by B. V. Larson
I felt a poke in the butt. It wasn’t a pleasant, playful poke either—it was more of a hard jab in the ass, to be honest.
Whirling around, I stared down at a wild-child.
She was dirty. Her face and skin were crusty with sand, but her blonde locks stuck out here and there.
Then there were her eyes. They were blue, and they glinted with light reflected from the fire inside the dome.
“Your armor held,” Etta told me. “I wasn’t sure if it would.”
With a sudden move, I snatched the crossbow out of her hand. Sure enough, the bolt she’d poked me with had a black head. The nanites would’ve eaten into my flesh and killed me, if they’d penetrated.
She looked surprised at my action, and she showed me her teeth in a snarl.
“I’ve killed for less!” she shouted.
“So have I, girl!”
We stared each other down for several long seconds. Then, without any warning, she rushed in close and threw her arms around me. She squeezed my belly in a desperate hug.
To tell the truth, my balls were crawling in fear during those brief moments, but I controlled my natural urge to protect my soft parts.
Looking past her, I saw Natasha peering out from under the tent flap. She looked worried, but she smiled when she saw the girl hug me.
“She’s very affectionate when you get to know her,” she said.
Awkwardly, I patted Etta’s unruly hair. “She sure is!”
When we finally got Etta to settle down inside the tent with the rest of us, we talked and ate food tainted with grit.
During a private moment, when the other two were occupied, my mom sidled up to me and gripped my bicep tightly.
“James,” she whispered, “you have to get me out of this hellhole. This was a big mistake!”
I chuckled. “I told you, mama. I told you.”
* * *
When I finally got back to Earth, I took all of them with me: Natasha, Etta and my mom. It took several jumps, but I managed it.
Leaving all three of them in Waycross, I jumped up to Central next. I barely made it in time for my meeting with Turov.
After turning in the jump-suit and making my way to her office, I was shocked to find someone else there waiting with the Imperator.
“Claver?” I demanded. “You should be as dead as a doornail by all rights!”
“I think the same of you, McGill.”
“Let’s be civil,” Turov said, propping her butt against her big desk in-between us.
“Why am I here?” I demanded.
“I told you, Centurion,” she said.
As she spoke, she picked up a tiny box from her desk and handed it to me.
“The Mogwa are upset,” she continued. “They’re sending their battle fleet out to our province again.”
“What the hell am I supposed to do about that?”
The box she’d handed to me held my attention. I knew what had to be inside it. I opened it despite my misgivings.
There they were… Two emblems, a pair of twin silver bars for each side of my collar. They were nano-adhesive rank insignias. All I had to do was take them out of the box and touch them to my uniform. They’d stick there, and I’d have reached a rank I’d never thought I’d attain.
“Are you in?” Turov asked.
“In for what?” I demanded. “You never did tell me.”
“No, I didn’t. You have to commit before you’re briefed.”
They both looked at me expectantly, smugly.
I knew their game. They’d obviously cooked up some kind of elaborate scheme. Something that would get me into trouble with Legion Varus, Central and the Almighty himself. The centurion rank pins were supposed to buy me, to make me their servant.
Heaving a sigh, I shook my head. I closed the box and tossed it back onto her desk.
“Sorry,” I said, “I’m not in. Find someone else to do your dirty work.”
Claver leaned forward, suddenly glowering. “You’re making a big mistake, boy. I know you’re not in the habit of listening to your betters, but this time—”
“No,” I said. “That’s my final answer.”
He leaned back and glanced up at Turov.
“Told you,” he said.
Turov looked pissed-off, but she wasn’t furious. She nodded and aimed her finger at the door behind me.
“Am I dismissed, sir?” I asked her.
“Get out.”
Turning around smartly, I marched out of her office.
Behind me, neither of them said a word until I was gone, but I didn’t care.
I felt free at last. It was time to go home, get to know Etta better and catch up with Natasha. I’d let the stars take care of themselves for now.
The End
From the Author: Thanks Reader! I hope you enjoyed HOME WORLD, the sixth book in the Undying Mercenaries Series. If you liked the book and want to read the story to the finish, please put up some stars and a review to support the series. Let me know what kind of world you’d like McGill to discover next.
-BVL
More SF Books by B. V. Larson:
The Undying Mercenaries Series:
Steel World
Dust World
Tech World
Machine World
Death World
Home World
STAR FORCE SERIES:
(In chronological order)
Swarm
Extinction
Rebellion
Conquest
Army of One (Novella)
Battle Station
Empire
Annihilation
Storm Assault
The Dead Sun
Outcast
Exile
IMPERIUM SERIES:
Mech Zero: The Dominant
Mech 1: The Parent
Mech 2: The Savant
Mech 3: The Empress
The Black Ship (Novella)
OTHER SF BOOKS:
Starfire
Element-X
Technomancer
The Bone Triangle
Z-World
Velocity
Visit BVLarson.com for more information.