Colton Cyness and the Gunslingers (Children of the Empire Book 1)

by R. L. Wolf

  "That's a pretty far stretch," said Colt.

  "What the Council doesn't know is that Selina has been playing dumb to protect her people. She is strong enough to carry that team until they can grow up a bit and get some steel in their spurs."

  "I don't know, that's a wild theory, but what did you tell her to make her change her mind?"

  "I told her it was Deputy Hargrath the Marshal sent out to the woods to terminate Tanner, and that Rebecca was next. The Marshal doesn't care how strong a Merit is, he only cares about the Gunslingers, and he doesn't have time for a weak Gunslinger."

  "You play dirty," said Colt, "Do you think she will start to help Rebecca now?"

  "I've watched her closely," said Austin. "She loves Rebecca, but she was going about it all wrong. If I thought it was otherwise, I would have to tell Toran, and he would gather the other First’s, and then there would be a vote. Deputy Hargrath would review the vote, and Salina would just disappear one day."

  "Garth wouldn't like that very much," said Colt.

  "True, he would be mad for a while, but he would get over it."

  "Has anyone told you just how scary smart you are?" asked Colt.

  "That's my role on this team," said Austin.

  “Come to think of it, this whole camp is scary,” said Colt. “How did the Gunslingers get like this?”

  Austin took Colt’s arm and leaned in close. “Don’t repeat this,” said Austin, glancing around to make sure nobody was near. “Everyone here is Cettise descendants, except for a few other species tossed in to divert attention. The Gunslingers didn’t get like this—they were already like this. Look around, this is a Cettise training camp, as in the ancient days of the Cettise Dynasty. I think the Marshal has been secretly building a Cettise…”

  “Don’t say it,” said Colt. “I think I already knew, and I think everyone else knows it as well. But if it means getting rid of the Caelum, I’m all for it.”

  Colt pushed open the door to the Sheriff's Office, and the boys hung their coats up over the wood stove to dry.

  "What happened?" asked Toran.

  "Nothing really," said Colt, picking up the clipboard with the log sheets on it and wrote down the incident.

  Closed Dining Cabin for repairs.

  Toran took the log and read the entry, then put the clipboard back.

  "Where's Garth?" asked Colt.

  "A teacher called and said there was a bone dice game getting rowdy down at the stables. Garth went to clear it out."

  The boys sat down around the wood stove to warm up. Wes shoved another log into the fire, and they all listened to the wind howling outside.

  "This is boring," said Wes.

  The door banged open, letting the snow and wind swirl into the small office. Garth stomped in and shook the snow off.

  "Close the door!" the boys shouted.

  Garth pushed the door shut, and went to the Sheriff's desk. He dropped a grenade launcher, four hunting knives, an incendiary grenade, a bottle of whiskey, a set of brass knuckles, the remains of a cigar, and a set of bone dice on the desk. Garth picked up the log and handed it to Colt.

  "Everything okay down there?” asked Colt, taking the log.

  "Yep," said Garth, wiggling his jaw. "Garret hits like a little girl."

  Colt wrote the entry and handed the log to Toran.

  Toran read Colt's entry.

  Checked stables, all quiet

  The radio beeped and Wes answered. "Sheriff's Office."

  Colt got up and grabbed his coat.

  "I'll go with you on this one, I’m bored," said Toran.

  "That was one of the pilots," said Wes. "He said he just walked past the range, and there's something going on over there.

  Colt and Toran headed out into the snowstorm. The wind had kicked up, and the temperature was now easily below zero.

  "Who would try to go to the range in this weather?" asked Toran.

  "Someone more bored than us," said Colt. "Nothing interesting ever happens while we are on shift."

  Colt pushed through the wind and led the way down to the firing range. Visibility was down to twenty feet, and snowdrifts were piled up against the fence. Colt couldn't help but wonder if anyone would even be able to see the targets. He opened the gate and could see two teams gathered facing each other. Cora and Rex stood ten paces apart, their hands hovering over their guns.

  "What are you two doing out here?" yelled Colt over the wind.

  "We were going to practice in harsh weather," said Cora. "And we were here first.”

  "No, you weren't," yelled Rex. "We got here first."

  "Well, if we are going to do this, let's do it," said Colt, walking over to Cora first and taking her gun to check the ammo load.

  "These are paint rounds," said Colt. "Are we going to act like little kids playing at guns forever?"

  Colt took one live round from his belt and unloaded the paint rounds from Cora's gun. He loaded the live round and handed the gun back.

  "One shot only," Colt told Cora, and then went over to reload Rex's gun. Colt repeated his instructions to Rex and stepped back.

  "Whenever you are ready, Gunslingers," yelled Colt.

  Cora and Rex looked at Colt as if he had lost his mind, but they were committed now. It would be dishonorable to try to back out. The two Gunslingers looked at each other, and their eyes narrowed, trying to see their target through the snow. Both drew at the same time and fired. Cora and Rex checked themselves for a bullet wound, but neither had been shot. They must have been shivering too much, and the rounds went wild.

  "Okay," yelled Colt. "Honor has been satisfied, the range is closed, now all of you get out of here."

  Cora and Rex's team filed off the range and headed back up to the camp. Colt and Toran waited a moment then followed behind to make sure they didn't cause any more trouble.

  "You let them shoot live rounds at each other," said Toran. "That's crazy even for you."

  Colt held his fist out and opened it—two live rounds were in his palm. "You mean these?" asked Colt.

  "You tricked them?” asked Toran.

  "Yep, and they will tell everyone I made them use live ammo," said Colt. "Bet you nobody calls anyone out on our shift again."

  Colt and Toran made their way back to the Sheriff's Office and hung their wet coats up to dry. Colt grabbed the clipboard and wrote in the log.

  Closed the range due to weather

  The rest of the afternoon was quiet as the boys rotated out to the dining cabin for dinner. The snow fell in a blanket of white flurries, and not many students showed up at the dining cabin for dinner. Garth brought a box full of leftovers back to the Sheriff's Office with him to nibble on.

  "The radio has been quiet for hours, guys," said Colt. "Go ahead and rack out. Wes, go ahead and put the radio on speaker so I can hear it."

  "Okay, night, Boss," replied Wes, pulling the headset plug out.

  The Merits hit their bunks in the back room, and Colt sat at the Sheriff's desk trying to keep his eyes open. The radio remained quiet for the rest of the night, and Colt fought to stay awake.

  The door banged open, and Colt opened his eyes and jumped slightly, his hand going to his revolver. It was light out, and Garret, with a bandage around his wrist, walked in with Sam, Levi, and Houston, they all had black eyes.

  "Can we have our stuff back?" asked Garret.

  "What stuff?" asked Colt, turning around while the confiscated weapons disappeared from the desk. The door closed, and Colt got up to stretch, then woke his Merits.

  "Come on guys, get up," yelled Colt. "The Marshal will be here in a minute."

  The team got up and packed their gear for the shift change. The Marshal showed up a few minutes later with Duke and his team. Colt handed the Marshal the clipboard with the log on it and the ring of skeleton keys. The Marshal read the log and signed the bottom.

  "Looks good, you guys had a nice quiet shift." The Marshal took the log over to the filing cabinet. "Get some sleep, y
ou are on free-time until tomorrow morning," said the Marshal.

  "Yes, Sir," said Colt.

  The boys left the Sheriff's Office and pushed through the snow to their cabin.

  "What's our next shift?” asked Wes.

  "I think we have border patrol in a few days," answered Austin.

  "I hope it's not as boring as sheriff duty was," said Colt.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Falling Stars

  "Status report," Commander Arius asked the Navigation Officer.

  "Undetected, we’re still moving too fast for their satellite to pick up.”

  Commander Arius scanned the displays on the control panel in front of him. The multitude of sensors could tell him more than the Navigation Officer could, but he wouldn’t have the sensors much longer.

  “Secure for emergency braking.”

  “Aye, Commander.”

  “Begin rotation.”

  The planet swung away from the forward viewing screen as the massive destroyer rotated to face aft to the planet. The maneuver was only intended for the direst of emergencies, but it was also the only way to ensure they would destroy the satellite monitoring for incoming ships.

  Commander Arius opened a communication link to Captain Serai in the drop tubes. "Captain, we are thirty seconds from the atmosphere, prepare for release."

  "We're ready," reported the Drop Captain.

  "You will be on your own once you hit the ground."

  "I'll have the camp in a couple of hours."

  The Destroyer shuttered as the propulsion engines fired to slow the ship. The warship dropped below the speed of light.

  "Missile away," reported the Weapons Officer, firing at point-blank range. "Target destroyed."

  The ship slammed into the atmosphere, and the smell of burning circuits filled the bridge. Emergency lighting snapped on, and warning alarms sounded throughout the ship.

  “FTL engine failure,” shouted the Navigation Officer.

  “We knew that was going to happen,” replied the Commander, turning to the Communications Officer. “Report.”

  “The satellite didn't have time to transmit, they don't know we're here, we did it. They're deaf and blind."

  Commander Arius smiled and scanned his display again, a futile gesture, every external sensor was now burned out and gone. He sat back in his chair, satisfied.

  "You have been living on a past reputation, Gunslingers. I will show the Emperor just how little he has to fear from you. I will be promoted to Fleet Commander for exposing you for what you are. Release the Drop Troops," ordered Commander Arius.

  Gunslinger Training Camp, Western Border

  "I think the snow might be deeper over there, this path is way too easy," complained Wes.

  "You've got snow shoes on," said Toran. "What are you crying about?"

  "My armor weighs a ton."

  The oilcloth dusters with sewed-in flex-armor only added an extra six pounds, but Wes enjoyed complaining. It gave him something to do during the boring patrol along the western border of the mountain.

  "Hey Garth, you're in the advanced armor class," said Wes. "Can these things stop a bullet?"

  "Let me shoot you and we’ll find out," said Garth.

  "Daraian flex-armor is best," said Austin. "These hood displays are pathetic."

  "I was playing around with my hood a couple of miles back," said Toran. "I couldn't see anything."

  The boys continued their march through the deep snow and talked to stave off boredom, nothing fun ever happened on border patrol duty.

  "You have to be standing still," explained Garth. "If you're moving, the folds in the flex-armor make the visual display all wiggly."

  "Wiggly? Is that a technical term?" asked Wes.

  "I think the only reason for this armor is intimidation," said Colt. "We look like ancient Cettise from hundreds of years ago. It makes us look scary."

  "If that's the only reason, then all we need to do is carry a picture of Garth when he wakes up in the morning, now that's scary," said Wes, tapping the radio headset. "Hold up, I lost the signal." Wes pulled his field pack off and knelt on the ground with it. The radio was beeping. He opened the flap of his field pack and inspected the controls on the top of the small box.

  "What's wrong?" asked Toran.

  "It's the 'no signal' alarm," said Wes. "I was listening to Jarred whine about how cold it was on the Eastern Border when the transmission stopped in the middle of a sentence. Brock's team is such babies."

  Garth raised an eyebrow at Wes for calling Brock's team babies for complaining, Wes had been complaining since they left the camp.

  "Reset the satellite link," said Toran.

  "I did, nothing’s happening," said Wes. "Normally when you lose the link, you just push the reset button, and it tells the satellite to re-establish the link, but, this time, the satellite isn't responding."

  "Diagnostic check?" asked Toran.

  "I am, and that's the weird part," said Wes. "The diagnostic is part of the satellite, but nothing is happening, it's like someone flipped the off switch."

  "I'm sure it's nothing," said Colt. "Let's keep moving and we'll check it later."

  "Hold on, look," said Austin, pointing at the sky.

  Colt held his hand over his eyes and searched the sky. A shower of falling stars with white contrails trailing behind covered the sky.

  "Well, there you have it," said Colt. "The satellite was hit by a meteor shower, a big one too."

  "I don't think so," said Garth. "Since when do meteor showers stay in formation?"

  “What are you thinking?” asked Colt.

  “Drop troops,” replied Garth.

  "Whatever it is, it's heading towards us," said Austin.

  Colt looked at Austin and the others and realized they were waiting for a decision. His Merits believed they were now in a combat scenario."

  "Okay, Garth, assessment?" asked Colt.

  "It looks like the video they showed us in class of Kesune Drop troops," said Garth. "We have about two minutes before they are on the ground."

  "Wes, what do you think?" asked Colt.

  "We’ve lost communications with the camp. The Marshal said if we lose radio contact to end the patrol and head back," replied Wes.

  "Austin, what’s your thoughts?" continued Colt, running through the fact-gathering protocol like the instruction said in class.

  "The political climate with the Kesune has been strained," said Austin. "Our Imperial Charter is in question because of the Tri-Alliance rebellion. If those are Drop Troops, perhaps this is a preemptive strike against the Gunslingers."

  "Toran?" asked Colt.

  Toran wasn't watching the sky. He was looking back at the direction of the Camp. "The eastern border would have been more hidden, and an easier approach," said Toran. "But they chose the western border." Toran paused for a moment and looked up at the sky. "They have to take the landing field first, or our ships can make a run for it and get help from our fleet."

  "It will take at least two weeks for the fleet to arrive," said Austin. "We would be dead, and they would be long gone before the fleet arrives."

  "Unless they aren't leaving, or can't leave," said Toran. "The satellite gave us no warning they were here. They would have had to drop out of light speed almost on top of our satellite and destroy it before it could warn us."

  Colt shook his head. "They would have hit the atmosphere at that speed. You can’t drop out of FTL too close to a planet, that's basic third-grade science."

  "You can, but it would destroy your engines," said Toran. "If it is an attack, and they did do that, they would have come out of FTL, fired at the satellite, hit the atmosphere, and bounced off. The ship wouldn’t be able to recover the drop troops anytime soon. It will take weeks to fix their engines. They need to make sure we can't go for help."

  “The airfield,” said Austin. “That’s why they dropped on this side of the mountain. They’re going after our Dart ships.”

  Col
t nodded. "Okay, if it is drop troops, we fight a running battle back to the camp, that's about fifteen miles. Someone will eventually hear the gunfire and check on us. That should give our pilots enough time to figure out what's going on and get off the ground."

  "I just counted, there's fifty of them," said Wes.

  "Garth, what size ship has fifty drop tubes?” asked Colt.

  "Destroyer class, I think," said Garth. "We haven't had ship configuration yet, but I read ahead in the textbook."

  "Good man," said Colt. "What kind of troops does the Destroyer carry?"

  "Caelum Elite Light Infantry," said Garth.

  "That’s not a very fair fight," said Austin. "Fifty elite infantry against five Gunslinger students barely a third of the way trained."

  "You're right," said Colt. "They should have brought more. Let's head into the woods and find our first ambush spot."

  The boys turned and ran as fast as they could over the snow and up the hill into the woods. This was Gunslinger territory, and Colt had been on enough grueling hikes with the Marshal in this forest to know where he was going.

  Colt ran to an outcropping of rock looking down over the hill. He would be able to see the Caelum coming. He remembered this spot from one of the hikes with the Marshal. Colt climbed across a boulder the Marshal had made him put his feet up on and do a hundred push-ups.

  "Spread out and find a position," ordered Colt. "Don't fire until I say."

  The drop capsules jettisoned their protective shells at nine-hundred feet, releasing the soldiers for free-fall. The soldiers fell for seven-hundred feet as their parachutes deployed for the remainder of the drop. The expended capsules crashed through the trees ahead of the soldiers.

  The soldiers landed on the slope of the hill where Colt had been standing only a few minutes before. The Caelum soldiers rolled their parachutes and buried them in the snow. The Caelum troops quickly formed into squads and started moving up the hill.

  The reality of how many there were sank into Colt and decided he would try to avoid a fight if possible. The first Caelum squad was fifty feet from the rocks when Colt jumped on top of the center boulder. His duster flapped in the wind, and his hand rested on his revolver. Colt was the terrifying figure of an ancient Cettise. The Caelum stopped and looked up at the Gunslinger standing fearlessly on the boulder.