Warden: A Novel

by Gregg Vann

  The Collective troops weren’t nearly as surprised as Barent had hoped—they were probably on high alert, fearing the locals might try something—and some of them made it behind cover to return fire in earnest. But unlike Tana and Barent, the Collective weren’t picky about their aim. They were firing indiscriminately with beam weapons, and striking innocent people as they ran out of the market, trying to escape the fight.

  Before the soldiers dove behind a big sheet of metal, serving as a skirt for one of the stalls, Barent counted ten of them total. He’d taken out three in the initial assault, and Tana had killed another two, but the remaining five were leaning out from cover to lay waste to everything in front of them—completely unconcerned as their powerful plasma beams cut thick swaths of destruction through the surrounding camp.

  If his plasma rifle held a charge Barent could have just burned through the metal scrap and put an end to this in short order. But it was dead, and his bullets were bouncing off the thick panel like harmless rain. He ducked away from the enemy fire and quickly surveyed the area again, trying to devise a better plan of attack. But when he spun back around to check on Tana she was gone.

  Where the hell is she? Barent asked himself. Surely she didn’t run away. I couldn’t have misjudged her that badly.

  But then Barent saw a ruffle in the canvass shelter behind the Collective troops, and he watched as Tana stepped out, slicing the throats of two soldiers before they realized she was there. As they fell to the ground, one of the dying men grabbed at her legs in a last desperate act, and Tana went down as well.

  The others spun toward her and began to fire, but as they jumped up in panic they presented a clear target. Barent took them down in seconds. Two he killed outright—without thought or hesitation—and then Barent fired off a precise double-tap at the last soldier.

  The first bullet knocked the rifle from the man’s hands, while the second punched through his stomach, exiting out of his lower back. Barent knew he’d be out of the fight and rendered harmless, yet still live long enough to speak with the other Collective troops, undoubtedly already on the way.

  And that’s exactly what he wanted.

  Barent holstered both pistols as he walked over to check on Tana.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, extending a hand to help her stand up.

  “I’m fine. They were lousy shots.”

  Tana raised her pistol to kill the lone survivor but Barent pushed her hand back down.

  “No,” he said simply. Then Barent knelt down and pulled the soldier up by his collar.

  “How did you track me here?” he asked.

  “Fuck you.”

  “Tough guy, eh?”

  Barent grabbed a round metal bar off the ground and held it up to the man’s face. Its pitted surface was rusty, and the bar had jagged burs running down its full length. It was also glistening with bodily fluids that Barent didn’t want to speculate about…and it stank.

  “What do you think would happen if I shoved this thing through that hole in your stomach?” he asked the soldier. “If lice got through the Le’sant’s bio-filters, god knows what kind of bacteria made it to this planet. I bet there are things on here the doctors haven’t even seen before.”

  “You wouldn’t…” the man said nervously.

  “I would,” Barent countered. “And after what you’ve done to these people today, I wouldn’t even think twice about it.”

  “Your DNA,” the man gasped. “They gave us a sample of your DNA.” He feebly pointed over at a device sticking out from underneath one of his dead comrades and Tana pulled it free.

  “Shit,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ve seen one of these before. It’s not fast or easy, but they can use these DNA scanners to track you down anywhere in the city.”

  “Then it’s a good thing we’re leaving it,” Barent said.

  “Leave the city? You’re mad.”

  Tana thought of the barren wasteland out beyond Le’sant’s walls, where no one sane dared to go. And why would they? There was nothing out there. The city sat in the middle of a deep crater surrounded by a frozen, lifeless world—eager to kill anyone stupid enough to venture out into it.

  “We wouldn’t last a day out there,” she protested.

  “And we won’t last an hour in here,” Barent pointed out.

  “But—”

  Barent pushed his hood back so Tana could see his face. “It’s your turn to trust me,” he said. “And it’s better to die out there, free, than to remain behind and let the Collective take us. Besides, something tells me their treatment would be even less hospitable than what lies beyond the city walls.”

  Barent let go of the soldier and dropped the metal bar into the bloody slush surrounding him.

  “You have to take my testament for the Vade,” the man begged. “You can’t leave me alone to die! It’s the law!”

  “You’re not going to die,” Barent told him.

  “But…how do you know?”

  “Because I know where I shot you.”

  Barent heard voices yelling loudly in the distance—barking commands. More Collective soldiers were coming. He got back up and found himself surrounded by a crowd of downtrodden. They were looking down at the dead squad, but gazing even more intently at Barent.

  Some of the soldier’s blood had ended up on Barent’s face, making his pure white skin even more obvious, but it was his size and the twin pistols strapped across his chest that truly gave his identity away. The downtrodden studied Barent’s features—comparing them to likenesses they’d seen their entire lives. And then a slow murmur began to flow through the crowd. Soon, those whispers grew loud enough to hear.

  “It’s the Great Betrayer.”

  “It can’t be. It’s been five hundred years. How could he still be alive? Yet…his skin.”

  “He’s come back, I tell you. Look at his face. Look. It’s really him!”

  Barent pulled his hood back over his face and leaned down to speak in Tana’s ear. “We need to leave,” he said calmly. “And we’d better do it now.”

  The crowd parted to let them through and they ran to the nearby gate leading out of the city—the commotion behind them growing louder as more of the downtrodden arrived to see what was going on. Barent threw the solid metal doors open and a frigid gust of air hit them in the face, and then Tana followed him out onto the icy surface of the planet. They heard the loud yells in their wake plainly over the sound of snow crunching beneath their feet, and even the howl from the growing wind couldn’t hide the outbursts.

  “It was Sergeant Barent! Did you see?”

  “The Great Betrayer is alive!”

  “He’s come back to save us!”

  Tana pulled her cloak around herself tightly as they moved out further from the city wall, but despite her efforts to stay warm, the icy wind cut right through her clothing. Ahead of them she saw nothing but ice and snow, and behind was an entire army that wanted them dead.

  But despite her predicament, Tana smiled.

  She knew the word was out now, and there was no way to stop it from spreading—no matter how hard the Collective tried. Soon, all of Le’sant would know the secret that only she’d held up until this very moment…a secret that would change everything.

  The Great Betrayer had returned.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The Frozen Planet

  It was a bitter and biting cold.

  Not the ever-present chill Tana was accustomed to in the Common Ring, or even the frigid, icy air of the Outland slums. This was something much, much worse. And Tana didn’t think she could hold out much longer.

  It had been more than two hours since they’d fled Le’sant, and there was no longer any trace of the city left behind them—nor had there been any signs of pursuit by the military. The snow flurries filling the sky occasionally parted long enough for Tana to see the towering outline of the crater wall—dozens of kilometers out ahead of them—but when she looked back at the route they’d alread
y travelled there was nothing but white. White ground. White sky. White nothingness.

  What the hell was Barent thinking? Tana wondered. We are going to die out here, just as surely as if we’d stayed behind to face the Collective troops.

  He hadn’t said a word to her as they shuffled through the thickening snow. Barent just kept relentlessly pushing forward, moving through the wind and sleet like a man driven. But driven by or toward what, Tana had no idea. She just hoped that he did.

  Tana’s foot hit an ice-covered rock and she went down, landing flat on her back. She tried to lean forward and force herself up again but was far too weak. Tana was exhausted, and the fresh snow was pulling her down into a permanent and lethal embrace. It was like some desperate lover, refusing to let go, and Tana knew that she had neither the will nor the energy to escape it.

  Several moments passed before Barent noticed she’d fallen behind, and he had almost disappeared into the misty white haze completely when he turned back and spotted her on the ground.

  Barent ran to Tana’s side and knelt down.

  “What happened?” he asked her, yelling above the sound of the wind.

  “I fell on something, but I’m fine. I just can’t seem to get up.”

  Barent leaned in closer and pushed a hand down one of her pant legs.

  “Hey!” Tana yelped.

  “Relax, thief. Your legs are freezing.”

  “Yeah. Unfortunately, I don’t have your resistance to the cold.”

  “No, you don’t. You should have said something.”

  “Probably. But it seemed like your mind was elsewhere.”

  Barent began removing his padded armor—taking the jacket off first, and then pushing Tana’s arms through it. He fastened it around her snuggly and flipped up the collar. Then Barent removed his boots and slid his armored leggings off, leaving him in just a regular pair of pants and a short-sleeve shirt. He pulled his boots back on and re-slung his pistol holster, and then Barent drew his cloak over his shoulders before opening the strap and tossing the plasma rifle across his back again.

  He knelt down to pull Tana’s shoes off, but when Barent saw how small her feet were he realized he could just slip his pants right over top of them. He pulled the waist up high underneath the jacket, so her torso was doubly insulated, and then Barent yanked the cuff straps tight at Tana’s ankles. He rubbed both of her legs vigorously to try to warm them.

  “Thank you,” Tana said appreciatively.

  “I should have been paying better attention to how you were doing. I’m sorry.”

  “What are we going to do, Barent? We can’t survive out here.”

  “No, we can’t.”

  He grabbed Tana’s arms and helped her stand up, and then Barent held her against his side for support. He wiped the snow off her face and pointed out ahead of them.

  “Do you see that rounded prominence sticking up from the ground? It’s just off to the left.”

  Tana squinted as more snow flew into her eyes, focusing her attention on the area Barent indicated. After a moment, she spotted a shadowy outline on the horizon.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “It was one of our more distant outposts during the Pardon War.”

  “That was five hundred years ago, Barent. How can you be certain it’s still there?”

  “The entrance is set far back between the rocks. If you didn’t already know it was there, you would never know it was there. But you’re right, I can’t be sure it still exists after all this time.”

  “We don’t have much of a choice though, do we?” Tana said.

  “Not really. But if it is still intact, it would be a perfect place to hole up and figure out what to do next.”

  “How much longer until we reach it?”

  “Maybe two more hours, if we can keep up the pace.”

  “You will freeze to death in what you’re wearing, Barent. And to be honest, I don’t think I can make it. Actually…if I’m really being honest, I can’t make it.”

  Barent smiled confidently and threw one of Tana’s arms over his neck. “Don’t worry about me. And I’ll drag you there if I have to. We’ll make it.”

  Tana was too tired to argue and too frozen to resist, so she remained silent as Barent plowed ahead through the snow. She tried to lift her legs when she found the strength—doing everything she could to help him out and be less of a burden. But it was no use; Tana had nothing left. Her life was in Barent’s hands now, and this whole situation was well beyond her control. And if there was one thing Tana was loath to give away—to anyone—it was control of her own fate. As her eyes slid closed for the last time, Tana tried counting the footsteps as Barent pushed them onward.

  She got to fifteen before she lost consciousness altogether.

  * * *

  Tana Neng woke up in a nice warm bed, and it was all of thirty seconds before she realized that she was completely naked.

  “What the—!”

  She sat up sharply and surveyed her surroundings, finding Barent seated at a small field-desk in one corner of the squarish room. They were in a decent-sized cave hewn out of solid rock, and the wide-open space was mostly empty—except for the bed Tana was sitting on, Barent’s desk, and a large pile of metal containers haphazardly pushed off to one side. The lid had been knocked off one of them and was lying on the ground next to it, and Tana could see weapons inside.

  She noticed two wide lighting strips running across the ceiling, but they were ancient and barely worked. The majority of light was coming from a chem-log fireplace set into the wall across from her. Tana saw her clothing and Barent’s armor hanging on a makeshift clothesline in front of it.

  “How do you feel,” Barent asked, not looking up from the desk.

  “I’d feel a lot better if I had clothes on.”

  “They’re still pretty soaked. You might want to give them a few more hours to dry.”

  “You took my clothes off,” Tana stated simply.

  “I did. I thought you would prefer that to hyperthermia.” Then Barent looked up and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ve seen a naked woman before.”

  “I’m sure,” she replied. “But you haven’t seen this naked woman before.”

  Barent looked back down and continued reading. “No, I haven’t. Nice tattoos, though.”

  “Hey!”

  Tana hopped off the bed and wrapped the sheet around herself, and then she walked over to the desk, noting the coldness of the stone beneath her bare feet.

  “What are you looking at?” she asked.

  “Your book. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Why should I? Besides, you already know the words…you said them.”

  Barent leaned back in his chair. “It’s hard to believe that someone actually wrote down all of my speeches—gathered up everything I’d ever written, and then took the time to compile and categorize everything into a book.”

  Tana sat down on the desk. “Why are you so surprised? You had to know that you were doing something special at the time.”

  “Not really,” he responded. “We were doing what needed to be done. What was right. Our focus was on survival, not posterity.”

  “But your words still inspired people.”

  Barent looked up from the desk and straight into Tana’s eyes. “What good did that do? My words have been around for half a millennium, and what good have they really done? From what you’ve told me Le’sant is an unjust mess—run by an oligarchy pretending to be a democracy. There’s no equality whatsoever, and children go hungry in the streets.” The anger in Barent’s voice subsided and he sighed. “The prisoners ended up being no better than their jailers.”

  Tana looked off to the side, absorbing his words, and then Barent pushed the book away and leaned forward, clasping his hands together on the desk. “The Pardon War was a failure, Tana. And it didn’t achieve anything that I’d hoped. You all must have been pretty desperate to make me a hero.”

  “Then why didn’t you jus
t surrender back in the city?” Tana snapped. “Why not just give yourself up if it’s so damn hopeless?” She gestured around the room. “Why are we even here?”

  “We are here to devise a plan to make things right…to do better this time. I’m not sure how yet, but I am going to fix this. And besides, leaving the city takes pressure off of everyone else right now. Once the Collective confirms that I’m gone with their DNA scanners they’ll leave the people alone. Hell, if we’re really lucky, they might even think we’re dead.”

  “That’s not that big a stretch,” Tana said.

  Barent grinned. “I’ve been in situations a lot worse than this.”

  Tana returned his look with a grin of her own. “So have I. You heard the downtrodden as we were leaving the city, Barent. Did you hear the hope in their voices?”

  “I did.”

  “And?”

  “And what? Certainly you don’t think I can build an army out of those poor souls?”

  “Of course not. But you have to start somewhere. And they wouldn’t be the only ones to rally around the Great Betrayer, you have the Wardens as well.”

  “Yes,” Barent replied. “I do have the Wardens. I need to think this all through…”

  Barent’s voiced trailed off as he became lost in his thoughts, so Tana hopped off the desk and went over to check on her clothing—soaking in the heat from the fire as she drew closer to it. Tana couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so warm.

  “By the way,” Barent called out from behind her. “I liked the dagger the best.”

  Tana spun back around. “What dagger?”

  “You know, the one you have tattooed underneath your—”

  “Don’t make me use a real one on you, Barent,” she threatened, and then Tana turned back toward the fire.

  Neither one of them knew it.

  But they were both smiling.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Discovery

  Sergeant Barent sat up in the bed and rubbed his eyes. A rush of confusion overwhelmed him as he struggled to remember where he was…when he was. And then it all came flooding back to him, and it was a testament to Barent’s resilience that this new reality hadn’t driven him mad.