by Weston Ochse
Charlene placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You’ll gain understanding when this is over, Boy Scout. You’re part of the greater picture. You always have been. It’s why men and women are drawn to you. There are those of us who are major players in the ultimate game. You are one of them.”
“What are we playing for?” he asked hollowly, still trying to come to terms with the idea that the world might end if he wasn’t able to find a way to get the yazata out of his head.
“What is it you always play for, Boy Scout?” Charlene asked, her voice soft. “You want the world to be a better place. You want children not to be abused. You want their mothers not to be killed. You want those who would do people harm to be removed from the game board. All of these things are good and necessary. More importantly, you want the world to continue.”
He stroked the side of McQueen’s head.
“He was playing for those same things,” he said, his voice pleading for understanding. “McQueen was playing for them too. He always was.”
“No,” she said tenderly. “He was playing for you. He would have done anything you’d asked, trusting that you knew what was going on.”
“She’s right, boss,” McQueen said with barely a whisper. “I would have.”
Hearing McQueen speak brought a surge of hope to Boy Scout. He looked down at his friend’s face. “Hey, you’re back. How are you, my friend?”
His breathing hitched twice. He grimaced. “Just a quick visit, I think.”
“Do you want me to tell you a story?” Boy Scout asked, trying to keep McQueen awake. Awake, he had a better chance to live.
“I’m all storied out, I think.” McQueen drew in a shaky breath and locked eyes with Boy Scout. “Pocket. Get it out.”
Boy Scout felt first one of McQueen’s pants pockets, then the other. He felt a lump and pulled it out. It was an old Crown Royal bag, deep blue felt with gold writing. Boy Scout looked inside and saw three sets of dog tags, jumbled and twisted together.
“I kept them for you,” McQueen said.
Boy Scout saw one of the names and a lump formed in his throat. He didn’t need to see the others to know what they were. Narco. Bully. Criminal.
“Do me a favor,” McQueen began, then exhaled a final time, his life rattling slowly out.
“What kind of favor?” Boy Scout shook McQueen lightly. “What kind of favor?” Then he shifted to his knees and brought McQueen around so he could gaze into the man’s face—slack-jawed, eyes open and staring forever. “What kind of favor?” His voice rose. “McQueen, don’t you die on me. Don’t you die!”
But there was nothing there. McQueen’s eyes were blank and empty.
Boy Scout sagged to the floor and held his best friend. He fought back tears, seeking anger instead. Anger at the dervishes. Anger at the daeva and the yazata. Anger at Billy Picket for laughing. Anger at every man or woman who’d ever made fun of McQueen. Anger at the universe. Anger at God. Anger at himself for leading his friend to his ultimate demise. Anger at Rumi for wanting to end the world.
Preacher’s Daughter quickly unbuckled herself and threw herself down next to him. She put her arms around both of them. Her shoulders shook with her sobs. She held on until Noaks spoke through his headset.
“We have company,” he said.
She climbed back into her seat. “What is it?”
“Twelve things in the sky west of us. Burning. Coming straight for us.”
“Can we outrun them?” Poe asked.
“I’m trying, but I don’t think so,” Noaks said, his voice tight.
“What should we do?” Poe asked Boy Scout.
Boy Scout didn’t answer.
Poe shook his shoulder. “Come on, what should we do?”
Boy Scout shrugged off Poe’s hand and glared at everyone in the cabin. “Let them kill us all.”
Acknowledgements
THE FIRST BOOK of the duology was Burning Sky. It was about man’s inability to overcome nature—how the inexhaustible qualities of nature far outstrip the abilities of any man or woman, even a team of men and women, to accomplish that which they must. No one left the end of Burning Sky without a wound. Boy Scout had the most, carrying not only the memories of his dead team mates and everything he’d done, but also the memories of the travelers within him. Dead Sky is about self or loss of it. How do we define who we are? Do we define ourselves by what happens to us? Sister Renee certainly tried to escape her past and rewrite her future. Are we who we associate with? McQueen’s identity was inextricably linked to Boy Scout. Boy Scout made him who he was. Only Preacher’s Daughter was herself regardless of the circumstances. The men didn’t know it, but she was their rock. I hope to see her again someday, maybe even in a Special Unit 77 project.
I WOULD LIKE to thank William H. Halloran for introducing me to astral travel all the way back in 1979 with his spectacularly frightening book, Keeper of the Children. Not only did it inspire the events of this book, but also my first book, Scarecrow Gods, which won the Bram Stoker Award for First Novel. Thanks also to my first reader, editor and wife, fellow author Yvonne Navarro. Thanks to my agent, Cherry Weiner, and the good folks at Solaris, Michael Rowley, David Thomas Moore, Kate Coe, Paul Simpson, Remy Njambi, Ben Smith and the rest of the team at Rebellion. Also a shout out to acquisitions editor, Jon Oliver, who has moved on to more lucrative fortunes.
FINALLY, I WOULD like to thank all of the men and women who have spent all or part of the last eighteen years fighting in Afghanistan. It’s a hell of a place, isn’t it? I hope to God you never have to go back again. Or to any other combat hell hole, for that matter. You are a wretched blessed bunch.
About the Author
WESTON OCHSE IS a former intelligence officer and special operations soldier who has engaged enemy combatants, terrorists, narco smugglers, and human traffickers. His personal war stories include performing humanitarian operations over Bangladesh, being deployed to Afghanistan, and a near miss being cannibalized in Papua New Guinea.
A WRITER OF more than 26 books in multiple genres, his military supernatural series, SEAL Team 666, has been optioned to be a movie starring Dwayne Johnson. His military sci-fi series, which starts with Grunt Life, has been praised for its PTSD-positive depiction of soldiers at peace and at war.
WESTON OCHSE’S FICTION and non-fiction has been praised by USA Today, The Atlantic, The New York Post, The Financial Times of London, and Publishers Weekly.
Other titles by this author
The Task Force Ombra Series
Grunt Life
Grunt Traitor
Grunt Hero
Seal Team 666 Series
Seal Team 666
Age of Blood
Reign of Evil
Border Dog
The Afterblight Chronicles
Blood Ocean
Tomes of the Dead
Empire of Salt
Multiplex Fandango
Halfway House
FUBAR
THE INVASION IS OVER. THEY ARE ALREADY AMONGST US.
Benjamin Carter Mason died last night. Maybe he threw himself off a bridge into Los Angeles Harbor, or maybe he burned to death in a house fire in San Pedro; it doesn’t really matter. Today, Mason’s starting a new life. He’s back in boot camp, training for the only war left that matters a damn.
For years, their spies have been coming to Earth, learning our weaknesses. Our governments knew, but they did nothing—the prospect was too awful, the costs too high—and now, the horrifying and utterly inhuman Cray are laying waste to our cities. The human race is a heartbeat away from extinction. That is, unless Mason, and the other men and women of Task Force OMBRA, can do anything about it.
This is a time for heroes. For killers. For Grunts.
‘Weston Ochse writes hard-nosed fiction with more grit and imagination than most authors could ever hope to muster. When he turns his skills to tales of the military, the words sing with the truth of personal experience.’
Christop
her Golden, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Snowblind
‘SEAL Team 666 is like X-Files and Torchwood written by Tom Clancy: ingenious, creepy, and entertaining.’
Kevin J. Anderson on Seal Team 666
www.solarisbooks.com
When Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for her unconventional tactics, Kel Command gives her a chance to redeem herself, by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles from the heretics. Cheris’s career isn’t the only thing at stake: if the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next.
Cheris’s best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress. The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own.
As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao–because she might be his next victim.
‘Starship Troopers meets Apocalypse Now – and they’ve put Kurtz in charge... An unmissable debut.’
Stephen Baxter
‘I love Yoon’s work! Full of battles and political intrigue, in a beautifully built far-future that manages to be human and alien at the same time.’
Ann Leckie
www.solarisbooks.com
LIFE AND DEATH ON THE WAVES
Kavika Kamalani is a Pali Boy, a post-plague heir to an ancient Hawai’ian warrior tradition that believes in overcoming death by embracing one’s fears and living large. His life on the Nomi No Toshi, the floating city, is turned upside down when one of his friends dies, harvested for his blood, and he sets out to find the killer.
Kidnapped himself and subjected to a terrifying transformation, Kavika must embrace the ultimate fear – death itself – if he, his loved ones, and the Pali Boys themselves are to survive.
“Weston is one of the best authors of our generation.”
– Brian Keene, author of Take the Long Way Home and City of the Dead
“Weston Ochse is a mercurial writer, one of those depressingly talented people who are good at whatever they turn their hand to.”
– Conrad Williams
www.abaddonbooks.com