“If that’s true, at least I know they aren’t ending as quickly as yours.” With that she took out her shocker, slammed it into his good eye, and tried not to gag at the sight of him writhing in pain while electricity surged into his body through his eye socket. When she pulled it away, there was no eyeball left, just smoke coming from the cauterized hole.
“Fucking disgusting,” Kale said.
“Makes me horny,” one of the other men joked, but went silent when Letha looked at him sharply. At that moment, Brink and his followers returned, shaking their heads.
“On that note, if you can hold your meal down, let’s eat and drink, take a shit if you need to, then move out. There might be more nearby, and we need to get to shelter.” She glanced up at the sky, where the sun was already high. “We’ve wasted too much time already.” She limped over to Brink. “Seen Trunk?”
Brink frowned and shook his head. “He went rogue?”
“No, I… I might have given him incentive to bring me Grinder’s head.”
“You helped him sign his own death warrant, you mean?” Brink sighed and checked over his shoulder. “Should we go after him?”
“He knows where we’ll be, and we need to stay together as we proceed.” She didn’t like the idea of leaving him out there on his own, but she needed to think of the group. “If he’s half the badass he thinks he is, he’ll find us, with or without her.”
“If you promised what I think you did, he’ll come back with her or not at all.”
She gulped, mind spinning images of Trunk, nude, waiting for her to fulfill her promise. “And what would that be?”
“The rank of general,” he replied with a disapproving look. “What else?”
“Ah, right. I am down one, after all.” She shot a meaningful look at Rodrigo to remind him to keep his mouth shut about her promise to Trunk, the one about the blow job. She was pretty sure nobody had taken that seriously. Letha had no idea how the hell she would be able to fit that thing in her mouth if she did try. Fuck, she hoped Trunk took it as a joke—but she wouldn’t go back on her promises. If he returned at all.
As they were talking, a ping sounded. Her screen went back up as her points and credits were processed—LEVEL TWENTY-FIVE!
“Congrats!” Kale said, clapping her on the shoulder. “That’s a milestone.”
“Hot damn,” Rodrigo commented, nodding admiringly. “If I could get to three before my anniversary, I’ll be happy.”
“Remind me to help you achieve that,” Letha said, with a wink. “We’ll get you some kills, don’t you worry.”
Rodrigo smiled nervously, and she wondered if there wasn’t more to him than he let on. The tall woman, Redwood, stood with Brink, and gave her a thumbs-up. Wow, corny as hell, that one.
“What’s that going to fetch you on Reckoning Day?” Brink asked. “Down on credits, but leveling up to twenty-five, that’s gotta be big.”
“Already got my mounts,” she said, with a grin first at Brink, then Kale. A pang of guilt hit her after making the joke. She’d only just lost Ghost, but that’s how this place was. Good warlords couldn’t rely on people staying alive too long. Lowering her voice, she added, “I’ve had my eye on a new set of comms devices that I think Aisha could use to hack into the viewer screens. Maybe… but it’s a gamble, so maybe not the best purchase? That, or elemental shards for my shield.”
“I’d go for the sure bet,” Kale advised. “Elemental shards can make the difference between surviving a flamethrower, lightning strike, or whatever other weapon the techs have dreamed up.”
She nodded, finding it hard to disagree. Making the right purchases was part of the struggle. It was always a gamble, always a life-or-death decision.
Already focused on the upgrades and excited to see how her team would get tricked out, she led them toward the closest allied group. While they were both in the same guild, that didn’t always mean anything. She was anxious to arrive and find out if it would in this case.
Letha was even more anxious to see if Trunk would return with that head. She had to admit that fighting without a crazy nude man who thought of himself as a Greek god just wouldn’t be the same.
8
Smugglers Can’t Be Trusted
Covert Shuttle to Planet Kill: Two Days Until Reckoning
Pierce led Dregg onto a stealth starship. Union built, but unmarked.
“This is a black ops ship, isn’t it?” Dregg said.
“I think you know what it is,” Pierce replied.
Dregg chortled. “This is getting better by the second.”
“Just enjoy your reward,” Pierce said. “I could get into a lot of trouble for what I’m about to do.”
“Trust me. I’m going to enjoy the hell out of this.”
“That’s the idea,” Pierce said. “Why don’t you make yourself comfortable? We’ve got some time to waste before we arrive.”
Inside, the ship was sleek, minimal, and highly compartmentalized. As Dregg took himself on a tour, he couldn’t get the hatches to open. He basically got to see a few corridors that all looked the same, and it was a small ship.
Finally, he came upon a room without a locked hatch. He stepped inside and found a viewer. From there, he could see outside the ship for the duration of the trip. It wasn’t all that exciting, but this was as good as it was going to get.
He watched the familiar sight of Earth shrinking into the distance as they accelerated out of the solar system. When that was too far away to be seen, he stared out at the inky blackness of the void. There was no need to go into stasis for the trip, despite the massive distance between Planet Kill and Earth, thanks to a discovery some time ago. The void between them didn’t obey the laws of physics in the same way as objects within a massive planetary system’s gravitational pull. The in-between, as Dregg liked to call it, was like an ooze-based liquid. Similar to how it’s hard to truly define where one drop of water separates from another in a vast ocean, the substance of the in-between was amorphous and fluid. The ship could reposition itself on the other side of the distance as quickly as it entered the void. It wasn’t quite like folding space, as most historical physicists had predicted, but it was close. Their means of travel was essentially a maneuver in tricking the ship into thinking it was part of the in-between, allowing them to transit in a matter of hours instead of years or even decades.
As quickly as that they were on the other side, rocketing out into a different planetary system. From this distance Planet Kill was serene. It looked like it would be more inviting than it actually was. Because of its closer proximity to the binary stars in this system, the temperature was a bit higher in certain spots and colder in others, and required humans to inject a temperature regulation agent into their bloodstream on a regular basis. Storms were a constant, and acid rain was common. The ozone layer was razor thin, making solar flares all the more dangerous. The worst part, however, was that the harsh environment had given rise to even harsher native plants and wildlife.
Dregg, bored with his self-imposed tour of the bland ship, returned to the cockpit and rejoined Pierce. “We’re there, aren’t we?”
“Almost,” Pierce said. “We still need to ingress in secret.”
“You have a backdoor onto the planet?”
“Not one that I’m sharing with you, but yes. It’s meant for emergencies, but it’ll serve us for our purpose.”
“I knew you’d come through.”
“Did you?” Pierce said. “When we met, you tried to stab me.”
“That was just a test. Don’t be so sour. Come on, you should have fun while you’re here too. Get your first kill in.” He tried to playfully punch the smaller man’s shoulder.
Pierce jerked away, slightly irritated. “I have a feeling I’ll get plenty of those later.”
“True,” Dregg said, as he nodded and took a seat. “So, how does the backdoor work?”
“I’ll be closing viewers for the final leg of our descent,” Pierce said.
“Unbelievable.”
“Can’t have civilians knowing about this, including you.”
“Well, I know it exists.”
“Sure, but that isn’t the secret. The entry point is.”
“Let’s get on with it then.”
“Don’t worry,” Pierce said. “You’ll be thrilled with the surprise I have in store for you and forget all about the backdoor.”
“You’d better hope so,” Dregg said, scowling at Pierce. “Or your little tourist trip won’t go the way you expect. I’ll make sure of it.”
Pierce swiped at the navigation panel, causing the viewers to turn black. Next, he put the ship on autopilot and entered an encrypted key. The ship jolted as it changed course.
“How’re we looking?” Pierce said, to the ship’s A.I.
“On course, sir,” it replied. “Window for possible detection opening in five seconds.”
“Wait,” Dregg said. “There’s a chance we could get caught?” He rose up and looked like he was about to thrash the cockpit.
“Relax,” the ship A.I. said. “I have it under control.”
Pierce smirked and chortled. “And they say A.I. have no personality.”
The ship jolted again. This time, it was followed by turbulence.
“Do I even wanna know?” Dregg said.
“No,” Pierce said. “You’d probably have a heart attack.”
“This is some fucked up shit.”
“Just let me do my part, and you’ll get what you came for.”
Dregg buckled in. “This better be worth it.”
“We’ve been over this,” Pierce said. “You get your money’s worth, or I don’t get the names of potential allies on Planet Kill. Think of your payment as a tip for services rendered and based entirely on your level of satisfaction.”
“Just the tip, huh,” Dregg said.
Pierce rolled his eyes. “Yeah, real original joke. Good one.”
“Ah,” Dregg said, as he waved a hand in dismissal. “You’re too young to get it.”
“Sure. That’s why it’s not funny. Anyway, hold on, the next bump is a doozy.”
Turbulence rocked the ship, smacking Dregg’s head back against his seat.
“What the fuck are we passing through,” he said, trying to speak louder than the rattling of the ship’s parts.
“A tsunami,” Pierce said.
Dregg scoffed. “You are joking?”
“No.”
“I hate you,” Dregg said, grasping tighter to the seat handles.
“Don’t care,” Pierce said, thrusting the ship into a higher speed. “Just another few seconds.”
A long beat, and they breached through to the other side of the storm. Clear of any of the planet’s radar detection systems, they coasted the rest of the way down in relative smoothness.
9
Aero
Planet Kill, Aero’s Camp: Two Days Until Reckoning
The closest encampment was that of a man known as Aero, due to his ability to move where he wanted without the winds of politics affecting him. He claimed he was in the guild with Letha because he trusted her, because he respected her relatively high morals.
If he liked her so much, she figured he would’ve come and joined her army by now. Maybe he would have sworn himself as one of her generals and given her his fighters. Besides, he wasn’t half bad to look at. Not as pretty as Kale, or rugged like Brink, and there was no way anyone could be as hung as Trunk, but yeah, she’d take Aero to bed with her if he swore his allegiance.
Night was already touching the horizon by the time they saw Aero’s man waving them down with a glowing green killstick. That’s what they’d taken to calling the odd batons that glowed like the gases in the sky. One hit would easily drain a fighter of their life. Killsticks were extremely rare weapons, but also stupid to use in combat. The fighter could accidentally hit themselves or have the weapon turned back on them.
“Name yourself,” the guard said, eyes brightly lit by the eerie green light.
“Letha,” Kale barked, and then introduced himself and General Brink.
“Ah,” the guard said, as his eyes glided over Letha with a smile. “Aero will be pleased.”
“We’re expecting one more to meet us here,” Letha said, hoping Trunk had made it.
The guard shook his head. “No one yet, though we had a skirmish with a few fighters we believe align themselves with Fireshot. They were roaming too far into our territory. They seemed to be looking for someone.”
“For us.” Letha nodded, then motioned for him to lead them on. “If you see a man in a loincloth, send him in.”
The guard raised an eyebrow briefly and led them past hastily built walls and into a small encampment. It wasn’t much as far as defenses went. Then again, Aero was often out on the move, more of an offensive fighter, so it fit.
Men and women sat around fires, eating and casually groping each other. Some were sharpening weapons or fixing armor where it had been damaged in recent fights. A large fire burned in the middle of the encampment, and there was Aero, standing with his arms spread wide as he addressed his listeners.
“I’m telling you, those two never expected me. Know how I’m certain? Because I walked right in there, saw no guards, and found him rolling around in the midst of it. She had him by the hair, pulling and clawing, and for a minute I thought she was going to do him in for me. When I realized the Bear was actually fucking this woman, they were almost at their climax. So I sat back and let them finish, as any gentleman would.”
The others laughed, and then Aero noticed Letha as she stepped into the firelight.
“Before you finished them?” Letha asked. “How magnanimous of you.”
“They never saw me coming,” he said, with a wink.
“You did more than just watch then, eh?” one of the women asked, with a laugh. “Can’t just watch something like that without getting aroused yourself, you dog.”
“Or is it the anticipation of spilling blood that turns you on?” another called out.
Aero grinned and gave them an exaggerated shrug. “You know what turns me on? Power.” With that, he gestured to Letha. “And ladies and gents, we are now in the presence of greatness.”
Letha raised an eyebrow and snuck a look at Kale. His shoulders were shaking in an attempt to stifle his laughter. Aero was laying it on thick. Without further ado, he pointed to the tent behind him, waiting for her to go first.
“Watch our backs,” Letha whispered to Brink, then nodded her appreciation and followed Aero into the tent. It wasn’t large, but big enough for a half-dozen people to stand and converse. Aero allowed two ladies to join him, both wearing full body armor. They were likely his guards, as they certainly weren’t going for high viewer ratings with their skin all covered. One glared at Letha, clearly not approving of her outfit.
“You got my message?” Aero asked.
Letha frowned, then glanced back at Kale and Redwood, who had joined her. Brink stayed outside with the other fighters, ready for any sort of trouble.
Kale leaned in and whispered, “He requested an audience. Said he had a proposal to make, but… I believe you said it could wait.”
Letha remembered now. Her exact words had been “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me,” because this dickhead had brought it up in the middle of a romp in the sack. When they were done, he’d brought it up again. She’d been too annoyed that he’d distracted her from finishing and told him to go blow himself. When he had achieved that, she’d said, they could talk.
At least she’d had Ghost and Brink to visit that night. That had also been before she’d lost her troops in an ambush from Fireshot, who was clearly Aero’s enemy too. Now she was much more interested in chatting.
“Uh, yes,” she replied. “Aero, we’ve come to discuss your offer.”
He grinned. “We’re too close to not be allies.”
“Allies?”
“Yes. What I’m suggesting is not so different from where we stand
now, except that, like Earth and the newly colonized Titan, I propose we form a joint declaration of defense. If you get attacked, I’ll be with you as solidly as if I were attacked, and vice-versa.”
“You should be swearing allegiance to her, aspiring for a rank as general,” Kale spat, clearly pissed about this scheme. “This? This is what you wanted an audience for?”
Aero held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not claiming we have your strength, but I’ve certainly proven we have an ability to sneak in, kill, and get out. You would do well to have a strikeforce like mine on your side.”
“As opposed to against us?” Letha carefully asked.
“I’m not saying that,” Aero replied. “You think Fireshot isn’t forming alliances?”
She knew all too well Fireshot was indeed doing exactly that. She’d felt the brunt of their combined swords, as it were. Apparently, Aero knew all about this already.
There was a knock on the beam at the door, and in walked a cute woman, not more than twenty years old and wearing a nurse’s outfit. Damn, this guy knew how to play to Letha’s whims—this girl was working that outfit.
“I noticed you had an injury,” Aero said, gesturing the girl over to Letha. “Mind if my girl has a look? She can work while we talk.” The girl produced a med kit and motioned for Letha to have a seat on one of the several cots along the wall.
Letha allowed it, biting her lip at the warmth that spread through her body at the girl’s touch. She had gentle hands, warm, and when she pushed Letha’s shorts up, hands softly brushing against the inside of her thigh, she couldn’t help but imagine one of those hands slipping under the shorts and working some magic.
Instead, the nurse began applying the med kit—one of the nicer items from the black market, filled with advanced healing biotech. Letha was relieved to realize her leg would be as good as new sometime the next day.
“I have much to offer,” Aero said, watching with great fascination, his tongue moving along his lips subconsciously. “And my people can, in all senses of the concept, be yours to use as you see fit. But I won’t be a general. I’ll still be my own warlord and lead them.”
Planet Kill Page 9