Together, the two of us walked through the gates of Cinder Hollow. Callista seemed oblivious, but I was very much aware of countless hostile stares from the Dusters. They kept their distance, but their hatred for the Techborn baroness was clear. Sneers and muttered curses followed us as we made our way into the heart of the settlement.

  Despite the declaration of peace, I could sense the barely restrained anger and resentment simmering beneath the surface. The Dusters had suffered greatly at the hands of the Techborn, and those wounds would not heal easily. If someone attacked her, I hoped I wouldn’t have to intervene to save her arrogant butt.

  In addition to all the hate, there was another strong emotional vibe going. Maybe that was the true reason Callista was pulling this stunt—people were staring.

  Duster girls were down-to-earth and sometimes very pretty. But Callista was… different. Walking through Cinder Hollow, male eyes were drawn to her. Her dark beauty was a magnet, drawing the gaze of every man we passed. The women were affected, too. They were sneering rather than gaping, but the impact was still a powerful one.

  The sneers and the leers mounted up, and I began to feel a twinge of something that didn’t quite have a name. Jealousy? Protectiveness? I shook my head.

  “I find this cluster of huts disappointing,” she told me.

  “How so?”

  “I was expecting more. It’s unbelievable Janson spent even a single Techborn life trying to conquer this embarrassing collection of sticks and rocks. Just look at the Tuskers that died! It will take us three seasons of breeding to replace them all.”

  “They mature that fast, do they?”

  She glanced at me. “Yes. One of our plans was to replace our armies with those stinking abominations. Unfortunately, that goal has never been achieved.”

  When we reached the central square, I saw Helga had mounted up and brought her forces—such as they were—together. She was standing guard, flanked by a group of armed Dusters. Her expression seemed rather worried.

  When I saw her ordering away other scowling men who approached with thunderbolts and shredders, I understood the situation. Maybe she feared someone would take a shot at Callista, the same as I did. Helga had fought hard for this peace, and she would do whatever it took to make it last.

  Callista pulled me aside in the town square. Her eyes glinted with intensity. “Dane, I have an offer for you,” she said. She was quiet and seductive. “Come back to the Arabella with me. Be my consort, my lover.”

  I was caught off guard by the unexpected proposal. A big part of me was tempted—drawn to her magnetic presence and the promise of power—but another part hesitated. Could I ever trust her intentions?

  “Uh… Callista...?” I began, searching for the right words. I felt the stares of the Dusters boring into my back, reminding me of the delicate balance we were trying to strike. My decision could have far-reaching consequences for the fragile peace we were building.

  Before I could respond, a commotion erupted in the square, drawing our attention back to the crowds. I turned to see Megan approaching. Her eyes were narrowed as she took in the scene before her. She looked from me to Callista—and understanding dawned on her face, as she boldly came to a stop right in front of us.

  “Dane, are you crazy?” Megan asked, with emotion. “Would you really choose this Techborn witch-queen over me?”

  Callista’s eyes flashed with indignation. “Who is this camp-follower?”

  The two women glared at each other. Like two cats in an alley. They were about to throw down and go for it. It would be a sorry ending indeed if two girls fighting over my bed brought the peace deal crashing down.

  “Ladies!” I said, “Ladies!”

  Both women turned to me, and they looked pissed. They wanted an answer: who was I interested in?

  I hesitated, considering my options. On one hand was Callista. She was a wildcat in the sack, and she offered power and influence. A chance to shape the future of both the Techborn and the Dusters. Most important of all, she had some nice curves.

  On the other hand, Megan’s honesty and sweetness were refreshing. She represented the rebels as a whole and the bond I’d forged with them. Their loyalty and camaraderie had sucked me into risking my life for this place. Without them, I’d have probably abandoned Haven-7 after finding Silas.

  Looking from one woman to the other, I felt torn between these two paths. Megan’s eyes bore into mine, searching for some sign of where my loyalties lay. Callista watched me with a cool, calculating gaze, her offer still hanging between us. She seemed to feel absolutely confident I’d choose her.

  Clearing my throat, I turned to Callista.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “But I can’t go with you. My place is here, with Megan and the Dusters.”

  Callista’s eyes flashed with anger. “You would choose this desert rat over me?” she asked, astounded.

  Megan made a bad sound. The kind of noise a cat might make. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared.

  “Hey, hey…” I said, shaking my head. “Let’s not stir up the pot. We just settled things. In order to spread this peace, to convince every Duster to adhere to this truce and stick to it, I’ll have to work with them. Hell, I might have to go on tour.”

  Megan was getting over the ‘desert rat’ insult. A smile played on her face now. Apparently, she’d thought I’d choose the glamorous, rich woman over her, too.

  Taking her cue, she stepped up and took my hand in hers. She gave my fingers a little squeeze, and I gently squeezed back.

  Callista’s face contorted with rage. She spun on her heel and marched out of Cinder Hollow, her dark cloak billowing behind her.

  “Perhaps I should never have agreed to this peace,” she spat over her shoulder. “You’ll regret this decision, Dane Tanner. Mark my words.”

  I watched her go, and I felt a touch of regret. Megan reached up her hand and tugged at my chin. I let her turn my head to look down at her.

  “You made the right choice,” she said.

  “I know,” I lied, and I swept her up in my arms.

  Megan totally bought this. She buried her face in my chest, and I could feel the tension draining from her body.

  “I’ll prove it tonight,” she whispered into my ear, after standing on tiptoes and leaning into me for a full-contact hug.

  We stood there for a long moment, holding each other tight as the sun began to set over the desert.

  Callista had mounted up on her walker and wheeled it around. She left Cinder Hollow, heading out into the desert.

  Helga came close and stared after Callista, appreciatively. “She has a brass pair of tits on her, I’ll tell you that,” she said. “It was all I could do to keep these boys from blasting her out of her boots.”

  “Whoa!” shouted a Duster from the walls about ten minutes later. “They’re packing up! They’re pulling out! We beat their asses!”

  “Is she really leaving?” Megan asked, her hand finding mine and squeezing tightly.

  I nodded, a smile spreading across my face. “I think so. Look.”

  We watched as Callista reached the edge of her forces, the Techborn soldiers standing at attention. She belted out an order, and they began to move, falling into formation behind her. They marched away from Cinder Hollow, heading back towards the distant shape of the Arabella spaceship.

  The Dusters on the wall erupted into cheers that rang out across the desert. The single bell in town rang over and over in victory.

  People hugged each other and cried like babies. It looked like the war was truly over. The Techborn were going home.

  Chapter 37

  The warmth of the sun on my face woke me up. Megan was nestled in my arms. For a moment, everything felt perfect. The Dusters had won their freedom, and their future looked bright.

  We made our way to the communal kitchen, where the smell of fresh bread and sizzling meat filled the air. Megan and I loaded our plates and found a quiet corner to sit, savoring each bite. People were all over town, working on damage-control and wrapping up wounds—but everyone still had to eat.

  We were chewing on the best rations Cinder Hollow had left when I decided I shouldn’t put off the inevitable any longer. I had to tell Megan the truth about where I came from and why I was here.

  “Hey girl,” I began, stirring up an egg with only a little grit in it. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  She looked up at me, her eyes searching mine. She was very bright and expectant.

  Uh-oh… Looked like she was hoping for some deep declaration. That wasn’t something any XCU man could offer.

  “What is it, Dane?”

  I took a deep breath. “When you first met me, you knew something was off, right?”

  “Yes…”

  “Well, that’s because I’m not from Haven-7. I’m from Earth. I work for an organization called XCU, and they sent me here to find a missing agent.”

  “XCU?” Megan’s fork clattered to her plate. Her eyes became squinty. “What’s that? …and what do you mean you’re from Earth? No one is from Earth. The last colonist who came here on the Arabella died at least ten years back.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure they did, but Earth can send out a man, now and then, to come check up on things.”

  I reached out to take her hand, but she pulled away.

  “So, you’re some kind of liar? What else have you been lying about? You really did do something with that witch, Callista, didn’t you?”

  “Hey… I wanted to tell you sooner, but I wasn’t able to. There was this whole war going on, see? I couldn’t blow my cover and let the Techborn know there was a new operative on Haven-7.”

  “Are you going back to Earth?” She asked this with a quaver in her voice.

  I winced. This was the hard part. “Yes. I have more missions to perform elsewhere.”

  Megan slammed her fork down. “Would have been nice if you’d mentioned this before we slept together.”

  “Wouldn’t you have joined me in my bed anyway?”

  Her arms were tightly crossed, now. Almost like she was hugging herself. “Probably…” she admitted. “But… I thought… maybe…”

  “I have to go back, Megan. It’s my job.”

  Suddenly, Megan’s hand shot out, and she slapped me a hard one. It caught me on the ear, rather than the cheek. Maybe she’d wanted to do it that way since it hurt more.

  I squinted and smiled at her. “I am sorry, for what it’s worth.”

  “You’re a real dick, you know that?”

  “Come on. I helped fix your planet, didn’t I? Wouldn’t you give me a five-star performance review?”

  “A what?”

  “Never mind…”

  Megan took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm herself. She studied the dirt between her boots. “I’m glad you came. I don’t know how you knew this colony was in trouble—but I think we did need your skills and your clear vision. You’ve been trying to prevent this war since the start, haven’t you? You were never really on the Duster side.”

  “I was on the side of peace.”

  “So… you killed the Techborn leader?”

  I shrugged. “That seemed like the most efficient way to achieve my goals.”

  She smiled and softened. I pulled her into my arms, holding her tight. She resisted for a few seconds, but then let me do it. Soon after that, we were kissing again.

  When I let her go, she didn’t even say goodbye. I didn’t, either. Goodbyes could be hard. They were one of the downers of this career path.

  I made my way through the dusty streets of Cinder Hollow until I found Silas’ hut. There was some fire damage, but it was still standing. Somehow, it didn’t look much worse than it had the first time I’d come here.

  The door was kicked in, but I knocked politely anyway. Someone stirred inside the dim interior.

  The old man looked up from where he sat, a knowing smile on his weathered face. “Dane?” he said softly, “I’ve been expecting you.”

  I nodded. “It’s time,” I said simply. “Time to go back.”

  “It might take a bit. They don’t always answer right away—and only God knows what time it is back on Earth right now.”

  My shoulders went up and down in a shrug. “Best to make the call now, then.”

  He reached for his skullweb, the intricate device glinting in the low light. He settled it over his head, his eyes closing as he focused his mind. I watched in fascination as the skullweb began to glow.

  Skullwebs were like magnifying glasses. They operated by enhancing the natural psionic powers of the individual who was attuned to them. Anyone could use one—but only the most talented could use them to reach out across the interstellar abyss and cause a matching object that was entangled with this one to react in turn.

  “Anything?” I asked, trying not to sound concerned.

  “The retrieval procedure is based on this communication,” the Preacher explained, even though he should have known this wasn’t my first rodeo. His eyes stayed shut as he concentrated. “The rift must come from Earth. There is no power or technology here on Haven-7 to create one. It would be far too expensive and take far too much power. All I can do is signal them that you’re ready.”

  “So… you’re not going to get an answer back? Just a rift opening up? What if it doesn’t come?”

  “Then we can try again tomorrow. Or later this evening.”

  I groaned. What a low rent place this was. Some planets were more advanced and had sophisticated ways to contact Earth. Not this one. We were at the level of messenger pigeons.

  My mouth opened again—but then I snapped it shut. Yapping at him wasn’t going to speed this up, so I waited.

  Finally, about a minute later, he opened his eyes. “It’s done.” He took off the skullweb and carefully tucked it away under some floorboards.

  “How long?”

  “How long do we wait? Twelve hours, I would say. If they don’t answer in that much time, we’ll call again.”

  “Twelve…?” I grunted and rubbed my face. This was going to be long and dull.

  I thought about going off to see Megan one last time. It would be stupid. I knew that—but I still thought about it.

  Soon, I rejected the idea. The rift was likely just to appear whenever someone got around to it on the other end. It wouldn’t be spinning and waiting around for long either. Just keeping it open was expensive—not as costly as transmitting someone through it—but still, costly.

  The Preacher started puttering around in his tiny kitchen area. The aroma of brewing tea filled the hut. He moved about slowly, his weathered hands preparing the cups with practiced movements. He handed me a steaming mug, and he fixed me with a knowing gaze.

  “Dane,” he said, “you should feel good about your time spent here. You did remarkably well.”

  “I got a lot of people killed.”

  “They were at each other’s throats. You brought the whole thing to a head, and then killed the bad egg who was driving the whole thing. In the aggregate, I’d wager you saved a thousand lives.”

  Shrugging, I sipped my tea.

  The Preacher settled into a chair across from me, his eyes glinting in the low light. “Tell me,” he said, “how did you know that killing Overlord Janson would end the war?”

  “Honestly, I wasn’t certain,” I admitted, “but I had a hunch. The overlord seemed to be at the center of it all—his cruelty, his thirst for power. I thought that if I could take him out, the tech-born might be more willing to negotiate. But that’s not the only thing.”

  “No?”

  “No. He was a real asshole, too. When I saw him up there, on the cliffs over town, sending Tuskers to rain onto our heads—I got pissed. That’s when I wanted to kill him—so I did.”

  The Preacher nodded. He laughed. “Good instincts,” he said.

  We waited, and we waited. There was no response at all from Earth. I began to wonder if the old man had screwed things up somehow—but I didn’t say that.

  When afternoon faded into dusk, and we were out of things to say, the old agent got out the skullweb again. He put it on and repeated his little ritual.

  Shit… I hoped that thing wasn’t broken. Or, what if he had a stroke, and he couldn’t do his parlor trick anymore? That would suck…

  The shadows lengthened as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a deep shade over the humble hut. The Preacher seemed to love sitting around all day, doing basic chores—just enough to keep himself alive. But that wasn’t the way I did things.

  Pacing back and forth, I contemplated things. What if the signal hadn’t gone through? What if the old man had somehow screwed it up? Or—more likely—what if no one back on Earth gave a shit? I couldn’t shake the feeling that my needs were pretty damned low on XCU’s priority list.

  I glanced at the Preacher, who sat calmly in his chair. “Do you think they got the message?”

  “Probably. Patience, Dane. These things take time.”

  My hand came up and ran through my hair for the tenth time this hour. “I know, I know. It’s just... For all we know, it could be midnight back on Earth. Or the weekend. Who knows what’s going on at XCU right now?”

  The Preacher chuckled, setting his tea down on the table. “You worry too much, my friend. XCU will come through. They always do.”

  I nodded, trying to take comfort in his words. But the restlessness wouldn’t leave me. I needed to do something, to take action. Suddenly, an idea struck me.

  “Hey,” I said. “Why don’t you come with me? When the rift comes, step through with me. You’ve got to be over the retirement age.”

  His eyes widened in surprise. “Me? Leave Haven-7?”

  “Yeah, why not?”

  He shook his head. “Haven-7 has become my home. I’ve spent too many years here, seen too much. I can’t just leave it all behind.”

  Blinking in surprise, I nodded. What was keeping him here? It wasn’t like he had a family, or anything. I guess he’d gone full native.

  “On Earth, I would be a lonely old man in an apartment. I’d be scared to go out into the streets to buy food.”