She ignored me, focused on her weapon. I slammed my hand against the bars, making her jump.

  “Megan! Talk to me, damn it!”

  The girl finally looked at me, her expression grim. “We’re under attack. The Techborn asked for… too much. Negotiations fell apart. I think… I think we’re joining the rebels, Tanner.”

  “The rebels?”

  I saw a single glistening tear on her cheek. “We wanted to stay out of the war. We didn’t even take a vote, or anything. We just refused them—and the shooting started. People are running off—”

  “Let me out of here,” I said, gripping the bars of the cage. “I can help.”

  Megan shook her head. “No way. For all I know, you’re scouting for them.”

  I gritted my teeth. “I’m not spying for anyone. I’m just as screwed as you are if they catch me. Don’t leave me unarmed!”

  She hesitated, looking torn. Another volley of shredder fire made the decision for her.

  “Fine,” she snapped. “But if you are working for them, I’ll put a bullet in you myself.”

  “Just give me my damn knife,” I said. “I need something to defend myself with.”

  Megan reached up to a hook on the wall and took down my buzzblade. She tossed it on the floorboards near the cage, just out of reach. Then, she ran off.

  I stretched my arm through the bars, straining to grab it. My fingertips brushed the hilt. “Come on, come on…”

  It’s funny how your limbs can stretch farther than you think they can—if you really need them to. I finally snagged it, pulling it back into the cage with me. The familiar weight of the knife in my hand was a comfort. I flicked it on, feeling the vibration as the blade hummed to life.

  The corners of the cage were held together with steel cables. I applied the knife and sparks flew.

  My knife wasn’t made with colonial steel. This baby was Earth-forged, high tech. Top of the line. The blade was vibrating so fast it was a blur. The metal turned red hot, then white. Molten drops sizzled on the floor.

  Sweat beaded on my forehead. Every second counted. The cables were thin and old—they all gave way in less than a minute. One wall of the cage fell with a crash. I climbed out like a tiger escaping the zoo.

  I snuck out of the jailhouse into chaos. Shredder fire ripped through the air. I could hear the slugs as they zipped past. Spotting the enemy and counting heads, I knew straight-off this fight was hopeless.

  The Techborn guys looked like pros, and they probably outnumbered the townies. Worse, I could see the greenish glow of nightgear. They could see in the dark.

  Megan had taken cover behind an old cargo module, popping up to return fire in the direction of the road. I could see lights out there, movement. I ducked behind the jailhouse wall. I skirted the building until I came up behind Megan.

  She whirled around, alarmed. I was a big, stealthy guy with a buzzblade in my hand. She swung her rifle around, but yelped in fear when I swatted it out of her hands. Then, she recognized me.

  “This is it, then?” she whispered. “Why didn’t you just murder me the first time?”

  “‘Cause I hadn’t heard you talk, yet. Come on—and bring your gun.”

  I turned away. She hesitated, but then grabbed the rifle and followed. I took her away from town, down toward the rickety docks and the quiet, lapping lake.

  “I don’t want to leave my town.”

  “You’re not going to win a stand-up fight against these guys. We’ve got to pull out before they encircle your town. Later on, you can harass them at range.”

  “That’s the coward’s way.”

  I shrugged. “It’s your funeral. I’m leaving.”

  She cursed at my back—but then, she followed. I smiled. No one liked being left alone to die.

  The Techborn had a plan. They were moving to surround the town, forming a half-circle with the lake to the back. Some people were already getting into boats, casting off—but that wasn’t going too well. I saw a guy slump over his oars, shot in the back before he’d made it a hundred yards.

  Slipping around another building, we came up behind two Techborn. They were my first.

  The snipers crouched in the shadows, their eyes hidden behind glowing night vision goggles. They scanned the dark surface of Fishjumper Lake, searching for targets. Flashes of muzzle fire lit the night as they coldly gunned down helpless civilians trying to escape in small boats. Screams of terror and pain carried across the water.

  I charged them—because I had to. At the last second, they spun to face me. They dropped their thunderbolts and unholstered their shredders, raising them to aim at me.

  I didn’t hesitate. I lunged at the first one, my blade slicing through his goggles and his skull like butter. Sparks flew when the blade hit a buckle. He flopped back, gushing dark blood.

  The other one fired, large slugs thumping into the jailhouse wall behind me. I dove to the side, rolling behind a stack of crates. Wood splintered as he stitched a line of fire across my cover.

  I risked a peek around the edge. He was advancing, finger tight on the trigger. I had to time this just right.

  I counted his steps. Waited until he was almost on top of me. Then I exploded from cover, my blade flashing.

  I took his hand off at the wrist. The shredder clattered to the ground. He screamed, staring at the spurting stump in disbelief. I buried my blade in his chest, feeling it punch through armor and bone. Hot blood sprayed my face.

  He was still making noise, so I silenced him with a slash across the throat. He went down gurgling, blood pooling around his head.

  Megan had watched all this, and she seemed stunned. “You just slaughtered those two… I’ve never seen a man fight like that.”

  I stood there panting, adrenaline surging through my veins. Two down—but I couldn’t kill them all. It was time to get out of here.

  “Come on,” I said, and she followed me. I noticed she was right on my tail now and no longer cursing me every step of the way. Apparently, I’d impressed her.

  The two dead men created a hole in the enemy line. We went through it and got behind their shrinking cordon.

  Some of the buildings were on fire, now. The scene was chaotic. Flying metal from shredders filled the air. People screamed and ran for cover.

  At the edge of town, we found Eli, the lawman. He was down in the dirt, blood pooling around him. His shredder lay beside him, just out of reach.

  I didn’t hesitate. I ran to him, scooping up the fallen weapon. It was still warm from firing. I checked the magazine. Half full. Better than nothing.

  Turning back toward town, I reconsidered my retreat. I could kill a lot of these fuckers…

  The Techborn were marching into Fishjumper Lake like they owned the place, now. In the ratty central square, a squad of them stood, all gleaming metal and cold eyes.

  They weren’t alone, either. With them were creatures I’d never seen before. Huge, hulking beasts with leathery skin and bony protrusions.

  Recalling the long, boring briefings I knew what I was looking at. Tuskers, they were called. Human-alien hybrids. The Techborn bred them as shock-troops and used them like hounds to hunt down escaped prisoners.

  But it was a shock to see how big they were in person. Never had a man grown to such a size naturally. They reminded me of legends about trolls, or ogres…

  Genetically engineered soldiers, that’s what they were. Bred for war and guard duty.

  These hulking creatures had a master. He was all in black armor. He had a face like carved stone, all hard angles and sharp edges.

  “That’s Commandant Thorne Hask,” Megan whispered to me. “The leader of this invasion. A butcher when he doesn’t get his way.”

  I heard a click, and looked toward her.

  Megan was aiming carefully. Her intent was clear. She was going to nail Hask—I could hardly blame her for wanting to do that.

  We watched as they started shaking down the town. Kicking in doors, dragging people out into the street. They were rounding up prisoners, I realized. Probably to work in their sludge tanks.

  Anger boiled up inside me. These were innocent people. Farmers, traders, families. They didn’t deserve this.

  Megan’s thunderbolt cracked. It was incredibly loud, being close to my ear at the time.

  Hask spun around, hitting the dirt. He got up again, to his knees. Megan was going for another shot, but the troops were scrambling. They were going to find us real soon.

  I snatched the rifle out of her hands and ran off into the night. Again, Megan was left chasing after me, cursing at me.

  We reached the tree line and plunged into what passed for a forest on Haven-7. Branches whipped at my face as I ran. My lungs burned with the effort.

  A small fist thudded into my ear. It hurt, but not too much.

  “You didn’t let me kill him!”

  “I know that kind,” I told her. “If you’d finished him, his troops would have killed everyone in the town. Be glad he was wearing armor.”

  “Give me my rifle back! Again!”

  I considered it. “Okay, but don’t engage enemy forces without an order from me.”

  “Fuck you!”

  Nope. Not the attitude I was hoping for. She was too emotional about this, and she was going to get us both killed. I held onto her rifle and ran off into the trees, circling around the lake. She crashed after me, hissing bad words.

  A roar cut her off. Two Tuskers came crashing through the trees, heading right for us. Hask must have sent them to flush us out.

  Megan tore her rifle from my hands, and I let her. She swung it up to her shoulder, sighting on the lead Tusker. She fired and its head exploded in a spray of bone and gore.

  But then, the second one was in close. It had charged, moving with the speed of a running hound. I raised my shredder, peppering the monster with slugs. It stumbled but kept coming, roaring in rage.

  It slammed into Megan like a freight train, knocking her to the ground. Her rifle went flying. The Tusker wrapped one meaty clawed hand around her throat, choking the life out of her.

  I leaped onto the creature’s back, buzzblade in hand. It bucked and thrashed, trying to throw me off.

  I hung on tight, bringing my blade around on its neck. Once, twice, three times. Hot blood sprayed my face as I sawed through muscle and bone.

  The Tusker gurgled and went limp, toppling to the side. I rolled off the stinking corpse, panting for breath.

  Megan lay in the dirt, gasping. I knelt beside her, checking for injuries.

  “You okay?”

  She nodded, rubbing her bruised throat. “I’ll live. Thanks for the save.”

  I slung my shredder over my shoulder and hauled Megan to her feet. She swayed, unsteady. She’d lost some blood. I had to get her out of here.

  She whistled, a low long sound that resembled some kind of nightbird.

  “Hush, are you crazy?” I demanded, slapping a crusty hand over her mouth. She struggled, but couldn’t break my grip.

  Something came from around the lake. It was big, and it was noisy, pushing through the trees and… clanking?

  It was her walker. I let go of her, and she spat on the ground. “You got tusker blood in my mouth. Disgusting.”

  “Sorry…”

  The walker stood near, shifting restlessly. I half-carried, half-dragged her over to it. The thing buzzed as we approached, eyeing me warily.

  “Easy,” I said. “I’m a friend.”

  I heaved Megan onto the walker’s back. Whatever simple AI the thing had running its brain allowed this. I climbed up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her steady.

  Megan took the reins. “Hold on,” she said. “This is going to be a bumpy ride.”

  She dug her heels into the walker’s sides. It leaped forward, galloping away from the carnage. We rode in the dark for an hour, not daring to turn on the walker’s headlights. Megan’s body pressed up against my chest with every bouncing step. It was nice, but I tried not to think about it. This wasn’t the time.

  We had to find shelter and get her patched up. I scanned the horizon, looking for somewhere to hide.

  I saw a rocky outcropping jutting up from the desert floor. It would have to do.

  I pointed out the spot. Megan steered the walker towards it, urging more speed. The wind whipped at my face.

  We reached the rocks, and she reined the walker to a stop. I slid off its back, pulling Megan with me. She grunted in pain when I softly lowered her to the ground.

  Propping her up against a boulder, I dared turn on a light to check her wounds. Her neck was bruised up, but the blood was from a gash in her thigh. I pulled her pants off, revealing an unsurprisingly tight set of tanned legs.

  She didn’t complain about this, she knew she could use some help right now. I figured that, by this time, she’d started trusting me.

  I ripped strips from the bottom of my shirt, using them to bind her injuries. It wasn’t pretty, but it would have to do for now.

  “Dane?” she said, watching me work. “Where’d you learn to do medical stuff?”

  Naturally, I’d undergone a number of trainings in survival and battlefield first aid. You couldn’t go around wandering the cosmos for long without getting injured.

  “My mom was a medicine woman.”

  She laughed. “What a lie. I don’t know what to believe from you.”

  I didn’t answer, and she didn’t press the point.

  Taking a squirt of wine from a leather flagon that I’d found on her saddlebags, I offered her some. She took it as well.

  Finally, she spoke again. “I could have finished Hask. You should have let me.”

  “Maybe…”

  I settled down beside her, my back against the same rock. A warm rock can feel good if you’re tired enough. I let Eli’s shredder rest on my knees. There were only a few rounds left in it, but that was better than nothing.

  I let my eyes scan the night, watching for trouble.

  We’d gotten away, but just barely. Hask was still out there. I had a hunch he was still hunting us. A guy who wore fancy armor and liked to line up his men to show them off—that kind of guy was prideful.

  And I was pretty sure we’d stung his pride. He probably wouldn’t stop until he had our heads on pikes.

  Chapter 9

  It was a long night. After a brief rest, during which I slept for about twenty minutes, I jerked awake when some tiny sound jolted my already frazzled nerves.

  I scanned the alien forest, my shredder at the ready.

  The trees were unlike anything I’d ever seen back on Earth. Twisted trunks and gnarled branches, leaves in shades of purple and blue. The air was thick with strange scents - musty, sweet, and something else I couldn’t quite place.

  “This place isn’t safe,” Megan said. “They can see us up here.”

  “Where, then?”

  Megan led the way to a better spot to camp sometime after midnight. Her steps sure and silent, but she was limping a bit. She knew these woods, how the land was shaped and what it hid before we topped a rise. I followed close behind to keep track of her. Sometimes it was so dark we stumbled. Starlight isn’t much to go by, and Haven-7 had no significant moons.

  The walker followed us, better able to deal with the steep terrain when we weren’t riding it.

  We found a spot to make camp in a deep gully, hidden from view. The walls rose up on either side, providing cover. Megan said it was safe, that the floods only came in the rainy season.

  I gathered some dry brush and started a small fire. We huddled close, speaking in whispers.

  Megan pulled out a flask, poured a little on her injuries, then took a swig and passed it to me. This was stronger stuff than the wine. The liquor burned going down, but it helped ease the tension in my muscles.

  She looked at me, her eyes glinting in the firelight. “I’m a rebel now,” she said, “and so are you.”

  I shrugged noncommittally. I didn’t want to join sides in a civil war. That wasn’t what I was here for.

  “You should join us, you know,” she said, speaking more urgently. “The Dusters. We could use a man like you.”

  I shook my head. “I helped out tonight when bad things were happening, but I need to find the Preacher. That’s all.”

  Megan snorted. “You think Silas has all the answers? He’s just an old man with big ideas. None of them worked out—not that I can see.”

  “I’ll talk to him, then I’ll decide what to do next.”

  She leaned back, taking another pull from the flask. “Suit yourself. But sooner or later, you’ll have to choose. There’s no staying neutral on Haven-7. My village was trying to do just that—no one cared.”

  I didn’t reply. I just stared into the flames, lost in thought. Megan was right. She had just been sucked up in the worst kind of war, the kind where neighbors take up arms against one another.

  But it wasn’t my problem. I was to find a lost XCU agent, and to get some answers without getting killed in the process.

  The fire had burned down to embers by the time I woke with a start. I felt a sharp pain in my side. Megan had just kicked me. Hard.

  I blinked up at her, trying to get my bearings. She was standing over me, naked as the day she was born. The only thing she had on was the crude bandage I’d tied around her thigh.

  The dim light cast shadows across her lean, muscular frame.

  “Did you touch me while I was out?” she demanded dangerously.

  I sat up, rubbing my ribs where her foot had connected. “If I had, you’d know it.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you try? Am I not good enough for you?”

  I almost laughed at the absurdity of the question. Megan was a fierce, beautiful woman. Any man would be lucky to have her. But I wasn’t about to take advantage of her in her sleep.

  “For god’s sake, girl,” I said, getting to my feet. “Relax. I’m not one of your Techborn.”

  She scoffed. “What are you, then? Some kind of celibate like the Preacher?”

  This time I did laugh. “Hardly. I just have a little thing called respect.”

  Megan looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. Maybe “respect” was a foreign concept on Haven-7.