“Not sorry,” Marcus replied.

  “Why should you be?” Apse said. “They would have killed you. All’s fair in love and war, right?”

  Marcus hadn’t heard the expression before. He wasn’t sure what it meant. “Sounds about right.”

  She smiled. “I’m glad you’re on our side now. But what happened to your arm?”

  Marcus didn’t answer, and he wasn’t sure why. Regret? Recriminations for taking the Sheriff’s life? The injury had almost felt like a badge of honor earlier. Now? It was the reason he was here. Somewhere he was pretty sure he didn’t want to be.

  They reached the truck, stopping at the back. Vikram hopped onto the liftgate to open the trailer. “Hop in.”

  “I’d rather ride up front,” Marcus said.

  Vikram looked to Apse for permission. The sergeant nodded and she closed the door again, leading him to the cab. He climbed in, taking the center seat between the two Custodians.

  Apse put the truck in motion, turning it around and heading across the clearing toward the edge of the city. The outer perimeter wall was visible a short distance ahead, slightly obscured by the mangled buildings on the way.

  “I asked you a question,” Apse said, looking hard at Marcus. “I expect you to answer it. How did you lose your arm?”

  “In a duel with Sheriff Duke,” he replied, deciding to spit it out. “I took his life. He took my arm.”

  Vikram huffed beside him. “Bullshit.”

  Marcus was already accustomed to not being believed, which kept him from getting too angry too quickly. “Why do you say that?” he hissed between his teeth.

  “A savage killed the Sheriff when Proxima’s best couldn’t?” she replied, shaking her head. “Not gonna happen.”

  “Sergeant Apse, why don’t you stop the truck?” Marcus suggested. “I’d like to show your corporal how savage I can be.” He glared at Vikram, whose face contorted at the response.

  “Yeah, why don’t we stop,” she growled back. “I’d like to put this savage in his place, Sarge.”

  Marcus’ eyes narrowed further, his hand slowly balling into a fist.

  “Stand down,” Apse snapped. “Both of you. We’re all Custodians and we have a job to do. I won’t stand for this asinine posturing.”

  Marcus unclenched his hand. Vikram lowered her head. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Marcus, if you’re telling the truth, and the fact that the Colonel had you ferried over from the Fort asap suggests to me you are, then color me impressed. I was starting to think killing the Sheriff was an impossible task. It’ll take a lot of weight off the Colonel’s shoulders not to have to worry about that asshole continuing to muck things up.”

  “I’m just hoping it earned me a new arm,” Marcus said.

  “I’m sure it earned you the best replacement we have in supply.”

  The truck reached the outer perimeter, approaching one of the large breaches in both the original and reinforced walls. Marcus spotted a pair of Custodians keeping guard on both sides of the gap. Passing between them, his eyes swept across the field of view, taking note of the damage to both the buildings and the roadway itself. The destruction wasn’t consistent with gunfire or explosives. It looked crushed and crumpled, as though it had been smashed by a large blunt object.

  “Sergeant, do you know what happened here?” Marcus asked.

  “War,” Apse replied simply.

  “Trife didn’t cause this damage.”

  “No,” she agreed. “You were part of Jade’s unit. Didn’t she tell you about the Relyeh?”

  “Only a little,” he replied. “I understand they’re the aliens who delivered the trife to Earth.”

  “It wasn’t only trife,” Apse said. “They were foot soldiers, sent to weaken the planet. There are other Relyeh. Other alien monsters. They caused a lot of the damage you see.”

  “Why did they attack Sanisco?”

  “Because the Sheriff was here, and he was as much a threat to them then as he is…” She paused, turning her head to smile at him. “...was to us.”

  “They’re smart enough to know who to go after?” Marcus asked.

  “Not on their own. Creatures like the trife and the xaxkluth are little more than killing machines. They need a more dominant mind to set them on the right path.”

  “Xaxkluth? Are those the big blobs I saw from the air? They’re massive.”

  “What’s left of them is what you saw. They’ve been decomposing for a while now. They were even bigger before. There’s evidence on the other side of town that they got into a fight with a goliath there, though we aren’t sure what precipitated it.”

  “Who won?”

  “The goliath. It’s gone. What’s left of the xaxkluth isn’t.”

  Marcus paused to picture what a fight between a goliath and a xaxkluth might look like. Impressive and terrifying. “What do the xaxkluth look like alive?”

  “Have you ever seen a tarantula?” Vikram asked.

  “The spider? In pictures.”

  “Have you ever seen an octopus?”

  “Yes. I’ve eaten them, too.”

  “Consider what you would get if you genetically spliced a tarantula with an octopus, made it fifteen meters in circumference, gave it a two-meter round mouth full of razor sharp teeth along with dozens of tentacles—each with their own mouths and teeth. And then make it ten times more horrifying than whatever you’re currently imagining.” When Marcus stared at Vikram, she smiled in response to his shocked expression. “Now, imagine the Sheriff killing more than one of those things...all...by...himself. That’s why when you say you killed him, I say it’s bullshit.”

  “Do these xaxkluth use guns?” Marcus asked.

  “Of course not.”

  “That’s why they couldn’t kill the Sheriff and I did.” Forgetting his feelings of regret, he felt renewed pleasure in having killed such an extraordinary man. “And if I ever encounter a xaxkluth, I’ll be sure to put it down too.”

  Vikram’s smile enlarged. “I’m sure you will.”

  The truck emerged from between a pair of tall buildings into the street where the tower stood. Seeing the guards lined up outside the entrance to the structure taking cover behind a pair of APCs transported Marcus back in time to his last days in the city. He had stormed out of the tower after yet another argument with his father, full of venom and eager to prove his worth. He remembered Pig had been on his way into the tower and had mocked him on his way past.

  “Grepping little baby,” the sergeant had said. “Maybe you need another spanking.”

  The other Scrappers had laughed at that, upsetting him further. He hadn’t planned on leaving Sanisco that day, but what other choice had he had after that? He had gone to the armory, taken some supplies and gotten the hell out of the city.

  That was then. Now, he was the man who had killed Sheriff Duke. Something even his father hadn’t been able to accomplish.

  His thoughts turned to Fairy. He didn’t feel attracted to her, not sexually anyway. But she had introduced a calm in him he had never felt before. He didn’t fully understand it, but he appreciated it all the same.

  Marcus broke out of his head as the truck came to a stop. There was no value in personal relationships out here, especially not in his current situation. Maybe once he had what he wanted.

  Maybe once he was free.

  He followed Corporal Vikram out through the passenger door, rejoining Apse in front of the truck. They walked up the steps to the front of the tower together, met there by a muscled man in a stiff uniform.

  Marcus did his best to stand at attention with Apse and Vikram. “Sir. Marcus reporting.”

  “At ease, Marcus,” the man rumbled. “I’m Major Bauer. The Colonel asked me to retrieve you the moment you arrived. He’s very eager to speak with you regarding Sheriff Duke.”

  Marcus let go of his posture, standing normally. He knew that wasn’t proper protocol, but he would only take the military bullshit so far. “I’m eager to talk to him too.”

  “Apse, Vikram, thank you for delivering Marcus here,” Bauer said. “You’re both dismissed.”

  “Yes, sir,” they replied sharply, saluting before turning on their heels and walking back toward the truck, neither sparing a look toward Marcus.

  “I know you aren’t really a soldier, Marcus,” Bauer said. “So I won’t bother trying to treat you like one. It’ll just frustrate both of us.” His eyes fell to his empty left sleeve. “You look like you could use a new arm.”

  “Yes, sir,” Marcus said. “I could definitely use a new arm.”

  “That’s up to the Colonel to decide. Good quality augments are hard to come by, you know. And skilled borgers are even more rare.”

  “I know.”

  “Just so you’re aware, we don’t have a borger up here in Sanisco. Your new arm will have to wait until the Colonel decides to send you back to Haven or until our work here is done.”

  Marcus did his best to hide his disappointment. It meant either he was stuck with the Custodians for longer than he wanted or he had to make do with one arm. “Understood. What work is that, Major?”

  “I’ll let the Colonel fill you in. Follow me.”

  He led Marcus into the tower lobby. It was just like Marcus remembered it, save for the fact that it had been riddled with bullets and pitted with explosions, the interior in considerably worse shape than the exterior. The marble floor still had blood stains on it, and by the color not all of the blood was human.

  “What happened here?” Marcus asked.

  “We don’t have all the details,” Bauer replied. “What we do know is Sheriff Duke came under attack by the Relyeh in here, and both sides did some serious damage.”

  “You can say that again.”

  They reached the elevators in the rear of the building. Bauer tapped on the controls and the door for the far cab slid open.

  “After you,” Bauer said, motioning Marcus onto the elevator.

  Marcus stepped in, looking around at the interior of the cab. It brought back so many memories.

  Most of them were bad.

  “The Colonel is waiting for you on forty-two,” Bauer said, entering the floor on the panel. “He thought you’d like to see King’s throne room again.”

  “Not really,” Marcus replied.

  Bauer stepped out of the elevator. “Too damn bad.”

  The doors slid closed. The cab started to ascend.

  Marcus’ heart began to race. Of all the places in Sanisco, of course the Colonel had chosen the throne room. It had to be a coincidence. There was no way the man could have known how much Marcus hated that room. He fought to calm himself. King was gone. Dead. Sheriff Duke had taken over the tower. He doubted the room even looked the same as it had the day he left. The only ghosts he would find there were the ones he conjured in his own mind.

  He steadied himself, almost back to normal by the time the elevator slowed to a stop and the doors slid open. He stepped out onto the open floor, eyes immediately drawn to the full-length windows that made up the southern wall of the room and what lay beyond them—the deck where his father’s helicopter had once landed and taken off. Not anymore. The deck was a mess of broken stone and bent rebar, damaged beyond repair.

  Marcus’ eyes shifted forward, to the stocky man standing just in front of the windows, looking out. He didn’t show any sign that he knew Marcus had arrived, his body remaining static.

  Marcus stepped out of the elevator. He had outdrawn the Sheriff. He had a gun on his hip. Why was he afraid of this man?

  “Colonel,” Marcus said loudly. “Marcus reporting, sir.”

  The man started laughing as he turned around.

  Marcus’ confidence wilted. His heart jammed itself into his throat. He froze, mouth open, unable to move.

  “King?” he whispered breathlessly.

  18

  Hayden

  “Fort Hood Control, this is Vazquez. Requesting permission to land, over.”

  “Vazquez, this is Fort Control,” a male voice answered. “We don’t have you on our ingress manifest. What’s your nine-fifty?”

  Vazquez glanced over at Hayden. He didn’t know what a ‘nine-fifty’ was, but he imagined it was probably a question of whether or not the Osprey was compromised. He made a mental note to get the full list of Centurion codes the next time he was in New Eden as he nodded to the pilot, suggesting she go ahead with her honest reply.

  “Standard load run, Control,” she replied. “The cadets at the Southern Reach are lousy shots, and they burn through ammo like nobody’s business.”

  “What’s the authorization code?” Control requested.

  “Echo Hotel Sierra One Niner One One.”

  Thomas glanced up at Hayden and nodded, confirming with the look on his face that she had just sold Hayden out. He smiled in return, looking out the forward viewport to the sprawling base they were approaching. Thomas had already explained they wouldn’t be landing amidst the barracks and operations buildings. Instead, they would angle toward a large hangar and installation hidden among the hilly terrain behind the base. The secret bunker had once housed one of humankind’s earliest starships, though Thomas didn’t know the name of the craft that had been built there. The underground complex had become Fort Hood after the ship had launched—the armor, mechs and other equipment on the surface base transferred to the more secure location, along with all of the soldiers stationed there.

  “Authorization confirmed, Vazquez,” Control said after a brief hesitation. “You’re cleared for landing. The hangar doors will open at your approach. Touch down in LZ Bravo Niner.”

  “Copy that, Control. Vazquez out.”

  She leaned forward to switch off the comm before glancing at Hayden again, her eyes peering out over the top of her sunglasses. “You’re screwed, Sheriff.”

  Hayden smiled. “We’ll see. You owe Thomas a thousand notes if you’re wrong.”

  “You two made bets?” Fairy asked, following their conversation from the jumpseat next to Zorro.

  “We did,” Thomas said.

  “And one of you bet against the Sheriff?”

  “Sorry, stowaway,” Vazquez said. “But Sheriff Duke here is going to get caught or killed, and if Rasha wants you for stealing the trike, you’ll be next.”

  “I didn’t steal it,” Fairy said, pausing. “Technically.”

  Hayden looked back to her. “You know what to do, right?”

  “Pozz,” she replied, picking up the unique affirmation from him. Hayden had already gone over her part in his plan, which he had adjusted to account for her presence. It was a little risky for her, but she had been eager for the chance to help him out. “I’m ready.”

  “Good,” Hayden replied. He took off his hat and passed it to her. “Can you hold this?”

  “Sure,” Fairy said, taking it.

  Hayden moved to the hatch opposite her, unlatching it and pulling it open. A stiff breeze began to pour into the craft, causing Zorro to shift nervously.

  “It’s okay, Z,” Fairy said, putting her hand on the horse’s neck to help calm him.

  “What are you doing?” Thomas asked, looking back over his shoulder.

  “It’s all part of my plan,” Hayden replied, leaning his head out of the hatch and looking up at the small winged ridge in the molded composite of the fuselage just above the hatch opening. Judging the distance he would have to leap to grab hold of it, he climbed up on the bottom lip of the hatch and turned around to face inward. It would help if he could trust Vazquez to bank slowly to starboard, but trusting her to not to bank to the left and drop him off the aircraft would be reaching too far.

  “Close up behind me,” he told Fairy.

  “But...but…” It was all she could get out before Hayden bent his knees and sprang upward. He didn’t see her mouth fall open, but he imagined it had as it was a good ten seconds before she closed the hatch behind him.

  The air buffeted him as he clung to the winged ridge, pulling himself up until he could quickly let go of the ridge with his one hand and catch his fingers in the crevice just to his left. Holding on with his left hand, he pushed himself up until he could get his right knee onto the ridge and then his foot. He leaped onto the top of the fuselage, laying there spreadeagled on his belly facing the tail, his fingers strong enough to dig finger holds into the aircraft’s composite skin. He held on against the buffeting, knowing he wouldn’t have a prayer if Vazquez decided to bank hard in either direction. He’d fall off like a leaf in the wind.

  He was counting on Thomas not to let that happen.

  Every second brought them a little closer to the Custodian base. Whatever Vazquez thought he was doing up here and knowing she could end it all with a split second decision, she kept the aircraft flying level and steady.

  Hayden squinted to look into the wind, able to see the hills drawing nearer, the hangar Vazquez and Thomas both said was there invisible to the naked eye.

  Until it wasn’t.

  The ground began to move less than a minute later, the earth parting east and west, a dark crack appearing in the center. It expanded outward, daylight streaming into the hole to reveal a huge number of mechs and bots inside. Painted letters and numbers became visible along the floor, landing zone B-9, where they were headed, close to the back and center of the hangar.

  Hayden held fast to the outside of the Osprey as it neared the hangar, slowing gradually as Thomas no doubt threatened Vazquez to keep the landing relatively smooth and steady. Or else. Hayden knew she could kill him if she was willing to sacrifice herself in the process. All she needed to do was bank hard and risk Thomas shooting her, or failing that, crashing the tiltrotor craft into the ground. But frankly, he believed she had too much to lose to go that far. A wife and child on Proxima. He empathized with her desire to see them again.

  The Osprey slowed to a crawl when it was almost over the hangar, it’s engine nacelles, with their huge rotors, shifting gradually from horizontal to vertical. Forward velocity reached zero, leaving the craft hovering a dozen meters off the hangar floor. It descended straight down at an ever-decreasing rate of speed.