Timberwolf: Wrath is Coming

by Tom Julian

  “She’ll have to be put away. Long and good.”

  “Hell no.”

  “She’s the one witness to all this!”

  “She goes on her way.” Timberwolf took in Dr. Tier’s severe features and large, soulless eyes. He was about to make her difficult job immeasurably harder. “I’ve got something down there for you. There’s not much time.”

  He beckoned her to come closer. “What?” she asked.

  “The machines can’t hear this.” Timberwolf spoke in her ear and her eyes went wide.

  DEATH BENEFITS

  Salla rested with her head on the table. She thought she had about five minutes left. Conrad picked his fingernails. Dr. Tier burst in and Salla sat up, weary.

  “Amnesia. After The Outpost you drifted in a lifter until you were picked up near Tep Nine-Fifty. You don’t recall a thing. I cashed out your death benefits and put them on this card.”

  Dr. Tier handed Salla a credit card that had her name and picture on it. She took the card and turned it over. Under her photo, it read deceased.

  “I’m done with this?” Salla asked.

  “You’re a dead woman. None of this matters to you. Don’t let anyone look too closely at that card. Turn it into cash.”

  “But why? Why are you letting me go? What happens to Timberwolf?” Outside the door, Salla saw Timberwolf led past by security, his hands shackled behind him. They locked eyes for a moment and she knew he’d paid for her freedom.

  Dr. Tier looked down on her with a pity in her eyes that said, just go. “Timber?” Salla called to him, but he was gone.

  Just a few minutes later, Salla was aboard Caravel again. The maw of Archangel opened and a puff of air pushed the ship outwards. She looked back at the hulk of Archangel through the windscreen, her beautiful and raw face close to the glass. Exhausted, she closed her eyes and fell into the pilot’s seat. As it had been programmed, Caravel fired its thrusters and made towards Tep Nine-Fifty. “Finally left somebody behind,” she said to herself. She wondered if she would ever see Timberwolf again. “This is nothing, Timber. I’m gone, so take the gloves off. I’ll see you soon.”

  Less than an hour later, Dr. Tier sat opposite Timberwolf in the belly of a lifter about to drop from Archangel. With them were techs in radiation-proof rigs, along to try to salvage whatever was left of the facility. Dr. Tier had less than fourteen hours before the first of the Assault Corps ships arrived. The chatter out of Tach-One was off the charts now. Secretary Bozeman himself was issuing orders. There had already been reports of Assault Corps attacks on D.P.E. facilities and vessels and vice-versa. A shooting civil war had started.

  “Timberwolf, if you’re lying and Gray’s not down there, you’ll rot forever,” Dr. Tier said to him. “Think Salla Birdwing was worth it?”

  “My personal life has got to be the least of your problems, Thea,” he responded. She nodded, tightening her lips. “Better hurry, doc. There’s not a lot of air in his box.”

  THE PRECIOUS THRONES

  Cardinal Jacob stood in front of the doors to The Coffers on Highland. In the commotion while Timberwolf had been taken aboard Archangel, he and his two personal guards had borrowed a lifter and descended on their own. Behind the doors were the fortunes that Highland had collected from customers and, according to the deal he had made with Dr. Tier, now belonged to him.

  A figure was huddled in front of the doors, covered by a radiation blanket. “Hello?” Cardinal Jacob asked.

  The figure stirred and pulled the blanket away. An old man with one foot hobbled upright. “Can you open this?” Warner asked. “It’s safe in there!”

  “We’re headed inside,” Cardinal Jacob responded, amused by the hunched old soldier.

  One of his guards worked an electronic device and placed it next to the lock on the door. The doors opened with a click, spreading outward, and a second pair of doors within did the same. They went inside, pulling the doors closed behind them to keep the radiation out.

  “Praise be to God!” Cardinal Jacob took in the spectacle of wealth around him, the myriad objects of immeasurable value from throughout the galaxy. “I am in possession!” He exhaled. He sent a message to the other cardinals still loyal to him. Come to Highland. Bring empty vessels.

  Cardinal Jacob sat on a huge chair made of gold, the handiwork of a species much larger than a man. Warner pulled himself up on a similar chair opposite him made of platinum. The wealth gleamed around them, illuminated by small floodlights floating like fireflies around the space. “I am in possession!” the cardinal said again, smiling to his guards. He knew he had to move the items out of here quickly before other parties arrived to challenge him, perhaps from the Assault Corps.

  “You’re the pope, right?” Warner asked, squinting at Cardinal Jacob sitting on his golden throne.

  “Something like that.” Cardinal Jacob nodded with a tolerant smile.

  “Bishop Gray was a great man. He wrote a whole new testament,” Warner said. Cardinal Jacob’s eyebrow rose slightly. Warner continued from his platinum seat. “Got any water? I’ll tell you the whole thing.”

  “Please,” Cardinal Jacob said, his narrow smile not betraying the sudden knot in his stomach. One of his guards handed Warner a canteen.

  The old man took a sip and licked the water from his dry lips. “It’s about forgiveness…” he began.

  On the other side of the room though, something stirred. Wrath awoke and pushed himself up with his one good limb, opening an eye. He was no longer alone.

  THE GIFT

  Kizik had no illusions about what had happened, about how he had failed. He couldn’t even go home. He was the sole survivor of this expedition and he would be greeted by revulsion. If he went home, he would be forced to walk the twilight ridge, a monster. Farhallen. Creature of the badlands. Beast of the wind.

  He had managed to do a few things, though. He sat in his shuttle and looked over at the Phaelon he had captured. Back on Highland he had managed to lure Droma aboard and incapacitate her. He would study the creature he now kept in stasis. It would keep him occupied if he was to wander the galaxy alone. He’d also retrieved the order he had placed to Highland a year before. The small, awful box sat next to him.

  Radem, don’t let me use it.

  He didn’t want to think of the power that it had or what using it would entail. It could only bring pain to his species in the end, but there it was—a great equalizer in a box that would fit a pair of human shoes.

  His shuttle was cloaked and approached Archangel. He had accomplished one more thing, the counter to the destructive force that sat beside him. It was a gift.

  Relaund.

  Even as Highland had fallen apart, he’d ordered that his medics protect Relaund Velez and all had died in the effort. The man lay in a pressurized chamber next to him.

  Relaund. Wake up.

  The man stirred, opening his eyes.

  I said we’d talk again after the assault. Things haven’t gone as planned for anyone.

  “What the hell do you want?” Relaund said aloud, stirring awake.

  I am giving you back, better than I found you.

  “I can feel my fingers. I just moved my thumb!”

  Your muscles are severely atrophied. They should come back. I mended your spinal nerves with technology you don’t have.

  “I don’t understand,” Relaund said, his words soaked in innocence.

  I don’t either.

  Kizik opened the back of the shuttle, a force field holding in the atmosphere. Just a hundred yards away was the bridge of Archangel. He could see human figures walking about, but they couldn’t see him.

  He pushed the pressurized chamber out into space. It sizzled as it passed through the force field and became visible outside of the shuttle’s cloak. Kizik could see the people on the bridge rushing about now, trying to determine if the chamber was a threat. Then Archangel caught it in its tractor beam, holding it while sensors scanned its every molecule.

  Kizik bac
ked the shuttle away, never exposing his presence. He hoped that they would accept his gift, but didn’t wish to stay here any longer. He looked down at the box again at his side. On its top it read Thanatos. Kizik had learned that was a word from an old human language.

  Thanatos, he thought. The personification of death.

  I’LL FLY AWAY

  Gray felt like he was in the womb. When the tower had collapsed, the Sabatin container he was inside tumbled in the wreckage, but he’d been protected. When the life support had come online, it generated a living membrane that embraced him. An organic vessel attached itself to his stomach like an umbilical cord. He’d been in the box for two hours now and he felt neither hungry nor thirsty. But what was connected to him now was not meant for a man, but for a Sabatin, a programmable beast.

  The membrane wrapped around him and he’d stopped fighting it a while ago. It squeezed him tighter and tighter and he felt blood swelling in his head. A strangeness flowed through him that he knew was connected to the membrane. He wondered if he was about to die or be reborn. No prayers came to mind and he knew God wasn’t interested in hearing from him. He decided to sing the Assault Corps mourning song for himself.

  “Some bright morning when this life is over I’ll fly away. To that home on God’s celestial shore I’ll fly away.” He wondered whom he was singing to. To himself, to his conscience?

  “When I die hallelujah by and by I’ll fly…” Suddenly he stopped. He couldn’t remember the next line or where he was and what sequence of events had brought him to be trapped inside a small box. He struggled for a moment and then, without knowing why, he was calm again. The membrane gave off a soft, red glow and he looked at his hand. He could see the light coming through it and almost make out the blood vessels pulsing within.

  He felt himself regressing, unlearning, like something was clearing the table of his mind. His consciousness was simpler now, awaiting instructions. His hubris fled him and his pride. A small kernel of guilt, buried deep inside of him, faded as well. He saw faces one last time before they disappeared; a tall man with dark hair, a woman with angular features, a man with hair to his shoulders and burns on his face. Who were they?

  He saw the world of Highland, a black disc covering it but for a crescent sliver. He existed one second to the next, not comprehending the moment before.

  Then a flash of recognition came back to him and he twisted around and pulled a knife from his pocket. He scratched a message on the inside of the box, struggling to remember the letters and words. Then his faculties were gone again and he closed his eyes. From the deepest part of him, the simplest twinkle of a lullaby passed between his lips. “When the shadows of this life have gone, I’ll fly away. Like a bird from these prison walls, I’ll fly. I’ll fly away.”

  And then Emmanuel Gray was no more.

  Author Bio

  Tom Julian works days at pharmaceutical company, helping to support research in to new cancer drugs, and nights and weekends as an author. He enjoys traveling, long-distance cycling, and waking up early to brew the perfect cup of coffee. He’s an unabashed beer snob and native of Trenton, New Jersey. Tom’s first novel, Timberwolf, is a military science fiction story originally envisioned film. The author worked hard to transfer its cinematic qualities to the page and hopes that Twolf is the best science-fiction movie you'll ever read! Tom is the father of Izzy and Liam and husband to the lovely Brenda-Lea. He writes while warming his feet under his Bernese mountain dog, Maggie May. Favorite movie/book/food = O Brother, Where Art Thou?/The Sirens of Titan/Trenton-style tomato pie.

  Note from the author about publishing

  So if this title looked a little familiar, it’s because Timberwolf was originally published in late 2015. Soon after, as Murphy’s law would have it, the publishing house went belly up and Twolf never got a chance to get in front of a significant audience.

  After shopping the book around for about a year, I decided to self-publish. Why? It was the behavior of one specific publishing house that pushed me over. I told them about the previously-published status of the book in our first exchange. They encouraged me to submit. I respect their non-concurrent submissions policy.

  Six months later, they tell me that they are not interested in a previously published book! I was like… “That was LITERALLY THE FIRST THING I TOLD YOU when we talked 6 months ago.”

  I won’t name them, but they’re pretty respected and I found this behavior abhorrent. I even contacted a lawyer, but my lawyer is my best friend and we just went out for beers. Since I didn’t have a contract or written agreement of any kind, I couldn’t claim any damages. We did both agree that it was a total d!ck move, and not worthy behavior for a respected house. Pass the beer nuts.

  So this self-publishing move is a bit of an adventure, but at least I can put the energy I was expending in to contacting publishers in to getting my book out there. I just want people and enjoy it! If you’ve liked this book, please leave a review on Amazon. If you didn’t like it, leave a review anyway – I’m confident enough to take the good with the bad.

  Make sure to come hassle me on FB here... www.facebook.com/Timberwolf

  Best - Tom Julian

  Table of Contents

  NEMESIS

  DEMONSTRATION

  ARCHANGEL

  CHOICES MADE

  THE BELIEVER

  THE OUTPOST

  WIDOW’S WALK

  CARGO BAY 4

  INSIGNIA

  BREACHERS

  UNKNOWN MESSENGER

  THE KEY

  COMING ABOARD

  VICE

  ARNOCK PRIME

  THE VAULT

  DECISION

  MEMORIES

  SAINT FRANCIS

  BREAKOUT

  THE BOX

  UNLEASHED

  THE RIG

  CONTACT

  THE LATTICE

  AWAKE

  A DEMON

  THE REED

  RETREAT

  DUEL

  STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY

  UNMASKED

  COMMITMENT TO THE FATES

  SLEEP AS THOUGH DEAD

  SHADOWS

  GOLGOTHA

  OVERHEAD

  KEES LEEDY

  EXCELLENCY

  RELAUND

  THE CLAN

  DARK HALL

  AFTERMATH

  NOVA

  UNBURNED

  ROAD TO HIGHLAND

  SECURITY RINGS

  ACT OF WAR

  SILENT PARTNER

  TRUTH

  THE DESCENT

  THE AIRLOCK

  HEAVEN’S LIGHT

  THE BURNING

  SHOOTING WAR

  SABATIN

  DIVERSION

  FORENSIC

  THE SACRAMENT

  TOM AND JERRY

  COPACETIC

  PASSENGER

  THE BUMP

  RECIEPT

  TIME TO LAND

  RESIDUE

  THE BULLET

  THE TORCH

  SELF

  ASSASSIN

  THE BOUT

  WHERE IS MY MIND?

  THE SHADOW

  Chapter VIOLENCE

  RECKONING

  NO REST

  SERMON

  REVELATIONS

  COMMAND CENTER PLAIN

  SUNRISE

  BLASPHEME

  THE STAIRS

  OVERCOME

  WITNESS

  PURITY

  THE WAREHOUSE

  THE LINE

  HER EYES

  THE CALL TO WAR

  COMMAND LINE

  TIME ENDER

  A VOICE

  RUN

  THE HILL

  THE FRAY

  SABACHTHANI

  FIRE

  THE COFFERS

  DETENTE

  MEETING KIZIK

  THE RUINS

  NUMB

  THE NEEDLE

  CARAVEL

  TITHE

  INT
ERROGATIONS

  DEATH BENEFITS

  THE PRECIOUS THRONES

  THE GIFT

  I’LL FLY AWAY