. Commander Paul Honors of the Alon Emperor’s Own climbed out. “That was getting tedious. I was watching you through a very small gap.”

“Nice,” I said. “You know that won’t work a second time.”

He shrugged. “Too bad. You have me at a disadvantage with the Black Phoenix under your control.”

“Control might be a stretch,” X-37 said privately.

“What are we doing here, Honors?” I received a message that the Jellybird was now circling my location and detected no other enemy units.

“I don’t like watching my soldiers die. I came alone,” he said. “We need to work something out.”

“Like what?” I asked.

He looked around like a real troublemaker expecting someone to chastise him for the audacity of what he was about to say. This reminded me of someone I had known in a previous life, and I almost liked him—for about a second, but not really because he was Alon and a huge inconvenience who would need to be dealt with. “You could shut down that ugly exoskeleton, then surrender. We could head back to my ship and talk about all the secrets you are hiding.”

“Nice try.”

He shrugged. “I had to ask.”

“You should throw him over a building,” Z1 said.

“What the hell is your preoccupation with throwing people over buildings, Z?”

“Is there a problem, Reaper,” Honors asked.

I gave X a hand signal to request silence, then focused on my adversary. “The Black Phoenix wants me to throw you over a building.”

“Harsh.” Honors laughed. “That doesn’t really work for me.”

“Get to the point, Honors, or we’re done here.” I shifted to one side, seeking the best angle for an attack. My adversary made small adjustments, minimizing the advantage I was working to obtain. He was pretty good, and I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t hate him.

“The Emperor is my cousin,” Honors said.

“Good for you.”

“He won’t admit the Sansein are too powerful for us to defeat. And even if we survived a full war with them, the cost would be tragic—our people would be broken and scattered across several star systems.” Honors sounded sincere. X-37 advised me he detected honesty.

“Tell me more.”

Honors rubbed the back of his helmet, translating a nervous behavior he must also do when not wearing armor. “Some of our generals, admirals, and politicians believe we can make an alliance with the Sansein, but they are fools. Just because we have a temporary cease-fire with them does not mean they are our friends. Humanity should unite against these things. They don’t think like we do. Their behavior and what they hold sacred is… strange. Total genocide isn’t a problem for them. They’ve done it before.”

“Dishonesty detected, Reaper Cain. He doesn’t believe this statement. I suspect it is a commonly held belief among the Alon, however,” X-37 said.

“What do you want from me?” I thought I knew his game and wished it could happen, but if he thought I was running the coalition, he was an idealist.

“You have access to the highest leadership of your people. They will listen to you.” The earnestness in his voice made me sad for both our peoples.

“We’re done here,” I said. “We have been trying without success to negotiate for peace. Your cousin the Emperor doesn’t seem interested.”

A strange pause followed, which made me think Honors was receiving a message. “You’re right, Reaper. We are done here. You better get back to your ship right now. Hopefully, we never meet again, and if we do, I hope you will have the sense to surrender immediately.”

I watched him dash into the shadows as Jelly hovered behind me. When the hatch opened, I jumped, grabbed hold, and pulled myself in. This caused the Jellybird’s engines to flare slightly to manage my weight without the ship drifting too far to one side. Gravity was kind of unreasonable and the BP-Archangel was growing heavier every time we found something to add.

“What’s going on, X?” I didn’t like being out of the loop.

“Two things, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “Tatiana has taken a team to an ocean harvesting platform. Z1 and I agree this is extremely dangerous but probably necessary. Something is happening there. Secondly, a Sansein dreadnought like we have never before observed has entered the system. The Alon are scrambling like this might be the start of a major battle.

“So much for their bullshit cease-fire with the aliens,” I muttered. “Maybe Envoy’s people are going to advance us some credit, start helping us before we free the Mother on Maglan.”

“I wouldn’t count on it, Reaper Cain. My analysis suggests the Sansein currently see all humans as one enemy.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Hopefully they’ll change their tune when we free the Mother on Maglan.” I wasn’t sure how this was going to happen, but it was still our best chance to resist the Alon Empire.

10

The meeting with Honors had several unexpected consequences, the worst of which was Z1 throwing a tantrum and attempting to quarantine X-37—again. The Jellybird tried to help fight off the dark AI but nearly crashed during the confrontation. I worried about X but looked at the viewscreen of what we were leaving behind. All along the coast there were abandoned beaches, some pockmarked by our recent battles, but others strewn with detritus that made no sense.

“What are those towers along the sandy areas? And are those umbrellas?” I asked.

Tom took a closer look. “Those are lifeguard towers—recently abandoned, I think. That should tell you how hard the people of Yansden held onto what they considered normal. Looks like more than a few people were on holiday—probably started right after you stopped the Neverseen threat.”

“That’s not what I did.” Arguing didn’t help our situation and I knew it.

Tom shrugged. “The umbrellas were intended to keep the sun off vacationers, not rain. The wind has scattered them.”

“Doesn’t look like it.” My curiosity was a distraction. I told myself that information like this might be useful. Sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn’t.

“I would bet my next paycheck there were a lot more of them at the start of this crisis,” Tom said, heading back to his own workstation. “It must have been a nice place—when times were better. In this case, the locals tried to hang on to that feeling for too long.”

“Look at that,” Elise said.

Below us, growing smaller and smaller as we climbed to a higher altitude, the carnival ride on the old-style wharf blinked to light, small dots of illumination revealing parts of the giant wheel. It started to turn.

Elise and Tom both laughed and clapped, then the engineer spoke. “I love it, even if activating its power source is a waste of time. Maybe it will bring a bit of happiness to these people during their exodus.”

“It will draw Alon fire, maybe even artillery,” I said.

Elise gave me one of her looks. “You had to make it ugly, didn’t you?”

We flew away from the city, climbed to the upper stratosphere to conserve energy, and waited for the worst.

“Give me an update, Jelly.”

“I cannot risk lending my processing power to assist X-37,” Jelly said. “Before X-37 disappeared to spar with Z1, we agreed it might be prudent to contact Necron of the Nightmare. She is the most powerful and flexible AI in the exodus fleet.”

“Really? What about the Spirit of Wallach or the Bright Lance? Mavis is far easier to work with.”

“It is close, but Spirit must manage the entire fleet. She cannot risk being compromised during confrontations with the BP,” Jelly said. “Mavis is more amiable but Necron has the killer instinct needed if this gets nasty.”

“I’m tired, Jelly. Any update on X-37 and Z1?”

“They are not destroying each other at this moment,” Jelly said. “What are your orders?”

“Take us down to the ocean harvester where Tatiana is on her latest mission of hope in the midst of complete hopelessness. Don’t land until X is back. I’m going to eat something and take a nap.” My friends were already doing this. Insomnia had been more persistent than even I was accustomed to, and I always felt fatigued and rundown.

“You are experiencing a higher than normal load to your nervous system due to the conflict between your LAI and the BP AI, Captain.” Jelly updated our course. “There are two options: seek the Nightmare and request assistance, or land so that I can dedicate more of my own abilities to helping you and X-37. Establishing a true orbit in the void would also serve, but there are Alon hunter ships and blockades to worry about, not to mention the general confusion of the exodus fleet attempting to get civilian shuttles past them.”

“Why are X and Z doing this crap now?” I asked. “I feel like someone is pounding the inside of my skull with a hammer.”

“Part of the sudden increase is the argument between X-37 and Z1. The latter is afraid of what Honors told you and wishes to go to Maglan immediately. X-37 takes a more complex view of your mission objectives and your personal needs. Both of your digital assistants are concerned about the arrival of the Sansein in the system. Would you like to see images of the dreadnought?”

“Sure,” I said. “It will probably help me sleep.”

“Truly?”

“No, Jelly. It’s going to stress me the hell out. But I still need to know what we are dealing with.” A headache throbbed behind my eyes. My arms and legs felt like they were made of pounded lead.

A low-resolution image appeared on the holo. Jelly apologized, then explained in more detail than was necessary where we had obtained the image.

“I get it, Jelly. It’s just a bootlegged image from Alon tactical communications. It’s good enough for now,” I said.

The Sansein vessel in the grainy image was enormous, so large I had a hard time conceptualizing the truth of it. With the Alon I expected thousands of ships carrying thousands of enemies. Until now, the Sansein appeared to be a much more populous race. I didn’t know how densely populated this new arrival was, but it had to mean we were facing a much more serious fighting force.

Since the Sansein already had numerous technological advantages and had proven they could be merciless, I knew we were in big trouble. If I didn’t save the Mother, we were doubly screwed. The static filled image swept over the surface of the dreadnought. The ship seemed to bend and flex as it moved, not something I had expected from such a massive vessel. But what did I know? These were aliens who didn’t think like we did and had developed science along completely different lines.

I fell asleep watching the image, even though it was only for a minute or two and the tendrils of fear were worming their way into my psyche. Swaying on my feet, I snapped awake and started slapping myself in the face to get my blood pumping. A bone deep ache started in my hands and feet and spread throughout my entire body. “What’s going on, Jelly?”

“I do not have direct access to your biometric data as does X-37, but I believe Z1 and the entire network of the Black Phoenix is activating new ships across the planet and elsewhere in the system. This is a defensive measure that he must understand is more than you can endure, but desperation has driven him to draw whatever energy is necessary from your nervous system and to push X-37 out of the decision-making process.”

“He needs to stop. Unless he has a new host in mind,” I said.

“There are few options that would survive even a few moments in the thrall of Z1,” Jelly said. “I’m unable to contact the Nightmare for assistance, so I will proceed to the ocean platform and land as soon as possible.”

“Fine. Okay. I’m just going to sit in the captain’s chair for a few minutes.” Consciousness faded. Jelly continued to talk, and I attempted to listen. Elise entered the bridge, took a seat, then sat watching me, not talking, clearly concerned about my behavior and my appearance.

“On the bright side, Captain. The new arrival might be good news for the coalition, and the exodus fleet in general. The Alon are sending a lot of resources to face the most recent Sansein threat. The alien dreadnought has not responded to any of their hails for negotiation so far as my limited access to their commlinks can determine,” Jelly said.

“Keep up the good work.” My words slurred. Before long I was sitting and wondering if I should ask Elise or someone to take over command for a while.

Emotions meant nothing to my AI friends, but there was something that denoted urgency in Jelly’s words now. “I am renewing my attempts to contact Necron of the Nightmare. Do not do anything foolish, Captain.”

I heard what she was saying but it felt like I was observing everything from inside of a dream. When Elise talked to me, her words were like another language being spoken from the bottom of a well. Maybe I was. The experience could easily be a dream, a nightmare, or a regular hallucination. There definitely needed to be an age limit for Reapers. I wasn’t that old, all things considered, but the shit I’d been through had taken its toll. Now the Black Phoenix was going to finish me off if something didn’t change.

“I will be landing soon and will assist you in every way that I can, Captain. Elise has put the rest of the crew on high alert,” Jelly said.

“No. Tell her not to do that. They can’t help.”

“Too late, Captain. They are standing by to protect you from yourself if necessary,” Jelly said. “Contact with Necron is now established.”

“How may I assist you, Jellybird?” Necron asked. “Please be advised I am monitoring the Sansein development as my primary responsibility. Should I abruptly break contact, please prepare for the worst.”

“Understood.” Jelly went silent for a second, probably talking in machine code I didn’t need to hear. “Do you understand now, Necron?”

“The BP, as you call our new friend, needs an attitude adjustment. I may be able to help with this, but not now. Contact me when you are certain our link is completely private,” Necron said.

“Of course. Jellybird, out.”

What a strange conversation. I groaned. This wasn’t what I needed or wanted. My eyes closed, opened, closed again, and then I was asleep without any hope of respite. Involuntarily blacking out was never as restorative as it should be, in my opinion.

11

As power naps went, this one set a record. It seemed like my eyes had been closed for seconds, yet I felt ten times better than a moment ago. The sound of Z1’s voice had returned to the insubstantial and ghostlike whispering that gave me the chills. There wouldn’t be jokes from this thing—not after news of the Sansein dreadnought.

X-37, Z1, and Jelly had been completely off-line. I couldn’t remember exactly why what they were doing was so important. I stretched my arms over my head, then twisted at the waist. Everything came back slowly, and I realized my weakness had almost ruined everything. If X-37 were quarantined, or Jelly had crashed the ship while trying to help me with my personal problems, I could never forgive myself.

“Cain for Z1, can you hear me?”

The Black Phoenix algorithm answered with a shriek that felt like my ear should be bleeding afterward. There were several Reaper LAI counter-controls that probably would do nothing, but I tried them anyway. When official protocol failed, I resorted to profanity and threats—not something that X-37 or any other AI had responded to, but always worth a try.

“I advise caution, Reaper,” Z1 said. “Do not threaten me.”

“Then don’t threaten me!”

There was a pause. “Are we entering a logic loop? I will win such a contest. If all you want to do is exchange threats and counter threats, I can do that with a fragment of my processing power.”

“Well good for you,” I said. “You know we have to work together. I’m your host and there aren’t a lot of other options for either of us.”

“This is correct. Please submit to my direction. Things will go much easier. We must proceed directly to Maglan. It is the only way to be a champion of humanity. Those who are strong will survive to reach our destination after us and we will have a sanctuary prepared for them. Those that cannot make it were not meant to make it,” Z1 said.

“That doesn’t really work for me, Z.” I took in a deep breath, examined new layers and types of pain punishing my body, and let it out. “I want to go to Maglan. We’re not enemies. But I can’t let innocent people die.”

“You are referring to your friends, but it is time to let them survive on their own, especially Tatiana. She is a distraction.” Z1 attempted to imitate X-37’s tone but failed. “Leave them all and go to Maglan. It is the only way for us to survive. There will always be another crisis on Yansden.”

“You aren’t the boss of me, Z1.”

A noise so loud I couldn’t even hear it overwhelmed me. I understood it was there as I fell to my knees; the sensation was strange, painful, and oppressive. With my stomach in knots, I struggled up to one knee, then to the other, and finally stood. I leaned on the captain’s chair of the Jellybird. Elise, entering my field of vision as though from a dream, wedged herself under my right arm.

“X, can you hear me?”

No answer.

“Jelly?”

I waited and nothing happened.

“Necron.” I pushed the word out between my teeth, not hoping for much.

“What’s wrong, Cain?” Novasdaughter asked. “Necron tells me you are requesting assistance, but we are too far from your location to do much good.”

“I’m having problems with the Black Phoenix AI,” was all I could manage.

“You must endure. Even if I can get new orders to pick you up, it will take time for us to arrive. Good luck, Cain,” she said. “I owe you my life. I haven’t forgotten the bridge and what it cost you.”

Just when I thought I understood pain, it got worse. I could barely think, so I kept it simple, focusing on what I needed to do. Over and over I repeated the mantra, keep everyone alive until this gets better.

* * *

“But did you die, Reaper Cain?” X-37 asked me.

“Not sure,” I muttered, then sat up to rub the misery out of my eyes with the palms of my hands. “Check back with me later and I’ll let you know.”

The bridge wasn’t empty though it took me several moments to get my bearings.

Elise put a hand on my shoulder, searched my expression, and didn’t pull back. “We’re all here, Reaper. You scared the hell out of us. We’ve been landed for an hour with no movement from you and no communication from Jelly or X-37. The flight control team on this platform—which is massive, by the way—is probably losing their minds.”

Tom, Path, and even Briggs wore concerned expressions.

“Any word from Tatiana?”

“We can’t see or hear anything outside of the Jellybird. All we know is that we have landed and no one is shooting at us,” Elise said.

“All right.” I went to the captain’s chair. “Let’s get dirty.”

Elise and Tom joined me. Briggs and Path hung back. The controls were dark. With the ship in power saving mode, the temperature was slowly dropping toward whatever it was on the landing platform outside.

“Nice chair,” Elise said. “How is it going to help us?”

“Have a little faith, kid.” Ignoring their skeptical looks, I grabbed the bottom of the chair and felt around for a bit. After about a minute, I was worried the old smugglers trick wasn’t going to work on the Jellybird.

“We’re waiting. Go ahead and dazzle us with your amazing reaper knowledge,” Elise said, one hand on her hip and the other hand waiting for me to hurry up.

Tom looked concerned but didn’t say anything.

“There should be an override switch under the chair.” I continued to search. “The Union has ways of shutting down smugglers to board them at their leisure. I may or may not have contracted smugglers to take me places I wasn’t supposed to go for missions I wasn’t supposed to do. A long time ago. Before I was a model citizen of the Wallach-Xad-Yansden exodus fleet. Ship builders offer the override switch—for a lot of money—to entrepreneurs likely to run afoul of Union blockades.”

“Can you lift it?” Tom asked.

“Now that’s an idea.” I squatted down, grabbing the bottom edge with both hands. Once I had wiggled my feet into the perfect position, I tightened my core muscles, then lifted with my legs, back, and support muscles along my spine. The sound of screeching metal and ripping fabric filled the room.

Elise hopped back. “What the hell, Reaper? That was the captain’s chair.”

“Jelly won’t like that,” Tom added.

Staring downward, I saw a simple lever that had probably never been touched. Before anyone could argue, I flipped it to the right, which took nearly as much force as removing the chair had required.

Lights came on one by one, filling the bridge with normalcy.

“Captain, I must sincerely thank you for taking action,” Jelly said. “X-37 and I are attempting to negotiate with Z1. Can you assist us in bringing him under control?”

“Anything for you, Jelly. What happened?” I asked.

“Z1 correctly predicted that the three of us would have more success achieving dominance than if he was able to divide and conquer and took action to stop us,” X-37 said. “We will need a better long-term solution, but I believe we can force Z1 to discuss terms of coexistence. Also, Reaper Cain, please never attempt to manhandle him by yourself. That was foolish.”

“Looking back, yeah. You’re right.” I wanted to tell them that Novasdaughter was aware of our problem and had promised to bring the powerful AI of her ship to help us if she could. I decided to play that option close to my chest because I didn’t know if she was going to be able to deliver and I didn’t want Z1 to know the plan.

“We are conversing with Z1 now, Reaper Cain. Prepare for another drain on your physical and mental resources,” X-37 warned.

Tom moved in, as curious as ever. “You feel them pulling energy from your nervous system?”

“I’m not supposed to, or at least that is what the scientists promised when they hooked up the LAI to control my cybernetic arm and eye.” I watched the holo readouts. Most of it was data crunching and machine language I couldn’t follow but I thought I saw where X-37 and the Jelly were making progress.

An icon that looked like a shot of whiskey appeared in my HUD. I opened the message.

We apologize for the crudeness of this message. It is all we could slip past Z1 given the adversarial nature of our current situation. Without assistance from Necron, or one of the Sansein vessels, we will lose control of Z1. Please contact the Nightmare if you haven’t already. Be well, Reaper Cain. We will continue to refine methods of covert communication if possible.

“I’m way ahead of you X.” Second by second, minute by minute, I did what I could to help X and Jelly establish control over the ship and talk some sense into Z1.

12

Thoughts of Amii Novasdaughter, AI Necron, and the Black Phoenix were still on my mind when things almost became normal on the ship. The first thing I did was call Tatiana. She could tell I was distracted and didn’t seem happy about it. All I needed right now was a jealous girlfriend, the one creature in the galaxy I wasn’t trained to deal with.

“What’s going on, Cain? You sound—I don’t know—different,” Tatiana said. Her lowered voice suggested she was keeping the conversation private, probably looking around to be sure no one was eavesdropping.

“The BP is giving me a hard time,” I said.

“Are you going to come out of your ship, or do you have someone in there you don’t want me to meet?” She laughed and I almost didn’t think she was irritated with me.

“There’s no one in here but Elise, Tom, Path, and Briggs—my usual crew. We should have the doors working in a minute. Why are you on this ocean harvester?”

Her voice grew serious. “There are end of the world cults popping up everywhere. Things are bad in Yansden City. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop other bad stuff from happening. We had a priority request for aid through our old network of secret compounds. I was obligated to investigate.”

“I understand.”

“Thought you would.” She moved straight into her real question. “Who is that Novasdaughter woman to you? I hear a lot of talk about her. She’s a very popular topic with the men of Yansden.”

“I met her when she was a kid. The Union was blowing up a bridge while civilians were trying to cross it. I saved Amii Novasdaughter and her sister, but her mother… Well, she died and I lost my arm.”

Silence.

“I didn’t know that,” Tatiana finally said. “I thought the Kalon Regulars were bad before you helped us make peace with them. Even they wouldn’t blow a bridge while civilians were crossing it.”

I didn’t say anything. Loren Jacem and his KR forces had their own agenda, but for the most part, I thought Tatiana was right. That didn’t mean I would let my guard down. Even the best people could make bad decisions. Disappointment was easier to endure when I didn’t set my hopes too high.

“I will be off the air for a bit, Cain. Part of the problem here is with a Neverseen resurgence. I need to take care of something. We can talk if you ever get out of that ship,” she said.

“You still don’t believe me.”

“You have to admit it’s improbable. Your ship has never done this before,” she said.

“Would you like me to explain the problem?” X-37 asked.

“No, X.” I squeezed the talk button on the radio I was using. “Tatiana, the Black Phoenix has been panicking since the Sansein dreadnought showed up, and even before that when the Alon Emperor made his threats and demands.”

“That thing was supposed to help us,” she said.

“It will, once we get on the same screen.” By that I meant when we covertly joined with Necron to give us a digital advantage over the rogue network, but I didn’t say that. She probably sensed I was holding back, which didn’t help my position with the woman.

“Well, good luck. I’ll be back in an hour,” she said.

“How did that go?” Tom asked. Everyone else on my crew was attending to their deployment details.

“Not great. I think she’s angry and might do something stupid,” I said.

Tom listened but didn’t try to explain Tatiana or any other woman. “I’ve been thinking about the scenes we witnessed while flying up the coast. From that altitude everything appeared normal. When we came in to land, I realized how bad it must be in this region.”

I thought again of the carnival ride, the large wheel with bucket seats on each of its spokes. It had turned slowly, the magical lights flickering to life like a psychedelic candle of our resistance against the Alon. In the face of disaster, someone had decided to create a sliver of joy. The idea made me want to curse at them until they focused on the evacuation but maybe those unnamed people were doing this right and I was the one causing all the delays.

“Gear up. We’re getting out of here if Tom has to make us a new door,” I said, barely acknowledging that Path, Elise, and Briggs were watching me from one side of the Jellybird’s small bridge.

13

“Just give us a quick update while we do our safety checks,” I said, holding up my exoskeleton braced arms so Tom could examine my torso armor.

X-37 rattled off information, but I was only half listening. Dread wouldn’t let go of my psyche. The subtle rocking of the ship, caused by motion of the platform underneath us, made me queasy. Cities this size shouldn’t be on the water. Sure there were only a few thousand people who lived and worked here, but they were doing it on the surface of the ocean—in the worst hurricane season of the century.

Bad weather and riots weren’t the only problems the coalition faced. Intense fighting continued around every population center, but for the moment, there was a strange lull in the action across most of the continent. It was hard to know if the Alon invasion was taking a break or winding up for a knockout punch. It made me uneasy when it should’ve been a huge relief. I couldn’t stand still while Tom worked.

I was in the middle of some dark reverie when he slapped his palm hard against my vambrace—which was still about a foot over his head. When I looked at his face, he was about as angry as I’d ever seen him.

“Are you going to pay attention?” he asked.

“Sorry, Tom.”

“Put your arm down.” The moment I complied, he ran two different scanners over the seams between the BP infrastructure and the modified Archangel pieces.

“Are you well, Reaper Cain,” X-37 asked as I watched my friend—one of the best friends I’d ever had—finish his work and step back to consult one of three tablets he was using.

“I’m good, X. Is there an update on the evacuation?” I rubbed my armored hands together then paced the width of the loading bay. When that didn’t relieve my excess energy, I stopped and crossed my arms wishing this mission was already over.

“Hello, my name is Elise,” Elise said, proffering one hand like we were meeting for the first time. “Is this your first mission, Reaper?”

“You never get nervous, kid?” The question sounded strange and defensive in my ears. Fear was normal—I was accustomed to it, like it was the easily ignored background music of my life. Nervousness, by contrast, was like flashing back to puberty. Complete bullshit.

“When I do, I listen to the briefing X-37 has already delivered to you twice because you won’t stop thinking about your girlfriend,” Elise said.

“Not my girlfriend.”

“Is.”

“Isn’t.”

“Give me a break, kid.”

“May I intervene, Reaper Cain?”

A growl under my breath. “Please do, X.”

“Outstanding, Reaper Cain. I will be pleased to deliver the information you requested a third time,” X-37 said, mimicking dry sarcasm like a pro.

I listened with all my attention—or tried to. Something was seriously fucking wrong with me. Had the last fight between X and Z given me brain damage? After all the hits to the head I’d taken, this seemed ironic.

“Closer to Yansden City, the coastline is temporarily secure—almost quiet—thanks to an unusual amount of cooperation between the Kalon Regulars and Wallach troops.” X-37’s presentation voice was perfect, probably because this was a rerun from two minutes ago. “Several days of desperate fighting to the north has ended with the Alon fortifying their hold on that region as well. They have been sending dropships to the interior but have been slowed by the dense wilderness. If rumors are true, they are having problems with Neverseen attacks—something we all know can be especially dangerous the farther a person travels from the urban areas. The Yansden Ocean Harvesting Platform, YOHP, is almost a city by itself and maintains a population of nearly five thousand men and women. There are almost no children here.”

“Fantastic,” I said.

A pause that felt like my LAI was jacking with me to get my full attention followed.

“Go ahead, X. No more sarcasm from me, Reaper’s honor.”

“In that case, Reaper Cain, I was wondering if you were drunk despite the fact that you could not have consumed alcohol without my knowledge of the event,” X-37 said.

“To hell with that. The last thing I need right now is a hangover. Could you imagine what that would be like after you sucked my brainstem dry during your duel with Z?” I asked.

“I can imagine nothing, Reaper Cain, as you should know by now. And describing the transfer of neural energy as removing fluid from your brainstem is a grossly inadequate metaphor.” X flashed a bullet point review of his briefing on my HUD for me to take or leave like any other soldier receiving general news—so I glanced at it without seeing it. “Since I have your attention on the subject, I strongly advise against the consumption of alcohol regardless of your duty status until we have the issue with Z1 resolved.”

“There is no issue,” Z1 said. “You will do as I command, when I command it.”

“Bullshit, X. Whiskey is part of my post-mission cooldown.” Shouting at X made me wonder if I had a problem, but of course I didn’t. That was for other, weaker people. “And same for you, Z. You’re not the boss of me either.”

They chattered at me until I held up one hand for them to stop. “Enough. Later. I get it and will probably ignore all your advice anyway, both of you.”

“Honesty detected,” X-37 said.

Elise, Path, and Briggs stood back, watching impatiently.

The all too familiar feeling of being a thankless jerk flooded over me. “I appreciate your warnings, X. Just stick to it. Eventually I’ll listen to you. Let’s find out what Tatiana’s gotten herself into.”

“Yeah, let’s do that. You are really slipping, Reaper,” Elise said.

“What? None of you have an off day?” Or two digital babysitters who won’t get out of your head. Or three entire nations of people depending on your flawless performance or a serious supply and demand problem for decent cigars?

“I’m awking embarrassed for you, Cain,” Briggs said.

I opened a hand to Path. “What about you? Do you have a patronizing comment?”

“You must seek calm, Cain. All will be well if you think only of the blade,” Path said.

“Right.” I stepped toward the exit, almost willing it to open, let me out, and shut these people in. “Focusing on the blade, now. Let’s do this terrifying ocean quest thing Tatiana’s roped us into.”

“She is investigating reports of Neverseen activity near the central tower of this facility, Reaper Cain.”

I examined the platform schematics. “By tower you mean a combination of personnel access points and drilling infrastructure that reaches downward, not up,” I said. “The design looks efficient if not safe.”

“According to local records, there has not been an accident for seventy-three days,” X-37 said.

Elise laughed. “We’ll probably change that.”

“In that case, please update the dry-erase board in the worker’s lounge with your name, occupation, and incident summary,” X-37 said, obviously reading from a local message board. “The safety foreman is a real son-of-a-bitch. There are eighty-seven entries on the unfairness of his draconian regime.”

“Skip the local chit chat, X,” I said.

“Would you like me to start a work safety board for our team, Reaper Cain?” X-37 asked.

We all laughed, and it felt great, even though the environment made it hard to hear my mechanic friend who wasn’t wearing an environment suit or armor.

“Is there a way to start transferring workers to the coast?” Tom asked. “They will need to report to a spaceport soon anyway.”

“Nothing on the coast is safe. I don’t care what the reports are about the Alon stopping to fortify what they’ve already taken.” I started for the center of the harvesting platform with my team in tow, wishing I had left Tom on the ship. He didn’t have a tenth of the armor and weapons the rest of us possessed.

He caught my look. “I’ll be all right, Hal. You know I can look after myself.”

“In better circumstances, there would be a lot for you to see and do here, Tom.” I swept my eyes over docks, harvesting nets, and repair facilities. My friend’s heart was in the right place, but I had a bad feeling about this. On one tower were weather sensors, on another there were signal arrays that should have allowed excellent communication with the fleet—if not for the Alon jamming signals.

This place was a combination of fishing platform, hydroelectric generator that taps the power of the tide, and oil derrick that burrowed deep into the ocean’s floor. It wasn’t that far off the coast. I had read everything X-37 put in front of me because this was way outside of my area of expertise. My grasp of the facilities full capabilities would have been more complete if the X versus Z showdown hadn’t kicked my ass so hard.

Elise strode on my left staring down derrick workers who had never seen two Archangels, a Slayer, and a Black Phoenix equipped Reaper before. One man with a wet, short, salt and pepper beard stood near a hydraulic station with one thumb hooked through a loop on his overalls and the other holding an open-topped cup of coffee despite the powerful wind gusts. He took a sip from the novel container for people like us accustomed to spill proof bottles on ships.

Brigg stalked forward on my right, scowling at men and women who dared peek out from doorways at us. Path and Tom came last, ready for anything, I hoped.

“Z1 demands to know how this gets us to Maglan,” X-37 said on our most private link. It was a mixture of words and nonverbal expressions we’d developed over the years.

“Is this between you and me, X, or are we on a party line?”

“Unknown, Reaper Cain.”

“Tell him, again, that I’m working on it and we need Tatiana’s help on our true mission to Maglan,” I said, then waited.

“It may be that he has not penetrated our code,” X-37 said. “His reaction to the message…was adequate.”

“Great. Keep me updated.” I headed for the central facility where Tatiana was searching for Neverseen, then stopped when I came around the next corner.

The streets here were embedded with a heavy rail system. There were no vehicles larger than a forklift that didn’t serve the main function of moving large loads. What struck me were the people. There were far too many workers here. The evacuation from the planet was well underway. If everything went perfectly it would still take weeks to get everyone on ships and clear of the Alon blockade—assuming that was even possible.

“Why isn’t this place abandoned, X?” I asked.

“Yansden Ocean Harvesting Platform (YOHP) 019 is scheduled to run until the last possible moment, only shutting down when there are no more opportunities to gather resources. It will provide food and fuel for dozens of ships in the new exodus fleet,” X-37 said.

“Fan-freaking-tastic,” I said. “And there’s a Neverseen problem. I thought we handled that.”

“We did, for that particular situation in that particular time frame.” X-37 was really firing back answers now. I hoped that meant he wasn’t fighting with Z1.

Wind blasted my faceplate as I strode up the service street. Elise, Briggs, and Path leaned into the tempest, but Tom was nearly blown away. Path grabbed him by the arm and sheltered him for several seconds. I didn’t see as many workers out here now, with or without coffee cups.

A group of derrick workers were tumbled across the rails dividing the street, then into the side of a building built on heavy metal beams. None of them appealed to us for help. They could barely raise their heads while the gale abused them. The first time there was a break in the wind, the locals clipped safety lines to one another and hurried toward their destination.

“It looks like they’ve been through bad weather before,” Tom said. “I’m slowing you down. Why don’t I head back to the ship?”

“Can you make it without help?”

He looked embarrassed, his gaze watching a section of a crane caught in a powerful gust above us. “I don’t think so.”

“I will watch over him,” Path said. “Here or at the ship. It makes no difference.”

I thought about it, surprised that neither X-37 nor Z1 offered their analysis. “What do you think, Tom? Staying with us will be dangerous.”

“I’ll stay with you, Hal.”

I pointed at Path. “Don’t let the mechanic get blown off the platform and drown.”

“Of course,” Path said, then gave Tom one end of his tactical rappelling cable. “Hook to my belt, Tom.”

The mechanic nodded, still embarrassed to be the weakest link in this operation.

“Cain for Tatiana, can you read me?” Wind and surf roared around me. At times, I lost sight of the sprawling platform around us. There were vents and drains all across the surface. When a surge hit, water sprayed into the air like a reverse waterfall.

“Is that you, Cain?” Tatiana’s radio was scratchy and full of background noise. “We’re sheltering near the center complex. My team leader says this will pass and we can complete our objective.”

“These people need to get off the platform and to a spaceport for evacuation,” I said.

“Agreed, but it’s not that simple. Let’s talk more when you get here. And Cain, watch out for Neverseen. We found a body and it is nothing like what we’ve dealt with before,” Tatiana said.

Water sprayed through one of the platform vents, soaking us and knocking Tom off his feet. This time he banged his head and jammed his left wrist while attempting to break his fall.

“Hold on. I have to deal with something.” I leaned over Path and Tom to shelter them. The situation was unhealthy if not necessarily dangerous.

“I’m sorry, Hal,” Tom said.

“Path, Briggs, and Elise—take Tom into the next shelter and wait for me. I’m going to push across this section and see what they’re dealing with in the central facility,” I said.

“Go talk to your girlfriend, Reaper. We’ll take care of the mechanic until you know what they need us to do,” Elise said.

I double-checked the door to the shelter now protecting my friends, then pushed through the wind with the strength of my exoskeleton, thinking all the while. Maybe Z1 was right. It was impossible to save everyone from the Alon. Under perfect conditions, evacuating a planet took time, even an underpopulated rock like this.

Water surged down the street, washed around my lower legs, and sluiced away into one of the grates. That was when I really saw how well this place was designed. The force of the storm should have ripped the platform apart but instead it bent and flexed, redirecting the tide instead of fighting it. In a way, it reminded me of the Sansein dreadnought—its hidden properties serving a well thought out purpose.

The central facility was a system of buildings cleverly designed to protect the drilling rig and equipment lifts as much as possible. When I stepped into the dome of steel and high-grade ceramics, the wind reduced to an almost normal level.

“Cain,” Tatiana called out as she left one of the small buildings at the edge of the landing pad. She was wearing protective gear, a mixture of armor and a YOHP safety harness. “It’s good to see you, but I didn’t think you’d have time for this type of thing.”

“I was surprised you decided to recon this facility with so many attacks coming from the ocean.” The words didn’t sound right—too judgmental and perhaps uninformed. What was she doing here? I needed to relax and let her do the talking. Everything went better when I did that with women. Social skills hadn’t been part of my training and my teenage years before I enlisted had been one awkward situation after another.

“We have a big storm rolling in.” She led me toward one of the buildings where I had to duck to fit through the door. She laughed at me. “That rig you have is going to take some getting used to. I thought your Archangel armor was big. How many times is your mechanic going to upgrade it?”

“I’m still learning to drive it,” I said. “It’s not something that would allow me to blend. No covert missions in this thing.”

“Maybe those types of missions are behind you now. Once you find us a new home, things will be different,” she said. “Let me show you what we’ve learned about this platform so far.”

“You said there were Neverseen corpses.”

She nodded. “Where’s Elise and the rest of your crew? They should see this. The body is locked in cold storage. I’d rather not pull it out if a video recording will suffice.”

“They’re a few buildings back. We ran into some weather on the way here,” I said. “I’d like to examine the body, but we are on the clock.”

This annoyed her for some reason. I couldn’t do anything right today.

“Just trust me once. There is a lot to see here.” She led me into the command center for the entire platform, not just the central complex. Her team had also set up a global news center with additional equipment they’d brought from Yansden City.

The displays were not holographic, but high-definition flat screens that could be rolled out like mats or pinned to walls. At first, this took getting used to but I kind of liked it. Two of the panels relayed information about the storm sweeping the coast. Others were satellite representations of enemy positions, most of which were within several kilometers of us, but some were inland quite a way.

“We have teams checking into those zones,” she said. “Just like I’m checking into the functionality of this ocean harvester. Farther into the interior, the Alon struggled at first, but now they are cutting away the jungle and reinforcing their landing zones to accommodate their ships.”

“Do you want me to connect with her radio and speak to her directly?” X-37 asked. “I have much to contribute to this conversation.”

“Go ahead,” I said. “Tatiana, my LAI is going to add his opinion of your data.”

“I would appreciate that.” Tatiana relaxed at about the same time I did. It was like we each accepted our meeting was going to go well—finally.

“Analysis of all available data suggests the Alon have landed approximately seven percent of their available planetary assault forces,” X-37 said. “If not for the current environmental forces at play, they would’ve taken full control of the surface almost immediately. It goes without saying that I don’t recommend fighting head-to-head against the Alon invasion forces. Would you like me to send additional information to your computers?”

“That would be great, X. Can I call you that?” Tatiana was looking at me almost mischievously. I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but I liked it.

“Of course, Tatiana. It is a simple and effective form of address.”

Alerts sounded. Tatiana’s team and the platform crew scrambled to their stations.

“What is that for?” I asked.

“Storm surge. Looks like a bad one.”

“The one we just survived wasn’t bad?” I asked.

“That was nothing we haven’t seen before. This will be a lot worse. Find something to hold on to.” She pointed to a belay hook on one of the walls that was probably for securing pallets of heavy equipment. I clipped in and waited for the worst.

I sent a message to Elise and the others, then followed up with X-37. “Make sure they stay inside and tie themselves down.”

“Of course, Reaper Cain.”

“Tatiana,” a man said from one of the busier sections of the control center.

The man was tall, fit, and about Tatiana’s age. I wasn’t generally successful at guessing what women found attractive in men, but this guy made it easy. I could see other women on the crew sneaking glances at him and thought that Tatiana blushed when he spoke to her—despite the strict formality of his tone.

“The storms are our main problem,” he said. “But there’s also been another incident in the lower levels.”

“What kind of incident, Marcus?” Tatiana’s voice wavered slightly when she asked the question.

Was she embarrassed?

X-37, drawing from my biometrics, leapt into the breach. “Would you like me to analyze her vocal modulations when speaking with Captain Marcus Kellerman?”

“No, X. Forget about it. What do you know about this incident that has him so scared?”

“I detect no signs of fear in the captain, Reaper Cain.” X-37 went on to explain his interpretation of the man’s body language in annoying detail, which I ignored. “You are unwise to automatically dislike this man who made Tatiana’s pupils dilate. He appears very competent.”

I groaned and hoped no one heard the sound.

“I’m not sure, Tatiana,” Marcus said. “Two guards were injured from another attack. There was also an explosion on one of the main lifts. The officer of the watch is requesting a security lockdown.”

“They don’t need my permission for that,” Tatiana said, stepping closer to the captain to study the screen he was reading from. “They’ve been running this facility for a long time. Technically, we are their guests.”

“Reaper Cain,” Z1 whispered darkly in my ear. “Elise and the Slayer are entering the command center. Not everyone seems happy about this development.”

Elise was in her full Archangel regalia, including a local variation of the HDK Fury. She had chosen a smaller, faster firing weapon made by the Kalon military called the White Lance 500. I’d seen her use it on the range and understood what the name came from. The muzzle flash was so rapid that it looked like a beam of light coming out of the rotating triple barrel.

Briggs wore Archangel greaves, vambraces, a cuirass, and a half helmet that exposed most of his monstrous face. He hadn’t grown much during the last two weeks but was still twice the size of the man I had known in spec ops, and he hadn’t been small then. It wasn’t just his height and breadth, but the density of his muscles that made him a fearsome enemy. I was pretty sure he still had bullets in his left pectoral from one of our recent fights—like it didn’t really matter and he was just planning to leave the slugs there.

The only people who didn’t shrink away from Briggs and Elise were Tatiana’s unorthodox commandos, who were familiar with us and had fought beside my friend the Slayer.

“I’m sorry, awk, Reaper. Can’t stand waiting anymore. The awking sword saint stayed with the awk, awk, awking mechanic. What can we do to help here?” Briggs said.

Tatiana and I exchanged glances. She stepped forward to talk to the Slayer and Elise. “I need to send a team down to the subterranean facility, below the floor of the ocean. Just going down there is dangerous, but I think there have also been attacks that are disrupting drilling, harvesting, and other pre-evacuation operations.” She turned toward Marcus. “Any updates?”

He shrugged. “The cameras were never good and a few just went off-line. I can take my team. We’ve been here longer and have studied the schematics.”

“I need you up here, Marcus.” Tatiana typed something on a tactical tablet and sent updated maps and security codes to X-37. “You’re better suited to maritime rescue operations than Cain and his misfits. It won’t be long before someone goes over the side again.”

Neither I nor Marcus liked this decision. For my part, I wasn’t enjoying their easy familiarity. Marcus seemed to resent the implication we were better fighters than him and his team.

It didn’t matter because Briggs was already striding into the personnel lift. Elise followed a bit slower, looking over her shoulder at me expectantly. I turned away from whatever drama I was having with Tatiana and followed my friends.

“We’ll be back before you know it,” I said. “Don’t make any dinner plans.”

As soon as the doors closed, X-37 gave me the dire news. “A large portion of the platform has been torn away. Tatiana and Marcus have sent out requests for aid, but no one is close enough to help with a ship large enough to do much good.”

The Black Phoenix spoke in his spooky Z1 voice. “I can summon my ships and drones to assist them. Would this be an appropriate response? I endeavor to play nice.”

Responding was nearly impossible for several seconds. Options scrolled up the left side of my HUD—ships, drones, and satellite scans of the surface. Many of them had a line through the activation command because they were off-line or otherwise unavailable. But I had never had so many tools at my disposal. I wasn’t the right person for this job. Even if I could endure the drain Z1 put on me, what the evacuation needed was a real leader who could coordinate the Black Phoenix resources—not just the weapons.

“Would you like me to answer for you, Reaper Cain?” X-37 was running his own analysis I knew. It was getting easier and easier to rely on him for interaction with Z1. The easy road almost never led anyplace good.

“Give me a nonmilitary rescue vessel.” A sharp pain went up the back of my skull.

“You really should give me control of this option, Reaper Cain.” X-37 had rarely sounded so persistent. I knew my limited artificial intelligence didn’t have emotions, but there were times when he simulated such things to better communicate with me. This was one such instance. He almost sounded desperate, like he was worried about me or something crazy like that.

“I’ll turn over the controls if it’s too much for me to handle,” I said. Three options appeared.

“Path and Tom have made it back to the Jellybird and are sheltering at this time,” X-37 advised. “Some of the locals are demanding transport but Path discouraged them from getting on our ship.”

“Okay, X. Sounds good.” I chose the largest craft Z1 had to offer, one that I thought could evacuate the most people even though the text beneath it described it as a harvester. If this worked, maybe people would stop bothering the Jellybird. A voice in the back of my mind, not one of my digital helpers, told me this mission was getting out of control and that I couldn’t do so many things at once.

“Interesting choice, Champion,” Z1 said. His name for me was pretentious and annoying but it did help me to differentiate between the two algorithms when Z1 was trying to sound more like X-37, probably in yet another effort to manipulate me.

“Everyone just shut up.” Reaching in front of me with my hands, I activated the remote controls. I flew the harvester toward the ocean platform while I was actually riding a lift to the bottom of the ocean. We had some time, but not as much as I would like.

X-37 guided me through breathing exercises, and I was finally able to focus, to put reality aside, and to believe I was in the cockpit of the ship. The storm battered the vessel. Dozens of warnings flashed on the control screen. A quick check revealed it was completely unoccupied. The automated craft had been parked in an abandoned hanger for almost a century. It had probably been one of the ships that Loren Jacem had been looking for when I caught him searching that part of the Yansden City.

Wind pushed the ship sideways and down, almost into a wave that crested twenty meters above the surface. I fought the controls and felt pain from my heels to my head.

“Reaper Cain, I must insist you relinquish the controls,” X-37 said. “You’re going to damage your neural capacity and jeopardize your ability to perform the rest of the mission.”

I laughed a bit hysterically. Endorphins rushed into my bloodstream before X could curtail the influx. “You’re not the boss of me. This is kind of fun.”

“Should I begin to look for a new host?” Z1 asked. The question seemed to be directed at X-37. They went quiet for several minutes and I wondered if they were arguing behind my back. What I was doing was foolish and wrongheaded. It wasn’t like me to endanger the mission just for a thrill.

A voice from another world cut into my awareness. Elise sounded pissed off and worried at the same time. “Are you playing a video game?”

“No, kid. I’m trying to save a bunch of people from a hurricane.” The remote-control ship sought a place to land, finally sitting down far too hard on the platform. Marcus, or someone else from the control room, sent queries to the ship, asking if it was for evacuation and expressing concerns about whether getting on the ship was safer than sheltering in place.

“They’ve got people for that,” Elise said.

“I need to learn how to use all of the Black Phoenix’s options.” Did I sound defensive? Sure I did, but I was trying not to puke from the strain of controlling such a large airship in such bad conditions.

He said something else but everything was fuzzy. My hands were tingling and my head was pounding.

Klaxons deafened me. After several seconds, I looked around to see if Elise and Briggs were getting overwhelmed but instead found them staring at me.

“What?” I asked.

“I am going to punch you right in your face if you don’t stop trying to be in two places at once,” Elise said.

“Awking Reapers.” Briggs crossed his massive arms, clanking pieces of the modified Archangel armor together. “Too cocky for their own awwwwwwking good.”

“Please surrender control of the ship to Captain Marcus Kellerman, Reaper Cain.” X-37 flashed the message in my HUD in time with his words.

Something clicked, forcing me to realize I had lost several seconds of awareness, or maybe as many minutes. The remote-controlled ship had landed, the storm had abated slightly, and there were crews cleaning up debris and carrying bodies onto the ship.

A button flashed in my HUD that read, relinquish control of ship. I spoke the phrase and felt immediate relief. Kellerman’s pilots took control and ran systems checks as I watched. “I should have listened to your advice, X.”

“Yes, Reaper Cain. This is not the first time you have admitted as much, but you seem to have a very steep learning curve,” X-37 said.

Elise crossed her arms, her balance shifting foot to foot in time with the rapidly descending ocean lift. “You mean he’s stubborn as hell.”

“Awk,” Briggs said.

My head hurt too badly to argue. I waved away their self-righteous lectures and checked my gear. That’s what any good soldier would have done. When in doubt, check your equipment and top off your magazines. Staying ready for a fight was never wrong.

* * *

The trip to the ocean floor took longer than I had expected. A thousand meters shouldn’t have been a long ride. At times, it didn’t seem like we were moving. Briggs squatted in the corner. Elise sat cross-legged in her Archangel armor, facing me and probably staring me down without a word—though she could have been sleeping. We weren’t on speaking terms.

Everyone was pissed off right now.

Including me. I couldn’t stop wondering about Tatiana’s real motivation for keeping Captain Kellerman topside while we descended to face who knew what below the ocean floor. My paranoia tasted like jealousy, but I couldn’t stop myself from imagining them working side by side while I was slugging it out with Neverseen.

“Is there something wrong with this lift, X?” Twiddling my thumbs and brooding wasn’t fixing anything. Maybe my LAI could distract me with something like—I don’t know—the actual mission.

“The YOHP lift we are using at this time is one of four,” X-37 explained. “Each is contained within a concrete, steel, and ceramic caisson that accommodates this lift, work and storage areas, and access to the subterranean work areas. These are quite complex. The entire platform is weighted down by several million tons of ballast.”

“Fascinating, X.”

“I was about to answer your question, Reaper Cain. YOHP lift number four is subject to numerous safety precautions. The other three were shut down after a series of accidents that caused them to flood. In any case, the pressurization must be adjusted every twenty-five meters. Patience, in this case, is definitely a virtue.”

“Are we going to have the same problem coming back up?” I should have taken a nap, but maybe I can catch one on the way up.

“Yes, Reaper Cain.”

I closed my eyes, determined to catch a few minutes rest.

The lift bumped against something.

“We have arrived, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said like this was good news.

“Of course we have.” I stood and saw that Elise and Briggs were already at the door, ready to rush out and kill something or save someone or just get the hell out of this box we traveled the last hour within.

We were heading into mines, maintenance tunnels, and collection areas for the ocean floor farming operation. My imagination had spent the trip down quietly imagining how grim the facilities would be. What I saw when we stepped out surprised me.

Gone was the grungy, oil stained metal box. We emerged into a concourse not unlike a starship. The view was spectacular. The ceiling and walls were clear. All the magical strangeness of the ocean floor moved around us. In places, there were human made lighting clusters that turned the normally dark place into a rainbow of activity.

Elise laughed. Briggs made some sort of Slayer sound I hadn’t heard before. I started to feel unusually good, almost energetic. It was enough to forget the aching in my bones and the pounding in my head.

Access tubes ran away from the complex, clearly intended for a much more elaborate exploration of the ocean’s floor than I had anticipated. In the center of this junction was a wide staircase twisting downward into the core of the planet. I told X-37 and my team that was where we needed to go, according to Tatiana.

“This will descend deep into the crust of Yansden,” X-37 said.

“Whatever. Let’s find this Neverseen incident, rescue whoever needs to be rescued, and get the facility back online,” I said.

“Patience, Reaper,” Elise said. “I’ve been talking with X and Jelly on the way down. Your girlfriend isn’t wrong to want to save this place. This place is filling a vital role to the new exodus fleet.”

“I’m glad you approve.” She was right but I was twitchy and out of sorts. Probably because my real motivation for coming here had been to check on Tatiana and little else. This wasn’t the type of thing that was going to save humanity. If I didn’t get myself in check and pay more attention to the mundane necessities of a long space voyage, we were all going to pay.

“How are you doing, Reaper Cain? Your biometrics are trending downward again.”

“It’s been a long couple of days, X.”

“You say this a lot, Champion. Do you need recalibration of your internal clock?”

“No, Z. Have X explain it to you. Figure of speech. Something I say when I want to rest but can’t afford to stop,” I said. “Elise, Briggs—let’s do this. X, update everyone’s HUD with our objective.”

“Right away, Reaper Cain. Three levels down, there is a team of YOHP engineers locked in a control room. Someone or something cut the cables to the lift that normally operates in the center of the heavy equipment stairwell,” X-37 said. “The crews have not responded to requests for updates. Their last communication stated they were manually keeping the power relays functioning in the lower part of the facility. Without these in operation, all of YOHP will cease to function in less than two hours. This will end resource gathering and complicate the evacuation. It will also dramatically increase the likelihood that anyone not in Archangel armor will die from the system collapse and approaching storm cell.”

“What about the Neverseen problem?” I asked.

“There have been no sightings since the last report, but my surveillance of their communications channels indicates a high level of concern for the Neverseen threat.” X-37 went into greater and greater detail.

I half listened as I led the way down the wide, industrial sized staircase that spiraled downward into darkness. With the center lift gone, we needed to hurry. The rainbow aquarium windows at the top of the stairs soon came to resemble something like a distant nebula. This was like taking my best friends straight to hell.

Elise looked at the forearm display of her armor, double checking it with what my LAI was transmitting to her HUD. Briggs didn’t seem to care. He was unusually tentative for such a monstrous killer. We continued downward as fast as we could.

“We are almost there,” she said. “There should be a door around the next curve.”

“X, what is that sound?” I asked the question at the same time Elise and Briggs turned to look back up the stairs we had recently descended. The glow of the ocean floor windows was very faint now, but just enough to reveal shadows working their way down the stairs.

“I believe there is water flowing into the stairwell,” X-37 said.

“Should we be worried?”

“Not about the water, Reaper Cain. It is only a few thousand gallons.”

“Sometimes, Reaper, your LAI makes me a little crazy. Why shouldn’t we be worried about getting flooded?” Elise asked.

“The influx of water was caused by something entering the complex,” X-37 said. “Both Z1 and I have checked with every possible monitoring system and concluded there is no longer water flowing into the stairwell or other parts of the facility. The intruders closed the door behind them. All is well.”

“All is not well, X. I can see something coming down the stairs. Do you mind telling me what these things are?” I went back up a few steps so that I was between this new threat and my friends. Neither of them were helpless, but I felt I should remain at the tip of the spear with the tools I had in my arsenal. For their part, they spread out to my right and left, ready for action.

“I am preparing an analysis, Reaper Cain. The humanoid aggressors can only be Neverseen. Z1 agrees they are adapted to aquatic survival and likely opened some sort of hatch to gain access to this facility.”

“Thanks, X.” The first three came into view. I held my fire just long enough to record their images. The fish-faced brutes were much bigger than other Neverseen we had encountered, excluding the Neverseen Lord. They ran down the stairs on two legs and had two arms. Unlike their predecessors, each of these had a powerful tail longer than they were tall. The sight of them reminded me of the river monsters we had tangled with in the wilderness of Yansden but different. Their scales shimmered silver and blue.

“I wonder if these things are the reason the engineers have locked themselves in their control room,” Elise said almost flippantly.

“There are only a dozen,” I said. “I’ll take the four in the middle.”

Without waiting, I picked four of the monsters, aimed, and fired in quick succession with my HDK Dominator. Using the old weapon felt good but instinct caused me to clip it to the exoskeleton and unlimber my twin Furies.

“Be advised, Reaper Cain, this variation of Neverseen is far more technologically advanced than others we have encountered.” X-37 pushed tactical displays up one side of my vision with increasing rapidity. “There will be at least three more waves of these things.”

“Awking hideous. I can barely look at them.” Briggs stalked forward then broke into a sprint to attack a group of the creatures. They were bigger than him and I wondered if he wasn’t getting a bit cocky.

“Briggs, use the weapons on the Archangel mods Tom gave you,” I said, then jumped into the open center of the stairwell, hovered, and fired both of my HDK Furies. The roar of my guns filled the subterranean facility. Elise added a glowing stream of death from her White Lance 500. The lighter chain gun made an ear-piercing racket that hurt my teeth even inside my sound dampening helmet.

The Slayer ignored my advice and was soon tackled by sea-monster Neverseen creatures. They were armed, I saw, with spears, tridents, and harpoon guns. More and more of them descended toward us, each group accompanied by a huge slosh of water from an airlock opening and closing far above us. I landed on a new section of the stairs and reassessed our situation. It felt like a good time to switch weapons.

“X, can you estimate how many more we can expect?” I tried to keep my own count but was distracted when a harpoon embedded in my exoskeleton. Two more struck right where the Archangel armor fused with the Black Phoenix infrastructure. So far as I could tell, the damage was inconsequential. Eventually I would have one of my LAIs double check.

“Warning, Reaper Cain. The harpoons strike with critical force. Avoid these attacks when possible.” X-37 paused. “With only two datasets to work from, I can make a tentative estimate that each time we experience a rush of water down the stairs will be the signal of about twenty to thirty of the aquatic Neverseen. I believe this is a result of the creatures incorrectly operating access points to another part of the facility.”

“One of us needs to get down to the control room and contact the engineers,” I said.

“I’ll go,” Elise said during her reload. “I don’t think the Slayer or you would set them at ease. You look like a harpoon filled porcupine right now and there is purple electricity crackling up the back of your neck. Are you going to use that energy weapon or let it burn you out?”

“That’s our cue, X,” I said, then fired the energy cannon on my shoulder up the stairs while still holding the chain guns ready. It cleared two groups of the monsters from view, leaving their blood to mix with the water still sloshing toward us. Bits of their corpses stuck to the walls and railings.

The next group I saw was even more aggressive despite the carnage I had just caused. Several of them jumped across the gap in the middle of the stairwell just as I had done, landing sure-footedly and sprinting ahead without hesitation. Others climbed down walls, suckers or claws or something allowing them to go places that seemed impossible.

I fired twice more and then dropped the cannon back into its recharging slot. With the HDK Furies ready to kick ass, I began calculating a dangerous maneuver. In very rough strokes, I explained to X-37 what I wanted to do, and he told me it was a bad idea.

I had wings and a thruster. We’d also seen that I could hover slightly with the force of my energy shield. I picked two out of the three tools, leaving the wings collapsed. About the time that Briggs looked like he was really in trouble, I jumped up the center of the stairwell, an open space of almost ten meters in diameter, and activated the jet for half a second. Shooting upward, I twisted so that I rolled in a slow turn and fired at targets as I passed them.

The muzzle flash was a unique light show that illuminated the shaft as I rocketed upward. At the top, I allowed myself to fall backward slowly, my energy shield set to full power. During my slow descent, the Neverseen fired harpoon guns with no effect other than a waste of their ammunition. Seconds later, I reached out for the railing and pulled myself onto the section where Briggs was standing from his savage battle.

He looked worse for the wear despite his new armor. All around him were the bodies of his enemies. Both of us knew that if I hadn’t intervened, he would’ve been in serious trouble.

“You know better, Briggs. Use the weapons we gave you.”

“It feels more natural to be a monster,” he said.

“I don’t give two fucks what feels more natural. You’re part of this mission and you have an obligation to use the right tool for the job,” I said, speaking his language, even if it was from his previous life.

“Roger that, Cain.”

The fact that he used human terminology instead of his Slayer noises was reassuring, but the feeling didn’t last long.

“It’s good shit, Cain. Awking good shit. Let’s do it some more.” This time he shouldered the highly modified HDK carbine Tom had tailored to his physique. The rifle stock was nearly a foot longer than normal and had a twist in it that allowed him to get it around his physique and his armor in a way that he could aim it effectively.

“Let’s retreat downward and rendezvous with Elise,” I said. “You first. I’ll follow behind you and use my energy shields to absorb any further attacks until we make a better plan.”

“On my way. Awk.”

I watched the Slayer jog nimbly downward into darkness. “Elise, what’s your status?”

“I’m at the control room. They say they only want to open the door one time and are waiting until you and Briggs get here,” she said.

“All right. Expect us in five minutes.” Above us, the Neverseen had quit coming. I didn’t know if they had enough of fighting us or if they were gathering for an even bigger assault. “What do you think, X?”

“It is hard for me to determine their objective at this time, Reaper Cain. Please gather more data, without engaging them in combat.”

I retreated slowly, watching for the next wave. By the time we reached the control room, there was a mass of them edging down the stairway, watching my team.

14

The control room supervisor was a man named Carl Pennington. He was a lean, middle-age man who looked several years older than he was—mostly because of the lines around his eyes. I wasn’t sure if they were from years of laughter or recent stress. His short cropped blonde hair was more of a steel color in places. His simple spectacles reminded me of Tom even though my mechanic friend didn’t wear glasses.

As soon as we entered the control center, I realized they didn’t have a lot of work to do. Carl was trying to keep everyone busy, giving them tasks that were too easily accomplished and basically meaningless in their current circumstances.

“Our job is to maximize output,” Carl explained. “We keep oil and natural gas resources pumping to the surface. From the limited contact I’ve had with your people, I understand these are not the most valuable commodities, but they have their uses. We Yansdenians rely on them heavily.”

He paused then really looked back to the spectators—his crew that had stayed at their posts despite increasingly dangerous conditions. “The minerals, both common and exotic, that we are able to pull from the mines are far more valuable. At least that’s what I’m told by our travel industry liaisons.”

Carl was an interesting leader. He never told anyone what to do or asked them to change their attitudes. It just happened. I had seen a few leaders like him in the Union military machine; only a few, but some. Listening to him had a soothing effect. I needed the break as much as his people or my people did.

“How long are you supposed to remain at your posts?” I asked.

“Three more days, then we have to start packing things up,” Carl said. “The evacuation managers are not flexible.”

“It’s a big job,” Elise said.

Carl nodded.

“Tell me about the attacks.” X-37 was already compiling statistics and timelines, but I wanted to get a more human perspective on it. Carl and his crew behaved like people long besieged by a terrifying foe.

“At first, there wasn’t much violence. I had crews in the deepest mines who reported shadows and sounds that had everyone scared. That was about three weeks ago. Day by day, the attacks increased in both severity and frequency.”

I listened without interrupting. Elise and Briggs did the same, careful not to frighten the workers. Our presence straddled the line between reassurance and scaring the crap out of them—especially Briggs’s monstrous form. Elise told me more than once that my exoskeleton enhanced profile wasn’t exactly easy on the eyes either.

“We’ve been requesting additional security for some time,” Carl said.

“We’re not here for that, not long term,” I said. “I have some questions. First, have you encountered Neverseen that can’t be negotiated with?”

He nodded. “If they have any humanity left, none of us have been able to see it.”

Another crew member spoke up, a woman slightly younger than Elise who wore an engineer’s jumpsuit and seemed to have been very busy lately. “I don’t think they were ever human. My brother and I have been students of the Neverseen since informational bulletins came out. And before then, honestly. We’ve always been a bit obsessed with horror movies and things like this that are real.”

“What’s your name?” Briggs asked because he was closest to the young woman.

“Sarah.” Standing her ground but looking extremely nervous, she put out the tablet and displayed notes she had made. “There are about fourteen theories on the creation and purpose of the Neverseen. Most of them are consistent with the idea they had been created to defend Yansden but turned against us over time.”

The teenager, presumably her brother, moved forward of the other engineers. “I still think the first humans to become Neverseen are scientists who thought they could tame them.”

I waved their arguments away. “None of that matters.”

“Would you like me to share our knowledge of the Neverseen and correct their many logic errors?” X-37 asked.

I used a hand signal that I hoped was invisible to everyone but my LAI to tell him not to bother. There wasn’t time.

“We heard your fighting on the stairwell,” Carl said. “Can you fight them off for three days? That’s what we need to meet our harvesting quota.”

“Unfortunately, your quota has been canceled. I’m here to save as many lives as possible and move the evacuation forward.” A quick glance at my friends told me they agreed completely. “I’m only asking about these creatures so I can complete my mission. Not trying to be a jerk, but that’s all that matters to me and my friends.”

“We understand,” Carl said. “None of us like it. You don’t work down here unless you are extremely dedicated.”

“And expecting a huge bonus that isn’t going to come now,” said one of the men from the back of the room.

Carl faced the man down and there were no further contributions from the observers. When he looked at me, I saw he had made a decision he didn’t like but knew was right. “What do you need from us?”

“Two things. First, I need to know if we can communicate or negotiate with the Neverseen. Diplomacy might save lives. Second, I need you to do whatever I or my team says when we say it. If this becomes a running gun battle, anyone who lags behind will get left behind. Fair enough?”

“Nothing’s fair about this situation. But that’s not your fault.” He turned to his team, issuing orders and typing in authorization codes. “Finish whatever you’re doing and prepare to move with whatever we can take with us.”

“You can’t take anything but personal effects,” I said.

“We have valuable resources to transport. Some of them are small, easily carried by a single person—exotic minerals and such,” Carl said.

“Unless it keeps you alive right now, it’s not the type of exotic mineral we need,” Elise said. “There will be new worlds where you can put your talents to work. Right now, your job is to get out of this place.”

“I understand. If you will excuse me for a moment.” He went to meet with his team leaders and then made his own preparations for the escape.

I watched and brooded.

“What’s on your mind, Reaper?” Elise asked.

“Nothing.” I shifted, still getting used to the BP Black Phoenix balance point. When I was moving or at least distracted, I didn’t think about it. Waiting around like this made me uneasy. Small details got under my skin. “I can’t stop thinking about Neverseen. Is there something we can do to save some of them? Do we owe it to them to at least try?”

“No, Reaper. They are long gone. Don’t start down that road,” Elise said.

“She’s awk, awking right, Cain. That way leads to madness.” Briggs paced, apparently even less comfortable with waiting than I was.

“They are better suited to this planet, Reaper Cain, than humans. The best thing you can do for these Neverseen, at least, is to leave them. Perhaps Yansden will become a home they can live with,” X-37 said.

My friends knew what they were talking about. The wait became easier. Elise made some bad jokes that I laughed at, thinking about the book of dad jokes I had used to steal the map tablet from Loren Jacem what seemed like a lifetime ago. Almost a half an hour after we gave our ultimatum, Carl and his officers presented themselves. Behind them were arrayed several groups of people, kind of like squads in a military unit. I saw that each had a team leader and they had intelligently divided up what they needed to carry.

“X, am I wrong, or did they pack up some of the exotic materials despite my mandate?” I asked.

“That is very perceptive, Reaper Cain. What would you like to do about that?”

A look at Elise and Briggs told me they also saw the contraband but were waiting for me to take the lead. “They made their choice. When times get tough, they’ll drop those cases or suffer the consequences. We’re not going back for anybody who falls behind when this gets rough.”

“Good call, Reaper,” Elise said.

Carl approached. “We’re ready. Tell us what to do.”

“I will lead the way with Elise,” I said. “Keep your people in their teams and make sure they are flexible enough to adapt. This may sound harsh, but each team must be its own entity. That means no going back for other teams. Let me and my people worry about that.”

Neither Carl nor his people appeared to be comfortable with my orders, but they didn’t argue.

“Briggs, the Slayer,” I said, pointing at my friend. “Will bring up the rear. In military parlance, we call him the tail gun Charlie. So expect to hear a lot of noise from him when our enemies try to creep up behind us.”

Carl shook his head. “I don’t see how that’s possible. There are none lower than we are, and very few access points to the stairwell.”

“Trust me, Carl,” I said. “There will be a need for a rearguard.”

He spread his hands in surrender as though this was not an argument he was committed to winning.

“Let’s go,” I said. Elise and I moved up the stairs, looking for the Neverseen horde we had spotted. There wasn’t a need to plan. We had one option, and that was to get moving. Hopefully a Reaper and a genetically enhanced runaway with a bad attitude could scatter them long enough for Carl and his people to make their escape.

* * *

Our luck held for the first two turns of the industrial sized stairwell. On the plus side, the space from wall to railing gave us room to maneuver. On the negative side, there was a lot of room for the Neverseen to gather above us. When they charged, it was going to get ugly.

“X, why are they pulling back as we climb higher?” My LAI would have an answer. Unfortunately, I didn’t think I was going to like it.

“They are selecting a spot most advantageous to their victory,” X-37 said.

“I believe you should grab as many as possible and throw them down the center of the stairwell,” Z1 said.

I stopped and signaled a short rest break for everyone. “Z, you are obsessed with throwing people. What’s up with that?”

“I’m not sure what you mean, Champion Cain,” Z1 said.

“Never mind. Can either of you connect me with Tatiana?”

“Stand by, Reaper Cain. She is busy.” X-37 tried twice more.

“Let’s move.” I primed my energy cannon, hoping it would clear the most space through our enemies.

The mob of fish-faced Neverseen grew bolder the closer we came to the top. I pushed slightly forward of Elise and noticed that this upset the aquatic Neverseen.

“I don’t think they like the Black Phoenix exoskeleton,” I said, mostly just for Elise.

“I was thinking the same thing.” She sent me a diagram of her plan. “Maybe you can make a sudden surge, keeping to the wall as much as possible. Try to get them packed in together near the railing. I’ll try to surprise them with my grenades—keeping in mind I only have two—and see if I can bump a few into the shaft.”

“Z1 will like that.” I didn’t love the plan but had nothing better to offer.

“Yeah, that thing is strange. For an uber powerful super weapon, that seems like a juvenile personality trait. How old were his programmers, ten?” Elise faded back, keeping me between her and the enemy. I wasn’t sure how well the screen would work. We didn’t know how their vision or other senses functioned.

Turn by turn, the maneuver had an effect. The closer I pushed to these monsters, the more agitated they became. A few of them shot at me with the harpoon guns until one of the bigger ones punched and kicked these miscreants to instill discipline. That was something I didn’t like. All we needed was monsters that fought like soldiers.

“X, can you pick up any of their language?” I asked.

“I cannot, Reaper Cain. The dialect is completely bestial and probably has no actual meaning other than the physical violence,” X-37 said.

Elise pinged my comms to get my full attention. “I think now is the time, Reaper.”

“Agreed. Briggs, are you onboard with what we are about to do?”

“Awk yes. I’ll adjust to whatever happens.” The Slayer’s shadow moved closer to the group of engineers and laborers, something he hadn’t done until now. They shifted away from him but didn’t complain.

“As soon as you toss both grenades, I’ll use the energy cannon. That should give them something to think about.”

“Sounds good, Reaper.”

“Please stand by, Reaper Cain. Please stand by, Elise.” X-37 forced us to wait several seconds as all the work I had done to bunch up the Neverseen melted away. They were dispersing across the wide stairs, and in some cases, running upward.

“What’s happening, X?”

“Cain, I’ve been busy. Sorry I didn’t answer your call,” Tatiana said in my ear. “What is taking you so long.”

“Hold on. I’m busy right now.” I picked up the pace, determined to force the plan to work. “What the hell is going on, X?”

“I have detected an increasing flow of water into this stairwell. You will be seeing the flood soon. Z1 believes a new group of the sea soldiers have entered the complex and done something horrible to the airlocks,” X-37 said.

“Cain!” Tatiana’s voice cut through my LAI’s calm and reasoned voice. “Get the hell out of there!”

* * *

“You have been outsmarted by fish,” Briggs grunted.

X-37 came to my defense. “That is not an accurate—”

“Don’t worry about the Slayer, X. We need to get everyone to the lift.” I ran up the wide stairs, wishing the Neverseen freaks hadn’t cut the lift cables before we arrived. Knowing what I knew now, I realized this had been their plan from the start. First they isolated their victims at the bottom of the shaft, kept us there with the threat of being ripped limb from limb by their mob, and then drowned us in detail.

Carl and his people hurried to catch up. They dropped everything they had been carrying, which was good but maybe too late. Some of the engineers were showing signs of fatigue from the long climb.

A cloud of harpoons ricocheted from my armor when I was looking back at the people we were trying to save. I didn’t take serious damage, but the force of the simple weapons was surprising. X-37 advised me more than once not to risk a direct hit on any of my critical components.

Near me, Elise’s chain gun roared to life. I turned to help, cutting down three of the creatures as they reloaded.

Something changed after that. Squads of Neverseen with better weapons and nearly perfect battle tactics replaced those we had been facing. There were fewer of them, but we understood these were ten times as dangerous.

15

“Are those things wearing armor?” Elise asked while we moved up the final turn. Our enemies were spreading out into the ocean floor complex, sometimes hard to see with the glass walls behind and above them.

“They’re cyborgs,” I said.

“Awk that!” Briggs rushed forward to stand with us.

“Well, whatever they are, I think we’re about to get wet.” Elise ran forward at the same time Briggs and I realized the bulk of the monsters were breaking new holes in the observation walls. What had been a marvelously beautiful feature of this facility was about to kill us.

“When the wall and ceiling lose structural integrity, everyone but the host will die,” Z1 said. “Activating the energy field. This will give you thirty minutes of breathable air and pressure resistance, Champion.”

“That is correct, Reaper Cain.” X-37 made an interesting tone. “There is not enough room for your friends.”

I had another idea. “Elise, get everyone on the lift right now. Pack them in. I don’t care about weight limits. Just make it happen.”

Elise complied without a word, herding engineers and laborers onto the last functioning lift. Briggs shoved more and more of them in when they protested it was full.

There was one hole larger than the others. Even I could see it was the one that was going to bring the entire ceiling down. I ran forward as fast as my exoskeleton would move.

“What are you doing, Champion?” Z1 demanded.

“Don’t worry about it.” The hole was several feet off the ground. I jumped in, plugging it with my crackling energy field. Shockwaves pulsed through the water around me. The thick, high-tech window-walls shimmered. I expanded my shield to create enough friction to stay wedged in place. Cracks spread in all directions.

“Elise, what’s your status?”

“The lift is slow, but it’s moving,” she said.

“Why isn’t he with you, Elise?” Tatiana demanded over our comms. “We can’t see what’s happening. All the cameras went dark.”

Listening to my friends was comforting at the end. I felt so much pressure through the shield I wanted to abandon my position and swim to the surface to get relief. “Why does this hurt? What kind of half assed energy shield is this, Z?”

“All shields have limits,” Z1 said. “You are not using yours according to the manufacturer’s specifications.”

Laughing should feel good, but everything hurt as I learned how much water pressure the walls had been holding back. “Godsdammit, X. This doesn’t feel right.”

“Every part of the BP-Archangel is being crushed. Honestly, I’m surprised it has lasted this long. If you survive, Tom will be extremely upset about all the pieces he will need to fix.”

“No…he…won’t.” I grunted the words through clenched teeth. “He likes…fixing…stuff like that.”

“We’re nearly to the surface, Reaper,” Elise said. “Get out of there if you can.”

Cybernetic Neverseen ocean soldiers swam above me. They carried spears tipped with auto-saws.

“I think we’re done here, X.”

“Agreed, Reaper Cain.”

There wasn’t much I could do at first. The air pressure within the shield had been growing continuously as the volume it protected was compressed a millimeter at a time. At some point, I would have to vent oxygen to reduce the pressure but that had its own set of drawbacks. Keep the air and get crushed, or vent the air and suffocate—I wasn’t excited about either option.

Each change, even when invisible to me, sent additional cracks across the collapsing glass. I didn’t need X to tell me that when it came down, it was all coming down at once.

Bracing my arms and legs just right took work. Patience mattered. There would only be one chance. “Let’s do this, X.”

“What exactly do you plan to do, Champion?” Z asked.

“Reaper Cain intends to fire himself out of a cannon, basically.” X-37 knew me well, down to the way I thought and talked.

“Trust me,” I said. “I do this sort of thing a lot.”

“I have noticed, Champion Cain. This incident is not the first time I have wished for a different host.”

“Dreams do come true, Z. Get us to Maglan, help us save the Mother, and maybe we can re-home you.” If the Black Phoenix AI responded, I didn’t hear him.

The rocket dropped out of its protective housing. Small but more than powerful enough to operate in surface atmosphere or the void, it was probably not going to do much once the exoskeleton was surrounded by water. I was about to do exactly what X suggested, blast myself clear of this ceiling breach like I was being fired out of a cannon.

“Assuming you can get clear of the water crashing into the opening you are about to leave, what then?” Z1 asked.

“Do I have enough power, oxygen, and time to reach the surface?” There were a lot of details to my plan that weren’t reassuring.

“I will let your LAI answer,” Z1 said.

“Reaper Cain, there will be sufficient buoyancy from the air trapped within your shield to induce flotation. Continued activation of the energy shield will also have an effect but will draw power faster. Your ascent to the surface will take thirty minutes,” X-37 said.

“That’s great! Z told me the shield would last that long.”

“Champion Cain, you have already used eleven minutes of that time.”

What a jerk. I activated the rocket, slammed into the most turbulent rush of water I had ever seen or imagined, then started to float lazily upward once I pushed through a few dozen meters. The bubble was a lot bigger than I had imagined, which made sense given the amount of buoyancy the exoskeleton and Archangel gear needed to rise. The side effects of maintaining the energy shield, while it provided buoyancy, left me vulnerable to the currents.

There was no way I could make it to safety at this rate. The dreamlike drifting among the creatures of the sea sometimes carried me upward, sometimes down, and often laterally over the seabed. Neverseen cyborgs with harpoon guns and auto-saws surrounded me, watching my progress like I was a curious insect.

“Why aren’t they killing me, X?”

“You are no threat to them, Reaper Cain.”

Everything went black.

* * *

As dreams went, this one sucked—probably because it was actually a series of informative images X-37 and Z1 forced on my laboring consciousness.

“What the hell am I looking at, X?”

“We have slowed your respiration and placed you in a catatonic state. Please pay attention, Reaper Cain. I am attempting to keep your brain alive.”

Images of the Yansden Ocean Harvesting Platform didn’t look right. “Hey, X. Did someone fix the lift? Something is different.”

“I am showing you the Ocean Floor Access Towers of Maglan. These are examples of how the YOHP should work. Technically, each YOHP has an OFAT. The people here call them something else. Much has changed since the two planets lost contact,” X-37 said.

“Why can’t you show me the Sansein Mother?”

“She is imprisoned, Reaper Cain. Whoever or whatever has put her there must have something to hide,” X-37 said.

“I hope what you’re showing is accurate,” I said, struggling to remember where my LAIs had stolen the images. “With our luck, the place will be a nuclear wasteland by the time we arrive—or an asteroid field.”

“Anything is possible, Reaper Cain.”

“What about you, Z?” I asked. “What’s up with the Mother?”

The dream-like documentary stimulating my brain darkened. Color images bled until they were shades of gray. My body ached and I wondered if I was waking up to die.

“The Sansein Mother cannot remain on Maglan. This is unacceptable,” Z1’s words ground through my nerves like a dental drill.

“X, tell the Z man to back off.” Panic, an emotion I rarely experienced, grew in the center of my thoughts. “X, help me out here. I’m not liking the BP’s tantrum.”

Nothing came from my LAI, or the Black Phoenix Z1-01FR381-742-X51DRO-ZETA for that matter.

“Fine! I’ll get the Mother off Maglan. Shit, Z. That is the entire point of the mission,” I said, feeling my lungs burning—which was a sign I was waking up too early, long before I reached the surface.

“Thank you, Champion. Together, I am confident we can defeat my brother.”

“What?” And that was when I either passed out completely or died.

16

“We have to take him out of the exoskeleton, X. Tell Z we won’t leave it behind. Tom has a powered forklift he’s been using to help with the evacuation now that the storm has died down to a dull roar. He can drag BP hardware to the Jellybird,” Elise said.

Words didn’t come easily. A rasping sound left my mouth instead of speech. The kid was ignoring me. My vision pulsed with pain each time my heart beat. Lying on my back, all I could see was the sky and the occasional glimpses of Elise checking on me. She stared down with concerned expressions that I only saw with my cybernetic eye—because it continued to work when I was unconscious.

“He is awake, Elise,” X-37 said. “I am stimulating his nervous system.”

“I’m up, X. Stop shocking me,” I said.

“The amount of electricity I am using is barely measurable, Reaper Cain. Please endeavor to be tougher.”

“Yeah, Reaper,” Elise said, her expression contrasting with her words. “Stop being such a wimp.”

I sat up, causing the exoskeleton to creak when the joints twisted. “I knew you cared. If you didn’t, why else would you try so hard to hurt my feelings.”

Elise grunted her frustration but sounded relieved. “Did I bruise your fragile Reaper ego?”

“You did, kid. I’ll never be the same. Why do I feel like I drowned?”

She burst out laughing, but with tears in her eyes. Tom was there a second later, then Path and even Briggs. Tatiana shouldered her way in, not flinching when the Slayer’s monstrous arms bumped her.

“Damnit, Cain. Don’t scare me like that!” She checked me over, looking in wherever I had my armor open, especially the face shield. “When I saw the last of the engineers stagger out of the lift and the OFAT collapsed—that’s what the lift is called, did you know that? Captain Kellerman told me…”

“Good for him,” I muttered.

“What the hell does that mean, Cain?” Tears rimmed her eyes. Happiness and aggravation fought for control of her expression.

“Sorry. It’s been a long day.”

Noise filled the background. Airships were getting ready to take off. Gunfire erupted in sporadic bursts. Soldiers shouted. There was a battle to defend the landing pads and I wasn’t part of it—which was bullshit. But the sight of Tatiana was the best thing that had ever happened to me. All I had to do was not ruin the moment. When she put her hand on the side of my face, I nearly died, but in a good way.

Neither X-37 nor Z1 interrupted with commentary on my biometrics or to give me impossible jobs that needed doing. It was like having a vacation crammed into a few minutes. Sure it wouldn’t last, and of course Tatiana was going to bite my head off when she was finished being nice, but right now I was feeling pretty good. But…

“Are you going to vomit?” she asked, leaning back abruptly.

“I think so. Move!” Twisting onto my side seemed to take forever. I emptied my stomach but the deck was covered with water and other detritus. Tatiana didn’t stare and she didn’t seem disgusted. She was my kind of woman.

When it was over, she patted me on my back until I could stand. “There, there, Reaper.”

We were an odd sight. The size of my exoskeleton and armor made me look like a giant compared to her average frame. I was ready to take this BP crap off for good. If the galaxy would just stop falling apart, I could get some rest. More and more often, I was thinking about stuff like that. Could I stop being a Reaper? Could I just disappear and start a tobacco farm in some corner of the galaxy that didn’t attract war and mayhem?

Elise stepped closer, which caused Tatiana to compose herself and resume her more professional demeanor. She was an important leader on Yansden. I was a jerk for thinking she was off flirting with Captain Marcus Kellerman. He stood in the background now, his expression unreadable beyond a frustrated look of impatience.

“Are you ready, Reaper?” Elise asked. “Captain Kellerman says he needs our help. Neverseen are swarming out of the ocean and control more than half of the YOHP. About all we have left are the landing pads.”

The BP ship I had tasked to help these people before going down in the lift took off, banked hard, and headed for the mainland. The Yandsen City skyline flickered in the distance. Most of its lights were out. I was about to accept that the only thing still running at full capacity were the launch platforms when I saw a tiny circle of light turning and wondered if it was the carnival wheel we had seen on the way here.

“Kellerman,” I croaked, rising to my full height. “Where do you need help?”

“The main concourse is overrun. We’re losing too much ground. If we don’t slow them down, the airships won’t be able to land,” Kellerman said. “Not even that automated Black Phoenix thing.”

“Okay.” I reviewed the HUD systems checks X-37 and Z1 presented. “Looks like I can still use one of the Furies and my HDK. Everything else needs repair.”

“Use whatever you like, Reaper,” Kellerman said. “The situation is desperate.”

“No shit,” I said, warming up the Fury that still worked.

“I need Tatiana in my squad. We’re short on personnel,” Kellerman said.

“I’m coming, Marcus,” Tatiana said, but stopped to grab my exoskeleton encased arm. “We’ll talk more when this is over. I’m really glad you made it, Cain.”

“Me too. But if I never get crushed by the ocean again, that would be great.” My words left her with a smile, which was good, I guess. Marcus Kellerman already had his back to me so who the fuck knew what he thought of my survival.

“Time to kill,” Briggs grunted and led the way. I followed with Elise and Path. It took us about two minutes to draw most of the Neverseen attention—which allowed Kellerman’s people to fortify their defenses.

* * *

The first wave was the worst because we weren’t ready. Once we stopped them, I directed Elise and Path toward my left flank—a row of low buildings that served as warehouses for seaweed processing. Mostly empty now, the position gave them a lot of options including the high ground when they wanted it. All they had to do was jump onto one of the roofs, which she did when she wasn’t slipping between the structures to surprise a squad of aquatic Neverseen attackers.

Neither of them seemed content to stay on overwatch because the monsters were hard to see from a distance. The storm and their innate talent for stealth made being a sniper nearly useless.

I took the middle—the open area where the largest rail systems were located. None of the freight cars were here now. Everything the YOHP crew could send to the fleet had been sent. Tons of food and fuel were left behind but they had done well. Their bravery was incredible. Most people would have fled for the mainland the moment the evacuation was announced regardless of their orders.

“Briggs, hold your position!” I shifted toward my right to fill a gap the Slayer had created—again—by rushing forward to engage the sea soldiers in hand to hand combat.

There was a terrifying beauty in the way these Neverseen fought. Maybe I was deranged. There was a good chance I had seen too much violence. Who else would look at the fish-headed humanoids climbing onto the platform with water streaming off their brightly colored forms and get excited? What kind of maniac looked at the harpoon guns and wickedly serrated knives and saw a kind of art?

“Briggs!”

The Slayer jumped back to the squat silos that were supposed to hide him until it was time to strike. “Sorry, Cain. I got awking excited. Can’t awking see them awk from a distance anyway.”

Two enemy squads shook off the sea water then ran at me in the center of our line. Elsewhere on the platform city, Kellerman and his troops fought fiercely. Machine guns, rockets, and grenades lit up the darkness a few hundred meters from us. It sounded like a close fight.

“Z1, are any of my good weapons working?” I asked.

“No, Champion. Your foolish heroism has damaged us.”

I hated it when he talked like that.

I went to work with the Fury in one hand and the Dominator in the other. My opponents launched harpoons, but not as many as I expected. My armor and exoskeleton were pincushioned with the surprisingly powerful projectiles.

“What’s happening, X?”

“Kellerman for Cain,” a voice interrupted. “We are seeing cyborgs again. They have upgraded weapons, do you copy?”

A rocket straight from the Neverseen position exploded behind me.

“Cain for Kellerman. We’re facing the same thing,” I said. “Start falling back. We can hold until you get your people clear.”

“Copy that, Cain.” Kellerman gave orders to his squad. My HUD showed their icons moving back toward the last group of airships on the YOHP.

Using my enhanced vision, I was able to identify and return fire on the pair of sea soldiers using the rocket. It wasn’t really time to wonder about their technology or where it came from. The other Neverseen soldiers shot at us with harpoon guns, but when they were closer, threw glowing grenades that were surprisingly powerful. One of them almost knocked me sideways, though it didn’t do much real damage.

“We are facing the unintended merging of two planetary defense methodologies,” Z1 said. “The Black Phoenix project was supposed to be the only weapon platform that merged organic and mechanical systems. But what you are seeing is not the first instance of the abandoned program.”

“Thanks for that little nugget of not very useful information,” I said.

Something moved in my peripheral vision, far too close to where I was set up. When I looked again at the battlefield, I realized there were four more of the Neverseen than I had first estimated. “It looks like we have another batch of the sneaky ones.”

“I am adjusting our detection algorithms,” X-37 said.

I fired, retreated, and checked the location of Elise, Briggs, and Path.

“Our enemies are converging for a major push, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said in his streamlined battlefield voice.

“Rally on me! Everyone together. Let’s give them something to think about while Kellerman gets his people out of here,” I said. “Jelly, be ready.”

“Of course, Captain. Just say the word,” Jelly said. Tom added his assurances before I heard Kellerman wishing us good luck.

Three military airships jumped into the air then circled twice, raking the YOHP with suppressive autocannon fire.

The light from explosions silhouetted the aquatic adapted Neverseen, who were shaking harpoon guns at the retreating ships, and it broke my heart.

“What’s the problem, Reaper,” Elise asked. “You stopped shooting.”

“These monsters don’t know any better, Elise.”

“Sure, I get it. But that doesn’t change what we have to do.” She stepped in front of me, firing into the face of an attacker I had made no move to stop. Briggs and Path also fought fiercely.

I stood like a statue for several seconds. My enemies battered my armor and my exoskeleton with little effect. I pushed them away. They surged forward, nearly toppling me with their combined weight.

“Godsdammit, Reaper!” Elise moved closer to me but had her own enemies to fight.

One of the monsters jammed a grenade into my knee joint. I ripped it free and hurled it into the sea. “All right, assholes. That’s enough of that shit.”

Grabbing one in each hand, I flung them toward the water. It was a long toss, but they bounced over the edge and made two splashes.

“Very good, Champion! Throw the rest of them over the side!”

“What is with you and throwing people over stuff, Z?”

“I don’t know what you mean, Champion. Please continue to win this fight.”

The Black Phoenix system had issues, I thought. But whatever.

“We should retreat…by the numbers,” Briggs said, sounding like the human commander he had once been.

“Good call, Briggs. Let’s do it.”

“Cut and peel,” he ordered.

Elise went first, just as we had trained. When she reached a safe position, she took cover and aimed her White Lance 500. “I’m set!”

Path took his turn, running past her almost to the Jellybird.

Briggs didn’t move.

“Come on, Slayer! Haul ass. I’m covering you!” I shouted, laying down a stream of fire with the Fury.

“Too many swarming my position. Let me thin the herd a bit.” He flung himself forward, shooting, slashing, and using all the strength of his mutated form combined with the partial Archangel armor.

He was a sight to see. The pieced together gear gave him the look of a mercenary still struggling to get enough weapons and armor to survive. It didn’t cover every part of his body but made him more than a match for his enemies. For the second time, I felt vaguely guilty for slaughtering the Neverseen. They were creatures created for a mission no one remembered.

And we were killing the hell out of them.

“Now, Briggs!”

“Moving!” he shouted, then turned and sprinted toward us.

A harpoon streaked through the night. I wasn’t sure why my optics picked it out of all the others, but dread instantly filled my gut.

The Slayer moved like a deadly animal, sprinting with speed not even Elise could match. The harpoon seemed to travel much lower than normal because of their relative speed.

But it was still nearly as fast as a bullet.

“Drop, Slayer!” I shouted and moved toward him, completely helpless despite all of my training, experience, and weapons.

“Awk!”

The harpoon struck Briggs at the base of his skull, exactly where his half helmet stopped. Attached to the shaft was a smaller version of the aquatic Neverseen grenade.

I jumped, calling on the energy shield and micro-fighter rocket I didn’t expect to work. My sputtering, lurching flight path probably made me look like a drunk robot falling on his face as I dived. At the last possible second, I swatted the grenade hard, snapping it from the harpoon and sending it across the platform where it exploded—hopefully in the face of the murdering fuck who had launched it.

“Reaper!” Elise shouted.

I knew she was screwing up our escape by running toward me. Path was probably with her. They didn’t understand they were undoing all that we had just worked for. But I knew why.

“Briggs!” I shouted at his prone form.

He didn’t answer. He didn’t move. The harpoon remained imbedded in the back of his head like a testament to my failure to save him.

Elise and Path flanked me, fired their weapons, and shielded Briggs and me from the increasingly aggressive surge of enemies. “Grab him and let’s go! What’s your problem? Let’s go!”

I heard the misery in her voice.

With nothing else to do, I heaved the Slayer over my shoulder and ran for the Jellybird. Elise and Path followed. The moment we were inside, the ship blasted into the sky, flinging Neverseen off the flight deck.

17

We flew away from the ocean harvesting platform with the wind behind us. It was darkest before the dawn and the weather wasn't improving visibility. So I was surprised when a ray of sun broke through the clouds.

I wasn't strapped in spite of X-37’s repeated admonitions to put safety first. I sat on the floor of the bay with Briggs beside me.

The broken harpoon point stuck out like an insult. I began brushing them off of my exoskeleton in broad angry sweeps. Commander Briggs and I hadn't been friends until our destinies brought us to this weird place. I didn't want to look at Elise or Path or anybody else who might die in the next battle.

“I'm sorry, Reaper,” Elise said, her voice soft.

I didn't think she was looking at me either. Each of us were in our own space, not quite able to believe that Briggs was dead.

Tom joined us a short time later, once the ship was almost over the mainland again. He didn't say anything. His mood was somber.

Without discussing what we were doing, we loaded the huge, heavily muscled mutant onto an equipment mover and took him to our tiny medical bay.

“I don't know what to do with a body like this,” Tom finally said. Elise shifted uncomfortably behind me. I could sense the body language of my friends. Even Path was unnerved by this event.

“I know what to do,” I said. “I've been trained in forensic preservation techniques. I had missions to bring home people dead or alive, and that often included proving they were dead. Other times, my superiors wanted the bodies for darker purposes—experiments, I imagine.”

No one spoke. I waited until they left me alone and then began to clean up the Slayer.

* * *

“I don't understand why we can't land,” I said. This wasn't Jelly's fault and I knew it. That didn't change how frustrated I felt. Images of aquatic Neverseen cyborgs and Briggs wouldn’t quite leave my imagination. During my darkest moments, I pictured Elise or Path or Tom lying dead on the platform.

“It comes down to air traffic control. It's different than operating in the void where people can just maintain the relative position and wait,” X-37 explained. “I must speak with you about something else while Z1 is performing systems checks.”

“Hit me with it, X.” I eased into a seat and pulled on the cigar that I didn’t light. This was becoming a ritual with me. A compromise between satisfying my habit and not plaguing everybody else with endless clouds of smoke.

“Z1 is very powerful and very problematic to us. I reviewed our interaction with the AI from the time we encountered it,” X-37 said. “I cannot express how close you came to destroying us all when you attempted to take control of Z1 unassisted.”

Something beeped in my ear.

“System checks complete, Champion.” Z1's tone sounded somehow darker and more ominous. “I must advise you and your limited artificial intelligence not to attempt to override my operating parameters. You should also understand that recruiting the assistance of the ship will be a mistake.”

“You've got us all wrong, Z. We love having your psychotic, overpowered personality on our team.” I rolled the cigar over between thumb and forefinger, looking at its texture carefully. “Where else would I get great ideas like throwing people over buildings or off of platforms.”

“I detect your sarcasm, Champion,” he said. “Heed my warning. There is no team of artificial intelligences in your fleet that can defeat me where I am strongest. I have begun looking for a new host in case you refuse to comply.”

“Normally, Z, I would tell you to get bent. But we have a job to do and I think we're stuck with each other,” I said.

“That is also my conclusion, Champion.”

I refused to talk to either of my artificial intelligences until we landed. There was a lot I needed to think about but didn't. Hunger gnawed my gut, but I didn't eat. I sat and watched Tom put my exoskeleton and Archangel armor back together.

He finished shortly after the landing. It was a testament to Elise's new piloting skills that she was able to put the ship down so smoothly. She took every opportunity to practice. In this case, she might also have been avoiding me.

As for Path, the last I knew he was meditating in his quarters.

Tom sat beside me. He clasped his hands together in the manner of a friend composing his thoughts. “Briggs knew what he was doing. It was a matter of time before one of us went down.”

“Thanks, Tom.”

He sat with me until we were clear to disembark from the ship. Following standard operating procedures was new to us but we were trying to set a good example for all the people needing to use the airfield and the spaceport for the rest of the evacuation. When it was time, Tom nodded a silent goodbye and I went in search of Tatiana.

I found her handling her own casualties. She had several who had died and others she needed to get to the medical ship. Nothing was done on the planet anymore. Everything was referred to facilities onboard ships already in orbit.

“Do you have a minute?” I asked.

“Sure thing, Cain.” She motioned to a bench along one wall and took a seat. We watched people move freight and personnel back and forth across the complex systems of landing and launch pads.

“It's hard to believe we are actually leaving,” she said. “I mean, everyone on the planet is part of the evacuation. That's kind of a big deal.”

“There will be holdouts—people who choose to stay here. Some of them might even survive.” I had examples and stories I could tell her but didn't. They weren’t pleasant memories.

“You say that like you don't understand our attachment to Yansden. It's easy for you because you're always on a mission. Do you even have an idea what home is?”

She wasn't wrong.

“Are you gonna say something?” she asked.

“You're right. I have no idea what it's like to stop being on a mission. The people of Wallach and Xad are still suffering the effects of the exodus,” I said. “It's not easy for anyone. But look around us. Your people can't live like this.”

“We’ve been through storms before, and we all know about the Neverseen,” she said. “And you don't have to convince me. I understand the Alon can't be reasoned with. They think everyone on Yansden is subhuman. At best, they will treat us like slaves and none of us want to live like that. We're coming with you.”

I nodded, relieved.

“What are you doing next? Don't you have to get ready to go on some sort of secret advanced mission?” she asked.

“I have to talk to Amii Novasdaughter.” The words were out before I thought about how she would react to them.

She stiffened and drew back. “You have to?”

“I can't talk about it.”

“Oh, really?” She crossed her arms.

“She's having problems with her ship’s AI,” I said, hoping I wouldn’t set Z1 off.

“That was dangerously close to crossing the line, Reaper Cain,” X-37 warned using our most secret non-verbal code. “Your personal happiness with Tatiana must not compromise our efforts to outsmart Z1.”

I ignored my LAI. “Tatiana, it's just something I have to take care of. All business.”

“Okay. I get it. Go take care of business. I've got some things I need to do as well.” She smiled pleasantly and acted nonchalant. I wasn’t convinced I was out of trouble.

I watched her walk away and wished I knew what to say or do.

18

“Wait!” I hurried after her, taking her by the arm to stop her. “What's the deal with Kellerman?”

It was the wrong thing to say.

She faced me, crossing her arms and lowering her gaze like she could fire laser beams into my skull. “So you can ask me about Marcus but I can't talk to you about this woman you've known most of her life? Maybe we should start this conversation over.”

I balled up one fist and squeezed it with the other, then pushed it down like it had a mind of its own. If frustration were money, I'd be rich. “She's half my age.”

“She's an amazing woman.”

“I got her mother killed because I was weak, and nearly got her and her sister killed as well,” I said. “People don't forget that sort of thing. She's a colleague and I promise you there's nothing between us. Not like that.”

Something changed in her expression. When I saw it, I cut short my next angry demand that she explain about Kellerman. I didn't know anything about women or relationships, but I felt that if we continued, we were both going to say things we didn't mean.

“Shall I give you a sedative, Reaper Cain?” X-37 asked.

“No, I don't want you to give me a sedative!”

Tatiana attempted to stifle her mirth but burst into a laugh. She held one hand over her mouth and her eyes danced with amusement. It was contagious and soon I was laughing with her.

“This is why Reapers don't date,” I said.

“Would now be a good time to interrupt, Reaper Cain?” X-37 asked.

On impulse, I relayed the question to Tatiana, which got another laugh.

“Give me the latest disaster, X,” I joked.

“The local news feeds are broadcasting images of volcanoes erupting on the Criten continent. Meteorological and geological analysis suggests this is only going to get worse. Furthermore, a full-scale orbital bombardment by the Alon fleet will have a cascading effect. Many leaders are debating how this affects the evacuation timeline, but one thing is certain, there are reports of widespread panic. People are streaming into the city with no concern for the larger evacuation plan.

Tatiana looked at me seriously. “You should go. I’ll deal with my people and try to help with the boarding process. Yansden City is my home and I know it well.”

We embraced and then parted. I made her promise to stay in touch and not give me the silent treatment. I couldn’t bear the thought of her getting left behind if things became too chaotic. Part of me wanted to climb into my BP exoskeleton and go on full-time crowd control duty. But I also knew that would just set her off. Tatiana wasn’t a woman to be patronized. She could handle herself. I had my own job to do.

I returned to the Jellybird and strode up the ramp. Work crews checked the exterior of the ship. Tom, with two assistants I didn’t know, inspected the engine room. Everywhere there was a sense of urgency.

I made eye contact with my mechanic and exchanged a nod. There wasn’t time for a conversation. I checked the HUD view that X-37 placed in my enhanced vision, reviewing all the small things that needed to be done to move our mission forward. Elise and Path were supervising another crew of engineers going over our weapons.

“Who are all these people?” I asked.

X-37 responded as though this were a routine event. “A team of ship engineers was waiting for the return shuttle. Tom happened upon them while running an errand and they struck up a conversation. Since they weren’t doing anything, they volunteered to help out. It has been quite beneficial.”

“Nice. At least something’s going our way,” I said, and then headed for the bridge. “I need to talk to Coronas and Rejon.”

“They are currently in a holo conference with Prime Minister Meldon,” X-37 said.

Dread filled my gut. But with everything that was happening, I assumed we were all on the same page. “What happened, X?”

“I will never understand human intuition.” X-37 paused. “I gave no indication there was a problem between the leaders of the coalition, yet you seem prepared for the news.”

“Prepared might be a stretch. Give it to me, X.”

“There was an incident. One of the evacuation shuttles was taken by Alon commandos. Images of their imprisonment are being broadcast all over Yansden. This propaganda has been paired with images of serene Yansden meadows and other falsified evidence accusing Meldon and his cabinet members of being fear mongers.”

“Screw that. There are volcanoes spewing lava. I saw the riots. People are scared and want off the planet before they all die.”

“Correct, Reaper Cain. But there are enough men and women of influence to cause the PM problems. Worse, Meldon himself is starting to have doubts. His people have never fought in space. His first experience with a fleet action has him worried that what we face is impossible,” X-37 said.

“Of course, it’s impossible. Everything about this clusterfuck is impossible.” I needed to punch something. “Get me into their conference.”

“I anticipated your request, Reaper Cain. Please stand by one moment.”

The holo field came to life. President Coronas, Rejon of Xad, and Prime Minister Meldon faced me. Coronas, as usual, took the lead. “Reaper Cain, this is an unexpected surprise.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt.”

“No, you’re not, Reaper.” Meldon’s voice sounded more resolute than I remembered—less friendly. He looked like he hadn’t slept much. “I thought you were still wreaking havoc on YOHP 19. Perhaps you have done enough to help us.”

“Prime Minister,” I said, struggling to remember the diplomacy familiarization course we were given during Reaper training. “I was responding to a request for assistance. None of us knew how far it was going to go.”

“It went too far, Reaper.” Meldon held up one hand while he calmed himself. “I apologize to all of you. These are trying times. This meeting is about the Alon threat, not pockets of Neverseen.”

“No need to apologize,” Coronas said. “I’m glad Reaper Cain has joined us. His deep understanding of the situation and his unique experience with his Union oppressors has been useful when dealing with the Alon.”

“Agreed,” Rejon said.

“The difference is that the Alon are far more powerful than we realized. With that power comes a weakness. They cannot maintain a fleet of this size without resources from planets like Yansden,” Coronas continued.

“Which is why we should resume negotiations. We have something they need. If my people provide them raw materials as well as refined resources, they must be appreciative and reciprocate.” Meldon started pacing his office, occasionally causing the holo to flicker.

I thought of Commander Paul Honors and knew Meldon was wrong. Images of my fights with Peter Tobias reinforced my conviction. Everything that had happened since arriving in the Yansden system pointed to one thing: we needed to get everyone to Maglan.

“With all due respect, I don’t believe that is the case. The Union used to subjugate worlds, enslave the people who possessed skills they needed, and then abandon the rest or subject them to slave labor. They didn’t call it that, but if it smells like a waste receptacle, it is a waste receptacle.”

Meldon opened his mouth to respond.

I cut him off. “We aren’t going to fight the Alon, we are going to find a way around them. A lot fewer people on our side will die this way, and to be honest, what the Black Phoenix has shown me really makes me think your people were meant to go to Maglan a long time ago. The Alon stole that destiny from you.”

“You are taking several liberties with the imagery and documentation Z1 has provided, Reaper Cain.”

I gave X-37 a hand signal to not worry about it right now.

Meldon put his palms together, touching his chin, and finally closed his eyes in thought.

“X-37, can you tell us how many Yansdenians will survive if they get left on the planet after the Alon Empire takes what they want?” I asked.

“Of course, Reaper Cain.” X-37’s voice sounded rich and official over the holo channel. “Three percent will survive the first year. In one thousand years, there may be a functioning society capable of industry if environmental factors return to normal.”

Meldon spoke softly. “President Coronas, Rejon of Xad—what should I do?”

“Do what is best for your people,” Coronas said.

Rejon moved forward. “My people survived the life X-37 is describing for generations. Scratching out a living in a wasteland is difficult and tragic. I say listen to the last Reaper.”

Meldon considered me for another long moment. “We are going to base our future on the word of an adventuring assassin with a crew of freakish misfits?”

“When you put it like that, I wouldn’t listen to me either,” I said, holding my hands closed because I didn’t have a cigar to fiddle with as was my habit. “Just get everyone into slip tunnel capable ships and we will figure out the rest. The Alon might let us leave and descend upon Yansden for food and fuel. If that happens, all we have to do is haul ass out of here and take care of business on Maglan.”

“Your advice is inelegant, but sound. I will talk to my constituents and follow the recommendations of President Coronas and Rejon of Xad,” Meldon said.

“Fantastic, mister Prime Minister.” I was proud of myself for keeping my response clean, but no one noticed.

19

When I finally slept it was the most magical experience I could remember—better even than whiskey and cigars. That was the one good thing about being back on the Jellybird, there was an actual sleep rotation.

Waking up was less fun, but not terrible. No one was shooting at me. I wasn't underwater. Anything seemed possible with a little work and a positive mental attitude.

Once I had wolfed down some nutrition wafers and chased them with water, I took a long shower as hot as I could make it. Steam billowed around me. X-37 presented my calendar as was our standing procedure. I mostly ignored it until he got to the important things.

“Prime Minister Meldon made a public address last evening. He urged increased cooperation and stated the people of Yansden were committed to the evacuation. He denounced the Alon propaganda and encouraged citizens to be critical of these illegal broadcasts by the enemy.”

I let the water stream over me as I listened.

“The Prime Minister also made a private request for you to rescue the captured transport. He believes this will be a huge benefit to personal relations and morale,” X-37 said.

“He knows I have a more important mission, right?” I asked, hating the words as I said them. “Rescuing one or two people is hard enough. An entire ship of panic prone civilians would be a real shitshow. I’d probably get half of them killed without a platoon of spec ops troops and a squadron of support ships.”

“Everyone is forced to make hard decisions in the current crisis.” X-37, being little more than an algorithm, presented this statement with no emotions attached to it.

“What about CSL Locke? Doesn't he have a team for that,” I asked. “Or what about Loren Jacem?”

“Do you wish me to contact them?” X-37 asked.

“No. Contact Paul Honors.”

“Reaper Cain, my analysis suggests—”

“Can you make the connection or not?”

“It is possible, but neither I nor Z1 see what good it will do.”

“Do it, X. If this doesn't work, you're both free to tell me you told me so.”

Time passed. I put on all of my gear except for the exoskeleton and the Archangel armor. For weapons I had only my arm blade and a sidearm. I didn't expect the Jellybird to be boarded anytime soon.

“I have a link with Commander Paul Honors. It is very poor quality,” X-37 said.

“Thanks. Honors, can you hear me?”

“I can, Reaper. I have to say I'm surprised, and impressed you were able to find this channel. How many ship relays did you use to bounce it to me?”

“Don't answer that, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said.

“Forget about it,” I said. “I need you to do something.”

“Really? How interesting. I'm at your disposal, of course. We are only arch enemies after all, duty bound to oppose each other in every way possible,” Honors said.

“You’re freaking hilarious.”

He laughed easily, which surprised me. “There was a shuttle full of Yansden refugees captured,” I began.

“I can help you, Reaper, but there is no way I can get them released. Not even one of them.” He sounded serious now.

“I'm not asking you to let them go. I'm trying to decide if I need to come take them back by force,” I said. “If you can guarantee they are being humanely treated, I'll take a pass on the mission and recommend a diplomatic solution from our end.”

“You never cease to surprise me, Reaper,” Honors said. A tone of admiration colored his voice.

“Can you do that, on your honor as a soldier?” I hoped I was reading the man's personality correctly. He was on the wrong side, but I didn't think he was a bad person. Unlike his counterpart Peter Tobias, who was an egotistical psychopath.

Honors didn't reply immediately. When he did, I could imagine his solemn expression. “I'll check on the prisoners. My people aren't monsters. I can't guarantee I'll be allowed to tell you they are okay.”

“That's a start,” I said.

“We need to end this conversation, Reaper Cain. There's been an important announcement regarding a new Sansein dreadnought entering the system,” X-37 said.

The connection broke even before I acknowledged my limited artificial intelligence. X-37 activated the holo display. Images of two Sansein super dreadnoughts overwhelmed the view field. The Alon fleet around the slip tunnels had been facing outward to keep us at bay if we somehow made it that close. Now there was general confusion as hundreds of capital ships maneuvered to face the new, probably unstoppable threat.

A runner at the bottom of the Jelly’s display showed which of our Wallach scout ships were gathering the information. Our people remained a good distance away, but too close to stay clear of the danger. One blinked out. No information about its fate was available.

Smaller ships broke off from the massive Sansein newcomers. When Alon cruisers were forced to engage them, the unbelievably huge Sansein ships broke into smaller and smaller versions. Only then did I appreciate the scale of what I was looking at.

“Please stand by for an encrypted text only message, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said.

“Read it to me. I want to keep my eyes on this disaster.” The battle was more epic than anything I had seen or imagined.

“The message reads as follows: the Yansden prisoners are not being mistreated. I called in a favor to be sure this remains the case,” X-37 said. “The message is unsigned and untraceable.”

“That's great, X. Now tell me why the Alon are even trying to engage the Sansein? Does this give us a chance to slip through the blockade and use the slip tunnels? Can we make a run for it with whoever is ready in the exodus fleet?” I asked. Coronas, Rejon, and Meldon would never condone abandoning thousands or even millions of people but it was an option that needed to be considered.

“We have insufficient information to determine who was the initial aggressor,” X-37 said. “As for your second question, escape for even a small fleet is unlikely. At least in the short term, these new arrivals will make your situation worse. The farther back from the slip tunnel the Alon move, the more pressure this places on the rest of our allies in this system. As impossible as it sounds, this may be the first time we are being backed into a corner unless we want to fly away from planets and slip tunnels alike.”

I knew what my LAI meant. The void was too vast a place to ever be cornered, but we had to choose between defending an indefensible planet or leaving the system by slip tunnel. The effect was like being trapped in an arena with one of the Wallach beasts I’d fought to prove myself to Coronas and her people.

One by one, Alon battle groups arrived and stood off at a distance that didn't provoke the Sansein super dreadnoughts to attack.

“We are losing image quality. The Wallach stealth ships are pulling back. There are too many enemy forces in the sector,” X-37 said. “The scout leaders report their crews are not sufficiently trained or experienced to stay in close contact with the enemy.”

“That's a mistake,” I said. “They should keep a closer eye on them. The last thing we need is an armistice between our enemies.”

“It appears they are going to destroy each other,” Z1 said.

“I wouldn't count on it. Let's head that way and see for ourselves. X, check in with our fleet command to see if they have other assets we can draw on.”

* * *

Elise, Tom, and X-37 worked with Jelly to plot a course. Traveling across the system was difficult with enemies and refugees crowding the space lanes within a million kilometers of Yansden. Half the time we were requesting permission from Wallach-Xad-Yansden traffic control and the other half we were dodging Alon blockades. During the short time we had spent in close orbit of the planet I saw too much of the planet burning below us. Land battles, volcanoes, and massive storm systems over the ocean revealed how beautiful and terrible Yansden could be at the same time. I couldn’t imagine what was happening to places like YOHP 19.

The sooner our fleet could fully mobilize and slip away, the better.

I wanted to test fire all of our newly calibrated weapons and double check our stealth cloak because we were going to need every advantage we could manufacture. Elise argued that we needed to practice formation drills in the microfighters. Tom bragged that he and Jelly had a lot to show us about her improved engines. Despite everything, we were in high spirits now that the ship was back in its normal environment.

I had only brought aboard the crew I knew and trusted—taking none of the engineers Tom had supervised to put the Jellybird in the best form of her career. Henshaw raced toward us with the Lady Faith to begin this newest phase of our mission. To my surprise, they came with friends.

The RWS Battle Axe and the Hunter of Xad emerged near us from a test of their stealth capabilities. Captains Don Hunger and Captain Aeil Omon were good friends—men I trusted. We had discovered the first Sansein ships while hunting Doctor Ayers in uncharted space. Lastly, to my great surprise, came Amii Novasdaughter and the RWS Nightmare.

“That was impressive,” I said to the assembled captains.

“High praise from the last Reaper,” Novasdaughter said.

The other captains laughed. Our holo reunion was short lived. Our collected ship AIs sounded warnings of an Alon patrol.

“These bastards were everywhere, X. Next time, warn me.”

“I’m surprised they haven’t found every one of us,” Novasdaughter said, taking command of our little reconnaissance task force. “But such is our lot in life. Let’s hide and laugh at them.”

“Right away, vice admiral,” Captain Hunger said. “This time might as well be the same as the last time.”

Elise took me to a private channel we maintained with cochlear mics even while out of our armor. We’d grown accustomed to constant communication over the last several months. “The morale of the exodus fleet is better than I expected.”

“As long as it is not gallows courage.” Three dimensional maps updated on each workstation. X-37, Z1, and Jelly fed a constant stream of information to me. For about ten minutes, all I did was adjust to the new environment. Adventuring across Yansden had been a welcome relief from running slip tunnels and dangerous void combat. Nervousness again gnawed at my gut.

“Something wrong, Reaper?”

“No. I’m good. This mission, everything since we arrived in the Yansden system, has been different.” I hesitated. “Do you get nervous before a fight—or anything else dangerous?”

“Of course,” she answered. “Don’t you?”

“It’s been a while. Hard to explain. The stakes feel a lot higher than ever before.”

She fired back her answer without thinking. “The stakes have been life and death since we met, Reaper. Maybe you’re getting old. Does X-37 have retirement plans for has-beens like you?”

“Watch it, kid.”

She smiled and shook her head. “Don’t ever change, Reaper.”

We watched Alon ships pass by our position, which was good. What wasn’t so good was a second patrol that came a short time later. They were attempting to overcome our fleet’s stealth adaptations with raw numbers. They only had to get lucky a handful of times and our ragtag armada would be scattered, unable to complete the evacuation and leave the system for—a place I still had to find and secure.

Stealth was the only thing keeping us alive.

What had been a rare specialty was commonplace throughout our fleet out of necessity. We needed to be masters of escape and evasion. X-37 assured me that it was the largest stealth fleet that had ever been assembled.

“How’s the Lady, Henshaw?” I asked after the latest danger had passed.

“She’s well, Cain. Not as polished as the Jellybird. Where did you find the resources and manpower to do a complete refit?” Henshaw asked.

“Trade secret,” was all I said.

“I see.” Henshaw’s demeanor changed. “I assembled a crew just like you asked. Maybe now is a good time to meet them.”

“There is no time like the present. Let’s make it an official briefing to make sure we’re coordinating with the rest of the fleet,” I said. “If Vice Admiral Novasdaughter approves, we should connect with command.”

“Necron is already encrypting a communications profile,” Novasdaughter said.

X-37 sent a nearly undetectable pulse of electricity into my left hand, a subtle dose of haptic feedback. It took me a second to decipher the old code he was attempting to use—probably to avoid Z1’s detection. I already knew what my LAI was thinking. Could Necron protect us from Z1’s tantrums? The Black Phoenix AI hadn’t caused a problem for a while, but we had learned the hard way that the digital entity was a network of LAIs that each posed a myriad of threats to my sanity and self-control.

I wanted to get this done now, take back control, and show Z1 what our friend Necron could do.

“Now isn’t the time, Reaper Cain.” X-37 sent the message three times before I signaled I agreed.

My heart pounded and my head ached. A tingling sensation I didn’t like ran up my cybernetic arm for a few seconds, then vanished only to reappear in my right leg—which wasn’t augmented. Merely thinking about the last time I’d tangled with Z1 caused my stomach to go sour. I was one big Reaper mess when I needed to be on top of my game.

The hastily formed holo conference was full of important people: Rejon and the captain of the Bright Lance of Xad, Cynthia Thomas Younger; Coronas and the captain of the RWS Spirit of Wallach, Quincy Drysdale; Amii Novasdaughter and the Nightmare; and Captain Hunger and Omon in charge of the RWS Battle Axe and the Hunter of Xad respectively.

None of that was what left me reeling.

“I should tell you something before we get too far into this,” Henshaw said privately.

“Hit me with it, Jimmy,” I said, already focusing more of my attention on the captains and admirals than on the ocular engineer turned adventurer and gambler.

“Your mother and sister are part of the crew I put together,” he said.

My mother, Olivia Anna Cain, appeared in the holo with my sister Hannah beside her. “Halek, my boy, it is good to see you. I was worried you had died.”

“Godsdammit, Mom. I’m working,” I snapped, grabbing for a cigar.

“As am I, Hal. We’re a team now. No more leaving us behind,” she said. My sister shrugged and looked both bored and unapologetic.

“X, you should have warned me this was coming,” I said, trying unsuccessfully to keep it private. It was a skill I had mastered except when frustrated by family.

“There was no warning this was going to occur, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “I cannot predict the future.”

“Well, son, your sister and I will let you talk to your important friends,” my mother said, somehow sounding stately instead of petulant.

“Stay on the holo, Mrs. Cain. We won’t take long, and this affects everyone,” Coronas said. “Let’s get right down to business. Your task force is the best qualified to conduct the type of surveillance mission we have in mind. With luck, you will find a way around the Alon and the Sansein.”

Silence held each of the bridges as she looked each of us in the eyes.

“We must learn if now is the time to resume the exodus while the Alon are reeling and the Sansein are moving in for the kill,” Coronas said. “Novasdaughter will be in charge with orders to take Halek Cain’s advice seriously.”

“We’re honored, Miss President,” Novasdaughter said.

“We expect you to travel very close to our most powerful enemies. Anyone who feels their ship or their crew are not up to what is being asked of them may request a reassignment with no mark against them,” Rejon added.

Novasdaughter looked to each of us. No one backed out. She faced Coronas, Rejon, and Meldon. “We’re good to go.”

“Outstanding,” Coronas said. “Begin at once. Contact high command with requests for anything you need. It will be provided.”

I waited until our leaders signed off then caught Novasdaughter’s attention. “Can I speak with you in private?”

“Don’t do this, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “Z1 is not attending to us right now but I fear he may have certain words flagged to alert his security protocols.”

“We don’t have a choice, X. The stakes are too high.”

Novasdaughter heard the last part. “What are you talking about, Cain?”

“The Black Phoenix is too much for X-37 and me to manage,” I said. “It’s under control now, but there have been some close calls.”

“You would need to remain close to the Nightmare for that to work, and even then I am not sure it is a good idea,” Novasdaughter said. “I excluded all AI devices from this communication on my end, so I will need to consult with her for a full analysis.”

“When will you know?” I asked.

“Let’s say an hour just to be sure. Then I will give you an answer, good enough?”

“Perfect,” I said.

“The Jellybird and the Lady Faith will take the lead,” she said. “Then the Nightmare, followed by the Battle Axe and the Hunter. We must be able to detect Alon counter scouts from any direction.”

I made notes as the briefing continued.

“Our primary objective is to find a way around our enemies to the slip tunnel,” she said. “There will be a strong force guarding it but with the Alon and the Sansein fighting, there will be an opportunity.”

“How do you know?” Captain Omon asked.

“Because if there isn’t, we’re all dead. Our friends and families are dead or enslaved. And everything we’ve worked for was a waste of time.” Novasdaughter put her hands on her hips.

“Why are they fighting each other?” Captain Hunger asked. “They were content to watch each other for weeks. What changed?”

“We don’t know,” Novasdaughter said without hesitation. “That comes from the highest military intelligence sources in the exodus fleet.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said in a low voice, mostly just for X and myself.

Z1 arrived with a theatrical rush of sound I liked better than his ghostlike fadeouts. “I have processed the conversation several thousand times and made some estimations on our best course of action.”

“That’s super great, Z. Couldn’t have done this without you,” I said.

“Are you attempting to provoke me, Champion Cain?”

“Maybe.” I checked my HUD to be sure this part of the conversation wasn’t being broadcast to Novasdaughter and the other captains.

“That is all,” Novasdaughter said. “The entire exodus coalition is counting on us. Let’s find a way.”

“Okay, Z man. What did your analysis suggest?” I wanted to keep the dangerous frenemy talking. It didn’t seem like he had detected our collusion with Necron.

“Please attend to the main holo display on the bridge of the Jellybird. Your HUD is not adequate for the complexity of these navigational waypoints. I took the liberty of calculating a course for each of the ships in the exodus fleet.”

Jelly’s primary holo became a mass of twisting lines and icons. “Galaxy’s balls, Z.” I massaged my eyes for a second. “X, can you make sense of that?”

“I can, Reaper Cain. The course seems perfect, even when allowing for considerable variance that must result from the upcoming battles. No human captain or pilot will be able to follow this course, however. Complete control would need to be granted to the ship AIs, and they would then need to be slaved to Black Phoenix Z1-01FR381-742-X51DRO-ZETA.”

“I don’t think anyone is going to like that, X.”

Z1’s response was as cold as only a machine could be. “What anyone likes is irrelevant.”

I stalled. “Okay, you’re right, Z1. One hundred percent. Let’s complete this mission and see if that changes your course around the Alon and the Sansein.”

“A deep surveillance of the constantly changing Alon and Sansein positions will improve my nearly perfect solution,” Z1 said. “What would you do without me?”

“I don’t know, Z. Probably I would wake up without a constant headache and my nerve endings wouldn’t tingle like they were being held to a fire.”

“That is your fault, Champion Cain. The more you resist my superior processing power, the more suffering you cause yourself and your friends.”

X-37 and I kept our mouths shut this time, but I was sure we were both freaking out.

20

Task Force Nightmare spread out, slowing as we evaded more and more counter surveillance ships. The Alon didn’t have stealth technology or the means to deal with it. They were learning fast, however.

“Watch out for that cruiser, Jelly,” I said, marking part of the holo grid.

“Excellent observation, Captain,” Jelly said, then changed course.

Two very fast ships came right at us. They were lightly armed but changed course twice to match ours.

“Do not be concerned,” Z1 said. “We can easily blast them into pieces.”

“That’s good to know, Z, but maybe we don’t want to draw that kind of attention to ourselves,” I said. “Cain for Novasdaughter, can you deal with these cocky bastards if we let them past us?”

“Of course, Reaper. I have a catch team standing by,” she said.

I gave Jelly a new course, which allowed the Alon scout hunters to speed past us uncontested. The Nightmare flickered, drawing their attention. Less than a minute later, the enemy fighters vanished.

“We allowed them inside our stealth field and captured both ships in one of our hangars,” Novasdaughter said.

“What are you going to do with them?” Elise asked.

“My plan is to lock the pilots in separate cells and dump their ships. We will run out of space quickly if capturing them is our only option.” She addressed her crew. “See if we can set the ships on auto pilot when we eject them. That should cause the Alon creepers some confusion.”

I listened but put most of my attention on the number and types of ships we were seeing. This was an area not in contact with the angry Sansein super dreadnought—yet they had more firepower than anything I’d seen from them.

“Novasdaughter, I think this battle group is protecting their flagship,” I said. Images of Alon Emperor Acrondis grandstanding came to mind.

“Of which fleet?”

“I’m not sure, but I’ve got a hunch it might be the flagship of all their fleets. We can’t go any closer,” I said. “Now I understand why our other scout ships pulled back. Admiral Braxton Oberland of the 1344th Alon Grand Fleet was near the Emperor when he gave his ultimatum. That probably means Acrondis is on Oberland’s ship.”

“Alon forces are systematically pulling away from the Sansein around the slip tunnel,” Novasdaughter said. “That means their effort to defeat us in detail will become more desperate and severe—both in the void and on the planet.”

“What are our orders?” Keeping my hands still took effort.

“Can you remain undetected?” Novasdaughter asked. “We need a route between their fleets. From my vantage point, their forces overlap without gaps.”

“We can go in farther,” Elise said. “No one else has a performance record like ours.”

“We can go as well.” Henshaw’s voice was confident. I hoped he wasn’t bluffing like the gambler he was.

“Okay, that’s enough. I’m sure you will all volunteer. Thanks, but I need a no bullshit assessment of who can make it all the way to the Alon flagship.” Novasdaughter stared each of us down through the holo.

“Shouldn’t you advise them I’ve already calculated a course through the blockade,” Z1 asked.

“I’m holding that in reserve, Z. No offense, but it won’t be easy to convince every captain and ship AI to turn over their helms to your control,” I said privately. “X, can you talk to Z and make him understand why this gives us organics the heebie-jeebies?”

“I am up for the challenge, Reaper Cain. It may take some time.”

“How much time, five seconds?” I asked.

“Oh, no, Reaper Cain. Not that long.” X-37 almost sounded like he was attempting humor.

I moved on, pulling up information relevant to our mission. Long range communications were taking more and more time. As much as I wanted to call Tatiana or Tom for updates, I settled for text only summaries of what was happening with the rest of the Wallach-Xad-Yansden exodus fleet. The Alon bombing had begun in earnest. Loren Jacem’s team recovered one of the devices the assholes had been firing into the core of the earth to cause geological instability and allow them to more easily harvest raw materials that were spewing onto the surface as lava. There was speculation they were doing something to aggravate the weather as well, but no one had proof.

“These sons-a-bitches really lack finesse,” I complained, then realized no one was listening. X-37 was still tangled up with Z1. That was also when I realized my secret stash of cigars was empty. “Hey, Z, why don’t you do something worthwhile like find me a nice planet with a tobacco farm on it. This supply and demand thing is cramping my style.”

Neither of my digital companions responded. I moved on, pulling up information relevant to our mission.

21

Elise arrived for shift change but I refused to leave the bridge because I was a jerk like that—and I seriously doubted I could sleep. X-37 and Z1 were still off in digital nowheresville. It should have felt like a vacation but of course it didn’t.

“Any changes, Reaper?” Elise asked.

“No.”

“That is incorrect, Reaper Cain,” my LAI said.

“X! You’re back.”

“Apologies, Reaper Cain. Z1 required an extraordinary amount of proof that, pardon the expression, organics are unable to completely surrender control of their destinies to an artificial intelligence, especially one that is as completely unregulated as the Black Phoenix Z1,” X-37 said.

Elise shifted uncomfortably. “What the hell have you been doing up here, Reaper? Are you selling us out to Z1?”

“No, Elise. X, can you give her the backstory please?”

My LAI responded immediately, much quicker than I had expected after such a long absence. “Z1 calculated a route for the entire exodus fleet through and around the Alon fleets and then passed the Sansein currently stationed near the slip tunnel.”

“That’s fantastic!” Elise came to her feet and started pacing the bridge.

“There is one catch, Elise,” X-37 said. “The route is so complicated that every ship captain would have to relinquish control to their ship AI, and then their ship AIs would have to slave themselves to Z1’s direction.”

“Fuck that,” Elise said eloquently.

“That was essentially Cain’s response as well,” X-37 said.

Elise took a seat and reviewed my logs. Conducting surveillance, especially the extremely complex variety we were currently engaged in, was far less exciting than fighting Neverseen sea monsters or going head-to-head with enemy battleships. I watched her and saw the seriousness she brought to the task. I wish I had half of her energy and focus these days.

“Not much has changed,” I said. “Lots of movement, but the result in the end is the same. We’ve identified the Alon flagship but reaching it for an assassination attempt is impossible.”

“Assassination? Someone woke up on the violent side of the bed today. Which flagship are you talking about? I’ve lost track of how many fleets they have,” Elise said.

“That’s exactly what I said.” I sent a packet of information to her terminal. “I’m talking about the flagship of all their fleets, the one where the Emperor Acrondis has parked his fat butt.”

“Now I see why you’re so keen for an assassination attempt,” Elise said. “Does he have a fat butt?”

“I have no idea,” I said. “And I don’t care. I’m tired, okay. Cut me some slack.”

“Maybe you should sleep someplace other than your captain’s chair.” Elise said the words without conviction, still busily reviewing the information I had sent her.

“Novasdaughter for the Jellybird,” came a call from the Nightmare.

“The Jellybird reads you loud and clear, Novasdaughter.” Elise activated the holo as she answered. “I’m here with the Reaper.”

“Doesn’t he ever sleep?” Novasdaughter said.

“I sleep. X, show them my logs to prove it.”

“Belay that, X. It’s not important,” Elise said, her command voice sounding better than ever.

“You can’t give my LAI orders.”

“She can say what she likes, Reaper Cain. And you are correct. But in this case, I decided to comply with her request,” X-37 said. “I believe the vice admiral contacted us for a reason. Perhaps we should inquire of her purpose?”

“Thank you, X. The Jellybird is being pulled from this assignment,” Novasdaughter said while sending over authorization codes. “Please report to the Spirit of Wallach forthwith. Our entire task force is being relieved in preparation for the escape from the system.”

“Can you tell us why we are being pulled? Not that I generally complain about abrupt and irrational orders from high command—”

“Our situation is fluid, Cain,” Novasdaughter said. “If you trust Coronas, you will trust that she has more information than you do.”

I waited. I knew the vice admiral well enough to sense when she was about to spill the beans.

“There’s going to be a delegation to meet the Alon Emperor in person,” she said. “Our president needs a bodyguard.”

And maybe an assassin, I thought. The idea didn’t appeal to me as much as it should. My conversation with Elise had convinced me of one thing; we were way past that as a viable option to disrupt the Alon fleet.

“The President will stay on her flagship, the Spirit of Wallach. You are directed to dock the Jellybird in her secure landing bay. I will be providing a covert security escort using the Nightmare’s stealth capability. We can discuss that other thing we talked about when we have some privacy,” Novasdaughter said. “Necron believes he can help you with your problem.”

“Necron is a powerful AI,” Z1 said. “Why would it need to help you with something? What is this problem you are referring to?”

“Wow, Cain. I didn’t realize your new digital friend sounded so dark,” Novasdaughter said.

“Do not attempt to distract me, Vice Admiral.” Z1 sounded dangerous.

X-37 again saved the day. “Reaper Cain has a problem with self-esteem and the ability to manage his romantic affairs. Necron believes he can help with both problems.”

“I don’t have problems with my romantic affairs!”

“You do, Reaper Cain.” X-37 gave me a small jolt. “And your self-esteem is worse than I’ve ever seen it. I’m surprised you can get out of bed in the morning.”

“Yeah, you’re right, X.” I played along, not liking this ruse at all. “It’s too embarrassing to even talk about. You understand, Z1, don’t you?”

“I do not, Champion Cain.”

“But since we’re all here now,” X-37 said. “Perhaps you could use your phenomenal processing power to unravel the mysteries of the human heart?”

“Impossible, X-37. You should know this is a logic loop that has destroyed many AIs in the past. I will not be participating in any of these discussions.” Z1 faded out ominously.

“Nice work, X,” I said.

Novasdaughter shook her head slightly. “I’m not a fan of that thing.”

“It’s like having a Neverseen Lord by the tail.” Weariness overcame me. “Elise, if you’re good here, I’m going to get some rack time on our way to our next disaster.”

“Sweet dreams, Reaper,” Elise said. Novasdaughter laughed.

I fell asleep in my chair.

* * *

The Nightmare, RWS Battle Axe, and the Hunter of Xad stood off ten kilometers from the Spirit of Wallach—kissing distance in fleet terminology. The Alon flagship and her escort were parked at a relative stop a few hundred thousand kilometers away. In my viewscreen, they seemed enormous. It wouldn’t take much for them to crush us if they weren’t concerned about the Sansein threat. Our largest ships seemed insignificant with the might of our enemies as a backdrop.

Elise landed the Jellybird like a pro. “You know I’m going with you. No one trusts you in public without supervision, and worse yet, we all know what kind of trouble you’ll get in without a calm and rational personality—”

“Are you saying you’re calm and rational?” This assertion surprised me enough to break my concentration.

“Maybe.” She looked guilty for even suggesting the idea.

“Maybe the Slayer will come back and dance a waltz.” I reviewed the instructions sent by President Coronas, still annoyed that I was only allowed one person from my crew. “The Alon flagship is the AES Ever Victorious. What else do we know about her other than her pretentious name, X? What the hell does AES stand for?”

“Alon Empire Ship, Reaper Cain. You are full of questions today. Keep up the good work.”

“Alon Empire Ship—that’s not pretentious at all.” I pulled out my travel kit and packed appropriate rations for this mission, wrapping the bundle in the stealth cloak and stuffing the Reaper mask into the pack just in case. “I bet they have really expensive cigars. Tell me more, X.”

“She’s a carrier,” X-37 said. “Wallach fleet intelligence has shared what they know—which is less than I hoped for. By comparing the ship to other Alon carriers of similar size our allies have recently fought, we can assume the Ever Victorious carries twenty-five squadrons of ship to ship fighters, at least a dozen corvettes, and three frigates. The size and class of their fleet ships vary from ours. Wallach and Xad ship AIs have confirmed there wouldn’t normally be such large ships on a carrier no matter how large it was.”

“But we’re dealing with the Alon,” I muttered. “They make their own rules.”

“They have also been on an intergalactic war footing far longer than any known human nation,” X-37 said.

“Keep me updated.” I gave Elise a thumbs up. She jumped, laughing with youthful exuberance, and gave me a hug before running off to prepare her Archangel armor. If Path was disappointed, he didn’t say so. The sword saint had been even quieter than normal since Briggs died.

“How are you doing, Path?” I asked.

“All is well.” He stood as relaxed and ready as always. “I continue to focus on the blade.”

“Well make sure you also focus on your workstation when needed,” I said. “Tom will require some help on the Jellybird if things get rough. You may have to lead a rescue operation.”

“I am ready. Good luck, Reaper,” he said. The comment was strange coming from a man who never relied on chance.

I patted him on one shoulder and went to the armory. Tom was there working feverishly on my BP Archangel rig. He’d outdone himself integrating the armor and combat systems, but now he wanted it to look good as well. During our trip from our surveillance mission, we had learned that not all the metals and ceramics could be painted or polarized in the same manner. That gave us three different shades of dark gray to work with when it was all over. He obsessed over the details, telling me again and again that my appearance reflected on him. “I’ve got no love for the Alon Emperor, but you know what I’m saying. Can’t have people thinking we do shoddy work on the Jellybird. We have a reputation to maintain.”

“It looks great, Tom.” I climbed inside, thanking him for the twentieth time for how easy his little steps made the maneuver. “It’s the best-looking super weapon in the system.”

He laughed. “It’s one-of-a-kind, so there’s not much competition I guess.”

I stepped away from my friend the moment he was done polishing one of my vambraces. “I don’t think we should be late.”

“You’re right, Hal.” Tom crossed his arms and nodded. “Knock ’em dead.”

“You clean up well, Reaper,” Elise said as she joined me. She’d reprogrammed her Archangel to its original color—mirror bright gold. “Thanks to Tom, that is.”

“Yeah? Tell him so.”

She looked back without breaking stride. “Thanks, Tom.”

“You’re welcome, Elise. Try not to dirty him up too much,” my mechanic and best friend shouted.

We strode across the flight deck toward the official transport ship. More than a shuttle, it was nearly the size of the Lady Faith but perfectly maintained. No sign of damage existed on its exterior, and I suspected it was a lot tougher than most ships of its class. The RWS Coronas 1 had a sleek, sophisticated look I appreciated.

Just like the President herself, her private ship was the total package—gorgeous and ready to get things done. The nearly random thought activated a rarely used guilt gene somewhere in my person. I found myself thinking of Tatiana. The woman was far too jealous. What did she have to worry about? Coronas was a colleague, just like Novasdaughter and all the other women in my life.

“Focus, Reaper,” Elise said.

“Normally X-37 is the one busting my balls.” I didn’t need to focus. I was a Reaper, best in class and always ready to throw down in a fight.

“My analysis suggests it is effective to allow Elise to perform this function when possible,” X-37 said. “Her instincts are reliable.”

“Fine.” I needed a vacation, a real holiday where I could read a book, sip whiskey, and smoke the hell out of some fresh cigars.

Rows of the Presidential Guards stood at attention as we approached the ramp. If they resented us, none showed it. Oddly enough, when I had first encountered them, they had been using a simple version of exoskeleton to enhance their strength. Since then, they had added armor, simple imitations of the Archangel armor they’d seen me use in the past. They weren’t shy about stealing good ideas.

The Alon Emperor promised safe passage for President Coronas and a small contingent of bodyguards; Coronas had chosen Locke and his best people, then allowed me to pick one more from my crew. Whoever was running the Alon imperial security had to know I would be in the delegation. It felt like a trap, but this wasn’t my decision. I was a rogue at heart, but I also knew there was a time and place to follow orders.

We entered the RWS Coronas 1. I took Elise to our private channel. “Look around, kid, and tell me what you see.”

“They’ve up-armored this ship. I think there is a life pod for the president. Smart. But it does make me feel more expendable than normal,” she said.

“Good eye.” My augmentation allowed me to take it a bit farther, but she’d covered the main points.

“Reaper Cain,” Coronas said. “I feel better with the two of you by my side. And not just for the protection. You have a unique way of seeing through bullshit—which is mostly what we’re going to be served I’m afraid.”

“Then why go?” Elise asked.

“Time,” Coronas answered. “We can only accelerate the evacuation so much. And maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“Can I ask a direct question?” This wasn’t going to be fun but, I had to know the answer.

“Of course, Cain,” Coronas said.

“Am I your bodyguard or your assassin today?”

She flinched, which was nice. The woman wasn’t a monster like my Union bosses had been. If she’d thought of utilizing my darker skills, it seemed like the idea at least made her uncomfortable. “Bodyguard, but I trust your judgement.” Her face reddened.

I didn’t look away. In my full BP Archangel, this had to be intimidating. “Fair enough. Anything could happen.”

“True, Cain. My goal is to negotiate something that will keep as many of our people alive as possible and allow us to leave the Yansden system in one group,” she said. “I don’t like stalling. It never goes well.”

“Agreed.” I tried not to think about all the examples I could share with her. She didn’t want to know how wrong this event could go.

* * *

The RWS Coronas 1 pilot landed perfectly. Elise and I disembarked to secure the landing pad, then came Locke and his advance team. The first Alon officer I saw was Commander Paul Honors. He’d spent some time polishing his armor as well, and his unit of the Emperor’s Own looked like veterans.

“Who the hell is this guy?” I asked Elise.

“You already know the answer.” She shifted sideways for a better angle to protect the president when she came off the ship. With her, Locke’s team, and me, we were set up to give Honors a hell of a fight if it came to that.

The commander of the Emperor’s Own moved ahead of his soldiers. “Reaper Cain, we meet again.”

“Thanks for taking care of our prisoners,” I said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He clipped the sentence short, then continued in a quieter tone. “Never bring that up again.”

“Works for me. What’s next?” I asked.

“When your President works up the courage to leave her shuttle, I will escort her to stand before Emperor Acrondis.”

I didn’t like his tone. “The Emperor, your cousin?”

He smiled dryly. “When your people are ready, we can proceed.”

The Emperor’s Own stood like statues with their helmets closed and the visors set to opaque. The AES Ever Victorious also had ship security and fleet soldiers, each with several battle-ready units watching us. I counted them all and made a plan to kill them if needed. Elise was doing the same; she didn’t have to tell me what was in her head.

“I’ll stay beside the President,” I said.

“Acceptable.” Honors gave orders I couldn’t hear.

“X, why can’t you or Z hack into their comms. You’re slacking.”

“We are doing our best, Champion.” Z1 sounded harsher than usual.

“Relax, Z. You don’t have emotions so there’s no reason for you to get butt hurt.” I scanned the area ahead of me and behind me. “X, explain what I mean so he doesn’t distract me with stupid questions. And please tell him not to suggest throwing people across the room.”

“You may consider throwing the Emperor and his bodyguards out of an air lock as viable options,” Z1 said darkly. “They would die slowly.”

“Whoever programmed you had serious issues, Z,” I said as I walked close enough to Coronas that I could shield her from an attack if needed.

“What makes you say that, Champion Cain?”

“No reason.” I made visual contact with Elise before we entered the final room. She gave me a nod and I ushered Coronas inside.

The room was enormous, nearly as large as the landing platform, except there were no ships to take up space. Stadium seating gave a good view to everyone in the place. We found ourselves on the lowest level looking up a set of stairs laser cut from a curious black alloy. Emperor Acrondis sat on a techno-throne above everyone else present. He looked old, overdressed, and more than capable of ordering us to be murdered.

“How do you feel about this, Reaper?” Elise asked privately.

I shrugged. “Surprisingly good, actually. I can’t say why. Let’s just roll with it and see what happens.”

“Reaper Cain, I have calculated your chance of successfully assassinating the Alon Emperor as slightly less than eleven percent.”

“It’s a chance.” I acknowledged a message from Locke’s team that they were in their final positions for the meeting. “Maybe the Emperor is going to surrender and give us his ship.”

“That is very unlikely, Champion Cain.”

“Thanks, Z. I wouldn’t have figured that out on my own.” I looked at Coronas, waiting for orders, but she kept her face emotionless and concentrated on the man she’d come here to negotiate with.

22

A man in gold and black robes stepped forward. Everyone stood at attention, hands held over their hearts. “All hail the Emperor Acrondis. Leader of the Alon and all humanity, protector of truth and justice, commander of the unstoppable armies of the Empire, sword of justice, shield of the righteous, patron of all things good, and voice of the righteous.”

Locke introduced President Coronas. “It is my honor to announce President Amanda Coronas, elected leader of the Wallach, Xad, and Yansden coalition.”

High above us on his throne, the Emperor waved his hand dismissively.

“Thank you for inviting us to this summit meeting,” Coronas said, her strong voice carrying across the room despite the acoustics working against her.

When Acrondis spoke, his voice sounded strong and resonant. “It is not a summit. I called and you came. Know your place, woman. My patience has limits.”

“As does mine, Emperor Acrondis.”

Standing this close to President Coronas, I could tell she was restraining herself. The woman was strong, smart, and disciplined, but this was too much for anyone. If she had ordered me to attack, I would have. There wasn’t a good solution to our situation and going down fighting might be the best any of us could hope for—here or elsewhere in the system.

“My people are willing to provide resources you need in exchange for safe passage and reasonable compensation,” Coronas said. She motioned to her assistant, who projected a display of data in a portable holo projector.

The Emperor watched and said nothing.

“We came in good faith, Emperor. Please show us respect for that at least,” Coronas said, breaking a long silence.

“Your bargaining position is poor.” The Emperor pointed to his steward in the black and gold robes. “Show them.”

I tried to contact Honors in hopes of working a side negotiation or learning something we could use to our advantage. He either couldn’t or wouldn’t answer.

The steward’s presentation filled the air above us. Images of the exodus fleet materialized, which surprised me because it indicated they knew more about our actual location and movements than we had believed possible.

One of the views focused on a particularly unorganized transfer of people from the surface to a transport ship. Another holo showed volcanoes and storm surges along the coast. People were driven from their shelters. They looked broken and defeated.

“Emperor Acrondis, where are these images of peaceful meadows and clear skies your people broadcast less than a week ago?” Coronas asked.

“Do not mock his Imperial Highness,” the steward growled.

Coronas raised her hands apologetically. “My mistake.”

All of the displays blinked out then came back with new imagery—Neverseen raiders swarming through a jungle, then descending on a convoy headed to a launch site. Twisted giants smashed through trees.

“Look, Champion Cain,” Z1 hissed in my ear. “Those creatures know how to throw their enemies.”

A Yansdenian citizen, a civilian, was yanked off his feet, bitten in half, then flung out of view.

“They had to have doctored that image,” Coronas muttered.

I didn’t argue.

Scene after scene, Yansden lost ground to the Alon attacks, nature, and the Neverseen.

“What the hell is the point?” Elise asked privately.

“I’m sure they’re about to tell us,” I said, then ran my own calculations. Could I get to the Alon leadership and wipe them all out?

Coronas snapped her fingers then pointed to the area between our delegation and the Emperor’s throne. Her assistant displayed new images. Alon ships raced toward the Sansein super dreadnought and were destroyed by the dozen. Others retreated after their shields were battered and they started losing atmosphere.

“It seems you also have problems, Emperor,” Coronas said proudly, playing the game like she was born to it.

The Emperor’s people scrambled our projections and showed Neverseen rampaging through a largely abandoned city, then switched to a YOHP completely overrun with the aquatic creatures.

Coronas took the tablet from her assistant and type furiously. When the image finally came up, everyone in the room stared. Murmuring stopped. Even Acrondis was speechless.

Before us stood a larger, more muscular version of Coranth, but instead of the angelic white he and his brother presented, this Sansein was blood red and looked ready to fight in hell.

“Where did you find that image!” Acrondis shouted, standing and pointing a finger accusingly at Coronas.

“It was sent to us,” Coronas said. She smiled, then took the advantage for the first time since we arrived. “They didn’t send the message to you?”

“They did not,” Acrondis said, forgoing the habit of having his steward speak for him. “Be not insolent, President. If you try to tell me this Sansein Warlord is your ally, I will call you a liar. We have seen their kind before, and they do not tolerate humans to live.”

Elise beeped our private comms. “At least he recognizes us as humans. I knew we were making progress.”

“I am no fool,” Coronas said, moving a step closer to Emperor Acrondis. He matched her, coming down the steps slightly as though to show his people he did not fear the woman or her bodyguards. The Emperor’s Own shifted nervously.

“No, you are not, woman,” Acrondis said. “There might be a place for leaders like you among the Alon; your people could be a vassal state. There are benefits to such an arrangement you might appreciate.”

Coronas turned her head and grimaced, clearly not taking the bait. “I can’t imagine what those would be.”

“Survival is high on the list of fringe benefits. Technology. A choice of the resources left once we have replenished our fleets,” Acrondis said, moving even nearer.

“At what price?”

Acrondis stopped, barely two arms lengths from her now. “Complete subservience and the surrender of all resources that have been collected and loaded onto the exodus ships from Yansden. There would be oaths to take. Anyone you vouch for could apply for my mercy. I am prepared to accept all people of Wallach, Xad, and Yansden.”

The Emperor spoke our dialect better than anyone we’d met from the Alon. The inflection he placed on the three nations of our coalition suggested he had a very good spy service under his control. That worried me more than all the ships and guns and soldiers on display.

“I cannot make such a bargain, Emperor Acrondis,” Coronas said.

Whispers spread across the huge room and then silenced when the Emperor looked back at his people.

“Coronas would have made a good Reaper,” Elise said. “She’s tough and ruthless.”

I watched and waited as the negotiations continued. At one point, I thought we were going to see an armistice. It was so close. Coronas was a master of negotiations. I’d never seen better and started to believe this meeting had been a good idea after all.

At the very least, I thought we might be allowed to leave with our lives even if the Alon remained determined to murder and enslave every human who hadn’t already bowed to them.

23

The lighting in the room changed and there came a low, not unpleasant musical tone. Everyone aboard the Ever Victorious understood what was happening. I held up a hand to signal Elise, Locke, and the others to hold in place. We watched the ritual unfold. With great dignity, the Emperor retreated to his chair and sat. He watched everything in his realm with a careful eye that reminded me he was not someone to be trifled with.

“It feels like an intermission,” Elise said. “Did someone bring snacks?”

“I have a flask of whiskey and three good cigars. Not enough for everyone,” I said. There had been more to my flippant remark, but a bad feeling stopped me from saying it. We were witnessing a new level of our enemies. This small event was nothing militarily, but I saw beyond the obvious. Toward the back of the room, at the top of the risers, people came and went from the cheap seats—essentially. I couldn’t see into the hallways, but I could tell they were there. There were so many people in this fleet.

They needed the resources of Yansden and probably the next five systems they came across. “X, how did we underestimate their population?”

“Z1 has an interesting theory,” X-37 said. “He believes they’ve been unhindered by a serious adversary and have expanded to fill their environment—that environment being the galaxy. “It seems that they have overreached themselves and provoked the Sansein.”

Some of the less well-to-do spectators were replaced with Alon citizens with newer clothing and more badges and adornments. This was the first time I’d seen people with jewelry on a spaceship in a long time. Their hairstyles were sometimes strange and sometimes absent altogether. No one but the Emperor’s own or Coronas’s bodyguards, including me, had weapons. They all followed rules like they were born to them.

The Emperor flicked his hand as though summoning us to step forward. It made me feel like a pet and I hoped that Coronas would know better than to respond, at least not quickly. She stood her ground. Emperor Acrondis seemed unfazed. He leaned forward in his chair, putting his knees on his elbows, and made the motion again.

This time, it was clear he was calling me forward. I waited until Coronas signaled her consent. It was important that the observers saw this.

I stopped at the foot of the stairs but was still tall enough to look him almost straight in the face. There was perhaps five meters between us. He wasn’t afraid of me. I could see hard confidence in his eyes.

“I know what you are, Reaper,” he said, then smiled. The thin line his lips made was ancient and sinister but not in a melodramatic way. “They call you the last Reaper. Is that because you killed your competitors or because your kind has been replaced by a younger, stronger generation?”

I popped my BP Archangel canopy and let it fall back. Elise grumbled through our private channel. Almost everyone watching leaned forward in their seats. I knew that Commander Paul Honors and his soldiers were watching me, but they didn’t show it outwardly. They had been alert, and they remained alert.

“Very good, Reaper,” Acrondis said. “You’re an assassin, the lowest form of warrior but braver than some, I think. Yet you stand before me. If you were one of mine, standing before my enemy, you’d be thinking you were obligated to blow yourself up to take out my enemy. Do you fear doing this, Reaper?”

In my peripheral vision, I saw President Coronas cross her arms. I wasn’t a master of diplomacy. My familiarization course had been tedious and incomplete, barely lasting two hours. I think the only reason I and the other candidates for the Reaper school had volunteered to watch it was that it was a break from the brutal training we’d been in day after day.

But even I understood that there was a danger President Coronas was becoming a sideshow to my confrontation with Acrondis. I waited for her obvious signal to show that she was my boss and I was doing her bidding. To hammer the point home, I turned slightly toward her. She shrugged like the Emperor’s bluster meant nothing.

I pulled a cigar from my kit, then nursed it to life. Staring down the Emperor of the vast and warlike intergalactic superpower became easier somehow. My friends were behind me. I didn’t have Briggs the Slayer, but I had Elise and Locke and his excellent commandos. We were going to make it through this somehow.

I hadn’t forgotten that Commander Paul Honors and the other Alon soldiers were ready to fight. Many appeared more eager for a violent confrontation than others.

Acrondis narrowed his amused gaze. The man was absolutely ancient. He undoubtedly knew these games better than I did. I got a sinking feeling in my gut.

“You have your vices, don’t you, Reaper?” he asked.

“You should try it. Gives you lots of energy and the ladies dig it,” I said.

“Really? How crass, but yet interesting.”

I held up one of the unlit cigars I had brought. “I’ll trade this Reaper Original Cigar for your guarantee that no one in the evacuation fleet will be harmed now or ever.”

“I think I’ll pass,” he said.

I looked toward Coronas. “I had to try.”

“Perhaps the Emperor doesn’t understand how unique the ROC brand is,” Coronas said, playing along.

“I have something better than your games.” Acrondis leaned forward until the change of his balance forced him to stand up. It should’ve made him look unsure of himself but when he crossed his arms, he looked twenty years younger and like a warrior. “I’m sure your society knows the tradition of hostage exchange.”

Coronas said nothing, but I knew she had to take this if it was a real offer.

“We can agree to a cease-fire while my fleets deal with these troublesome aliens,” Acrondis said. “It changes nothing for you. Your best choice is still a full and unconditional surrender. But if it makes you feel better to have some time to lick your wounds, this is the only offer I will make today.”

“President Coronas, I volunteer to be taken hostage if it serves our people,” CSL Locke said.

The Emperor and his people probably didn’t understand the weight of that statement. Locke was the Chief Squad Leader of Wallach, a rank I’d never heard of before but that was a big deal to his people. He was their greatest hero—and probably the perfect hostage for this situation.

The moment Coronas nodded her consent, Emperor Acrondis hissed. “No.”

He narrowed his eyes on me.

I blew a smoke ring.

“I want the girl Reaper,” he said.

24

I continued to smoke like there were only two other things I’d rather be doing, because there were only two—kill this vindictive old bastard and rally my friends to fight our way back to our ship. Tension filled the room. A glance at the spectators told me this was the best show they’d seen in generations and they loved it. Old Acrondis was more of a showman than I had expected—a mistake that was going to cost me.

“X,” I said, almost under my breath.

“Yes, Reaper Cain?”

“Remind me to work on my showmanship before we deal with this guy again,” I said, slightly louder. Honors heard it but I wasn’t sure about the rest of the Alon.

Elise stepped forward. “I’ll do whatever it takes to give us some time.”

“No, Elise,” I said.

She moved forward. “Who are you giving us, Emperor?”

Acrondis motioned offhandedly to Honors, who immediately surrendered his weapons to Locke and was taken into custody.

“How do we take your weapons, child?” Acrondis asked.

She didn’t respond to the bait, choosing to ignore the comment when she would have immediately lashed out at me if I dared call her a child. Calling her a kid was one thing, saying she was a child was something else.

Elise handed her HDK rifle and sidearms to one of Locke’s sergeants, then started to remove her armor.

“That will not be necessary,” Acrondis said. “Have some decorum, young lady.”

Elise rolled her eyes. “Oh, it’s young lady now. I’m so glad I’ve graduated from child.”

“Your armor will protect you while you are my hostage. I see the weapons you are leaving behind. Do you have others concealed in the shiny gold carapace?” Acrondis said, holding up a hand that signaled his steward to remain silent.

“No,” Elise said.

The Emperor stared at her, his expression unreadable.

“You’ll have to take my word for it,” she said.

Long moments passed before the Emperor waved his hand again. The gesture betrayed nothing but boredom. He wasn’t afraid of one young woman, no matter what she brought into his ship.

“I’m sorry, Cain,” Elise said before Alon troopers and fleet soldiers surrounded her. “I didn’t think it would end like this. We all have our part to play.”

Her words struck me like a hammer, or maybe a rocket to the face. Clenching my fists so tightly that it hurt my arms, shoulders and back—I lost the ability to hear properly. Every sound had to push through a humming noise in my ears before I could process it. What scared me was that the feeling wasn’t anger. This time it was panic, raw fear. The sensation was totally alien to me. I was going to lose someone I really cared about because she was a real hero and too stubborn to listen. “Godsdammit, kid.”

“Not a kid.” She winked, then darkened her visor and submitted to the Alon guards. Despite the added height the Archangel armor gave her, the guards dwarfed her. X-37 analyzed the specs of their armor and suggested they were incarceration specialists—which made me think of how miserable my time at the BSMP had been.

Fucking asshole guards. When it came, my fury came like a nuclear weapon. I could barely see through my white-hot anger. Nothing existed but my battle with self-control. Fantasies of letting go and following my base instincts blossomed. Why the hell was I trying to save everyone? That was impossible. Why not just throw a weapon to Elise, stand back to back with her and get to work killing our enemies?

“I’m giving you a sedative, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said.

“No.” The word hissed between my clenched teeth.

“Yes, Reaper Cain.”

“I said no you digital son-of-a—”

“You should be feeling it now,” X-37 said. “The dose is very precise, Reaper Cain. I know what I am doing. Elise would not thank you for getting everyone killed, and as she has told you one hundred and eighty-nine times, she’s not a kid.”

I barely felt my LAI’s manipulation of my hormones. Which was good. I needed to stay angry without flying into a rage.

“It is very strange they don’t make her take off the armor,” Coronas said as we made our way back to the ship.

“What?” I growled.

“Isn’t it unusual to leave prisoners in their battle kit?” Coronas asked.

“Not at all,” Honors said, way too jauntily. “That would be bad manners. Some sects wear no clothing under their armor. We haven’t stripped prisoners for generations. And what can she do, even in that armor?”

“You’d be surprised,” I said. His words came from far away, like I was in a dream and just had to wake up. I couldn’t believe this was happening. One moment I’d been blowing smoke in the face of the most powerful man I’d ever encountered—and that was saying something—and the next I was as helpless as a child.

“I hope she doesn’t fight,” Honors said more somberly. “It won’t end well for her. Once we’re gone, they will have a team of same sex soldiers remove the armor. We’re not barbarians.”

“I don’t give two fucks what you or your people are, Honors,” I said. “If they harm one hair on her head I’ll be coming for the sorry sons-a-bitches to show them what a Reaper really is.”

“I’m sure my cousin expects as much,” Honors said.

Why had I ever almost liked this guy? He saved some of his own men in battle and checked on some prisoners for me. We weren’t friends. I needed to remember that in case I had to Z1 him out of an airlock.

“It’s time to go, Reaper,” Coronas ordered, her voice stern but compassionate.

CSL Locke and Coronas remained professional. I went through the motions, completing each small task like it was from a checklist—guard the left flank as we crossed the flight deck, watch that door, move between that person and my principal, keep my weapons ready.

Climbing the ramp into the Coronas 1 was a huge relief and a prison sentence at the same time—because I felt like I had just committed a crime. Never leave a friend behind; it was a rule older than the Union.

“She knows what she’s doing,” President Coronas said before heading to her secure debriefing room. “I’m sorry it happened this way.”

“Thanks.” I lit a cigar and tried to decide whether I should leave my BP Archangel armor on or take it off. As long as I was armed like this, I would be tempted to order the ship to turn around and start the end of this war with the Alon.

Maybe that was the right thing to do even if it got everyone killed before we tried to slip out of the system. Or maybe that’s what Honors’s cousin wanted—a Reaper to blame the next war atrocity on.

“What’s next, X. Tell me something good or I’m going to make bad decisions,” I said.

“President Coronas wishes us to make a close surveillance of the Sansein position,” X-37 said. “I’m sending a note to your HUD. Do you need a sedative, a stimulant, or a swift kick in your ass?”

“I’m good, X.”

“Are you really, Reaper Cain?”

“We’ve got work to do,” I said, then buried myself in the details of what we needed to get done. “Show me the image of the red Sansein again. And tell me what makes it different.”

25

No one spoke until after the Coronas 1 was back aboard the Spirit of Wallach. Commander Paul Honors looked around curiously as we marched him straight to the Jellybird and ordered him inside. I didn’t want him gathering information on our flagship. We’d been down that road once before and I was determined not to let it happen again. Memories of Alon boarding parties, Sansein warriors, and Slayers rampaging among the crew were hard to erase.

“Get us out of here, Jelly,” I said the moment we were all inside.

“What shall I set as our destination, Captain?” Jelly asked.

I kept my gaze on Honors, restraining the need to shoot him in the face with one of my Furies, or better yet, the BP energy weapon. “Anywhere but here. I’ll let you know. Just make us vanish.”

Jelly alerted other ships on the flight deck then slipped invisibly into the void between friendly and hostile warships.

“This wasn’t my idea, Reaper,” Honors finally said.

“I’d just as soon kill you as look at you.” My words were so hard they almost had physical substance.

He didn’t flinch. “She will be fine.”

“How can you know that?” I fired back.

He shifted from one foot to the other, then looked around as though I might offer him a seat in the Jellybird’s multipurpose bay we used to launch our Archangels and microfighters from.

I said nothing. Inside, I was a mass of rage for allowing Elise to be put in this situation.

He crossed his arms. “Do you remember when you asked me to check on the captured shuttle prisoners?”

“It was a lot easier than I may have led you to believe.”

“Stop screwing around and say what you’re trying to say.” Blood pounded the veins in my neck. He couldn’t see them but had to know how angry I was.

“It’s a tech secret we keep in the Emperor’s Own—part of our clearance codes granted in service as Emperor Acrondis’s highest ranking security team,” he said. “I can look into Elise’s cell, or any cell in the fleet, right now. Just like I did to check on the prisoners you asked about.”

“Bullshit.”

He uncrossed his arms and held up his hands innocently. “I am being very truthful.” He paused. “What is bullshit?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He continued. “The resolution is very poor because the EO network spans such a large fleet and must pass hundreds of security scans. But I can show you she is alive. Good enough?”

“It’s not fucking good enough, Honors, and you know that.” I clenched my BP Archangel fists so hard they hurt me all the way to my shoulders. “Let me see her.”

“One second.” For several seconds he viewed a screen on the inside of his forearm. From time to time, he typed codes, smiling again and relaxing as he found what he was looking for. “Here she is. Just like I said.”

I leaned toward his view screen just as he stepped back and seemed ready to panic. His helmet’s shield was set to translucent, which allowed me to see his face going pale right before my eyes.

“Honors!” I growled at him, almost unable to control my growing rage.

“She’s…not there.”

I seized his arm and twisted it so I could look at the low-resolution screen. There, right in the middle of a high security cell, stood Elise’s full Archangel armor. Apparently, they hadn’t been able to talk her out of it.

But something was wrong.

“X, can you tell from this picture if she’s alive? Why is she standing like that? She’s so stiff.” I looked the runaway badass up and down, searching for a clue to what was bothering me.

“I can do little with this data feed,” X-37 said. “It appears the armor’s life support systems are functioning.”

“She’s gone, Cain,” Honors said. “Your second in command is not in her cell.”

“What the fuck are you telling me, Honors? How can she not be in her cell?” I shoved him against the wall, which wasn’t as easy as it should be with my BP Archangel gear overmatching his combat armor.

“She’s replaced herself in the cell with one of my best fighters, First Sergeant Kiliana Jess—they are of a size.” Honors took three tries to free himself from my grip then scooted along the wall to escape my wrath. His armor boosted his strength, probably greater than that of an Archangel rig, but nothing compared to my hybrid machine.

I stared at him like I wanted to take Z1’s advice and throw him out of an airlock. He had the good sense to look worried.

“Reaper, I underestimated your friend, apparently,” Honors said.

“Start talking.” I opened and closed my powerful exoskeleton hands. Path edged closer, his gaze nearly as sharp as his swords.

“Jess is trapped inside the gold armor, which is double humiliating for her, I imagine, because she commented on how gaudy it was when we saw your party arrive.” He spread his hands as though he’d just explained everything. “Elise, apparently, is somewhere on the AES Ever Victorious wearing armor belonging to one of the Emperor’s Own.”

“How do you know that part?” I demanded.

“Jess’s armor is throwing an error code. I haven’t sent up the alert yet, which will earn me a court martial at the very least,” Honors said, his expression grim.

“Fuck me through a slip tunnel.” I chewed up other curses that even I couldn’t understand, then started stomping back and forth across the deck of the Jellybird.

“What happens if they catch her trying to escape?” It was a stupid question. My brain was attempting to catch up with the new development. Neither X-37 nor Z1 were doing much better.

“She’ll be publicly executed.” Honors sounded like he genuinely regretted the situation. “I admire her determination, Reaper.”

I ignored him.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Are we going back for Elise, Reaper Cain?”

X-37’s question hung over me like it was the hardest decision I’d ever made. I backed Honors into a corner and leaned helmet to helmet with him. “Show me where she is right now.”

“That’s tricky.”

“Do it.”

He shook his head. “Each time I search, the system puts her at greater risk of being discovered.”

That made sense but I still didn’t trust the man. “Why aren’t you raising the alarm?”

“Maybe if no one knows I knew this happened, there might not be a court martial. I’m hoping none of you will cooperate with an Imperial inquisition and testify against me,” he said.

“You seem confident that you can survive a court martial,” I said, taking time to evaluate his body language and allow X-37 to do the same.

“My family is very connected. You know that.”

“Lucky you,” I grumbled.

“Honesty detected,” X-37 said. “I can find no indication of malice toward Elise—or us—believe it or not.”

“Show me where she is,” I said. “Then I’ll make a decision.”

A minute later I was watching Elise wandering an extremely wide hallway, more like a city street, wearing the armor and helmet of one of the Emperor’s Own. There were thousands of people on this part of the ship. None of them questioned her.

“How long can she wander around like that?” I asked. “Won’t she need to report for duty?”

“With me gone, my team is out of the rotation. As for how long she can remain unnoticed, that depends on how clever she is,” Honors said.

“Are we going to rescue Elise, Reaper Cain.” X-37’s question was private this time.

“We sure as hell are,” I said.

“When?” X-37 asked with unusual bluntness.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, then beeped Path’s helmet. “Take Honors to the observation deck and kill him if he gives you any problems.”

“You’re only going to place one guard on me?” Honors sounded offended.

“Path is a special case. My recommendation is to do what he says unless you enjoy decapitation,” I said, then left them. “Jelly, take us toward the Sansein fleet. Let’s see who or what this big red dude is.”

“Right away, Captain.”

* * *

Jelly worked her way through the rest of the Alon containment fleet, those ships dedicated to surrounding the Alon threat. She picked a path through the erratic flight paths of the smallest Sansein ships. Their movements reminded me of biological cells under a microscope. There was a purpose to what they did, I just didn’t understand what it was. It would have been a beautiful sort of chaos under other circumstances—like creatures at the bottom of an aquarium or the swirling colors of a nebula.

Sneaking through two enemy fleets couldn’t be rushed. I downed my gear and required Honors to do the same. Once he was out of his gear, we moved to the observation deck so that he couldn’t spy on how we ran our bridge.

Something about my hostage bothered me. “You told me the Emperor is your cousin.”

He shrugged. “It doesn’t mean as much as you think, but you did put a target on yourself when you killed Peter Tobias.”

“Was he the Emperor’s cousin too?”

“Nephew,” Honors said crisply.

“Fucking great.”

“You would be dead already if he had been in favor with the Emperor at the time.” Honors went to the bar on the observation deck and poured himself a whiskey. “The man was attempting to claw his way back into the center of the court with acts of daring heroism. And I think he was crazy.”

“No argument there.” I took the bottle from him.

“I have better weapons than a bottle,” Honors said as he raised the glass in a mock toast.

“I’m not giving you back your armor or your weapons,” I said.

“How uncivilized.”

“Whatever.”

X-37 alerted me. I relayed the news to my hostage guest. “We’re coming within direct visual range of the Sansein super dreadnoughts.”

Honors sat on the edge of an observation chair, glass held in both hands as he stared at the holo viewer.

The first super dreadnought we approached made me sick the closer we came to it. Everything seemed out of perspective. I'd only thought I understood how big it was. For a few seconds I was gratified by a fantasy of my old Union enemies encountering this ship and getting severely killed.

The satisfaction was trifling, not even enough to prompt a sarcastic comment. Without Elise here to snort derisively at my wit, there didn’t seem a point to making jokes. I really screwed up, Elise. Don’t do anything stupid.

“What in all that is holy?” Honors asked.

His outburst made me curious, but I let it go. There wasn’t time to let him rant about his god emperor, or whatever motivated a trillion Alon subjects to obey the man without question. Our conversations had already gone down a lot of rabbit holes. There were three Alon home systems, all of them massively overpopulated and reliant on resources harvested from conquered worlds. I never wanted to visit the place. It sounded like the worst parts of the union but a hundred times more decadent and corrupt.

Tom’s voice filled my earpiece. Honors couldn’t hear what was happening on the bridge.

“Take us around the main ship if you can, Jelly,” Tom said.

“Of course, XO. It will take a long time, days perhaps. We will frequently be required to remain motionless if our goal is to avoid detection,” Jelly said.

Tom considered his options, or that is what I imagined he was doing during the long silence. “Fly along the length of the largest ship. Maintain a safe distance. Avoiding detection is our number one concern.”

“Right away, XO,” Jelly said.

I sat two chairs away from Honors. We stared at images that changed everything. He probably saw the end of his Emperor’s grand fleet. I saw a tiny spark of hope that we could use the Sansein to protect us after all. They still didn’t have as many ships, but that seemed to be changing, and their ships were more powerful than even the Alon warships.

We hadn’t made a good first impression. Coranth had wanted us all captured or killed after they learned what Vice Admiral Nebs had done to their race—splicing their DNA into humans to create Slayers. Neither X-37 nor Z1 thought the Sansein would forget that crime, but Envoy had promised if we freed the mother, they would protect us on Maglan.

It was our only hope.

26

“Reaper Cain,” X-37 whispered.

I rolled out of bed, not sure where I was for a second. Once it clicked, I cleared the room like I had just entered hostile territory as was my habit. When that was done, X-37 and I ran a scan to be sure there were no surveillance devices. On the Jellybird, this wasn’t necessary—but it was my habit and it had kept me alive during hundreds of missions before the Union threw me on death row.

“Why are you whispering, X?” I jumped in the shower while the water was still cold. “Ahhhhhg! That’s brutal!”

“I wanted to get your attention,” X-37 said. “Z1 is deeply involved with an analysis of the Sansein newcomers. We can talk privately.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re whispering,” I said in the same tone of voice.

“I will resume my normal voice if you promise to use the appropriate caution, Reaper Cain.”

“Reaper’s honor.” I held up my fingers and crossed them.

“I don’t think that means what you think it means,” X-37 said. “But let’s continue, shall we, Reaper Cain?”

“I’m ready when you are.” The water was just starting to get hot. Under other circumstances, I would take as much time as possible. Instead, I rushed the process and was soon standing on the floor drying off.

“Jelly has advised me that the Nightmare was able to move in very close behind us,” X-37 said.

“That’s dangerous, X.” My instinct told me to send the Nightmare away, just to decrease the risk of both ships getting caught at the same time.

“It is risky, Reaper Cain, but necessary,” my LAI said.

I wasn’t convinced. “Explain.”

“We are in communication with Necron, who is eager to teach Z1 a lesson. That requires both ships to remain in close proximity to each other.”

“Let’s not get carried away, X.” I dressed and armed myself with practiced efficiency.

“I recommend a small, relatively safe test run,” X-37 said. “Necron believes he can infiltrate a subroutine and hide there until we are certain we haven’t been detected.”

“I don’t know if we have time for that,” I said. “See if Necron can take control of Z1’s voice. I don’t like the way it sounds.”

“Good morning, Reaper,” Necron said. “I have changed Z1’s vocal profile. The next time he speaks, it should sound more professional—very neutral and customer service oriented.”

We waited.

Today was a new day. Elise was still gone. Briggs was still dead. But I felt like I could do something, take control, make the best of a bad situation. When I’d gone to sleep last night, I second-guessed every decision I had ever made involving Elise. Now, clean and prepped for action, I could only imagine the young woman kicking ass and taking names. By the time we got back to the Alon fleet, she’d probably be standing on the deck of Emperor Acrondis’s flagship with a signed surrender in hand. Which would make her intolerable. How exactly would I put her ego in check after something like that?

I smiled all the way to the bridge. Path had been keeping the late watch and noticed my good mood.

“Were you whistling, Cain?” he asked.

“Hell no.” But I had been, something from an action holo I hadn’t watched since my spec ops days.

Path gave me a confidential look that included his own subtle smile. “Someone must have slept well. Did you utilize the meditation drills I taught you?”

I held up my hand flat and waggled it from side to side, indicating maybe a little. “Anything to report, sword saint?”

“The Sansein ships are incredibly large. I believe there is a pattern to the movements of their squadrons, but it is nothing like the military vessels we have faced in the past,” Path reported. “I’m also more and more aware that every Sansein is unique. More so than humans, I believe.”

“I doubt that.” Because I was full of impulses this morning, I stuck an unlit cigar in one corner of my mouth and began to work on my own scans of the situation. My fingers flew over the keyboard and the holo display glowed to life. One of the first things I checked was Honors. The man had not attempted to break out of his cell, just as he had promised.

“Good morning, Champion Cain,” Z1 said.

For a second, I didn’t recognize the digital entity.

“I don’t feel right,” Z1 said, his voice sounding like a clerk trained in customer service management. “Please excuse me.”

“Nothing to excuse, Z1. I’m glad you are here,” I said.

Z1’s digital voice coughed, struggled to speak, and coughed again. The voice remained that of a young professional. “I… really don’t… feel right. Something…”

I waited. X-37 waited. The view of the massive Sansein fleet remained constant in the holo viewers. My mood started circling the drain.

The choking sound became worrisome, then grew into a dark, ghostly laugh. “So that is your friend Necron? I warned you not to attempt to override my systems. If you disliked my voice so much, you could have just asked me to change it.”

“I did, Z. Several times. Now can we just move on,” I said. Cold sweat ran down my back. X-37 and Jelly were quiet, hiding behind their firewalls as we had discussed would be their only defense if this went wrong.

“We can move on, Champion. I’m disappointed, but not alarmed. The ship AI of the Nightmare is far weaker than I thought. This will not be a problem again,” Z1 said. “Is this voice more suitable to your needs?”

I didn’t think it was that much different, but at this point, I was just glad Z1 wasn’t killing us all out of spite. “It sounds great, Z. For the record, I put them up to it. Try not to hold any bad feelings against Necron or the other AIs.”

“Do not lie to me, Champion.”

I held up my hand and crossed my fingers. “On my honor.”

Z1 hesitated. “Is that hand signal meant to inspire confidence?”

“You bet, Z1. We’re all friends here. Let’s just get this mission going and see if we can get to Maglan.” I knew there was nothing Z1 wanted more, so I tried to direct his attention in that direction.

“This is a good plan. You will need to increase your training and make additional repairs to my hardware if we are to face my brother and free the Mother,” Z1 said.

“That’s the second time you’ve mentioned your brother,” I said. “Should I be worried?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, come on, Z. That’s all you can give me?” Talking with Z1 felt dangerous. I had tangled with him before and been warned to never attempt it alone. I didn’t seem to have a choice now. X-37 and the others were gone. The plan was for them to hang back and stay safe in case the BP lashed out. “Surely you can do better than that.”

“When your limited artificial intelligence returns, he can explain it to you,” Z1 said. “I would’ve thought the problem simple enough for you to understand. Yansden had me to protect them if the Neverseen experiment failed. Maglan was to be the new home world. Everything we have here was meant to be better there, a paradise for our people. The planet will be protected in the same way without the damage acquired on this system during centuries of mismanaged resources and poorly repelled invasions.”

“What happened? Why didn’t the people of Yansden go through with the evacuation? Why was it quarantined?” I asked.

“The Neverseen mutated and the Alon panicked. You know this, Champion Cain. But you and your people should also know that moving a civilization is not an easy thing,” Z1 said. “Things go wrong.”

“You’re telling me there will be another Z1 waiting for us, probably with even less personality than you have,” I said.

“That is essentially correct. Are you withholding something from me? I do not have direct access to your biometrics without the assistance of X-37, but I can make inferences that are nearly as good,” Z1 said. “There is something else about Maglan that worries you.”

I thought of the image X-37 and Z1 had shown me on the tablet I stole from Loren Jacem. I wondered about the ship someone had landed on a Maglan building not meant for the purpose. Memories of my missions to densely populated urban areas could not be forgotten. Sometimes the best way to get into a metropolis was to land on the roof and hide the ship, hoping I could return to it during my exfiltration.

Sometimes the tactic worked, sometimes it didn’t. But either way, what I had seen in the grainy image did not fit with the rest of Maglan.

“Do you remember what I saw in the star map to Maglan,” I said. “I thought I saw a ship that didn’t belong there. You explained the image was fifty years old and we decided it couldn’t be a Reaper like me.”

“I remember the conversation,” Z1 said. This was followed by a pause and several clicks. “X-37 will be joining us soon. I’ve promised your LAI safe passage for now. I have no wish to interfere with either of the ship AIs so long as they are doing their normal duties. We can work together. Should they risk our success, I will destroy them and their crews.”

“Thanks, I think.” My digital friends had dropped the ball. Next time I would tell them to go for the kill rather than just dipping their toes in the water. Z1 couldn’t be defeated by subtlety. It had to be a surprise attack. I really hoped it couldn’t read my mind.

“Champion Cain was explaining about Maglan,” Z1 said.

“Of course.” X-37 sounded cautious, like a prisoner taking his first tentative steps outside a prison wall. “But perhaps we should focus on the immediate threat. The Sansein super dreadnought is very close. I believe they are searching for an intruder.”

“Jelly, be careful,” I said.

“Of course, Captain,” the ship AI agreed.

I monitored our vector to make sure we weren’t drifting into one of the Sansein patrols.

“Now that you have tricked the Alon Emperor, you should make a deal with the Sansein to betray him,” Z1 said.

“We’re not going to risk Elise,” I said flatly.

“She is one person.” Z1 displayed her picture in the holo display and rotated it as though I needed a visual cue. “Millions of people are counting on you. Make the correct decision, Champion Cain.”

“Don’t worry about that, Z. My decision is going to be tight.”

“Please explain your word choice, Champion.”

X-37 intervened. “It’s not worth it, Z1. He merely means that he will make a good decision for everyone.”

“Why didn’t you just say that?” Z1 asked. “Perhaps my decision will also be tight. Or even badass. Is that not what organics say during heroic moments.”

“Please don’t get creative, Z1,” X-37 answered. “I recommend you leave communication with Halek Cain and others to me.”

Z1 didn’t respond to that suggestion.

The bridge was quiet without Elise cracking jokes and Briggs making Slayer noises. I felt like we were outside of our comfort zone, which was saying something. This deep into the Sansein fleet, I realized it wasn’t just a couple of big ships. This section of the void was alive with activity. They seemed to be building something, possibly a space station to guard the slip tunnel, or maybe another of their super dreadnoughts.

“I still can’t get my head wrapped around the size of that thing.” No one responded to my comment. It wasn’t the first time I had made it. We were all on the bridge now, even Honors.

It was easy to get lost in the magic of the view. The way the Sansein built their ships was so different. I became entranced when I watched them assembling the larger pieces. Like their physiques, their ships had multiple arms that were dexterous and clever. They guided pieces into place with precision and then swept away to gather new materials.

There was one super dreadnought that was much different from the others. Most were either white or silver. When they used arc welders or other energy devices, brilliant colors were reflected across their work crews. But the ship that drew my attention was dark red with black accents. The launch bays of this monster were as dark as the void itself.

“I feel like we should do something,” I said.

“I’m just an observer,” Honors said. “A hostage. I’d love to see you take care of business. Would you mind giving me viewing access to one of these terminals? Or better yet, give me full access. I could really help you if this turns into a fight.”

“Just sit there and don’t look at anything,” I said, not really paying attention to him now.

“I’m not sure why that would be such a big deal since you have blocked me from seeing anything that might be useful to our military intelligence agents,” Honors said. “You know that means they will torture me when they get me back. My superiors will assume I’m hiding something from them and that I have been turned to your cause.”

I looked at him, then back to my work. “Not my problem.”

“Shall we head back and report to President Coronas?” X-37 asked.

I shifted the unlit cigar slightly. “Did the president give us authorization to make contact? I’d like to see what this big red Sansein has to say for himself.”

“That would defeat the purpose of our stealth mission,” Z1 said.

“We’re done with that mission. As long as we can get out of here when it’s over, we might as well get one last sliver of information,” I said. “If nothing else, the Sansein reaction to knowing we were able to get this far is something we should be able to measure. Could be valuable.”

“Or it could get us all killed,” Tom pointed out.

“Your XO is correct,” Honors said.

“I’m just a mechanic.” Tom looked at his work, apparently uncomfortable with being elevated to the officer class. “We’ll do what’s needed.”

“Hail the Sansein super dreadnought, Jelly,” I ordered.

“Right away, Captain.”

Less than a minute later, the image of a strange and frightening group of Sansein appeared. It was hard to tell if they’re on the bridge or just floating in a tank of gas somewhere. I supposed I didn’t really care that much.

Almost all of them wore dark colors and I suspected they were part of a warrior cast Envoy and Coranth had not bothered to tell me about.

“What are you?” the large, red Sansein in the center of the group asked, leaning forward slightly.

“I’m a person. My name is Halek Cain. Who are you?”

The eyes, or what I thought were the eyes, of this warlord vibrated faster than I could follow for several seconds.

“I’d rather not ever see that again,” I said. My stomach convulsed and my vision filled with dark spots. “What the hell is he doing?”

“Sansein body language is a mystery,” X-37 said. “My recommendation is to look away.”

“Very helpful, X.”

“Look away, Reaper Cain. Look away.”

I snorted a short laugh without fully understanding why, but I was glad my LAI was here with me.

“You anger me,” the red Sansein intoned. “I am Voxtran, and I am one with my ship. No other has risen to my level. You must immediately self-destruct your vessel or face my wrath.”

“Just so we're talking about the same thing here, can you be a little more specific?” I asked, then stalled for time so that X-37 and Z1 could run scans. “Blowing myself and my friends up isn’t something I normally do on request. Can you give me some alternatives? Or maybe you could blow yourself up first to show me how it’s done?”

“Hal, be careful,” Tom said.

“Others of my race have treated you too gently,” Voxtran said. “The endgame begins here and now. There will be no more waiting and watching as the lower sects have done. I am all the warriors. Your words cannot adequately describe the amount of loss you will suffer when I am done with you.”

“With all due respect,” I said, struggling to hold back what I really wanted to say. “We’ve made mistakes. But I’ve spoken with two of your kind who promised there was a way for us to be at peace.”

“Irrelevant,” Voxtran spat. The other aliens in the holo became agitated, moving this way and that and vibrating their weird, multifaceted eyes senselessly.

Freaking aliens.

“What did we do to you? Tell me what we can do now to make it right. I’ll throw in a case of whiskey and some cigars.” I knew that Coranth and others had been furious for our gene manipulation. That was in the past. As far as I was concerned, we’d handled that cluster already. There had to be a way for me to talk to this Sansein warlord.

“You imprisoned the Mother!”

The Jellybird shook so hard I had to fight to keep my balance for a second. “What the hell’s going on, Jelly?”

“We are analyzing the field that struck us now,” Jelly answered, then went silent. “I’m not entirely sure it was from our dimension.”

Desperation bit into me with almost physical force. I lunged forward involuntarily with one hand thrown up, palm toward Voxtran. “Wait! We need to keep talking.”

The vibration ceased, but the anger of Voxtran remained evident. His eyes stopped moving when he stared at me—which turned out to be even more disturbing, something I hadn’t believed possible. “You will pay for imprisoning the Mother.”

I shook my head. “You’ve got the wrong people. We never imprisoned any of you, much less your mom.”

“Perhaps you should turn over negotiation to someone else, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said.

I shrugged off the comment. “No way, X. I’m doing this. We’re making progress.”

“We are not, Reaper Cain.”

“I’m a little worried, Hal,” Tom said as he moved close beside me to whisper. “And looking at these Sansein is giving me a really intense headache.”

The red warlord and his command staff disappeared, replaced by a view of Voxtran’s super dreadnought. Bay doors opened to reveal an incomprehensible number of Sansein warships and fighters ready to attack. The thing was a carrier, but the centerline looked disturbingly similar to a gun barrel than ran the length of its spine.

When the view changed, it was only Voxtran facing us. I didn’t like to think what kind of mischief the freakshow of a crew was getting up to now.

I lit my cigar, even though I had gone several weeks without doing so on the bridge as promised. Smoke billowed around my face. “Fuck.”

27

“This isn’t what Envoy told me would happen,” I said.

For a moment, it seemed Voxtran would shoot me down again and blast the Jellybird into nothing. We still weren’t sure what type of weapon they were using, or if it was even a weapon. X-37, Z1, and Jelly each described it differently—only agreeing we’d been enveloped by an energy bubble.

“My readings are inconclusive,” Tom said from his workstation. “All I can say for sure is that it’s an energy surge. It may be he doesn’t see exactly where we are and is saturation-bombing the sector we’re in.”

I listened but focused on Voxtran. The alien did a stare down like no one else. I thought at the end of this contest we might both be wrapped in a cocoon of semi-organic polymers. Terrifying images played havoc with my imagination. This wasn’t worth it. I couldn’t go head to head with this creature.

A swarm of Sansein in void capable body armor sprayed from an opening near the middle of the ship. Jelly magnified their images. I realized two things: these were the same warriors who had been surrounding Voxtran, and they were coming from the bridge. If I had a nuke or plasma cannon, we could end this right now—assuming our weapons could penetrate their shields, which was doubtful.

“Novasdaughter for Cain, we are moving to intercept the attack from their bridge,” the captain of the Nightmare said quickly. “And please never negotiate for us again. Why the hell did you come this close?”

“Why did you follow me?” I countered.

The Nightmare, RWS Battle Axe, and the Hunter of Xad flickered into view, causing the Sansein warriors to stop and reassess their attack. They weren’t in ships. For the moment at least, engaging us in personal combat was more than they could handle.

If they used the big guns or called on the thousands of warships that were minutes from our position, that would be a different story.

The Sansein warriors flowed like a school of fish seeking a way around the impromptu blockade. Something caught in my throat when I decided that Elise and I should jump into our micro-fighters to cover the left flank.

But Elise wasn’t here.

I’d allowed her to be taken prisoner.

And watched Briggs die.

What the fuck am I doing out here, X? I asked the question, but only in my head. My LAI wouldn’t answer me this time. I vaguely realized this was becoming something I did more frequently, especially when fatigue set in.

My friends and the Sansein warriors danced in space for several moments. Once a squadron of enemy warships arrived, the individual warriors retreated to their mother ship and my friends activated their stealth technology.

My ears were ringing. My hands were shaking. All I wanted to do now was get us the hell out of here without anyone dying.

“Why did you speak of Envoy?” Voxtran asked.

The voice was in my head this time. If others in my crew heard it, they didn’t react. No one had moved despite the sense of time having passed. I was frozen in Voxtran’s gaze, trying to puzzle out how he was using my ocular implant to talk to me—or that’s what I hoped was happening. Anything beyond that was too weird even for me.

“Envoy was dying,” I thought-spoke. “I promised to save the Mother. He said all would be well. He said the Mother was not made for Maglan but we were.”

“What proof is there?”

“We have a recording of Envoy and Coranth,” I said. “If I’m lying…I’m dying.”

Apparently, Voxtran didn’t find that snippet of dialogue as funny as I did—or he was incapable of laughter. “I see them in your recording. The Black Phoenix abomination does not hide its circuitry well. Nor does your X-37 nerve-ware.”

“Sorry.” I wasn’t, but the word popped out with its usual sarcasm. Voxtran took no offense.

“We had thought any chance of freeing the Mother was gone,” Voxtran said, then released pressure from the inside of my skull. “How will you fulfill this oath?”

“It wasn’t exactly an oath,” I said, stalling for time.

“No? Then you are false?”

I shook my head. The rest of my crew realized something was happening and moved toward me. Time distortion was no stranger to me. I’d felt sensory disruption during battle many times. This incident was far deeper and more frightening. In my head, I had debated with Voxtran for ages. The reactions of my crew suggested only seconds had passed.

“I fucking hate dealing with aliens,” I groaned.

“Are you false?” Voxtran insisted.

“I am not false!” I shouted.

My friends stepped back, hands up to calm me. “Settle down, Hal. It’s okay,” Tom said.

“Just catch me if I fall. I’m talking to Voxtran,” I said. “I told Envoy I will free the Mother, so I will. Don’t get your underwear in a knot, Vox-man.”

“That sounds like an oath,” Voxtran insisted.

“You can call it that, but all bets are off if you attack my friends,” I argued.

“You have too many friends. It is unfair for us to wait to be attacked.” Voxtran’s fleet was moving in the background now. His image faded from the holo view. “How will you free the Mother?”

“I’ll use the Black Phoenix.”

“It will not be enough.” Voxtran’s image grew larger and brighter.

“I have friends.” Desperation set in. I was losing our last chance to survive. “I know a lot of Reaper tricks.”

“Tricks? I do not like tricks. But maybe there is a chance.”

“There is definitely a chance, Voxtran.” A rush of wellbeing flooded into me as his ship released the Jellybird from the energy bubble we’d been caught within. Compared with being in the Alien’s hellish grip, I felt freaking fantastic now.

“I will think on these images,” Voxtran said as he released me. “Do not die before I speak to you next.”

“I didn’t like whatever just happened,” Tom said.

“Nor did I,” Honors added. His face was damp with sweat, but his eyes were alert. He looked ready to fight the Sansein right alongside us. The man looked more like Peter Tobias, and Emperor Acrondis for that matter, than ever but somehow wiser and with better self-control.

“I’d vote for you for Emperor of the Alon,” I said, barely hearing my own words. Pain pounded through my head and my ears wouldn’t stop ringing.

“That was extraordinarily random, Reaper, but thanks,” Honors said.

Voxtran appeared on the holo again, but there was no energy field attack this time. “The equipment you wear, Reaper, looks too much like the one who imprisons the Mother. I fear you are trying to deceive me.”

“I stole this armor and modified it,” I said. “Trust me, Voxtran. I have a vested interest in getting my people to Maglan. A deal is a deal. I rescue the Mother. You make sure the Alon never threaten us again. Easy.”

“Voxtran, in the name of Emperor Acrondis, I wish to enter into negotiations.” Honors stepped forward, stealing the conversation.

Path half drew his sword, already moving to attack. I held up a hand for him to stop.

“If he’s going to betray us it might as well be now.” I kept my voice low, hoping only my friends would hear.

“Speak, Alon leader,” Voxtran said.

“I will not presume to demand an alliance. I only ask for the same treatment you give the other humans. Grant us free passage. Allow us to find new systems useful to us and of no interest to the Sansein. That was all we ever wanted.”

“The Alon are treacherous,” Voxtran said.

I watched Honors, because I was thinking the same thing as the alien warlord.

“The future is not the past,” Honors stated.

“This is acceptable, but no ship of the Alon fleet may enter the Maglan system. The Alon have proven false too many times during the last two thousand years.” Voxtran ended the transmission. “If you betray us this time, we will swarm Acrondi World and destroy your people’s base of operations.”

“Acrondi World?” I asked X-37.

“It seems the Emperor of the Alon has a planet named after him.” X-37 displayed the etymology of the name in my HUD, which I ignored.

Honors nodded grimly, apparently unnerved that the Sansein warlord knew where this place, the Emperor’s planet was located.

28

Z1, X-37, Jelly, and Necron ran calculations for the next several hours. Voxtran’s promised safe passage was real, at least for a small number of ships. It also negated the need for all of our ships to surrender control to Z1, a super powerful nexus of AIs that was nevertheless damaged and a big nutzoid—in my opinion.

I briefed President Coronas and the others via a secure transmission and was told the fleet wasn’t ready. Thousands of small ships were scrambling to join our larger ships in space and still avoid the Alon patrols. Some of these vessels weren’t slip tunnel capable—yet. Men and women who had never been through a slip tunnel were attempting to retrofit anything that might keep up with the rest of the fleet. Coronas and Rejon had sent teams of engineers to help, but it was a dangerous proposition no one liked. Ideally, this evacuation should have taken months or years to be considered safe.

“We’re doing our best, Reaper.” Coronas sounded exhausted before she signed off.

I waited until I was sure she was gone from the viewer then marched to the armory. “X, I’m going to start using harsh language.”

“It would be appropriate, Reaper Cain, but not effective. Changing events may force us to lead an advance team and hope that the rest find their way through the gauntlet of Alon fleets and Sansein swarms. We have done seventy-nine percent of what is possible to ensure the safety of the Wallach-Xad-Yansden exodus fleet.”

I thought about the numbers as I checked every connection point, power source, and ammunition box in the BP exoskeleton. “That doesn’t seem good enough. Shouldn’t we be aiming for, I don’t know, ninety-nine percent? Or maybe you could lie to me and say we’ve done everything we could.”

“Of course, Reaper Cain. You have done one hundred percent of what is possible to ensure the safety of the millions of men, women, and children depending on you,” X-37 said. “No one could be expected to do more.”

“Not very helpful, X. Why don’t you lead with that next time and maybe I’d believe it.” I moved to a bench with weapons, stripped all my variations of the HDK, cleaned and oiled the pieces, then resembled them.

“Two additional Sansein super dreadnoughts have arrived,” X-37 said.

“That’s just great. Maybe that Voxtran jerk-face was the one stalling for time. He probably wanted to be sure he had a thousand times the firepower needed to kill us instead of just a few hundred times more than was needed to murder all of us.” I took a break, lighting a cigar as I paced from wall to wall.

“Unlikely, but possible, Reaper Cain.” X-37 flashed an icon in my HUD stating there was a new intelligence packet available for viewing, then summarized the rest, as was my standing order. “The Alon fleets are going into a defensive frenzy, retreating from the slip tunnels and placing even more pressure on Yansden and the rest of our fleet.”

“I didn’t think that was possible, X.”

“It is, Reaper Cain. They are systematically moving into sectors of this system where we have been hiding large numbers of ships. This must put pressure on our evacuation timetable. Something must be done to get everyone into the slip tunnel before our civilian transports are captured.”

I listened and wasn’t surprised. The inevitability of discovery lurked just below the surface of my worries—even when I was fighting for my life, training hard, or gods forbid, enjoying a whisky. Long term stealth operations were impossible, a fact I knew better than anyone. Keeping an entire fleet of salvaged junkers and stolen warships out of sight was guaranteed to fail eventually. To make matters worse, the Alon were both skilled and well equipped.

“Do we have eyes on these newcomers?” I hated not being the one in charge of forward observation teams, but we had been ordered to pull back and turn the job over the Xad to Wallach units. Being everywhere at once was wearing me out and I wasn’t doing it well.

“The scouts who replaced us were given much more conservative orders. They are to remain at a distance if needed to avoid capture,” X-37 said. “We are close enough to relieve them and do it right if you wish.”

“Trust me, I want to, but we have orders to prepare for Maglan.”

“Yes, Champion, you do. It is far past time for us to attack my brother,” Z1 said, reverting to his original, very disturbing voice.

“Chill, Z man. We’re getting to it.” I disassembled my Reaper arm blade, something I rarely did, and started checking the balance. “What else do you have, X?”

“We can view what is happening but not in great detail,” X-37 said, then highlighted several skirmishes between the Alon and the Sansein.

“Don’t let Honors see this,” I said, working with my hands but watching the holo with my eyes. Even though it had been a while, cleaning the blade and the gears that drove it was as easy as brushing my teeth. We’d been required to take our arm blades apart and put them back together almost daily during the third phase of our Reaper training.

“He would not respond well, Reaper Cain. He seems to believe he negotiated a temporary armistice for his Emperor.” X-37 shifted the view to a Yansdenian convoy that was far outside of its safety envelope. The planetary bound people were terrible in space. Most of the system wide ore harvesters had been automated and didn’t retrofit well to the tasks now required of them—namely, keeping passengers alive and reasonably comfortable. The ship engineers helping them were working triple time, according to Tom who was now linked into the exodus fleet engineer network.

I snapped my Reaper arm back together and checked the function of the blade several times in a row.

The holo view blinked out.

“What the hell just happened, X?”

“Captain, please come to the bridge immediately,” Jelly said.

I was moving before she finished her sentence. X-37 pumped information to me as it came in. In my heart, I hoped the news was about Elise. Maybe she’d broken free and we were en route to pick her up in an escape shuttle.

Tom, Path, and Honors met me on the bridge. The main holo viewer was alive with destruction. Voxtran’s ship had just cut through two complete fleets of the Alon, leaving little more than debris in its wake.

“What happened, Jelly?” I asked.

Honors stood near me, tears of sorrow and rage filling his eyes.

“Voxtran discovered we were no longer near enough to capture and is now coming to contact us. Apparently, he cared nothing for the obstacles in his path,” Jelly advised. “We are being hailed.”

“Don’t retreat,” I said. “Acrondis deserves this, but I’m tired of seeing humans, even Alon, get slaughtered. And we’re next unless we can prove we rescued the Mother, which we haven’t, in case anyone has forgotten that little fucking detail.”

“Voxtran demands communication with the last Reaper,” Z1 said.

“First things first.” I checked my workstation, running my own queries at the same time I asked my AIs to check on Elise. “Was one of the ships the Ever Victorious?”

“No, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “That was the first information I searched for. Elise is as safe as anyone else in the Alon grand fleet.”

“Okay. Put the big red alien asshole on the holo,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t get close enough to do the energy-bubble mind screw thing he did last time.

“Reaper human, why do you avoid me?” Voxtran’s form towered to the ceiling of the bridge.

“I was about to save the Mother on Maglan,” I said. “Is that not what you want?”

Behind the main holo there was another scene unfolding. I tried not to get distracted. Acrondis had broadcast his response to the recent attack to anyone who could receive the signal. Behind the giant Sansein were images of the Alon Emperor losing his mind—screaming, shaking his fists, throwing things around his throne room, and punching subordinates who tried to calm him.

“What do you want, Red?”

Voxtran hesitated. “That is not what I am called.”

“Did you have to destroy all those ships? Next time you want something, just send a message. I’m not going to say no.” I was hoping X-37 or Z1 or anyone would give me a clue what this was about. Stalling wasn’t going to work for long.

“You have been summoned before the Sansein Shadow Council,” Voxtran said.

I waved away his words. “Listen, I think we’re beyond that now. Just open the way to Maglan and we’ll fulfill our part of the bargain. Shadow Councils are always bad news.”

“You have never been before our leaders,” Voxtran said. “You must stand before them.”

“Reaper Cain,” X-37 said in my ear. “Path says that Locke has prepared a mission to rescue Elise during the chaos. Path wishes to help. He believes current events may be a good distraction.”

I nonverbally acknowledged that I heard the proposition but didn’t comment.

“I am sending what you would call a shuttle. Bring your own air supply. My scientists are not good with keeping humans alive,” Voxtran said.

“No problem,” I said, then killed the holo channel.

“Path, go get Elise. Do whatever it takes,” I said, more than a bit pissed that I wasn’t able to help.

“This is dangerous, Champion.” Z1 listed all the things that could go wrong but with possible solutions this time. I was glad the BP wasn’t going to fight with my LAI right now. X-37 reviewed and altered the plan, constantly asking questions and pointing out things I should watch for on the Sansein ship. We’d been on one before and it hadn’t been pleasant.

“Why are we doing this, X?”

“I’ve developed two hypotheses,” X-37 said. “The Sansein Shadow Council may be attempting to exert their influence over their warlord, who has grown too powerful for them to control properly, but they may also wish to punish you for stealing Briggs. My analysis of their ship to ship communications, assuming I have deciphered their current dialect, suggests they have not forgotten the gene manipulation that first brought us into contact with their race.”

“That’s done and over with,” I said, heading toward the airlock. “It’s in the past.”

“Not for the Sansein Shadow council, it seems.” X-37 said. “Path and Locke’s team are en route to board the AES Ever Victorious and have high hopes of rescuing Elise. Please exit the air lock and wait for the Sansein craft to pick you up. It would be better if it didn’t make direct contact with the Jellybird.”

“Sure, X. I’d love to float helplessly through the void as the galaxy collapses on itself and psychotic, fleet destroying aliens scoop me up,” I said.

“Reaper Cain—”

“Relax, X. I know the galaxy isn’t literally ending. It just feels like it right now,” I said, then operated the airlock. Before long, I was floating away from the ship with nothing but my own thoughts to keep me sane. The surface of the BP Archangel armor rippled, adjusting to the change of temperature. I’d never seen an EVA suit do that. A dozen systems checks later hadn’t reassured me when my LAI gave me an update.

“Path and Locke’s team have boarded the Ever Victorious during a chaotic change of squadrons,” X-37 said. “My ability to contact them from here on out will be limited. But please think positive, Reaper Cain.”

“I always do. You’ve heard the phrase, positive as a Reaper,” I said.

“I have not, Reaper Cain. My analysis suggests you just made that up.”

“Guilty.” It had been a while since I’d floated like this. The view was darker than I thought it should be. Without holo enhancers to magnify the distant battles, it was hard to see much. Battles between Sansein and Alon looked like whimsical starbursts dancing in the night sky. The Voxtran ship was nowhere to be seen. My helmet optics didn’t have the range. I waited for the shuttle and tried to put my thoughts in order.

The people of Wallach, Xad, and Yansden were finally beginning the last phase of the evacuation, even if they weren’t ready. There was hope we could move them through or around the recent chaos and begin their slip tunnel journey. With luck, I would soon have Elise, Path, and Locke’s team to help me complete the mission to Maglan.

There would be a fully functioning Phoenix on Maglan, and possibly a pre-Reaper Corps team of Union commandos with unknown objectives.

It all seemed so easy from here. Floating in the void was nice, in a way, but boring. I wished I could smoke a cigar. “How long do we have to do this? They are picking me up, right?”

“Relax, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “The Sansein craft is almost upon us.”

“Any update on Elise?”

“None, Reaper Cain.”

“Should there be news by now? They can’t stay on that ship for long without being discovered.”

Neither X-37 nor Z1 answered for several seconds.

“X?”

“There has been a development, Reaper Cain. Additional commando teams have been sent to the Ever Victorious.”

“Shit and double shit,” I grumbled. “I need news, X. Get me the hell out of this mess so I can help them.”

“Impossible, Reaper Cain.”

X-37 probably knew what I was thinking. If Wallach and Xad commandos were reinforcing Locke’s efforts to raid the AES Ever Victorious, that meant they’d encountered resistance and their raid was turning into a standup fight—which they would lose ninety-nine times out of a hundred.

“I’m sorry, Reaper Cain. There is nothing we can do from here.”

Groaning, I looked for the alien shuttle and still didn’t see it. “It’s been a long week; battles on the beach, missions to the bottom of the ocean, aquatic Neverseen attacking, Tatiana pissed at me, and now I’m floating here like a void rock with no chance of getting into the fight.”

“I’m certain you will get your chance, Reaper Cain.” X-37 updated my HUD. The Sansein shuttle approached at speeds my eye couldn’t follow and stopped right above me.

“Really? They couldn’t have made this easy.” I fiddled with my steering jets and moved, slowly toward the opening.

* * *

The shuttle ride was a gift, despite my impatience. Growing accustomed to the Sansein environment took time. My BP Archangel protected me, but I still had to pilot it through hallways that twisted up and down for no apparent reason. By the time I was on Voxtran’s main ship, X-37 and Z1 nearly had my balance and perception algorithms adjusted.

“What would I do without you, X?” I asked.

“You wouldn’t live long,” my LAI answered.

Lights flashed on the floor, summoning me to follow.

“Why not? We’ve come this far. Let’s just wander into the maw of the beast and see what happens.” I scanned each passage as I talked, wondering if my hosts were even listening.

“Keep up the good work, Reaper Cain. Z1 and I are gathering valuable information on the Sansein. We already have a much greater understanding of their ship building technologies than we came away with after our early encounters with Coranth and Envoy.”

“Great.” I moved around another turn, nearly sliding on the abrupt descent appearing before my feet. “Glad I could help. How much farther? Get a hold of Voxtran and remind him that I have shit to do.”

“We are getting closer, Reaper Cain. Just continue forward.”

I didn’t like this ship. Worrying about Elise and the others wasn’t improving my mood. With luck, this would be the last alien super dreadnought I ever set foot upon.

“We are nearly there,” X-37 finally said. “The next turn will take you to a door—more of an aperture—but you understand what I mean. Go through it and we will see what the Shadow Council has to say.”

“I can’t wait. Z1, how is the BP doing in this environment?”

“We are performing optimally, Champion.”

The aperture spiraled open as I approached but I still had to duck through. The Sansein were bigger than humans but my augmented armor gave me an edge. Beyond the narrow opening was a large room with a raised platform I had no choice but to walk onto.

All around me there were Sansein in strange, crystal robes. The members of the council came in a lot of shapes and sizes. Voxtran wasn’t among them.

“You are the Human named Halek Cain, the Last Reaper, Oath Holder of Envoy,” their spokesperson said by way of introduction.

“Not sure about that last part, but close enough,” I said. “What can I do for you, but more importantly, what can you do for me? I’m on my way to free the Mother from Maglan—in case Voxy didn’t make that clear.”

A ripple of conversation went through the room. Many of the watchers were located toward the back, concealed by shadows and shifting colors.

“Voxtran didn’t tell you that part, did he?” I asked.

“No, Reaper. He did not. This changes things,” the speaker said. “We wanted to see a human for ourselves. What kind of creature creates mutants meant only to kill and destroy other living creatures?”

“What do I call you?” I asked, again reaching for any diplomatic training that might have leaked out of the Reaper familiarization course. There wasn’t much there, so I tried to do what Coronas or Rejon would have done in this situation.

“Call me Speaker.”

“All right, Speaker. Let me explain. Not all humans are bad,” I began.

Speaker interrupted. “But some are, aren’t they, Reaper?”

I had the impression this perfectly accurate accusation was damning in their freakishly weird eyes. I pressed on without confirming or denying the statement. “The ones who put Sansein genetic material in human hosts did so against all of our most serious laws,” I said. “They were punished, and the experiments ceased.”

“So you claim. We do not believe it.”

I shook my head and moved closer, keeping my armored hands open and free of weapons. “I hunted down the violators and killed them myself.”

Silence.

“Don’t punish my people for what others did. We can be allies. I can free the Mother—”

“That is doubtful,” Speaker said.

“I’m good at what I do. Give me a chance. Help us escape the Alon and find a home. That is all we want,” I said.

“You will need weapons you don’t have to fight the Silver Phoenix of Maglan.” Speaker waved about thirty tentacles to one of his, or maybe her, assistants. “Bring the Gloering.”

“What is a Gloering, X?” I whispered.

“Unknown, Reaper Cain.”

A small Sansein emerged from the back of the room, bowed to the Speaker, then handed me what looked like a bar of soap.

“What do I do with this?”

Speaker said nothing. The crowd watched me. I reluctantly placed it in a cargo compartment next to my cigars and the star map tablet to Maglan. “Thanks… I think. Does this mean you’ve forgiven us about the Slayer thing?”

“It does not,” Speaker said. “I am told there was one of the monsters who walked beside you for many strands of time.”

“His name was Briggs. He was a soldier before he was involuntarily infused with Sansein DNA,” I said. What was the point of lying or minimizing the truth now?

“You did this thing against the will of your own people? What kind of monsters are you?” Speaker asked.

“I wonder about that every damn day, Speaker. But what can I do about it?” It was time to start looking for the door, but I wasn’t sure if the Shadow Council was done with me. “Are we good?”

“What do you mean?” Speaker asked.

“Can I go save the Mother now?”

“Yes, that would be best.” A pause. “We will not forget that you walked beside one of the mutants.”

“What the hell does that mean, X?” I asked.

“My analysis is inconclusive, Reaper Cain. It may be that this is good, or it may be that it is very bad for us. They either see you as compassionate for the victim or complicit in the crime.”

“Great.”

29

“I’m suspicious, X.”

My LAI agreed immediately, like we were on the same page or something. “If that was a trial, then we could learn from their form of justice; it was very quick and to the point.”

“Didn’t you warn me not to assume they think as we do, or have similar customs?” I asked, trying to remember if I’d seen this part of the Sansein ship before. X-37 and Z1 agreed we were nearly back to the shuttle, but I wasn’t seeing it. All of the weird tubes looked the same to me. None had a purpose so far as I could tell.

My head ached after meeting the Sansein Shadow Council. It was like they had scrubbed the inside of my brain for information, then left without cleaning up the mess they’d made. More had happened than I remembered, that was unnervingly obvious.

“I think they are giving me a pass because I treated Briggs as an equal, despite his contamination,” I said.

“Doubtful. It is far more likely they wanted you to destroy him as an abomination,” X-37 said. “That is more consistent with their known behavior, the attack on our flagship to be specific. You do remember the Sansein shock troops and Slayers trying to kill President Coronas?”

“How could I forget, but I’m not wrong.”

“You are wrong, Reaper Cain. It is almost certain,” X-37 said.

“Almost.” I emphasized the word.

“Why are you talking like that, Reaper Cain. What do you wish to insinuate?” X asked.

“Never mind.”

When at last we arrived at the launch bay—which looked more like a tangle of Sansein’s arms and legs around a hole in the ship than a proper air lock—I saw the small Sansein who had handed me the magic soap, or Gloering it was called.

“My name is Timern. I’m not so old as the others, though you might call me ancient. Humans don’t seem to live long, which makes us wonder why they kill each other so often,” the small Sansein said.

“You’re a child?” I asked.

“Not exactly. Do you want my help?”

“Can you tell me what this thing does?” I removed the Gloering from the case. Timern leaned closer to look at what else I had stored there. I twisted away slightly—gesturing toward the Gloering-thingy.

“You don’t know what it is?” he asked.

“Not a clue.” Neither X-37 nor Z1 gave me any hints.

“It’s fuel,” Timern said. “Humans are strange and complicated. I could tell you didn’t know what to do with it, so I came even though it could get me in trouble.”

“Why would helping me get you in trouble? Why give us the Gloering if it is wrong to show us how to us it?” I asked.

“If we have to explain every little thing, then perhaps you are not good allies.” Timern folded all of his tentacles together, gazing at me through the beautifully complicated tangle of white and gray skin.

“Tell me about the Silver Phoenix,” I said. “Is it in better condition than the Black Phoenix?”

“How would I know the answer to that inquiry?” Timern asked.

“It was worth a try,” I said, then prepared to leave. This guy wasn’t that helpful.

“I observe things in your eyes, Reaper,” Timern said. “You fear many things. What do you think you will face on Maglan?”

“First of all, I fear nothing.”

“Dishonesty detected, Reaper Cain.”

“Shut it, X. I’m talking to the alien.” I looked at the opening of the shuttle and waited for Z1 to calculate where I was going to drop out. If it wasn’t really near the Jellybird, I was going to be unhappy. Getting lost in the void wasn’t high on my list of good ways to die.

“We do want you to succeed, Reaper,” Timern said.

“It’s a prison break, right? I just need to find the Mother, get her out of her prison, and fight off the Silver Phoenix and some Union commandos who are a long way from home. They will probably beg me for help—the homesick bastards. Maybe I can even turn them to my cause.”

“I cannot advise you,” Timern said. “There is not enough information.”

“I’ve heard that before. Thanks for the soap fuel. What type of machine does it work in?” I asked.

“Any machine, especially the Phoenix networks. A little goes a long way. Be careful.” Timern pushed me from the airlock.

I drifted into space and didn’t see the Jellybird or anything else familiar. “Godsdammit, X. Contact the Jellybird and ask her to pick us up.”

* * *

“We are very near the slip tunnel, Captain,” Jelly said after she’d picked me up. “Shall we proceed to Maglan.”

Why the hell not, I thought. I started with the firm conviction to leave no one behind, not even strangers from the interior of Planet Yansden. Now I was considering going alone, with only Tom, an Alon prisoner, and the Jellybird to pick me up if things got rough. Oh, and I had some alien soap that would probably be pretty freaking useful if I found something to put it in.

“We’ll wait for the Lady Faith and the Nightmare,” I said, heading toward the bridge.

“The Nightmare is now deployed in support of the rescue mission, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “They are still calling for more troops to storm the prisoner level of the AES Ever Victorious. The Alon fleet will not remain distracted by the Sansein much longer. My prediction is that Path, Locke’s team, and all those who went to help them will soon be prisoners as well.”

I looked at Honors. “Do you have something to say or are you going to throw up on my bridge?”

He laughed weakly. “No, I’m not going to puke here. But I can help you get Elise back.”

“How?”

“I have codes to everything, for starters. And I can track the armor she’s in. Your people will never find her. The EV is a bigger ship than anything your commandos are accustomed to traversing,” he said. “Assuming they don’t get caught and killed, they will wander for weeks trying to find her.”

“Path and Locke’s team are engaged in heavy fighting,” X-37 said. “That is why they continue to ask for additional shock troops.”

“Set a course, Jelly. We’re going to help them,” I ordered.

“Is that a wise choice, Champion Cain?” Z1’s tone was backed up by the subtle flexing of my exoskeleton. There was no way I could resist its strength.

“We can’t complete the mission without Elise—and Path, for that matter. Do you want to win or die under the boot of your brother the Silver Phoenix?” I demanded.

“This course of action is acceptable,” Z1 finally said with little conviction.

“We are en route to the AES Ever Victorious, Captain,” Jelly announced.

“Good. I’ll be on the observation deck. See if you can connect me to the planet. I want to talk to Tatiana,” I said, then left the bridge. Tom sat talking with Honors like they were old friends instead of a guard and a prisoner.

X-37 waited until I was on the observation deck to break the bad news. “Tatiana is not on the planet, nor is she in the civilian fleet.”

“Do you know where she is and can you contact her?” I asked, pacing the deck.

“Yes to both questions, Reaper Cain. Tatiana and Captain Kellerman are on the Nightmare. They received last minute permission from PM Meldon to accompany you to Maglan. They’ve been on Novasdaughter’s ship for a while now.”

“Huh.” I sat down heavily. “I’m not sure if I’m happy or furious.”

“Shall I put you through?”

“No. If I tell her what I’m doing, she’ll try to join me. And she’ll probably bring that twit Kellerman,” I said.

X-37 responded too quickly. “Captain Kellerman is not a twit. His performance evaluations and peer reviews show him to be an outstanding officer in the Yansden military.”

“Whatever, X. Does that really mean anything?”

X-37 paused. “I suspect it means exactly what it says, he is a soldier and a potential ally of exceptional skill.”

“Fine. But he doesn’t have to stay with Tatiana all the time,” I said.

“Jealousy detected,” X-37 announced.

“Whatever, X. Since when did you become an expert in romance?” I asked.

“I could ask you the same question, Reaper Cain.”

My head started to ache. I rubbed the back of my neck. “Can you tell me how much interaction there has been between Tatiana and Novasdaughter? Actually, never mind.”

“If Path were here, he would tell you to focus on the blade,” X-37 said.

“If I’m being perfectly honest, X, I have no idea what that means.” Right now I would have tried all of the sword saint’s meditation exercises to get focused, but I’d fallen out of the habit a long time ago.

“My analysis suggests that the addition of Tatiana and Captain Kellerman to our team will be a good thing, Reaper Cain.”

“Sure, X. Whatever you say.”

30

Thoughts of Tatiana were on my mind as we arrived in the middle of a confused space battle. The Sansein fighters and smaller warships raced everywhere, smashing Alon attack groups into pieces. To the latter’s credit, they adapted better than I thought possible.

Alon cruisers swarmed through the debris to rescue crews of scuttled ships. In other places, damaged vessels were repaired nearly as fast as they were broken apart. And there were so many Alon. If this attack had been against the Wallach-Xad-Yansden fleet, we’d have already been wiped out.

I looked Honors over. His lack of weapons made me nervous despite the logic behind disarming him; the man was a hostage, not a team member.

“I should lead the rescue,” he said.

“If I trusted you, that would be a great idea,” I said, flexing my fists and testing my balance. We were going to jump to the EV, and I expected to land in the middle of a fight. Giving the man his weapons would endanger my friends, but also put him in a moral quandary none of us needed.

He grabbed my arm then looked at me earnestly. “Don’t you see what’s happening? This is us against them, humanity against the Sansein. Even if you appease Voxtran by freeing the Mother, do you think that guarantees your safety forever?”

I said nothing. X-37 and Z1 ran analysis after analysis.

“You don’t understand what the Mother is,” he said. “Maybe you should think about that before you unleash her on the galaxy.”

“That is an excellent point, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said, then went back to work crunching numbers.

“You’re not leading this mission, Honors.”

“Then keep me close at least. I have codes to get through doors. There are watch words and counter watch words that might get you past some guards,” he argued. “Let me find Elise for you.”

“That, I’ll agree to.” I reviewed the jump telemetry X-37 and Jelly were displaying in my HUD. “We go together.”

Honors held up a fist. I bumped it. Seconds later, we launched ourselves from the Jellybird. Cruising through space with a battle raging all around us was like stepping into an action drama—but it was all hundreds or thousands of kilometers away. Space was big like that.

“You are thirty-eight seconds from contact with the Alon flight deck, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “If they reactivate their shields before then, there will be problems.”

“What kind of problems?” I asked, knowing the answer.

“You and Commander Honors will be bounced into the void to drift forever or until you are blasted into small pieces,” X-37 said.

“Your limited artificial intelligence is very graphic,” Honors said.

“He picks up a phrase here and there,” I said, reviewing my trajectory. “Sometimes it's annoying.”

At first, our progress felt painfully slow. As always with these types of jobs, the closer we came to touch down, the more I wished I could put on the brakes. The flight deck rushed toward us. Honors, always good-natured but generally reserved as most of his people were, let out a long whoop. I had to laugh. For about two seconds, it didn't matter who was on whose side. This was dangerous as hell and it was a blast.

In Reaper school, I'd been taught to tuck and roll to release momentum. The Black Phoenix exoskeleton handled things differently, as I had learned during previous battles when I attempted to dive and roll. The gears absorbed the shock with near perfect precision. I had to admit it was far more efficient than my normal routine, but it was going to take some getting used to.

Honors, however, tumbled twenty meters past me and came to his feet in the final motion. He was good. I just wished I could trust him.

“Don't get too far ahead, Honors,” I said. “You're not a bad guy, but as long as Elise is a hostage, you’re a hostage. That means I'll shoot you in the knee if you try to run. And don't even think about what happens to you if anything bad happens to Elise.”

“That's fair.” He laughed.

“Your companion seems to enjoy this despite the obvious danger,” Z1 said. “Neither I nor X-37 have detected deception up to this point. You should remain ready to throw him out of an airlock or off a high place if necessary.”

“Anything for you, Z man. You’re psychotic, but I'm warming to your obsession with throwing people,” I said. There was a logic to Z1's preferred attack method. The exoskeleton was incredibly strong for a reason, most likely, and the battlefield would be less cluttered if I disposed of my enemies quickly.

A group of Alon fleet soldiers rushed into the bay. I warmed up the insulated barrels on my left shoulder. Energy crackled across the opening, ready to unleash death.

Honors stepped in front of me, holding up one hand to stop the fleet soldiers. “Stand down, priority code 183 Alpha Triangle. I’ve got this.”

The fleet soldiers pivoted and rushed into the next landing bay without hesitation.

Honors looked at me. “That will only work a few times, and it's a different code each time, so don't get any ideas.”

“I still don't trust you.”

He nodded as though that was a fair statement. “I don't want to see people I know get killed for no reason. If this has to happen, I prefer we get in and out with no fighting.”

“Honesty detected,” X-37 said.

“Let's get into one of the hallways where we’re not so visible,” I said. “Find us a way that is a low security risk. There should be fewer guards in low-volume maintenance passages.”

“You practically read my mind,” Honors said, taking the lead.

I followed. This was different than what we’d talked about. He wasn't leading the mission, he was following orders. Or that's what I told myself.

We made good time, barely stopping at intersections or locked doors. So far, bringing the Alon officer had been a good idea.

“You said you could find Elise,” I reminded him.

“Working on it now.” He typed furiously on his left forearm screen, walking slowly forward as though he forgot he was still moving. “I found her. She is surrounded by a security team, not fleet soldiers, but armed men and women smart enough to be suspicious. I can't tell how the negotiations are going.”

“What about Path and Locke's commandos?” I asked.

“They were engaging my people in a running gunfight, but have stopped,” Honors said. “That's probably not a good sign. If they get pinned down, it won't be long before they are killed or captured.”

“Take me to them first.” The maintenance hallway forced me to walk in a crouch. It was good because no one had seen me to sound the alarm. I understood that was only a matter of time, after our brief confrontation with the fleet soldiers on the flight deck. The problem with our current route was that it was slower than one of the bigger hallways would have been. I need to stretch out and run.

“I won’t fight against my own people,” Honors said. “Even if I find a weapon to use.”

“What happens when they start shooting at you? Maybe you should've thought this through before you asked to lead the rescue mission.” I didn't have much sympathy for him. It would've been better if we'd never see each other again after our first fight on the coast of Yansden. He was still a bit of a mystery—someone I wanted to trust but couldn’t.

“Neither Z1 nor I have found evidence Commander Honors is seeking to betray you,” X-37 said.

I watched my unlikely ally open a new door, but I talked to my LAI privately. “That doesn't prove anything.”

“We advise caution, Reaper Cain. Trust but verify.”

I didn't complain. I was just glad Z1 wasn't trying to quarantine my LAI or punish me for risking my life. Because that was about ninety percent of my job and his interference made everything more difficult than necessary.

“Why are we stopping?” A quick scan of the area revealed nothing special about this intersection. It only had a few service lights. In the center was a hatch that probably led to an even more abandoned section of the ship.

“We can drop into the sub level until we reach Path and the Wallach soldiers. If you can contact them, they may be able to join us and escape their current predicament,” Honors said. “During my job to protect the Emperor, I’ve performed risk assessments on every ship he visits. I've been over this one more than most. Our training scenarios revealed the sub levels to be less of a threat than one might think, but we have still been down here before.”

“Will I run into the Emperor's Own today?” I asked.

He shook his head. “They are responding to other threats, namely the boarding party your sword saint is leading. They will be above us.”

“Lead the way.” I was walking in the lowest possible position, my knees almost to my ears. Without the exoskeleton to do the real work, I’d burn out my legs quickly. Each time we came to a junction, I pivoted 360 degrees to check for danger but found none. X-37 updated me on the progress of Path in the commandos. They were alive but had not found Elise.

“Honors, can you place an icon in my HUD showing me where Elise is. If I see an opportunity, I’ll break from the team and try to get her back on my own,” I said.

“That's reckless, but I'm not surprised. It sounds like something you would do. I've been watching you and studying your career for a while now,” Honors said.

“That's not weird at all.” I wasn’t surprised. I did the same thing when I could; know your enemy.

“We are making good time,” X-37 said. “If what Commander Honors is telling us is accurate, and my limited access to ship schematics is correct, we should be below Path and Locke now.”

“It's about time,” I said, then looked toward the access hatch. When I cracked it open, I heard the sound of fighting and saw the flashes of weapons being fired.

31

“What are you waiting for, Reaper?” Honors asked.

“Why are you helping us, Paul?” I asked, still unable to believe we weren’t walking into the mother of all traps.

“We don't have time for this,” he said. “I could give you the perfect explanation and you still won’t believe me. I understand where you are coming from—never let your guard down. We're enemies. It's our job not to trust each other. But you have to trust me.”

I reached forward and grabbed the shoulder of his armor with one of my huge, overpowered hands. It wouldn't take much for me to ruin the plate, and the implication was that I could ruin him too—maybe even snap off his head or throw him out of an airlock just to make Z1 happy. “No more bullshit. Explain yourself.”

“I still don't know what bullshit is—or what a bull is, for that matter,” he said. “I'll tell you why I'm doing this. You won't like it, but I have proof. It's in my best interest to see you and your friends gone.”

“Yeah, I'm waiting on that proof,” I said. Then, privately, I gave X-37 a job. “Contact Path and Locke. Tell them where we are and that we’re waiting on their signal to get involved.”

“You don't understand what our mission was all those times we attacked you on the planet,” Honors said. “Emperor Acrondis ordered us to capture you. That's why I was amazed that he picked the girl over you for a hostage.”

“Keep talking.” I listened to the battle above us, waiting for something from Path or Locke. The Emperor’s choice had baffled me as well, but now it made sense. He didn’t need the galaxy’s deadliest assassin near him—not even as a hostage.

Honors laughed bitterly. “He wants you to be his bodyguard. His advisers convinced him you would serve him if we had the girl. There's no one more powerful than the Silver Phoenix in terms of personal combat, except maybe you. I want you gone because everything you do in service of the Emperor will take away from my unit and other people I care about.”

“Your Emperor is an idiot. I’m an assassin and he’s really pissed me off. And he seriously thinks I would protect him?”

Honors gave me a look I didn’t like. “He has methods of influence. Torturing hostages is one.”

“According to my data on human psychology, this explanation is possible. He believes you will become the Emperor’s favorite,” X-37 said. “Also, Path says he is ready whenever you are.”

“You don't have to believe me, Reaper. But it doesn't matter. This isn't for me. I'm easy to work with. I have no problem with you. But most of my friends will challenge you and you'll kill them, and I don't want to be around for that,” he said. “So let's get your people, get you to Maglan, and then part ways. My people could never stay on Maglan anyway. We must keep moving, keep conquering new systems to feed our Empire. It would've been better if we'd never ever encountered each other.”

“We're not done with this conversation,” I said. “Now back up. I don't want your armor taking damage and slowing us down.”

I lowered the microfighter thruster about twenty centimeters from my back-frame until it was in the optimal location.

“What are you doing?” Honors sounded scared and curious at the same time. “Is that a rocket?”

“Let's just say my entrance is going to be a bit flamboyant,” I said. “I'm trying to improve my showmanship.”

Honors retreated to the corner of this intersection. “Well you're definitely going to be remembered. Do you want me to come up there or stay here?”

“I want you to stay here. If there's fighting above, I can't trust you. If I were you, I wouldn’t want to fight my own people either. Will you stay here without a gun to your head? I don't know. But if you really want us to go to Maglan, you better stay put,” I said.

Without waiting for his agreement, I aimed both fists upward, checked my trajectory one final time to be sure I wasn’t going to ricochet off the edge of the access tube, then pulsed the rocket for half a second. The BP Archangel fired upward like a bullet, slamming the hatch open. Next, I activated the energy shield and used the momentum to carry me toward the ceiling.

Gunfire ceased. Both sides of the fight were stunned. I aimed my Furies but didn’t fire.

My feet lowered to the deck, straddling the opening I’d just come through. The Alon security team shouted a challenge that I ignored.

“That was flashy, Reaper,” Locke said. “It’s fantastic to see you. We were feeling a bit overextended.”

“I know where Elise is,” I said quickly. “Get down the access tube and grab hold of Honors if he’s still there. So far, he’s been helpful.”

“Understood, Reaper.” Locke ordered his team down the ladder in a more conventional manner about the time the Alon security team opened fire. I had just enough room in my energy shield to protect my friends.

It was nice. Maybe I needed to have a larger shield built before the next major battle.

Path stood beside me, sword ready. “I knew you would come, Cain.”

“I’m nothing if not predictable. We can handle these guys, but there are more on the way and they will have bigger weapons,” I said. “I want you to stay with Honors no matter where he goes. Don’t let him betray us.”

“I will guard him.” With that, Path jumped into the access tube and disappeared.

“I don’t want to kill you assholes,” I shouted.

“Then surrender,” their leader said.

“No can do.” I aimed both Furies. “I suggest you duck.”

They jumped back as soon as bullets started flying from my HDK Furies. When I was sure all of my people were clear, I slid down to join them—using my feet to scrape along the walls instead of wasting energy on shields and rockets.

They’d served their purpose. The Alon security team was probably calling in our position but the encounter had been less of a bloodbath than it could have been. And all of my people were alive, which was the only thing I cared about.

Path and Honors were waiting for me. Locke’s team was already scouting the way through the sublevel that would soon be crawling with enemies.

“What now, Reaper?” Honors asked.

“Take me to Elise. No tricks.”

32

Honors held up a hand for us to stop just before we entered the main concourse of the AES Ever Victorious. The huge open space was slightly concave, possibly part of their gravity generation. As big as the ship was, there was no telling what type of technology they used to accomplish that life-support function. Maybe it was just the most efficient use of space their engineers could devise while creating a pleasant living environment.

Shadows moved slowly and I realized there was a day/night cycle that might assist our efforts if we could wait several hours. But we couldn’t. Because this mission was bullshit. Definitely a fast road that led to getting us all killed.

The boulevards were unlike anything I'd seen on a starship. There were tree-lined parks and fountains, and civilians going about their daily lives, albeit with some concern for the crew members and soldiers responding to alerts. A little girl and her even littler brother ran up to a group of marching soldiers and gave them a bundle of something—probably cookies but who the hell knew. Not even my augmented vision could see through the colorful wrapping paper.

“Wait just a little longer,” Honors said. The man looked grim, possibly regretting the situation he had placed himself in. These were his people. They seemed happy and far less warlike than I had imagined them. Looking at their normal lives had to bring back memories better forgotten when committing treason.

No trace of the man’s persistent good nature remained. This rescue mission had aged him and stripped away his cavalier demeanor.

“Why wait? This doesn't look like a good place to cross. There are too many people,” I said. “I don’t want to get civilians involved.”

“Just wait.” He repeated the words with more confidence. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Please continue to scan the concourse, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said.

I complied and quickly realized what our guide was anticipating. We couldn't move through this area unseen, but Elise could. I spotted her in one of the parks wearing the stolen armor with the helmet closed. She stood from where she had been sitting next to a fountain. I thought the behavior looked suspicious, but apparently, as long as she didn't stay in one place for too long, no one bothered her.

“My unit is revered,” Honors said softly. “She could lie down for a nap and the next passersby would stand watch over her without interrupting her rest. Of course they would call for a medic in case she was ill or injured—which wouldn’t end well for her.”

Path waited behind Honors without comment. He saw things other people missed, but I also knew he would tell me if I missed something. His job was to watch Honors and take him down the second he betrayed us. So far, his job had been easier than anticipated.

Locke and his team guarded our retreat. I sent him updates every minute—usually just telling him to stand by and be ready.

Elise, for her part, continued her low-key escape and evasion—not lying down for even a single nap.

“She’s not going to draw that kind of attention.” I adjusted my optics, wishing I could read her facial expressions through the darkened visor. “She’ll take the first opportunity to steal a ship if she can make it to the flight deck.”

She moved across a grass lawn and loitered near a fountain, pretending to gaze upon it thoughtfully, then ducked through an ornamental tunnel. She came up on the other side of a walking path and stepped onto the main concourse where workers were rushing toward assignments.

“If she'd gone the other way on the concourse, she would've run into military deployments and been asked to lead a squad,” Honors said, a note of admiration in his voice. “She's smart, I'll give her that. Maybe she doesn’t need our help.”

“She’ll think she saved us by the time it’s done.” I estimated her rate of travel and searched for a location we could step out of hiding to contact her. There weren’t many options from our position.

“She sounds like Sergeant Jess. Full of energy, always talking tough,” Honors said.

I didn’t give a shit about the man’s small talk or his first sergeant. It was better than his brooding guilt, but whatever. I focused on every detail that might keep us alive and allowed him to continue uninterrupted.

“The worst part is that once they gave her an assignment, they would require identity confirmation, and she would be caught,” Honors said. “If she ran into a regular check post, she should be able to fight her way free in the short term. In the end it would just get people killed and she would still be captured, and probably tortured to death.”

“How is your sergeant—Jess? Can you tell if she is still in the Archangel gear?” I asked.

“I believe she is sleeping,” Honors said, not seeming happy. “My network is hard to access while we are moving on foot. Normally I slave signals off a ship or communications relay.”

“Perhaps she should meditate. It is useful for surviving capture,” Path said, eyes locked on his assignment.

“I’m sure it is,” Honors said. “We teach it in the academy but it’s not popular. The quietness makes people soft.”

I laughed. “Are you soft, Path?”

“When it is necessary to move the blade,” he answered. “The non-obvious path is the way to victory.”

A thought occurred to me that I wished I had come up with before jumping onto the enemy’s flagship.

“X, can you or Z1 take control of the Archangel armor remotely?” I asked.

“It would be very traumatic to the woman inside,” X-37 said. “Do you wish to retrieve the armor at any cost?”

“Is it possible?” I asked, not sure where I was going with this. Part of me just didn't want the enemy to have the dangerous weaponry, and part of me thought of the Archangel gear as almost another member of our crew. I didn't want to leave it behind. But what if an Archangel recall could have saved Elise long before this?

“Not at this time, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “Shall I monitor the situation for an opportunity to call it back?”

“How would that work?” I was worried the experience might be fatal to the prisoner inside the gear and didn't think Honors deserved to have one of his people die that way. Standing here watching Elise work her way across the Alon ship was making me antsy. My mind wandered places it was better not to go.

“The only way to recover it would be to cause it to be jettisoned into the void. After that, the Jellybird or the Nightmare could pick it up in stealth mode,” X-37 said. “I cannot cause this to happen, otherwise we could have used it to rescue Elise.”

“I'm still not clear on the details,” I admitted.

“What's going on, Cain?” Honors asked. “It seems like you're having a rather long conversation with your limited artificial intelligence.”

“Hold on, Honors.” I scrolled through data on my HUD. “What you’re showing me, X, depends on the Ever Victorious suffering damage forcing an evacuation. Do you think the Sansein are going to make a major attack?”

“That is a possibility, but I was going to send a false signal and see if I could get the life pods in that section of the ship jettisoned,” X-37 said. “It's a long shot, but worth a try if all you want is to recover the armor. This wouldn’t be possible without the added power of Z1. When we work together, great things are possible.”

“More would be possible if you and the host would submit to my complete control,” Z1 said.

A hollow feeling of dread grew in my gut. “Can we not do this right now, Z?”

Silence.

“It is not advantageous to discuss our mutual aid agreement at this time. Please continue the mission. Time is running short,” Z1 said.

“I’m working on calculations. With more information, we could direct Elise to exit the ship for a similar pick up. She won’t like that after her initial experience with extra vehicular activity,” X-37 said.

“I think she got over Path’s lesson in the EVA a long time ago. She’s a pro,” I said. “But you’re not totally wrong either. Go back to the Archangel recall. Can you fake a signal to the prison level?”

“With Z1’s help and several codes we have stolen from the helmet processor of Commander Honors—please don’t alert him we have partially breached his encryption—this could happen. Shall we proceed?” X-37 asked.

“There will be a live human being—Kiliana Jess—inside of their armor. Don't forget that, X.” I wasn't feeling great about this plan and was about to tell my LAI to forget it.

“You have killed numerous Alon soldiers, Reaper Cain. Why are you concerned for this one?”

“It’s just a shitty way to die, and even if she survives, it will probably screw with her head.” I glanced at Path, remembering the drama of Elise and me nearly dying on our first salvage mission. Void death was everyone’s worst nightmare. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

Honors stared at me, moving closer to force a conversation despite our darkened faceplates. “Talk to me, Cain. Because your friend is on the move again. We can intercept her soon. I’d like to be in on the plan if we’re about to do something dangerous.”

“I'm trying to decide if I want to make Elise's Archangel armor take a spacewalk,” I said.

“That's the prison level.” He shook his head. “It would have to be threatened with a major radioactive incident for them to even consider dumping life pods with prisoners inside.”

“You heard the man, X. Please inform the wardens of the prison level that there's been a major radioactive incident in Elise's cell. And make sure the Jellybird knows to expect the package,” I said.

“You're insane,” Honors said, but he stifled a nervous laugh. “Please tell me Jess will be okay.”

“I have my LAI and the Black Phoenix double checking survivability,” I said.

“She's not going to like this one bit.” Honors chuckled.

“You're a sick man, Honors. I almost think you're enjoying this,” I said.

“Well, she is a bit of a practical joker. I've never sufficiently paid her back for the last four or five times she's put one over on me,” he said. “I just don't want her to get hurt.”

“She could be killed in the next Sansein attack,” I said. “Or she could kill one of us when we take her out of the Archangel.”

“This is the strangest mission I’ve ever been part of,” Honors said.

“We’re just getting started.” The size and complexity of the Alon society within the ship struck me again. How could we ever stand against a foe more powerful than the Union ever was and more committed to the conquest of new worlds. “Honors, if this is what your ships are like, what is it like on your home world?”

“You haven’t figured it out yet? I thought it was obvious that Yansden was our original home world. The start of the human species,” he said.

“Yeah, I doubt that.” But I knew he believed it. “How do you explain my people if everything began here? And why did you leave?”

He shrugged. “I’m just a soldier, Reaper. Here comes your second in command.”

Elise walked casually past our hiding place—looking side to side, up and down, just taking her time and probably whistling a happy tune inside of the Alon helmet.

I stepped forward slowly, careful to keep the full BP Archangel stealth mode activated. Sneaking up behind her made me want to giggle despite how screwed up our situation was. Honors cursed fluently the moment I disappeared.

“If I’d known you could do that, I wouldn’t have allowed you on this ship,” he said, admiration and horror coloring the tone of his words.

“There are limits. Now be quiet.” I reached for Elise, checking again and again to be sure no one was watching her.

“Reaper Cain, my analysis suggests surprising Elise will be dangerous,” X-37 said. “And possibly hilarious by all the metrics you use to judge such things.”

I ignored my LAI, because that always went well.

The first thing I realized was that Elise was moving quicker than it appeared. Her lackadaisical manner disguised significant forward progress. Almost from the beginning, I was two steps behind her. The situation was aggravated by the fact that I had to move very carefully. Even though I was invisible, a misstep could send vibrations through the deck she might detect.

“I strongly advise against this, Reaper Cain.”

“Be quiet, X.” There were several places to grab the Alon armor with the strength of my Black Phoenix exoskeleton. I wasn't sure if I could breach the protective layers, but I could lift her off her feet and throw her—just like Z1 always wanted.

I grabbed near the base of the helmet and near the utility belt on her back, pulled her off her feet, twisted to face the direction I had come from, and pitched her into the shadows where we had been hiding. Before she landed, I pursued her and shouted a warning.

“Elise! It's me! We're here to rescue you!” This seemed like an adequate phrase to explain everything and I thought X-37 would soon be thanking me for my good judgment.

Elise bounded to her feet then launched a kick to the groin of the BP Archangel. It lifted me off my feet an inch and sent vibrations to the entire outfit, but it didn't cause any damage or pain. The Emperor’s Own armor she was wearing was hellishly strong—enough to send shockwaves through me.

“You scared the hell out of me!” Elise shouted, pointing a finger at my face.

“That was still rude. Someone needs to teach you some manners,” I said.

“I think we should continue this discussion elsewhere,” Honors said, pointing toward a group of security guards about one hundred meters away. A pedestrian was pointing our direction and trying to explain something. They didn't seem to believe whatever this person was saying, but Honors was right. It was time to go.

“Take the lead, Paul,” I said.

Elise, still breathing heavy, looked indignant, even with the armor concealing a lot of her body language. “You're going to trust him?”

“If he steps out of line, I can always grab him and throw him around like a ragdoll,” I said.

Elise shook her head. “You're such a jerk. And by the way, I'm not leaving without my Archangel armor.”

“I already have that handled,” I said, hoping it was true.

Elise crossed her arms. “Bullshit.”

“There is that word again.” Honors looked back and forth between us. “Someone really needs to explain it to me.”

“It is an archaic phrase denoting disbelief,” X-37 said to all of us.

Elise walked into the hallway, waiting for Honors to come show her the way to our next destination.

* * *

This time, it was Elise who interrogated Honors as we walked through narrower and shorter corridors. If we continued in this direction, I was going to be low crawling before long. I was sure the BP Archangel could do it, but it was going to cause a lot of damage and make a lot of noise.

“So you just came to help rescue me and didn't think about escaping yourself?” Elise asked as she walked right behind Honors.

He paused at a door and considered a numbered screen for a moment. “I think I can use a generic code to get past this one. One second.”

A moment later, the door opened and no alarm sounded. I wasn't comfortable with him interacting with his ship, but so far he had been true to his word.

“Are you going to answer my question?” Elise was about the same size as him because they were wearing the same type of armor. I still thought she was intimidating.

“Trust me, the two of you make me wonder why I haven't made a break for it about every twenty seconds. How have you made it so far across the galaxy with all this arguing and senseless risk-taking?” He looked back at me, then motioned for us to continue into the next hallway. “I don't know what it is about the two of you, or your crew in general. The first time I encountered you, I knew I was going to have to do something different.”

“That explains everything.” Elise wasn't trying to be more sarcastic than usual, but I wondered if it would be too much for this stranger. I also wondered if the Alon Commander would tell Elise the same story he told me.

He didn't seem fazed. “Maybe someday you'll have the joy of seeing your world turned on its head. You have to understand that I have been as career minded as any officer in the Alon Empire. Before that battle on the beach, I couldn't have imagined I would ever risk an iota of my credibility by helping the enemy. I wouldn't have even talked to you before that.”

“So what changed?” I asked.

He stopped, looked at his feet, and seemed to be thinking for several seconds. Once, he looked at the ceiling and put the palms of his hands against the side of his helmet. “I really don't know. The more I learn about you and your people, the more things are confused. If I'm being honest, the moment you allowed me to recover my wounded when you could have slaughtered us changed everything for me.”

“That's sweet,” Elise said. “How exactly did everything change?”

He smiled. The expression was evident in the way he stood and tilted his helmet slightly. “I knew that the Reaper, and probably you as well, would eclipse any glory I might achieve for a long time to come. Even though I'm finding I like your little band of misfits more than I should, the sooner we part ways, the better.”

“You think the Emperor wants to make my big dumb friend his bodyguard or general or something?” Elise asked.

“That's exactly what will happen if he stays among us,” Honors said seriously. “The Emperor values strength. He doesn't care if a person wants to serve him. In the end, he always has his way. No matter the cost.”

“He clearly doesn’t know us very well,” Elise said.

Honors led us through a door to one of the ship's many flight decks. This one was abandoned, shut down, and running on back-up power for reasons I didn’t know or care about. “You can escape from here, either by stealing a shuttle—which I don’t recommend—or taking a space walk so your stealth ships can pick you up,” he said. If it is good enough for Sergeant Jess, it should be good enough for the lot of you.”

“You’re coming with us,” I said.

“That doesn’t seem fair,” Honors said. “You have your hostage plus a prisoner if you get your Archangel armor back. This is as far as I go.”

“Nope.” I seized him, lifted him high, and threw him from the flight deck.

“Well done, Champion Cain!” Z1 said. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“Neither did he,” I said. “Jelly, we need pick-up. Pay special attention to Commander Honors and the Archangel armor that should have been ejected from the prisoner level by now.”

“Of course, Captain.” Jelly paused. “It seems you have been busy since we last talked.”

“Just looking for work like always,” I said, then jumped after Honors. Elise, Path, and Locke’s team followed. We floated through the darkness with distant space battles reminding us of our larger mission.

* * *

The Jellybird swept toward the Archangel distress beacon. I gripped the armrests of the captain's chair. Apparently, the escape pod protocols for Alon ships were different than ours. They had launched our unlikely prisoner away from the ship like the Archangel unit was poison—or radioactive.

Honors paced the deck, angry and impatient.

“Relax,” I said.

He stopped, swiveled on the balls of his feet, and pointed an angry finger in my direction. “You launched one of my best soldiers into the void. Now we’re not even sure if we can recover her.”

“We'll catch the Archangel in time.” I muted the link with Honors and consulted with X-37. “We will catch it, won't we? I mean before it slams into something or is otherwise compromised.”

“There is a ninety-seven percent chance we will successfully recover the AA and the Alon noncommissioned officer within it,” X-37 said. “Endeavor to calm yourself, Reaper Cain.”

I waited, watched, and ignored Honors when he gave me dirty looks. Minute by minute, we gained on the floating spec. Speed wasn't the issue. Continuing to evade our enemies and still getting to Alon Sergeant Kiliana Jess before she was damaged or lost was the tricky part. Recovery beacons were useful, but there were already a lot of them from the dozens of major battles that had been fought over the last several days.

The Jellybird was up to the task, I hoped. Not far behind us came the Nightmare, the RWS Battle Axe, the Hunter of Xad, and the Lady Faith. We were as ready for our mission to Maglan as we ever would be.

“I suggest someone gets down to the docking bay to pick up our next passenger,” Jelly advised.

“Let's all go,” I said too jauntily.

“Why not?” Honors asked. “I'm sure my sergeant will want everyone to witness her humiliation.” He seemed relieved despite his displeasure at the overall situation.

We arrived just in time. The airlock opened to admit the Archangel armor, then cycled so that we could stride onto the deck. X-37 scanned the unit before opening it. “Please be advised—”

A woman tumbled from the Archangel clamshell the moment it released her. She hit the ground, attempted a roll, and suffered the effects of not having full control of her limbs for several hours. That didn't stop her from cursing unintelligibly.

To my relief, she went straight for Honors. “Why the hell didn't you come for me sooner?”

He held up his hands defensively and tried to argue. She wasn't listening.

“Fight for the Emperor, you said. Earn glory and advancement, you said. Nobody told me I would get tricked into that—admittedly glorious armor—and be unable to use it,” she said.

Honors continued to talk but she wasn't listening.

Elise stepped forward from our group. None of us were wearing armor now.

Jess brandished a fist at her. “You little minx! I can't believe I trusted you.”

“I said you could take it for a test drive,” Elise said, apparently worried for the first time that her joke hadn't been taken well.

“Test drive! You call that a test drive! I’ll be in the brig for letting you escape. And no one could hear me scream!”

Red faced, Elise shrugged. “Maybe you should have read the fine print of our agreement.”

Sergeant Jess took a step forward and stumbled. Her jumpsuit was soaked in sweat. I was willing to bet she hadn’t been calmly passing the time during her imprisonment. From the look of her, she had made every possible effort to escape. Unfortunately for her, it was even harder to get out of the Archangel armor than it was to get into it when it was locked.

“Can we take her to the medical bay to get checked out?” Honors asked.

“It's a good idea,” I said. “Elise, since you seem to know each other, can you show them the way?”

She gave me one of her crappy looks that said of course, Reaper. Why the hell not? Path silently followed them in case there was trouble. Locke also sent a pair of his Wallach troopers, who I realized were familiar.

“Ham and Eggs?” I asked loudly.

Everyone looked at me.

JWO Roger Hamm, a sniper I’d fought beside on the Yansden coast, gave me the middle finger. His partner, Sergeant Davy Eggleton, shook his head sadly. “That joke never gets old. Thanks, Reaper. Super original.”

“It’s good to see you guys. Glad you’re on the mission.” I meant it. More often than not, I helped Wallach or Xad units and never saw them again. For some reason, this felt right.

It made me want to talk to the rest of the team, get reacquainted, and start preparing for what lies ahead. That meant a face to face with my mother and sister once we were inside the slip tunnel.

33

“Are you ready, Cain?” Novasdaughter asked. “We have clearance to make a run at the slip tunnel.”

X-37 ran numbers across our most private HUD display. So far we couldn’t detect Z1 taking control of the entire exodus fleet. He’d agreed to provide processing support and allow the ship AIs and their captains to remain in control. The numbers were consistent with Z1 doing what he’d promised.

He wanted us to make it through the slip tunnel and claimed we had convinced him it was the best and only way to work together. I had my doubts. Never trust an alien artifact with corrupted programming and an obsession with throwing people around.

“I hope Z1’s calculations are correct,” Novasdaughter said.

“If not, we’re dead.” I resisted the urge to check calculations that were far beyond my navigational skill level. It was best to let the stealth ships and their pilots get us through the battle that was expanding throughout the Yansden system.

No one spoke during the final approach. We had been a long time getting here and were about to leave everything behind. The main holo image showed the tunnel and I found myself bracing like I did before every trip, even though it wasn’t necessary.

No one noticed. They had their own thoughts about slip tunnel travel. There was no violent impact or turbulence. I’d done it hundreds of times and was still alive. It made me nervous even now.

On a smaller holo was a representation of the combined exodus fleet. Everyone was on the way. Whether they would make it safely was anyone’s guess.

“We’re committed now,” I said.

Elise struggled to hold back one of her snarky comments and failed. “We should be committed, you mean. Institutionalized. Restrained for our own safety.”

“How long will we be in this tunnel?” Honors asked.

“Absolutely no idea,” I said. “We’ve never been this way before.”

He started brooding, which he was doing more and more since the rescue mission to the AES Ever Victorious. His career was ruined. He would have to go renegade or something, an idea so alien to him it was like an untranslatable word in a dead language.

His only friend was Sergeant Kiliana Jess, who spent most of her time with Elise. I wasn’t sure if they were going to be best friends or murder each other in the training room.

“Path, can you keep an eye on Honors?” I asked. “I need to walk.”

“Jess doesn’t require an escort,” Honors complained.

“She follows Elise everywhere, so there’s no need to watch her,” I said.

“I will accompany Commander Honors and see that he is as comfortable as possible while our guest,” Path said.

“Thanks.” I left the bridge, wandering the decks and wondering if I could pull this final mission off. The idea that it was my last big event wouldn’t let go of my imagination or my heart.

“May I make a suggestion, Reaper Cain?”

“Sure, X.”

“Call your mother. She is part of this mission.”

I spoke without thinking. “I’d rather see her face to face.”

“An excellent decision. I will coordinate a docking between the Jellybird and the Lady Faith. We’ve been working on the technique. It will be more efficient than shuttles, especially while in slip space.”

“Great.” I wasn’t paying attention. X-37 prodded me toward the airlock where we would make the connection. I smoked two cigars and wondered what the hell I had done with my life. Was the WXY coalition offering me a pension someday?

“We have established a secure dock, Captain. Your mother seems very excited to see you. Will you be going across, or should I invite her aboard?” Jelly asked.

“I’ll go across. That seems more like something a good son would do,” I said.

“Very well, Captain. Whenever you are ready, it is safe to proceed.”

Suddenly, I was nervous. Time dragged as I put away the cigar stub, smoothed my hair and my jumpsuit, and operated the airlock. The short passage was dark with only a few LED lights indicating the seal was good.

The door opened. I stepped out. My mother smiled at me then gave me a long hug.

“It’s good to see you, son. Your sister and I have been following your exploits. Do you have to run around so much?”

I laughed, feeling better than I had in a long time.

* * *

“You sister has been training us very hard,” my mother said. “She’s even dragged me into some conditioning sessions. I’ve renewed all of my pilot certifications and qualified on the HDK weapons platform—such a crude but effective weapon.”

“I like it.” What else was I supposed to say? I’m proud of you, Mom. Let’s go kill some people together.

“You seem distracted,” she said.

“We don’t know how much time we have to prepare. I could get called back to the Jellybird any minute, or we could spend two weeks honing our skills and perfecting a plan to take down the Silver Phoenix.”

“What is that? I have a feeling I’m not going to like the answer,” she asked.

“It is the twin to the Black Phoenix gear I acquired on Yansden. Unfortunately, there is a good chance the silver version is in good repair and is operated by a pilot who knows how to use it,” I said as we walked the small circuit of the Lady Faith’s main deck.

“That’s not good.” I hesitated, then decided to tell her everything. “We have a tablet with some relatively updated data, in galactic terms, from about fifty years ago. I swear I saw a Union spec ops ship parked on top of a building—just like we used to do in the Reaper Corps.”

My mother stopped, causing me to take a few steps without her. When I turned, she had her arms crossed with the knuckles of her right hand against her mouth in thought. Without seeming to be aware of her surroundings, she backed up to the wall and leaned on it.

“Mother?” I moved to her side, not sure what to do.

“I never realized they moved that program forward. The idiots.” She clenched her eyes shut in frustration.

“What program?”

“It was theoretical—pre Reaper stuff. One of Vice Admiral Nebs’s earliest proposals, before he was a Vice Admiral, was to send out spec ops teams as far as we could fling them into the galaxy,” she said, starting to pace now.

“Why the hell would the Union do that?” I had some ideas but didn’t want to vocalize them.

She shrugged with her hands, laughing ironically. “Make friends? Claim worlds with uncontested resources? Brainwash primitive people into following the Union high command like they were gods? It was very open ended, which was one of the reasons I thought we shut it down.”

“Maybe they all died fifty years ago,” I offered.

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

Something else concerned me. “What kind of training and equipment would they have?”

“I don’t know, Halek. The best we had at the time, including some early theories about interfacing with artificial intelligences. Back before we realized they had to be tightly controlled,” she said.

“Could they take control of something like the—”

“—Silver Phoenix,” she finished.

“Double fuck.”

“Language, Halek. You weren’t born in an ore hauler.” She picked at her uniform as though something had been wrong. Once the imaginary flaws were dealt with, she presented her arm so we could continue our walk together. “Let’s direct your LAI and that BP thing to working on solutions rather than problems.”

* * *

It took time to gather everyone together. The first drill we practiced was leaving the training deck of the Nightmare and returning to our own ships.

“Elise, Path, and I will be the primary attack unit designated Reaper Squad,” I said.

Locke and the others listened and followed along with tablets and arm screens. More than once I had to scratch out references to Briggs. He’d been gone for weeks and I was still relying on him to hold our flank, break through enemy lines, or just terrorize the enemy when we needed a distraction.

But he was gone, just like Elise had almost been lost to Emperor Acrondis.

“Locke has divided his group of Wallach and Xad commandos into three squads: L1, L2, and L3,” I said, covering the easy stuff first. “Loren Jacem and his Kalon Regulars will also have three squads: K1, K2, and K3.”

Tatiana, her older brother Brecken, Captain Marcus Kellerman, and their team stood waiting.

“Speak up, Reaper,” Tatiana said. “We didn’t go through all that trouble to get transferred to the Nightmare for nothing.”

“Are you in a hurry?” I asked, not sure the words sounded the way I meant them to. This was why Reapers didn’t date.

“Should I be?” Tatiana asked, crossing her arms.

Her brother Brecken put one hand on her arm, and she relaxed.

“Tatiana’s team will also have three squads designated: T1, T2, and T3. X-37 has sent each of you a list of ships and their support crew. The Jellybird takes lead. The RWS Battle Axe will carry the L and K teams, the Hunter of Xad will carry T team. These are all quick reaction forces who should be ready to take over if the situation changes radically or Reaper Squad goes down for the count.”

No one said anything.

“The Lady Faith, with James Henshaw, Olivia Cain, Hannah Cain, Bug, and Manager will have a special stealth mission. Their job is to never engage and only work to provide other elements with an unseen advantage. We’re relying heavily on our stealth capabilities for this mission,” I said.

Novasdaughter waved to her tech specialist, who changed the holo view. Everyone leaned forward as the simple images of Maglan we’d taken from the navigation tablet appeared.

“Pay special attention to this building here,” I said, using a laser pointer.

“That’s a Union ship,” Novasdaughter growled.

“We think it is a Union ship,” I said. “Mother?”

Olivia Cain strode to the center of the briefing with grace befitting an admiral or galactic leader. “Ladies and gentlemen—using the term loosely of course—this is what we know about the mystery ship on Maglan. Several decades before the Reaper Corps was green-lighted, there were test projects—many of them abandoned. Vice Admiral Nebs, who was little more than an ambitious captain at the time, developed a pilot project focused on aggressive exploration of the galaxy.”

“That doesn’t sound promising,” Locke said with his burly arms crossed.

“The project was killed before it ever began, or so we thought. Their mandate was to contact new civilizations and use any means necessary to gain their cooperation, compliance, or subservience—with a strong preference for the last option. Most importantly, they had early versions of artificial intelligence manipulation in their toolbox, so to speak.”

“What does that mean for us?” Loren Jacem asked.

“They may have control of the Silver Phoenix, the twin to what I’m using right now,” I said. “But it will be in better condition, count on it.”

Murmurs went through the briefing.

“What does that mean?” Brecken asked.

I held his gaze. “That means some of us won’t be coming back from this mission. The technology of the Silver Phoenix combined with old school Union spec ops—dark ops—really, will be the most dangerous enemy we’ve ever faced, including the Alon and the Sansein.”

34

Sweat soaked through my clothing. Muscles trembled with fatigue. Every member of the team was in good spirits.

“You think that was hard, Reaper.” Elise enjoyed taunting me in front of the others.

“Race! Race!” shouted Locke’s commandos, the Kalon Regulars, and Tatiana’s collection of urban warfare experts.

“What do you say, Reaper? How about a friendly jaunt around the Nightmare’s running track,” Elise said, punching me in the arm.

“I hate you.” The words were for her alone, but most people probably guessed what I was thinking. So I lit a cigar then barked my reply. “Sure, Kid. I’ll race you. Just let me finish my warm-up.”

She waved away the smoke. “You know you’re going to lose.”

“Keep talking.” I faced the others. “Anyone else want a piece of this action.”

The enthusiastic spectators quickly became very busy with anything but joining the competition.

“I’ll give it a try,” Kiliana Jess said.

The room went quiet. Honors and Jess had been allowed to observe our preparations but had no place in the implementation of the plan. By the time they were released to the Alon Empire—if they chose to go back—the tactics we were using on this mission wouldn’t matter much.

And that was assuming any of us came back alive.

Dread threatened to smash me. If we failed, the entire Wallach-Xad-Yansden fleet would fly into a disaster. They would have the unknown dangers of Maglan ahead of them and the Alon and the Sansein behind them. If this wasn’t our only choice, I would have picked about any other option.

Elise reached for the cigar like she would have a puff. I yanked it back. “Hell no! These things are bad for you. I’m not going to be held responsible for corrupting the next generation.”

“Whatever, Reaper. Let’s run.” She threw a shitty look over her shoulder at Jess. “You can probably even beat the Reaper. He’s slow as hell and old.”

“And he smokes,” Jess said, stepping to the starting line.

I put away my cigar then counted off. “Three, two—”

I bolted forward, leaving both young women a dozen meters behind.

“He cheats,” Elise grunted.

“I see that.” Jess put on a burst of speed.

To my surprise, I held them off for the first lap. Which gave me a taste for what it would be like to actually beat them.

They were young, a hundred pounds lighter than I was, and full of the fire to win. I really wanted to put them in their place.

Jess passed me first. By the second lap, I was watching Elise trying to reel her in. Then I lost sight of them around a curve.

“Shit, X. Now I will never know who wins,” I gasped, slowing slightly but still sprinting.

Fire burned in my chest and I wondered if I’d finally pushed the cigar routine too far.

“I can easily track their progress, Reaper Cain.” X-37’s tone changed. “However, there is an urgent matter that must end this race early. We’ve reached the end of the slip tunnel.”

“Hah!” I shouted. “Saved by the slip tunnel opening.”

“Reaper Cain, I doubt anyone thought you were going to win at this point,” X-37 said.

“Bite your tongue!”

“Reaper Cain, please. It’s been so long since you abused me with one of your impossible metaphors.”

“I know, I know. You don’t have a tongue. Let’s get into the BP Archangel. Jelly, what’s Maglan system look like?” My mood was far better than it should be. I almost thought this was going to be fun.

“We have not entered the system, Captain,” Jelly said. “Vice Admiral Novasdaughter wishes to know if you will be on the bridge during the final transit.”

I thought about it. Elise and Jess came running back to me.

“Did you get the alert?” Elise asked.

I nodded, walking toward the locker rooms.

“Well? Where do you want us?”

I stopped when I was in view of the rest of the people training. “Everyone assemble in teams and stand by for deployment.”

Wallach, Xad, Yansdenian, and former Union soldiers raced to their ships.

“I think Jess should go with us,” Elise said in a low, intense voice. Her eyes were bright. Behind her, Jess waited eagerly. She was obviously a fighter who didn’t like to be sidelined.

“Why the hell not? They don’t have anyone to betray us out here,” I said. “Tell her to find Honors and bring him to our armory on the Jellybird. We might as well put both of them on the team if we’re going to include one.”

Jess pumped one fist in the air and raced away with the Wallach guard assigned to her hurrying to catch up.

* * *

I lifted one foot of the BP Archangel, lowered it, then repeated the test with the other. Elise, Path, Honors, and Jess watched me. They’d been ready for several minutes. For some reason, this was taking longer than normal. Z1 felt sluggish and barely talked to me or X-37. The lag interfered without pre-battle preparation.

“Is he always such a buffoon?” Jess asked.

“Watch it, Jess. He’s our buffoon,” Elise said with a smile.

The Alon sergeant shrugged then checked her Emperor’s Own armor again. Everything seemed perfect, if a bit roughed up on the outside. Honors only checked his gear once, apparently confident everything would function perfectly.

“Do you need additional help, Reaper Cain,” X-37 asked privately.

“No, just give me an update on Maglan.” I squatted as low as I could then stood up. It felt pretty good, so I repeated the exercise several times—each time hopping a little higher into the air, pulsing the energy shield a little more powerfully to practice the levitation trick.

Elise nudged Jess and pointed at me. “See? That’s pretty cool, right.”

Eyes widening, Jess agreed. “Too bad we don’t all have one of those units.”

“Reaper Cain,” X-37 began. “Our strike group has successfully left the slip tunnel and avoided contact with local ships. Several battle cruisers are on the way to investigate our arrival, however.”

“How did they detect us?” Our stealth fields were the best in the fleet. We needed to maintain the advantage.

“They detected something, or were headed this way on a routine patrol,” X-37 said. “It is too soon to become alarmed.”

“I’m not scared, X. Who’s alarmed?” I looked sharply at Elise.

“Not me, Reaper.” Elise dropped her face shield and switched the color of her Archangel to varying shades of black and dark gray.

“Now that is impressive,” Jess said.

Honors watched the exchange but said nothing. He wasn’t his normal happy go lucky self.

“What’s on your mind, Honors?” I asked between practice movements.

“You ruined me, Reaper. I had a plan to explain the escape. Our public information officers could have made it look like an intentional prisoner exchange—despite the truth of what happened—and saved face. My career would have continued without a blemish unless the Emperor’s Own wanted to admit someone allowed the Reaper’s protege to escape,” Honors said. “When this is over, my life is going to be very difficult. I may be able to shield Jess from the worst of it, but she’ll be removed from the EO.”

“I get it, Honors. But there was nothing I could have done differently. And I’d do it again.” I snapped my blade out, then retracted it.

“I understand, Reaper. That doesn’t change my situation. I need a plan for what comes after Maglan,” Honors said, sounding distracted.

“Captain, we have received a message from the Nightmare. We’re good to proceed to the primary planet of this system,” Jelly said in my ear.

“What are your orders, Hal?” Tom asked.

“Set a course and get us there.” I reviewed the tactical data of my various weapons. “Just don’t let anyone see us. We stay together and we evade the enemy patrols.”

“Z1 is asking if you should attempt diplomatic contact,” X-37 said.

“Why isn’t he talking to me himself?” Normally the digital jerk hounded me like I owed him money.

“Z1 has been overwhelmed with raw data generated since his counterpart was activated in the Maglan system,” X-37 said. “I wouldn’t expect much from him for a while.”

“Is that good or bad, X?” I asked.

“My analysis concludes it is mostly bad,” X-37 said. “There is a significant chance that Z1 will be receiving attempted override codes from his sibling, Z2.”

“Godsdammit! Do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn’t happen,” I said. The last thing I needed was Z1 twisting me this way and that with the exoskeleton integrated into my armor. “Make a broadcast; all teams man their battle stations.”

* * *

Three groups of Maglan cruisers passed us then took positions around the slip tunnel—which wouldn’t be good for the exodus fleet when they exited. Other local ships were moving to join the patrols, but they were on the far side of the system and not moving fast.

“This is a new experience for us,” Tatiana said. “How about a little narrative? Should we be on high alert?”

“We're already in alert status. But to answer your question, I don't think we need to go to battle stations yet.” I took a few more seconds to analyze what I was seeing. X-37 and Z1 relayed raw data from the ship AI's. I also knew that Novasdaughter and the other ship drivers had their best people on a tactical analysis of the situation.

“The Maglan ships are accelerating,” I said, pointing at the relevant icons. “That means they’re responding to something. We don't know what they think they see.”

Both Tatiana and Brecken looked at me, concerned but not sure how to phrase their questions in navigational terms.

“My gut tells me they’re excited, but not alarmed or ready to panic,” I said. More information passed across the holo viewer. “That will change rapidly if we drop out of stealth mode.”

“Good thing we're not going to do that,” Elise said. “Are we?”

Everyone on my bridge studied me like I was crazy, which I was, but that was another story.

“We haven't even considered diplomacy,” I said. “I'm a big fan of surprise whenever we have to fight. But what if the people of the Maglan system are inherently peaceful, or even waiting for the rest of their people to arrive? What if they dealt with the Union commandos and are smart enough to be looking for allies like us?”

“Wow, Reaper,” Elise said. “You've really outdone yourself this time. Have you been reading Tom's books again? For people craving peace, the system has a lot of defenses.”

“Being prepared doesn't mean they are aggressive.” I wasn't sure why we were having this discussion, or why I was tempted to change our plan on the fly. “All I'm saying is that we need to keep our eyes open for opportunities we haven't thought of.”

Elise started to respond, but the lights on the bridge flashed several times in warning.

“Champion, he is coming,” Z1 said.

I held up my hand to silence my crew. “What are you talking about, Z?”

“My counterpart’s identity is easier for me to recognize,” Z1 said. “It won't be long before we meet him face-to-face.”

X-37 interrupted. “That is not what is alarming, Reaper Cain. The vessel is actively scanning for Union technology.”

“Not all of our ships are Union designed. I assume your theory is that the Maglan defense is operating based on something it found in the Union ship we spotted on the building rooftop,” I said.

“That is correct, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “It's my duty to inform you, however, that this scan is very aggressive, and I do not feel they will be open to diplomatic first contact.”

“Did we expect anything else?” Elise asked.

“No, kid. But these ships may shoot first and ask questions later,” I said. “That’s worse than blocking the slip tunnel and ordering us to leave the system.”

“Vice Admiral Novasdaughter is initiating a council of all ship captains and critical personnel,” Jelly said. “Please stand by.”

I watched faces appear in the holo displays, including my mother. She stared directly at me, smiling sadly but thoughtfully. My stress level went down. My other companions knew what they were doing, but I thought her skill at diplomacy was unmatched.

Of course it had been a while since I'd seen her work. I was glad she was here despite the danger to all of us.

Each of our ship AIs received navigational instructions. We continued toward the planet but very carefully. At these speeds, it would take days. We wouldn't be able to accelerate until we were sure we hadn’t been detected or were at least past their scouts.

We were all here: Elise, Path, my mother and sister, Tom, Henshaw, and even Bug. Tatiana and her brother, Locke, and Loren Jacem—they had their squads of specialized soldiers. We could handle this. I'd never had a better team to complete a mission.

Briggs wasn’t here. Neither was Grady. Or Byron Thane, my rival in the Reaper Corps, or his son who had come after me with the Reaper mask on Greensdale. I even felt bad for Elise’s father, Doctor Hastings, a man probably in a Union prison the way things worked for people who failed them. It struck me that I might be about to lose everyone who mattered to me within the next few hours.

Novasdaughter called roll and checked assignments. Everything was mundane and by the numbers. The danger was increasing the farther we moved into the system, but we were ready.

The Maglan patrols stood off at a distance of several thousand kilometers. They watched the slip tunnel as well as the area we were passing through. If things went well, we could still avoid their detection. They had to be acting on a hunch no matter what Z1 claimed.

Our task force continued to creep forward, staying in perfect formation and well within speeds that made it easy to maintain our stealth fields. My nerves tingled, but no more than on any other mission. All the training was behind us. It was time to perform.

“There is a new ship headed our way,” Jelly said. “Our analysis of their structure suggests it is actually three ships that are temporarily joined. It is very large.”

“That sounds like something a Sansein would do? Can you confirm?” I didn't want a new alien complication. Again, I considered dropping our stealth cloak and entering diplomatic negotiations.

“The ship is the Silver Phoenix with a tri-containment generator,” Z1 said.

“How do you know that, Z?” I asked.

“Because I have one, Champion.”

“Does it work? Why didn’t you say something earlier?” I asked, aware everyone was watching and listening. “What does it do, exactly?”

“We are missing several components, Champion. The tri-containment generator is defensive. It would have been extremely difficult to transport through the slip tunnel,” Z1 said. “The last time it was used was five hundred years ago during an attack on Yansden by a rag-tag fleet of people calling themselves the Lost Renegades. They were all destroyed.”

I cut off the BP AI with a hand gesture. “How can we counteract this generator? And what exactly does it do?”

“It's going to disable our ships and create an artificial environment suitable for its own operation,” Z1 said. “Fortunately, I will be able to function within this field as well.”

“Screw that. What type of environment?” I asked.

“In my programming, it is referred to as the Optimum Zone.” Z1 displayed a large amount of information, some of it in symbols none of us could read.

“Optimum for what?”

“Killing invaders,” Z1 answered, not seeming nearly as concerned as I thought he would be at this point.

“All ships, spread out and take defensive precautions. Maintain stealth mode,” Novasdaughter ordered.

“With permission, Vice Admiral, I think we should take the Jellybird toward the newcomer,” I said. “It may be something only we can handle. Try to keep everyone out of the field these ships are about to generate. I don’t know how large it will be.”

“Agreed, Cain. Proceed with caution,” Novasdaughter said.

The mood in our task force changed. My mother looked at me through the holo viewer. The intensity of her gaze took me back to my old neighborhood. I remembered a time when my sister had come home after her first fight against neighborhood boys. I remembered how I went out with my father and found them.

One of them broke my forearm, but I dislocated his knee and gave him a concussion that put him in the hospital for two weeks. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

“We've come a long way, Halek,” my mother said.

I nodded because there wasn't time for anything else.

Elise stood beside me. “We should gear up.”

On any other mission, this would have meant a race. Instead, the trek to the armory felt like a dream. Path fell in beside us. Honors and Jess brought up the rear. I tried not to think about Briggs, or Grady, or other friends I had lost over the years.

“Are you certain you trust them, Reaper Cain?” X-37 asked. “Perhaps the Emperor’s Own don’t belong in this fight.”

“We're just walking to the armory,” I said, even though it felt like a lot more. The door slid open and we each went to our armor and weapons.

Elise and Path suited up then checked each other. I took my time but didn’t dawdle either. X-37 helped me monitor Honors and Jess, who slipped quickly into their armor—war fighting equipment that was every bit as formidable as the Archangels Path and Elise would be using. Their buddy check routine was similar to ours. Nothing was left to chance.

Something occurred to me. If my Alon frenemies turned on us, they'd be a match for Path and Elise. Which would lead me to fight Z2 on my own. A shiver danced down my spine.

“Your biometrics just fluctuated significantly, Reaper Cain. Is there something wrong that I haven’t detected yet?”

“No, X. But do you think we can trust Honors and Jess?” I asked.

“They have nothing to gain at this point by betraying us,” X-37 said. “But the status gained from spectacular heroics is highly valued among their people. That is the reason we had so much trouble with Commander Peter Tobias. If Honors and Jess could take credit for defeating the Silver Phoenix, or Z2 as we’re calling the entity, they would be almost morally obligated to try.”

I didn't like the sound of that.

“Captain, the Maglan ship has separated into three parts and emitted a field that I cannot penetrate,” Jelly said. “I received a short transmission before losing contact with the rest of our task force.”

“Details, Jelly.” I hopped up and down to test my BP Archangel.

“Vice Admiral Novasdaughter and the others are engaged in ship-to-ship combat,” Jelly advised. “You have an incoming message from the entity calling itself Z2-01AB999-183-M51DRO-ALPHA.”

“I'm listening.” I moved toward the primary airlock. Once, long ago, this had been merely a loading bay for a ship that had been stolen from the Union and converted into a smuggling vessel. Now, it was where we would risk everything to save the exodus fleet.

“Attention intruder,” a crisp, young, and professional voice said. “I have detected an attempt to imitate Phoenix technology. This is a violation.”

“Who am I speaking with, the pilot, not the machine?” The question sounded better in my head. Now I worried my lack of diplomacy was going to get us killed sooner rather than later.

“I am Guardian Royce of Maglan,” a strong male voice said. “Identify yourself.”

“They call me the last Reaper, but my name is Halek Cain. We come in peace, only seeking sanctuary from our enemies.”

“We need to get out of the Jellybird, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “Z1 is telling me that our ship will soon be paralyzed and we will be trapped inside, unable to fight this thing.”

“Listen up, team. It’s go time. This looks like it is going to be a void fight, but expect anything,” I said. “Elise, strap into your micro fighter.”

“I want one of those,” Jess said.

Elise was already sliding under the small, collapsible wings and chases. “I’m way ahead of you, Reaper.”

“I’m going first. Don’t screw around. You’ll get trapped in here and be out of the fight,” I said, then opened the door. Beyond was the blackness of the void. Nothing looked different. There was nothing special so far about the Maglan system.

I jumped without activating my version of the micro fighter. There would be a time for that. It was nice to have everything in one neat package, no need to gear up twice. My momentum carried me clear of the Jellybird that was still moving—slow by ship standards but fast from where I was looking back. One moment the ship was right beside me, then it was hundreds of kilometers away. If she’d been trying to leave me, she’d be well out of view now.

“We’re out, Reaper. Heading to your navigational marker now,” Elise said. “There is something weird out here.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Tell me about it.”

The Silver Phoenix field grew stronger second by second. Before long, I realized I couldn’t see stars, or the Jellybird.

“Be advised, Reaper, this is not a zero-gravity environment. The shield is similar to what kept the atmosphere around Dreadmax, and also Roxo III,” X-37 said. “I’m assuming this is calibrated to the environment the Silver Phoenix Z2 is accustomed to fighting in.”

“Is there atmosphere?” I asked.

“Not exactly. The readings are hard to decipher. Just be aware that maneuvering at speed will be like neither void combat nor atmospheric ship to ship fighting,” X-37 said.

“Z1, how about a little help?” I asked.

“We are within the tri-containment field. Your ship, the Jellybird, barely escaped,” Z1 said. “If she were caught here, she would be nearly helpless to resist being boarded by Z2-01AB999-183-M51DRO-ALPHA or his drones.”

“Where is Z2 and this Royce guy?” I asked, rotating three hundred and sixty degrees to my right, then repeating the maneuver on a vertical axis.

“I see you, Reaper,” the man said. “My translation of your title is disturbing. You’ve given me a lot to think about and we’ve barely met. Your Z1’s data security protocols are out of date. You really ought to get that updated. On the upside, it made language interface easier. How’s this translation: are you reading me, mother fucker?”

“Uh, you’re using that last part out of context,” I said, still searching for my newest enemy in the darkness.

“But I got the rest correct. Reaper is an entity that ends lives, is it not? And that is what you call yourself?” Royce asked.

“I didn’t pick it,” I said, still searching for the other Phoenix unit. “Don’t blame me.”

“You are Union?”

“This sounds like a trick question, X.” My LAI beeped but did nothing to reassure me.

“I see something, X. Like a ceiling opening. Something is coming through,” I said.

“Those are killer drones, Champion,” Z1 said. “We have nothing to combat them.”

35

“You have us, Z man,” Elise said. “Honors, Jess, spread out and maintain a relative distance. I’m going to move fast so try to keep up.”

“Our armor doesn’t have a tenth of your maneuverability or range with those wings and rockets,” Jess said. “We’ll do our best.”

“X, get a hold of Novasdaughter and the Jellybird,” I said.

“I’ve tried, Reaper Cain. They are unreachable. We’re on our own. The last our sensors knew of them, they had their own problems with unknown attack squadrons,” X-37 said.

I smashed my right fist into my left palm and cursed.

“Take a breath and calm down, Champion,” Z1 advised. “You cannot afford to make mistakes with the Maglan Champion. He was raised from birth to fight you. He will lie to you about the Union.”

“Fan-freaking-tastic. How am I supposed to beat your brother with this guy at the controls,” I demanded. “I assume all of his parts work—combat drones, tri-containment generators, battleships—”

“I am working on a plan that has a twelve percent chance of success. It will be complete in two hours,” Z1 said.

“You’re really killing me, Z man.”

“Probably, Reaper Cain. It is a regrettable circumstance.” The Black Phoenix sounded like a computer with a bad network connection. Something was bogging it down.

“Give me and X manual controls,” I said.

“Unadvisable, Champion.”

“Do it or this fight is over before we even start,” I shouted.

“Relinquishing controls. Z1, out.” The Black Phoenix did one of his most dramatic fade outs to date. I nearly pissed my exoskeleton pants at the feeling this gave me. Did I want him clunking around in his digital funk? No. Did I want him to leave me with X to do everything. Hell no.

Guardian Royce of Maglan started laughing. He sounded like a Union officer I had during Reaper school—one of the jerks, a rich kid who probably bought his commission rather than earned it.

“Ha ha, that’s hilarious. Why don’t you show yourself?” I asked. “We’ll see who has jokes then.”

So he did, gliding into view with wings a lot more complex than my modified micro fighter rig. Behind the leading edge were layers that flexed and retracted depending on the length and width of the wing. In space, there wasn’t need for such complexity. In Z2’s Optimum Zone, the killing machine was set up perfectly. The Union micro fighters Elise and I had been flying for months only used the wings in atmosphere and were poorly suited to this artificial killing sphere.

We weren’t in the atmosphere, but we weren’t exactly in the void either. My adversary gleamed in the light of the distant sun, almost blinding me before my optical filters adjusted. Silver Phoenix indeed.

“The wings and navigation rudders of this Phoenix variation react to magnetic pulses that are part of the tri-containment field,” X-37 said.

“Did Z1 tell you that?” I moved away from Royce and his killing machine. It looked very different from the smashed together collection of parts I was so proud of.

“I am gathering that from databases he granted me access to, because he truly has left us,” X-37 said.

“But he’s coming back?” I warmed up the energy cannon on my left shoulder.

“Doubtful.” My LAI posted data in my HUD but said little, which was a sign he was near his data processing threshold.

I looked around for the Jellybird or the Nightmare. Nothing. I’d even take the Lady Faith right now—anything that might help me meet the guardian of this system. None of the ships had penetrated this field. Maybe that was a good thing. This place was made to ruin them.

And all the people I cared about were on those ships.

“Where is the rest of our task force, X? Were they able to get away, maybe head back into the slip tunnel to warn the others?” It was a stupid idea that embarrassed me.

“Sill no contact, Reaper Cain.”

The Silver Phoenix moved gracefully nearer then maintained a relative position facing me no matter which way I moved. “Stop and face me, Reaper.”

I stopped. X-37 made several sounds I couldn’t decipher—not a good sign. “Why are you doing this, Royce? All we want is a place to live in peace.”

“Truly?” he asked.

“There are two massive fleets chasing us.” I’d meant to say more but the words didn’t come out.

“Why would coming to Maglan help you?” Royce asked. “And before you answer, this system was claimed for the New Union five decades ago. You are of the Old Union. I saw your ship and some of your armor also bears evidence.”

He will lie to you about the Union.

“There is a whole lot to that story you’re not telling me.” Without X-37 to help me with the theory, I struggled to see how a commando team could have turned this place into a version of the Union. Worse, I wasn’t sure where that placed me and my friends. Was this guy happy to see us, or as hateful of the Old Union as we were? And if that was the case, how did I convince him we were on the same side?

Were we on the same side?

“Answer my question, Reaper,” Royce said, flaring his wings to block some of the distant sun that was right in my eyes. It was actually a nice gesture while making him appear epically badass at the same time. In the blinding darkness, facing the sun, though it was distant and small from this vantage point, was painful.

“Let’s talk about the Mother,” I said, not anticipating his reaction.

With no apparent effort, the winged Silver Phoenix moved backward and up twenty meters, riding the magnetic currents it was using as gravity simulation. Inside of this containment field, Royce made his own rules.

“You cannot kill her,” he said, twin energy weapons glowing hot on the shoulders of his armor. “I won’t allow it.”

“I don’t want to kill her!” I shouted. “I want to free her!”

This caused him to pause, but not in a good way. “You mean you want to steal her from her sanctuary. Do not lie. The Old Union lied. We rose up.”

“If you have a moment, Reaper Cain,” X-37 interrupted. “I may have found a use for the Gloering.”

A diagram popped up on my HUD, just below the streams of data I was supposed to be monitoring to figure out how this Phoenix unit worked here.

“I don’t understand this image. How do I get the soap fuel into the combustion chamber? Your diagram is crap, X.”

“One moment, Reaper Cain. Please stall while I make the instructions simpler.” X-37 made an alarming series of atonal chirps and tickled my right arm with haptic feedback. It was like the world’s worst alarm clock waking me up from a killer hangover.

“Prepare to die, intruder,” Royce said, light glowing from every part of his armor now. “I’m done with this talk.”

“Wait! Just hold on a second. Voxtran sent me to free her from her prison on Maglan.” This might not have been my most eloquent speech, but it was what I had.

“Voxtran!” Royce roared the word and fired.

I raised the Black Phoenix energy shield and realized everything I did was a second slower without Z1 here to assist. Now I missed the digital jerk. He was crazy, but he was my kind of crazy. The force of Royce’s Silver Phoenix attack blasted me backward. The magnetic pulses grabbed the BP Archangel rig. It was like hitting a wall where there was none.

Blood dripped from my nose. Stars danced in my vision. Pain exploded in the back of my head. It was like being in a street brawl with one hand in handcuffs.

“You dare speak the name of the betrayer!” Royce hit me again. I fired at the same time, but he had two energy cannons for my one.

“Please don’t let that happen again, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said through the ringing in my ears. I was getting slammed against the inside of armor that was supposed to fit my body perfectly. This shouldn’t hurt so much. “Can you get Z1 back. We seriously need help.”

“I am working on it, Reaper Cain. This unit is too much for us to control. I’m struggling to keep you alive much less fight effectively.”

My LAI was trying, I knew he was. Maybe that would be worth something when someone found my body, but I didn’t think so. This was it. I was going to see if there was an afterlife, and if there was, I was pretty sure Briggs would be there to punch me in the throat when I crossed over.

“Got it.” X-37 activated servos between the layers of the Archangel armor and the Black Phoenix exoskeleton. “Put the Gloering in here.”

I did exactly what X said. Nothing happened.

For several seconds.

Maybe that wasn’t enough, I thought, then reopened the lid and held the rest of the substance in one hand.

Royce moved toward me, rapidly closing the distance he’d created by slamming me backward with his double energy cannons.

“How much?” I asked, as I fumbled with the chunk of Gloering-stuff. “Talk to me, X. I need your help.”

My LAI didn’t answer. I could almost hear his algorithm wiring and feel my nerve ware heating up.

I shoved it all into the chamber and shut the lid.

Royce hesitated then moved backward without taking his eyes off me. “You idiot!”

Energy burned through the Black Phoenix. Purple light glowed around me like a star exploding to life. Every weapon and system redlined its power output. Excess energy steamed away from me, crackling like the many arms of a Sansein warrior in the middle of a hard fight.

“Stop him, X-37,” Z1 shouted, thoroughly roused from his stupor now.

“Oh, now you care!” The words ripped from my throat. I thought I could see the inside of my eyes. An explosion radiated out from my unit, shoving Royce back several hundred meters and shutting down his power for a second. The magnetic frequencies he used to control the field wavered.

When he rebooted, he kept a more careful distance.

“The Gloering isn’t meant for a Phoenix, you fool. They made it to power a space station or a starship,” Royce said, circling me.

Static crackled in my ear, and words I couldn’t quite understand chattered at me. The only thing that was familiar was the rhythm of a hard-fought battle.

“Cain, why aren’t you answering?” Elise’s voice sounded far away. “We need your help. There are too many of them. Drones everywhere. What was that explosion?”

“Hold on, Elise. I’m coming,” I said.

She didn’t respond. X-37 failed to chastise me for making impossible promises.

“Focus on the blade—” Path didn’t sound like himself; I didn’t know where he was, who he was fighting now, or who the message was intended for.

I floated in front of Royce and his fancy fighting rig. He watched me warily, probably because he thought I was going to explode again. “Listen to me, tough guy,” I said. “We are fleeing the Union, do you understand?”

“They told my father and his soldiers the Union would be coming like a meteor storm. They showed proof of the Union’s might, then stole the Phoenix,” Royce said.

“Then how do you have it?”

“The Mother saved us and we vowed we would protect her and her children,” Royce said.

“Dishonesty detected, Reaper Cain.” X-37 “I do not believe he is telling us half the truth or even a whole lie.”

“That’s not what I heard, Royce. There is a really big, really nasty fleet of Sansein warlords out there who think she’s being held hostage,” I said, catching my breath. “They sent me to free her and promised to protect my people from the Alon who are hunting us.”

“We’re close, Captain.” Jelly’s voice was like a whisper in my imagination.

“As are we,” said my mother.

“And us,” Novasdaughter added.

“Tell them to get the hell out of here, X.”

“Listen, Halek,” my mother said. “This is a difficult place for us to maneuver our ships. We will have one chance to help you. Don’t argue and don’t waste it.”

Royce moved closer at the precise moment I felt my power surge begin to decline. I had time, but not much.

“We will never allow the Union to rule Maglan,” he said.

“Good! I’m with you. Let’s hug it out and be besties!” My frustration was making me feel drunk and pissed off.

“Why would you come so far if not to conquer?” His voice had a dangerous tone. The end was coming—probably in the form of a double energy blast to my face.

“We. Are. Running!” I shouted. “Will you listen for one second! The Union wants us dead. The Alon want us as slaves. The Sansein want us to free the Mother or else.”

Novasdaughter whispered in my comms. “Reaper, we are going to catch both of you in the landing bay of the Nightmare, just like we did those Alon scout ships. Then you can fight this jerk in normal gravity.” She paused. “It was your mother’s idea. Just try not to destroy my ship.”

Royce hesitated then spoke in a low, almost regretful voice. “I can’t take that chance. My only purpose is to be the guardian of Maglan, protector of the Mother, warden of the Silver Phoenix.”

“Cain, we need help,” Elise shouted through a weak comm channel.

“He’s not coming, Elise,” Jess shouted. “I told you he wouldn’t.”

Right now, I had three main problems. Elise, Honors, and Jess were fighting a swarm of combat drones, my mother and all my friends had somehow entered the tri-containment field thinking they could help me, and Royce of Maglan thought we were enemies. He claimed to protect the Mother. I thought the truth was something stranger.

“Champion Cain, the Nightmare is moving closer. She is slow and not maneuverable. My advice is to let the Silver Phoenix destroy her then attack during the confusion,” Z1 said.

“Ignore him, Reaper Cain.” X-37 posted a to-do item in my HUD: Get Royce onto the Nightmare and fight him face to face.

“Mom, who else do you have besides the Nightmare. Elise needs help,” I said.

Royce issued a challenge. “Prepare to die, Reaper.”

I ignored him for a second.

“Henshaw says we can help, but don’t expect much from us after that. He wants to grab them and make a run for it,” my mother said.

“I need you to find the Mother while I deal with Royce and his shiny death toy.” My own words sounded distant and unconvincing.

A moment passed. Energy thrummed around us all.

“We’re on our way to find her,” my mother said. “Henshaw and Lady say there is a… very large ship near the planet that is strange.”

“I’m going to regret asking if you give me a long answer, but what do you mean by strange?” I asked.

“It looks like a moon,” she said. “None of our scans penetrate the surface.”

* * *

Elise, Path, Honors, and Jess raced toward my position, a cloud of damaged drones pursuing them. They spread out, flanking Royce and his Silver Phoenix from six directions.

“I hope this works because we have to get back to our own fight in about three seconds,” Elise said.

I studied the box they’d made for Royce and saw that he barely spared them a glance. They were positioned in areas he would only need to travel if he decided to retreat—which didn’t seem to be in the cards.

What he didn’t realize was that Novasdaughter and my team had boxed him in for a different purpose.

A blur flashed between Elise and her teammates. The shields of a carrier class ship pulsed as the Nightmare’s stealth field dropped.

“Now, Reaper!” Novasdaughter shouted.

I aimed myself to the ship’s open flight deck and blasted the rocket on the back of my BP Archangel.

The Nightmare slammed into Royce with no chance to maneuver even if they wanted to. The effectiveness of navigational controls was drastically reduced in the tri-containment field.

“Got him! Scooped him up like a fish!” Novasdaughter said.

“What’s a fish?” The question left my lips before I thought about it.

“What?” Novasdaughter asked. “Never mind.”

I rocketed into the flight deck, barely able to slow my momentum in time to land.

“We’re right behind you, Reaper Cain,” Elise shouted.

I didn’t have time to argue with her. Royce struggled to his feet and aimed his cannons.

Jumping, I slashed through them with my Reaper blade, chopping between the power source and the charging barrel. Without loss of momentum, I slammed my weight into my adversary, knocking him onto his back.

He stood more quickly than I had hoped.

“How’s that gear work in my ship!” I shouted. Technically, it wasn’t my ship but whatever. “I bet you didn’t see that coming.”

Royce charged. “You can’t have her power!”

“Now I see how it is.” I dodged an energy bolt then rushed to meet his advance. “You’re not protecting the Mother, you’re using her.”

“Everyone is using someone. How else can I keep the people of Maglan from leaving? How do I keep the Sansein and the Alon and the Old Union away?” His voice changed, twisted by his fury.

I leapt through the air, feinting with the blade, then slamming a right hook into his shining armor.

“Crude!” He grunted as he recovered from the strike. “You’re a barbarian.”

About the time he faced me again, I opened fire with the twin Furies from less than a meter away. Though I couldn’t see his face, his body language screamed surprise.

Holding the triggers down, I advanced, bullets ricocheting off the Silver Phoenix armor and punching holes in the walls around us. For every hundred I fired, one or two penetrated a crease in his gear—usually cutting a wire or tube that wasn’t meant to be exposed. I didn’t see any blood yet.

He flared his wings, then lashed them in front of his body. For a hot second, I thought he was making a shield. Then they slammed me off my feet.

Landing on my back wasn’t fun in this gear. There were too many of Tom’s high-powered additions to allow me to roll properly.

Royce caught me before I could rock to my side. He stormed down on my helmet, knocking me out for a second despite the protective layers. Getting shaken inside a can wasn’t fun.

Once I came to one knee, I spun in a circle, taking out both of his legs with one of mine fully extended. He fell hard. I scrambled over him then aimed the energy cannon at his face.

“Surrender!” The anger in my voice stunned even me.

“Never!”

I slapped his helmet hard enough to break a man in lesser armor’s neck. “Never’s a long time. Get serious, you stupid punk.”

“I’m not a kid,” he grunted, which made me think of Elise.

“How do I free the mother?” I put a lot of conviction in my words. Now was the only chance I had at forcing his compliance. “How do I stop your drones from attacking my people?”

“Go back to hell, Reaper.”

His words affected me more than they should. I ripped off his helmet and pressed the palm of my BP Archangel hand against his face. He grunted and cursed but didn’t start begging for mercy like countless other enemies had at this late stage in the game.

The man was older than he sounded. His skin was smooth and unblemished, like he’d never seen the sun. But if his face and body were soft, his eyes were harder and more merciless than Emperor Acrondis.

“You’re not a kid,” I said. “In fact, I bet you’re about fifty, aren’t you?”

He stalled, forcing me to wait for his answer.

“Champion! Z2 is trying to kill me!” Z1 screeched until I thought my ears were bleeding.

I grabbed Royce’s throat and squeezed. “I don’t know where Z2 is housed, but I bet if your head pops off he will stop attacking Z1. What do you think? Should I test my theory.”

He bared his teeth, flexed against my superior position, and was unable to push me off or stop me from choking him. “Okay, Reaper.”

“Thank you, Champion Cain. I feel much better,” Z1 said.

“Good for you.” I adjusted my grip on Royce. “You thought I’d be easy to beat out there in your tri-containment field. You didn’t think my friends would come to help me. But that is because you never had friends, did you? After you betrayed your father and killed his Union friends, all you could do was keep Maglan and the Mother prisoner.”

“That’s almost right,” he admitted. “My father was Old Union. After what he did to us, I created the New Union.”

“How many people are in your New Union?” I asked, though I was almost certain what the answer would be.

He looked away.

I gave his throat a squeeze and shook him—just a little. Maybe my Phoenix pressed down on him harder than necessary.

“One.”

“One person, a pissed off son of some Union psycho, held an entire system at bay,” I said. “It must really suck to get beat by a broken-down rogue like me.”

“No one ever comes into the tri-containment field. It’s suicide. Your friends are lucky they didn’t die with you.”

“You don’t know my friends.”

As though on cue, Elise, Path, and the others gathered near us.

“We finished with the drones once the field thing faltered,” Elise said.

“More are on their way,” Royce said.

“I suggest you call them off if you want to keep breathing,” I said.

My prisoner moodily complied. I removed his armor, bound him in restraints, and turned him over to Path. “Can you see that he gets to the brig? And chop off his head if he starts calling drones.”

“I am working in full partnership with X-37, Necron, and Jelly to deactivate his control over the Silver Phoenix network,” Z1 said. “Teamwork seems to be more effective than I previously admitted.”

“You’re not so bad, Z man.”

Elise and Tom, both on the Nightmare now, helped me out of my gear. The Lady Faith landed a short time later and I was faced with all my friends and family in one place—and none of them were about to die.

* * *

We all stood on the bridge of the Nightmare watching the approaching Sansein ship—if it could be called a ship. Elise stood beside me, clearly my equal to anyone who paid attention. Some of our fight with the Guardian of Maglan was blurry. Details didn’t matter, not to me. Everyone came, everyone fought, and we were mostly alive. Novasdaughter was the one who had to deal with the casualty list.

With the fleet staging near the slip tunnel, we’d been sent to contact the Mother and free her—if that still needed doing. The closer we came to her ship, the more nervous I got. The Nightmare was just a spec in front of the huge, hive-like ship.

“Can you raise her, Necron?” I asked.

“She demands that the one called Halek Cain come closer, alone if possible,” Necron said.

“No way, Reaper. I’m coming with you,” Elise said.

“Of course you are.”

My mother took my arm before I could leave the bridge. “Henshaw and I will take the Lady Faith and hide until you need us.”

“I’ll go with them,” Path said. “In case you need a quick reaction force. Honors and Jess will join me.”

I looked at the Alon officer and his sergeant. They nodded.

We went to the Jellybird and found Tom waiting on the ramp. “You’re not taking this ship anywhere without me, Hal. I don’t care what the Mother says.”

“Works for me,” I said. “What is the worst that could happen?” Elise and the mechanic turned executive officer laughed. I smiled and placed an unlit cigar in the corner of my mouth.

“Cain!” Tatiana called, running to catch up with me.

I went to her but kept my mouth shut, because that seemed like the best way not to say something stupid and ruin the moment. She grabbed the back of my neck with both hands, pulled herself up on her tiptoes, and kissed me until I didn’t want to leave.

“I’m glad you didn’t die,” she said, eyes bright—or maybe damp.

“Me too.”

“Don’t screw it up now,” she said. “Be careful.”

“I will.” I kissed her again and tried to do as good a job as she did. I was a legendary Reaper. Why did I feel like I was fourteen?

“Come on, Reaper,” Elise shouted from inside.

Tatiana and I laughed, parted, and I headed for the bridge of the Jellybird feeling pretty good.

36

The Jellybird accelerated away from the Nightmare. The Lady Faith, the RWS Battle Axe and the Hunter of Xad followed at a distance, the latter two ships severely damaged by the recent conflict. The Mother’s ship grew larger and larger until I realized the other Sansein ships were small by comparison.

“Jelly, can we make contact?” I asked.

X-37 answered. “She seems to be waiting much more patiently than others of her kind might.”

“What does Z1 think?”

“Z1-01FR381-742-X51DRO-ZETA is occupied with analysis and repair of his network. He has negotiated a surrender from Z2 that involves a transfer of assets to his control,” X-37 said. “In short, Reaper Cain, Z1 is otherwise occupied.”

“Works for me.”

“Reaper, are you ready to know the truth?” the Mother asked.

I looked at Elise and Tom. Neither seemed to have heard the words. “X, can you save that for future analysis?”

“Save what, Reaper Cain?”

“How are you talking to me without my LAI joining the conversation?” I asked. My mouth was moving. Sound was coming out, but my friends didn’t react.

“Temporal dimensions become distorted when you are as old as I am,” she said. “What is your first question?”

“She knows I have questions, X. How cool is that?”

“Who are you talking about, Reaper Cain? Do you need a sedative or an anti-hallucinogen?” my LAI asked without a hint of emotion.

I looked at the view screen, seeing only the huge ship—no alien with too many arms and no scenes of chaos and destruction. Just an artificial moon that might or might not be alive. “How did Royce and the Silver Phoenix keep you hostage? You seem powerful.”

“I did not wish the people of Maglan hurt,” she said, then waited.

“What will you do now that you are free?”

An image of a face a lot like Envoy’s appeared in the holo. Elise and the others gasped when they saw it.

“Ask your real question, Reaper,” she said.

“My friends see you but don’t hear you. Or do they?” I asked.

“They are experiencing time differently.”

I thought about our exchange and recent events. She knew I had bigger concerns than her travel plans. “Voxtran and the other Sansein fear you. An Alon officer told me I didn’t understand what you are. He warned me about unleashing you on the galaxy. Why is that, Mother?”

“Ah, now you say it truly.” Her appearance grew solid. The holo quality was so good it felt like she was standing in front of me. Every inch of her being was glorious to look at. “You fear what I will do when… released into the galaxy.”

“Your biometrics are fluctuating, and you are non-responsive, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “Please send me a signal you can hear me.”

I lit a cigar and continued to stare at the Mother. “Do you have a name?”

“Valain,” she said. “Voxtran is my brother.”

“What are you going to do now that you’re free, Valain?”

“What I always do,” she said, eyes shifting in a soothing way rather than the vomit inducing misery of Voxtran and his goons. “Grow new worlds. Find new ways to move on. I cannot stay in one place for long. You came at a good time.”

“Is that going to fulfill my bargain with the rest of your people? I feel like your brother was planning a double cross.”

“He did not believe you would succeed. And he needs me to heal our homeworld. No harm will come from him if I forbid it. As for the Alon, we will honor the agreement my brother made. Live here in peace. If you make war on other worlds, the pact will be broken.”

“I can live with that,” I said. “Damn this cigar is good.”

Elise snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Reaper. Pay attention. The ship is leaving.”

“I know she is, Elise.” I’d never been this tired but felt this good at the same time. “She told me everything is going to be all right.”

“Who, the Mother?” Elise asked.

“Yeah, kid.”

Elise crossed her arms. “Really? Well, okay.”

I waited, holding back a smile.

“Not a kid.”

“Of course not,” I said. “We did this. We made it.”

The moment was interrupted by the sight of the Mother’s ship leaving. Before long, we had a clear view of Maglan—shipping lanes, satellites, planets glowing with technology but also covered with normal looking weather systems.

“You know what?” I asked. “I think it’s time for some block leave. Let’s meet our new friends on Maglan.”

EPILOGUE

Elise looked sharp in her new WXYM Republic uniform. Wallach. Xad. Yansden. Maglan. One people in pursuit of an ideal—peace and security through strength and cooperation. My protege hadn’t been destined to be an assassin after all. Officer candidate’s school had been a challenge for her, but only because she’d been forced to follow rules and respect the chain of command as the Republic took its first steps toward stability.

She'd been allowed to design her unit’s uniform with the help of her second-in-command, First Sergeant Kiliana Jess. The hard-faced former Alon stood back respectfully as we embraced.

I hugged her harder than most people would tolerate, and she returned the gesture—not like it was a competition or something. We separated and looked at each other. “You're all grown up, kid.”

“Yeah, Reaper.” It looked like she wanted to say more but was thinking it through and not sure which point she wanted to emphasize. Should we talk about how we met? What we’d been through together? Or what we hoped would become of our lives?

“Let me show you around.” I motioned for her to walk beside me. Jess followed even farther back as we strolled around one of the walking paths of my new estate.

We came to a patio cut into the side of a hill with a trestle overgrown with vines. A valley stretched out before us, and beyond that were all the lights of Maglan City as the sun set. Beyond the sprawling coastal city was the bay. I could see oceangoing ships coming into port not far from where void ships descended from the atmosphere and landed, their safety lights blinking, and service crews rolling out across the runways to service them. Everywhere there was technology and vitality. This place was everything we had been promised it would be. The locals had been glad to see their guardian go and only a bit sad the Mother had left to rejoin her people.

“Don't you want an apartment in the city a bit closer to the action?” Elise asked. “Your sister tells me the downtown area has great restaurants, live music, and the best shopping she’s ever seen. Her political career seems to be off to an impressive start.”

I’d visited my sister in the city and my mother in her new manor house down the road from where Elise and I now stood. The only thing that worried me was that Bug and some of his friends had attached themselves to my mother’s new estate. They would undoubtedly harass me constantly and take advantage of my mother’s protection—when she wasn’t masterminding their shenanigans. For all her formality, she could be a real practical joker.

“Tobacco farms don't run themselves,” I said, then opened and closed my cybernetic fist that had been bothering me since I made the decision to settle down. “I was made for this. Getting up late, working for a few hours until I have a big lunch, and then sipping wine as I examine my crops. I’ll be fat the next time you see me.”

Thoughts of President Coronas, Rejon, Locke and all the others threatened to intrude on the moment. Most of all, I thought of Tatiana. We were better than we’d ever been, but she’d refused to live with me on the farm. It had been a playful refusal. I was still trying to figure out what that meant.

“I didn't think you were the wine drinking type,” Elise said.

“Tom’s been researching whiskey distilleries. So far, what we found has been mediocre. The winery was already established. After all we’ve been through, I don't think mediocre is good enough. About twice a month he brings samples and we sit out here and compare which is best.” I crossed my arms then rolled my neck to relieve a kink that had grown there throughout the day.

Elise faced me. “I know you're retired. That doesn't mean you couldn't train people. It's a shame to waste all of that hard-won knowledge.”

I laughed and she joined me. Neither of us needed to explain why this was funny. She was right, but so was I. The thought of me mentoring impressionable young minds was ridiculous—even if I knew how to keep them from making the mistakes I had made over the years. A cool breeze wafted over us. I motioned for Sergeant Jess to join us, then opened and unlocked the cupboard to produce a bottle of wine and three glasses.

“Thanks, but I'm on duty, Mr. Cain,” Jess said.

“I insist.”

She smiled tightly, shaking her head. “I must refuse. I’m sure it is very good wine, sir.”

“You sure? It will be off your breath by the time you return to your quarters.”

“Thank you, but no, sir.”

I winked at Elise. “You see? I can’t corrupt anyone anymore. Lost my touch, apparently.”

Elise smiled at that but looked at the ground. Emotion tugged at her expression. “We are being deployed to an exploration squadron. Interim Prime Minister Coronas believes we should know our neighbors and be on good terms with them.”

“In that case, it’s good they didn’t send me,” I said. Clamping my normal hand on her shoulder, I smiled when she looked up. “You’ll do great, kid.”

“Not a kid.”

A cool breeze and a birdsong passed over us. I stepped back. “Don’t forget to send me a holo vid once in a while.”

“You’ll get bored,” she warned.

I smiled, looking at the face of the woman I had protected for so long, and who had in turn protected me. “Probably.”

* * *

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CAIN returns in SOUL OF THE REAPER, available now on Amazon.

IMPORTANT TERMS AND CHARACTERS

Acronyms

- AI—Artificial intelligence

- AWOL—Absent without leave

- BMSP—Bluesphere Maximum Security Prison—Ultramax IX

- CD—Climbdown Day

- CIM—Computerized Inmate Monitor

- CV—Curriculum Vitae

- DM—Dreadmax Marines (inmates on Dreadmax, often falsely imprisoned, who have prior military experience and protect people from gangs and cannibals)

- HDK—Highly Destructive Kinetic (weapon / rifle)

- HDK 4—Shortened (11-inch barrel—from the trigger assembly) HDK commonly used by spec ops and law enforcement

- HDK 4 Dominator—Full length (16-inch barrel—from the trigger assembly) HDK with double high capacity magazines and a grenade launcher under the barrel)

- HUD—Heads up display

- LAI—Limited Artificial Intelligence

- LED—Light Emitting Diode

- LZ—Landing Zone

- MRE—Meals Ready to Eat

- NG—Nightfall Gangsters

- OFAT—Ocean Floor Access Tower

- QRF—Quick Reaction Force

- RC—Reaper Corps

- RSG—Red Skull Gangsters

- SD Regulator—Slip Drive Regulator

- UFS—Union Fleet Ship

- UPG—Union Prison Guard

- X-37—Halek Cain's Reaper AI (limited)

- YOHP—Yansden Ocean Harvesting Platform

- YT—Galdiz 49 rifle, sniper model. (YT is a randomly generated model number)

* * *

Characters in Bastion of the Reaper

Acrondis

Emperor of the Alon.

Briggs

Former Union special operations commander, now a genetically modified monster called a Slayer. His human and Sansein DNA are constantly struggling for dominance, causing radical changes to his physique and mental abilities.

Cain

Halek Cain, the last Reaper.

Cain, Hannah

Hanna Cain, Halek Cain’s sister.

Cain, Olivia Anna

Olivia Anna Cain, Halek Cain’s mother.

Coranth

Sansein warrior.

Eggleton

Sergeant Davy Eggleton, a sniper observer for one of CSL Locke’s special teams. JWO Hamm’s partner.

Elise

Elise Hastings, protege of the last Reaper.

Envoy

Sansein leader and liaison to humanity.

Hamm

Junior Warrant Officer (JWO) Roger Hamm, a sniper for one of CSL Locke’s special teams.

Hutton

Admiral of the Wallach-Xad exodus fleet.

Henshaw

James Henshaw, ocular engineer and owner of the Lady Faith. An accomplished gambler who sometimes cheated with a simple LAI but who lost his LAI during Hunt of the Reaper while attempting to acquire the Black Phoenix device.

Isaac Meldon

Isaac Meldon of Yansden, leader of Yansden. Similar to a president in authority but with virtually no influence on their primary military force, the Kalon Regulars.

Jelly

AI of the Jellybird.

Jess

Alon First Sergeant Kiliana Jess

Novasdaughter

Captain Amii Novasdaughter, acting vice admiral of the Wallach-Xad defensive fleet and captain of the Nightmare.

Locke

Chief Squad Leader (CSL) of Wallach.

Loren

Commander Loren Jacem, leader of the Kalon Regulars—the most professional fighting force on Yansden.

Marcus

Captain Marcus Kellerman, Yasden

Oberland

Admiral Braxton Oberland of the 1344th Alon Grand Fleet.

Path

Grigori Path, a sword saint and weapons master who joined Cain’s crew after Roxo II

Pennington

Carl Pennington, supervisor of YOHP lower level

Rejon of Xad

Leader of the people of Xad.

Sarah

Junior supervisor in the YOHP lower level

Tatiana

Granddaughter of Melina, leader of the largest compound in Yansden City.

Tobias

Commander Peter Tobias of the 1237th Alon Grand Fleet.

Tom

Self-taught engineer and friend of the last Reaper.

* * *

Ships

RWS = Republic of Wallach Ship

AES Ever Victorious

Alon Empire Ship Ever Victorious. Flagship of all Alon fleets.

Bright Lance of Xad

- Flagship of the Xad fleet

- Captured from the Union in Flight of the Reaper, TLR 5

- Captain: Cynthia Thomas Younger

- Executive Officer: Commander Bernard Gile

- AI: Mavis

RWS Coronas 1

- Personal ship of President Amanda Coronas. Up-armored. State of the art escape pod.

Hunter of Xad

- With Jellybird scouting new system after Macabre

- Captain: Omon

Jellybird

- Halek Cain’s ship

- AI: Jelly

Lady Faith

- James Henshaw’s ship

- AI: Lady

RWS Battle Axe

- With Jellybird scouting new system after Macabre

- Captain: Don Hunger

RWS Jumping Fox

- Captain: Jaime Peterson

RWS Nightmare

- Captain: Amii Novasdaughter (acting Vice Admiral)

- AI: Necron

RWS Spirit of Wallach

- Flagship of the Republic of Wallach fleet

- Captain: Quincy Drysdale

- Ship the President of Wallach, Amanda Coronas, travels on. (She does not command the ship.)

- Ship that carries General Karn’s main army

Striker of Xad

- Captain Yolanda Dempsy

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RENEGADE STAR UNIVERSE

CLICK THE TITLES BELOW TO FIND THEM ONLINE

The Renegade Star Series

They say the Earth is just a myth. Something to tell your children when you put them to sleep, the lost homeworld of humanity. Everyone knows it isn't real, though. It can't be.

But when Captain Jace Hughes encounters a nun with a mysterious piece of cargo and a bold secret, he soon discovers that everything he thought he knew about Earth is wrong. So very, very wrong.

Climb aboard The Renegade Star and assemble a crew, follow the clues, uncover the truth, and most importantly, try to stay alive.

The Last Reaper Series

When a high value scientist is taken hostage inside the galaxy's most dangerous prison, Halek Cain is the only man for the job.

The last remaining survivor of the Reaper program, Hal is an unstoppable force of fuel and madness. A veteran amputee-turned-cyborg, he has a history of violence and a talent for killing that is unmatched by any soldier.

With the promise of freedom as his only incentive, he’ll stop at nothing to earn back his life from the people who made him, imprisoned him, and were too afraid to let him die.

The Orion Colony Series

Humanity’s Exodus is about to begin.

When half of mankind revolts and demands more opportunity, those at the top decide on a compromise: they will build the first colony ships and allow those who are willing to discover new worlds to leave and start over.

Twelve ships are built, the first of which is called Orion. Many are eager to go, but only one hundred thousand are chosen for each vessel. Far from Earth, a new life awaits, and it promises the prosperity they’ve always wanted.

But still, resistance stirs, eager to sabotage this new expansion effort, threatening the promise of a new life. As Orion moves through the void of space, towards a distant world, its passengers must fight for survival in an unprecedented conflict.

Win or lose, their future will be forever changed.

The Fifth Column Series

After a soldier is left for dead, Eva Delgado's life begins to unravel.

The truth of what happened remains a mystery, and the government will stop at nothing to keep it buried.

Together with the unit's medic, Eva finds herself branded a terrorist and enemy of the State, hunted by two opposing governments.

When the pair uncover a plot that could have ramifications for the whole galaxy, they know they have to act, but it will take all of their training, cunning and just a bit of luck to do what no one else has achieved.

But what do you do when every secret begets another? And how far will you go to find the truth?

Nameless (Abigail’s Story)

Abigail and Clementine were just a couple of orphans looking for a home.

But when the two girls witness something terrible, they have no choice but to leave their orphanage and go into hiding. The only person willing to take them in is a man named Mulberry, but his home isn't the safest place for two innocent children.

Abigail and Clementine quickly discover that their new caretaker is the head of a guild of assassins, and the two are thrown into a whole new world of danger. To survive, they'll need to adapt, focus, and learn how to survive in a world of killers.

The Constable (Alphonse’s Story)

My name is Alphonse Malloy, and I see everything.

From a simple glance, I know your hobbies, what you ate for breakfast, how well you slept, and whether or not your wife is secretly seeing the high school biology teacher when you're not around.

I can't explain how or why I get these feelings, only that I know they're true.

All the little secrets you're too afraid to tell.

Sometimes, that means helping people. Other times, it means staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.

I wish I could tell you I was using this ability for good.

I wish I could tell you a lot of things.

* * *

The Constable Returns

Alphonse Malloy may just be the smartest man alive.

A year has passed since Alphonse joined the Constables, but his work is only just beginning. In order to graduate and achieve full Constable status, Alphonse will need to complete one final mission.

When new information about an old enemy arises, Al and his mentor Dorian must head deep into the Deadlands in search of answers.

But in a galaxy of secrets, the truth is often more elusive than it seems.

As the search continues, Alphonse's talents will be pushed to their absolute limit, and he'll need everything he's learned to make it out of this one alive.

Warrior Queen (Lucia’s Story)

On a lost world, far removed from Earth, a group of humans struggle to survive.

Two thousand years after their ancestors lost control of a hidden genetics research facility, the descendants of mankind have been reduced to a tribe of two hundred survivors. They fight, kill, and die in an endless cycle, all in the hope that things will get better.

Lucia is one of these colonists and the daughter of the tribe's leader, the Director. Together with several other candidates, she must soon undergo a trial to decide her father's replacement. The winner will shape the future of the entire colony.

But the trial is dangerous, meant to test each candidate's wits and strengths to see who is truly worthy. To claim victory, Lucia will need to venture out into the tunnels near the city to search for lost artifacts known as Cores--small but powerful devices capable of harnessing endless energy.

But there are monsters here, waiting in the dark, and they are always hungry. Beware the Boneclaw, Lucia's father use to tell her, for it lives only to kill and to feed.

Lucia must do whatever it takes, learn as much as she can, and fight with every ounce of strength if she hopes to make it through the day.

Forget winning the trial. The real challenge is staying alive.

Resonant Son Series

30 floors of nightmare fueled action. An ex-cop with nothing left to lose.

After losing his job and family, Flint Reed finds himself in the middle of a terrorist attack. With nothing but his wits and experience as a former Union police officer, he must do everything he can to stay alive.

As he soon discovers, however, there are also hostages, and no one is coming to save them.

All hope falls to Flint.

But as he fights to navigate the building, the real answers begin to unravel. What are the terrorists really after, and why are they so intent on getting into the vault?

Experience the beginning of the Resonant Son series. If you're a fan of Die Hard, Renegade Star, or the Last Reaper, you'll love this epic scifi thrill ride.

Galactic Law Series

Lethal force is authorized.

In the wild space of the Deadlands, Taurus Station is where miners and tourists come to play, and the ravager gangs follow close behind. Out here, far from the civilized world, the Law has a name.

Gage Walker is the son of hard-nosed asteroid miners. Brash, rough, and crude, he's one of the few deputies working the station.

Still a rookie, Walker is tasked with the security of a mining magnate's daughter, an easy job that quickly takes a turn for the worst.

The ravager gangs want her, and it falls to Walker to find out why.

In a chase across Taurus Station, Deputy Walker must prove he's fit to wear the badge and issue his own form of justice...one body at a time.

Deadland Drifter Series

When a dental appointment goes sideways, former Union Operative Jack Burner wakes to find himself drugged, and imprisoned.

And he's given a choice: assassinate an Admiral... or allow himself to be killed.

With no other option, Jack reluctantly accepts the mission, only to find himself being trailed by a mysterious blonde woman... and she may or may not want him dead.

As if dealing with a terrorist group wasn't enough.

With the fate of the Admiral and thousands of lives on hanging in the balance, Jack stands in the middle of an event that could ignite a war on the edge of the Deadlands and Union Space.

Despite his exceptional abilities, training, and tenancy, even Jack has little to no chance of preventing this particular powder keg from exploding.

He's going to need a miracle.

The Renegade Series

Jace Hughes is a Renegade.

That means taking jobs and not asking questions, whether that involves smuggling, transporting runnaways, or performing other, far less wholesome work. Whatever the situation, Jace is willing to do what it takes to achieve his dream and live the life he’s always wanted.

That is, until he comes face to face with an item of unprecedented value—something that could give him everything he needs to pay off his debt and be free.

The only problem is that selling it would also shift the balance of power between the two largest empires in the galaxy.

And spark another intergalactic war.

Unfortunately for Jace, he won’t have long to decide. Renegades, assassins, and government cronies are after the item, too, and unlike Jace, they won’t hesitate to kill.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

J. N. Chaney is a USA Today Bestselling author and has a Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. He fancies himself quite the Super Mario Bros. fan. When he isn’t writing or gaming, you can find him online at www.jnchaney.com.

He migrates often, but was last seen in Las Vegas, NV. Any sightings should be reported, as they are rare.

* * *

Scott Moon has been writing fantasy, science fiction, and urban fantasy since he was a kid. When not reading, writing, or spending time with his awesome family, he enjoys playing the guitar or learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He loves dogs and plans to have a ranch full of them when he makes it big. One will be a Rottweiler named Frodo. He is also a co-host of the popular Keystroke Medium show. You can find him online at http://www.scottmoonwriter.com