by Shawn Jones
Cort studied the planet for the next day as the freighter slowly entered into its proper orbit. What do you hold for me, God of War? Are you finally bringing me home?
The End
From book two, Warrior’s Blood
Cort activated his HUD map of the colony and broke into a jog down the corridors, turning left and right as the head up display directed him. There were two guards at the main door to the detention center. Raising a disruptor pistol, he fired. He was prepared when they were not affected. He holstered the disruptor and lifted the MAT off his chest. “Sorry, boys,” he said, “this goes one of two ways. You tell me where Rand Gaines is, or I kill you. Your choice.”
The closest man raised what Cort recognized as a high power carbine type disruptor. It was capable of immobilizing or neutralizing a target, even if they wearing a protective tunic such as the guards were. The weapon was completely ineffective against Cort or his CONDOR suit. Thumbing his MAT to the standard setting, Cort’s first round removed the man’s head. He turned to the other guard, “What’s it going to be?”
The second man was nearly in shock. Cort needed to bring him back. He wrapped the fingers of his powered armor gauntlet around the man’s neck and lifted him off the ground. “You now have two new options. I can hold you here until you run out of oxygen, or you can tell me what I want to know.”
The man was still looking at his partner’s body when he choked out, “He is not here. He is in the max security area.”
“Where is that? Now.” Cort demanded as he put the man down.
The man pointed and said, “Inner section. Corridor five.” He looked up at Cort and said, “Who are you?”
“A soul banished from Hell.” Cort turned and ran as the colony map on his HUD updated.
--
“He is human. Or at least he speaks our language. He killed one of the guards at Detention One. Decapitated him.” Chief Rhodes told Steve Taps. The Governor was not pleased to be awoken at four a.m., but his displeasure only grew worse when he found out the outer walls had suffered no less than eight separate breaches and there was a madman running around in the colony.
“Where is he headed? And how did he decapitate a guard with a disruptor?” Taps asked.
“It was not a disruptor. It was some sort of high powered projectile weapon. He is headed toward you, sir.”
“Bloody hell. A projectile weapon in a colony? How the hell did that get here? Wait… Did you say he is headed for me? No… He is here to get Rand. Order a Prowler team to the Max area! No restrictions”
“Yes, sir.” No restrictions?
Steve Taps thought about what was happening. If only I had called the reinforcements in sooner. No, Keen, I most certainly did not overreact, now did I? So Dar, you sent someone to get your grandson. But how did you get that kind of weapon? Has the Addison Trust developed something off the books? Never mind. He will not get through my Prowler team.
--
Cort got to the corridor where Rand was being held and found it filled with men in body suits that looked similar to his FALCONs. They were all pointing weapons at him and fired at the same time. The combined energy from their Prowlers was absorbed into his own CONDOR suit, and from there it arced to the walls of the corridor, causing lights to flicker and go out. In the near total darkness only Cort could see, thanks to his suit’s sensors. Thumbing a second type of ammunition from the MATs dual round clip, he fired one explosive shot into the man at the center of the group.
--
“Sir, the Prowler team appears to all be dead. No movement whatsoever.” Rhodes said.
Taps felt the icy grip of fear. Dead? All of them? Oh gods. What will he do when he sees Rand?
“He has breached the max cell, sir. Instructions?” Rhodes asked. “Sir?”
--
Cort activated the CONDORs external lights to give his grandson sight. Neither of them were prepared for what they saw.
Rand was tied naked to a hard bed. Clearly he had been tortured. He was also malnourished, because even with synthetics, he was bruised and one arm appeared broken. “Can you put this on?” Cort asked as he cut the ropes binding Rand. He then laid a pressure suit next to him.
Rand saw the giant suit and felt less hope than fear. “I think so. My arm. I will need some help. Who are you?”
“There will be time for that later. For now, just know that your mother sent me.”
“Mom?” Rand struggled into the suit with Cort’s help. “How did you get here? Where is she?”
“Later. Right now, get the suit on. I’ll be back. Don’t leave this room. Understand?”
“Yes.” Rand began putting the boots on one-handed.
Outside in the corridor, power had been restored. Cort looked into a security camera. “Guide me to the Governor or I will kill every man, woman, and child in this colony. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Rhodes said over the speakers in the corridor, “he is in corridor three, two rings inside of your position. I will mark the door for you. Please do not hurt anyone else. Gaines was the Governor’s grudge. Not something the rest of us wanted.”
“Send someone to help him suit up. And get him some fortified food. Now. If he is hurt, I will kill you all.” Cort turned a corner and headed for the Governor’s quarters.
--
“I’m going to enjoy this, Governor.” Cort said after he bent the door off its hinges. “I’m going to enjoy this very much.”
Taps was standing in a corner and had wet himself as the door folded backward into the room. He held up a disruptor and fired it. Cort crushed the weapon while it was still in the man’s hands. When he let go, the metal was wrapped around Taps’ fingers, which were smashed and bleeding.
“It is unfortunate but where I come from, we are much more adept at torture than you are. And I am more adept at it than most. After my family died, I withdrew from society. Before coming here, I read a profile that my government had done on me. A psychological profile. It said that since the death of my family, I have begun to develop an ‘Antisocial Personality Disorder’. Do you know what that is, Governor?
Taps couldn’t speak. The monster before him was so calm. He felt as if he was being toyed with. He shook his head.
“It means I have little or no conscience when it comes to those I don’t care about. It means I feel no guilt or remorse for my actions. Do you know what that means for you, Governor?” Cort stepped on the man’s foot, crushing the bones in it.
Taps screamed and shook his head again.
“It means I am going to enjoy killing you. It means that every ounce of suffering my grandson has felt since arriving here will be felt tenfold by you in the next hour. Now do you understand?” Taps couldn’t know it, but Cort was smiling grimly inside his suit.
“Your grandson? My gods. That is you inside there, Dar? Please Dar, no. I am sorry. What do you want?” Taps begged.
“I want you to suffer. And I want your family to know how much you suffered. You and yours started this feud on another planet. I will end it. Here or Earth or across the galaxy, there is nowhere your people can hide. But today, I will be content with your suffering.”
--
About the Author
Shawn Jones was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He now writes in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where he lives with his wife Lorelle and son Alex. An avid outdoorsman, he enjoys fishing, camping, hiking, and sailing.
Dedicated to my wife Lorelle. Your unwavering support is why I can reach for the stars.
Thanks to my beta readers Goose, Shawn, Pinkatron, and Eve.
Special thanks to Tracy for dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.
Cover art:
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Warrior’s Scar Copyright 2013 by Shawn Jones. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced without the written permission of the author except for brief quotations embodied in reviews.
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