“Yeah.”

  Rasha leaned forward, folding his arms on the desk. “I’m sorry, Marcus, but I fail to understand how Sheriff Duke managed to kill some of our best operatives and a synthetic, but he didn’t manage to kill you.”

  “I guess I’m stronger than they were,” Marcus replied.

  Rasha laughed. “It’s that simple, Marcus?”

  Marcus hesitated. He didn’t get the impression Rasha knew what had really happened. At the same time, continuing to claim that he had survived when the others hadn’t based solely on skill would be hard for him to believe too, especially considering the shape the medi-bot had determined he was in.

  It was a good thing his father had also taught him how to be a damn good liar.

  “No, of course not,” Marcus said. “The truth is, it was one part skill, two parts luck.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “We set up a trap for the Sheriff after the Grand Custodian told Jade about Alice. She used some command to get her under control and then changed the command. Then Alice fed misinformation to Duke to reel him in. The only trouble was, he figured out Alice was compromised but he played along until he sprung a trap of his own.”

  “How did he know she was compromised?”

  “I have no idea. We certainly didn’t know it at the time. Anyway, Jade decided to dangle Ruger as bait, and then she was going to ambush the Sheriff once he confronted that idiot.”

  “By idiot, you mean Ruger?”

  Marcus nodded. “Don’t you think so?”

  “He’s had his uses.”

  “Yeah, like bait. Except the Sheriff was onto us, and it turned out he was carrying this strange gun. It was nothing like anything I’ve ever seen before. That’s what took my arm.”

  “He killed Jade with it?”

  “Yeah. She and Travis were hiding in one of the rooms near where they placed Ruger. He went in there first and shot them. Alice went after him when he did, but he took her out too.”

  “With the same weapon?”

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t there. Just listening to their reports over the comms.”

  “Where were you during all of this?”

  “Jade had me stationed near the exit, just in case Duke got away from them. She didn’t trust me enough to involve me in the main plan. She only picked me up a few days before that.”

  “From the oil rig. Harvest.”

  “That’s right. How did you know?”

  “The Colonel told me about it, and what Jade had told him about you. The fact that the Colonel vouched for you is the only reason you’re here talking to me, Marcus.”

  Marcus hadn’t realized Rasha and the Colonel would be in touch, especially since the switchboard in Houston seemed to be compromised.

  “Only nice things, I hope.”

  “He said you might have your uses. So you were positioned away from the action?”

  “Near the exit. The Sheriff came out that way. He got the drop on me too, but I challenged him to a duel before he could kill me. I told him he owed me because he killed my father.”

  “Your father?”

  “King. From Sanisco.”

  “I see. That explains some of your skillset. So you fought him. You shot him. He shot you. But you didn’t confirm the kill.”

  “I was in bad shape and before I left Ruger came out with his militia. He didn’t look too happy. I guess that’s what happened to the Reach. I think maybe Ruger didn’t appreciate being used as bait.”

  “That’s understandable.”

  Marcus smiled. “Yeah.”

  Rasha fell silent as he leaned back in his chair. He stared at Marcus long enough for Marcus to begin to get uncomfortable. He wasn’t convinced the Lieutenant Colonel had bought the story. What did he already know?

  “So,” Rasha said at last. “You think Ruger turned on us?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I think,” Marcus replied.

  “And you came here because you thought we should know.”

  “And because I was dying.”

  “I commend you, Marcus,” Rasha said. “You’re smart for a savage.”

  “Uh, thanks. I guess.”

  Rasha tapped on the tablet, activating the screen. He tapped on it again. The door to his office opened and a pair of Custodians in combat armor filed in. Marcus looked at them over his shoulder, a sinking feeling in his stomach. Where had he slipped up?

  He forced himself to stay calm, his expression confident. “Did I give you what you needed?” he asked.

  “You did,” Rasha replied.

  “So I get an augment? I get to live?”

  “There’s a helicopter waiting outside,” Rasha said. “You’re being transferred.”

  “To where?” Marcus asked. “What about my arm?”

  “They’ll take care of your arm at your destination. Li and Trask will escort you to the chopper.”

  “I don’t understand,” Marcus said.

  “The Grand Custodian instructed me to send you to the Colonel immediately, assuming your story checked out. He said the Colonel can use someone like you. You have your orders. You’re dismissed, Marcus.”

  Marcus didn’t move right away. Use someone like you. The words stuck in his head. That’s what the Custodians did. They used people. He didn’t like it.

  “Is there a problem?” Rasha asked.

  He also didn’t have a choice. He wasn’t dying anymore, but he still needed a new arm. He was sure he would have a chance to get away from these assholes sooner or later.

  “No, sir,” he replied, getting to his feet. He offered his best salute and then let the two guards lead him out the door.

  At least he had gotten out alive. So far.

  9

  Hayden

  He was running in circles.

  At least, that’s how it felt to Hayden as he guided Zorro through the streets of Houston, making his way back to the old university that had been converted into barracks for Ruger’s militia.

  Ruger had likely passed him on the road days earlier, returning to his city by modbox after meeting with the Governors of the different settlements between Houston and Arcadia and sharing a meal with Cassius and Jackie. It would have been significantly faster for Hayden to drive back with Ruger instead of riding his horse. The problem was that he had no idea how far his travels would take him, and since Marcus had stolen the hovertrike, he’d needed another ride that wouldn’t run out of fuel or battery power. And that was Zorro, even if he couldn’t cover the same amount of ground as the hovertrike could in one day.

  He had ridden Zorro hard over the last ten days, but rather than come out of it exhausted, the horse was champing at the bit to stretch out his legs and did so every time Hayden let out his reins. Pausing at each of the settlements along the way had given both Hayden and Zorro time to rest and recover, and having brought a changed Ruger through the towns had made him a welcome guest.

  Ruger’s militia was on the field when he arrived, Sergeant Brink’s sharp voice sending them through morning exercises. She stood at the front of the organized lines of fighters, arms on her hips, a big smile on her face.

  She surprised Hayden, noticing his approach despite her focus on the men and women in front of her. She went over to one of the fighters at the front of the column, and he took over, shouting commands as she broke for Hayden at an easy run.

  “Sheriff Duke,” she said, her huge smile remaining as she came to a stop in front of Zorro. “The Governor said you’d be back along this way with your horse.” She reached out gingerly toward Zorro. “He doesn’t bite, does he?”

  “Only if you’re a threat,” Hayden replied. “He’s a good judge of character.”

  Brink kept her hand close to Zorro, letting him make the first move. He nuzzled her open palm, requesting a scratch. She complied, scratching his chin whiskers.

  “That means I won’t have to kill you,” Hayden joked.

  Brink laughed. “I appreciate that, Sheriff.”

  “Is Ruger here?” Hayden asked.

  “Negative. He took a platoon into the settled area north of here with a truckload of clothes shipped over from the factories.”

  “You’re still getting shipments?” Hayden said. “I thought the factories were under Custodian control.”

  “From what Ruger tells me, they provided the tech to get the factories running again, but they’re so keen on keeping themselves behind the scenes they let our people run things. I guess it’s possible they’ll change their minds and go after the mills, but I’m not sure coming back to the Southern Reach is a priority right now.”

  “What makes you say that?” Hayden asked.

  “Thomas,” Brink replied.

  “The Operator?” Ruger and his people had captured Thomas when they invaded the lab that served as the Centurion’s base. “He decided to talk?”

  “I don’t know if I’d use the word decided,” Brink said. “Ruger can be persuasive when he needs to be.”

  Hayden glowered at the comment. He didn’t approve of torture, having been subjected to it himself. “He should have waited for me to have a chat with Thomas.”

  “Ruger doesn’t tend to have a lot of patience, Sheriff. Especially with prisoners of war.”

  Hayden bit his tongue instead of arguing. There was nothing he could do about it now anyway. “I need to speak to him.”

  Brink nodded. “Ruger told me to give you anything you asked for.” She motioned to the north. “It’s this way.”

  Hayden remained astride Zorro, following Brink at a trot while she jogged slightly ahead. They crossed the field to one of the buildings.

  “I don’t think he’ll fit in the elevator,” Brink said, grinning as she gestured at Zorro.

  Hayden dismounted, hitching Zorro to one of the portico columns before trailing Brink into the building. They entered the elevator together, taking it down into the subterranean research facility now serving as barracks.

  “What about the barracks computers?” Hayden asked as they walked down the narrow corridor. He hadn’t seen any of the machines yet, but since the bunker was once a lab, they had to be here.

  “I’m pretty sure they got pulled out when Lieutenant Stacker showed up, but I wasn’t here from the beginning. I came in on a caravan from Natch City about four months ago. Closer to five now, I guess.” She shook her head. “I thought we were all just fighting to make a better world for everybody. The shit Ruger’s told me since then? It would be more frightening if you weren’t here. I don’t want to be under the thumb of some group of tyrants from another planet.”

  “Me neither,” Hayden agreed.

  “They hadn’t given us marching orders before you showed up,” Brink continued. “I figured we’d be mostly working defense, protecting the factories and that kind of stuff. Maybe guarding the settlements as we entered them. I sure as hell didn’t sign up to kill farmers. I mean, I knew Ruger was threatening them to bring them in line, but I figured that was better than having to kill them.”

  “Ruger was killing people,” Hayden informed her. “At least a dozen farmers back east. I’m sure there were more.”

  Brink’s face paled at the comment. She stammered for a moment before responding. “I’m sure he had a good reason. He’s taken care of us. Given us food, shelter, jobs, a place to belong. I didn’t think he was…” She trailed off.

  “What? A murderer?” Hayden didn’t want to argue the point with her, but the fact remained. Ruger might have given some number of people shelter and purpose, but he had killed innocents in the process.

  “I didn’t know,” she said, hanging her head.

  “I’m glad to hear that, Sergeant.” Deep down, Ruger was a ruthless bastard, but what was done was done. They were on the same side.

  For now.

  Brink took Hayden to a guarded room off to the side of the main facility. The guard wore full Centurion combat armor, including helmet. He came to attention as they approached.

  “Corporal Todd,” Brink said. “This is Sheriff Duke.”

  Todd lost his stiff composure, becoming excited and animated. “Really?” he said. “I’ve heard all the stories. Are they really true?”

  “Todd!” Brink barked.

  He stiffened up again. “Sorry, ma’am.”

  Hayden could see Todd’s eyes behind his visor, still gushing with reverence. The attention embarrassed him, and he reached up to lower his hat further over his face.

  “I’ll speak to him alone,” Hayden told Brink.

  “Are you sure, Sheriff? He’s…” Brink trailed off, laughing softly. “I almost forgot who you are.”

  She tapped on the panel next to the door to unlock it, and then pulled it open. Hayden stepped through it.

  “You can leave it open,” Hayden said when she went to close the door behind him. His alliance with Ruger was still too tenuous to accept getting locked into a room behind a steel door.

  “Yes, sir,” Brink replied, backing away.

  Hayden kept looking at her until she took Corporal Todd and retreated from the area.

  “Sheriff Duke,” Thomas said. “In the flesh.”

  Hayden looked back at the Operator. They had left him in his black uniform, sans shoes. A small mattress rested in the corner, an empty food tray nearby. The smell of urine bit at his nose. The room wasn’t meant to be a prison. There was no toilet, and he couldn’t go outside.

  “Sorry about the smell,” Thomas said. “They only walk me to the latrine once a day. Savages can’t even treat me like a human being.” He paused a moment, cocking his head as he looked harder at Hayden. “I thought you’d be bigger. More muscle than lean.”

  Hayden ignored the Operator’s comment. “I hear you spoke to Ruger,” he said, noticing then that Thomas’ hands were bandaged.

  “Why did you throw in with that asshole, Sheriff? After you were so keen on killing him?”

  “It was either him or you, and it wasn’t going to be you. I prioritized the threats. That’s all.”

  “Understood. I already told Ruger what he thinks I know. If you can get me out of here, I’ll tell you the rest.”

  “Turning on the Custodians?”

  “Not really. I can’t give you all that much because I don’t know all of it. None of us do. The Grand Custodian keeps it that way on purpose. Separation of concerns. That’s what he calls it.”

  Hayden nodded. He understood how the different factions on Proxima worked. The Trust was the most secretive of them all, and the Custodians had split off from the Trust. When Thomas said he didn’t know a whole lot, Hayden believed him.

  “Ruger made you call home to tell them I’m dead. If I get you out of here, I have no doubt you’re going to make a run back there to set the story straight. That can’t happen. I kind of like being dead for now.”

  “It’ll take me weeks to get back there,” Thomas said. “And you have control of the switchboard for the region. I don’t expect you’ll wait that long to make your move.”

  “I don’t intend to,” Hayden replied. “But you never know. That depends on what I learn.”

  Thomas seemed to consider what to say next. “I’ll tell you what, Sheriff. You let me go now, and I promise I won’t go back there for a few months. There isn’t much difference to them whether I’m your prisoner or AWOL.” He paused, looking Hayden in the eye. “Maybe I’ll go over to Arcadia and become a farmer. Spend some quality time with Jashon.” He smiled when Hayden raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I know she’s there. I’ve known it was her since the Spider first got eyes on her. I didn’t turn her in. She wanted out, she got out. And I’m not a snitch. I give you my word, Sheriff. I can’t live like this, a prisoner of savages.”

  “You should stop calling them that,” Hayden said. “They might treat you a little better.”

  “You know that’s what they are, Sheriff. You’ve seen it, I’m sure. You get rid of the trife and what happens? Do they all come together and start rebuilding? Or do they start killing one another?”

  “There’s a mix of both out there. Some bad apples, but lots of good folks. They’ve been living in fear for a long time. It’s a hard habit to break. It takes time. And they aren’t getting any help from the people who left them behind.”

  Thomas laughed. “They left us behind too. Stranded us here as soon as their fortunes changed. Bastards. I have no love for Proxima these days either, Sheriff.”

  Hayden considered Thomas for a moment. He couldn’t in good conscience let Thomas rot in here until Ruger decided to come back and torture him again. Even if the Operator wasn’t as good as his word.

  “All right,” he said. “You tell me what you know, you’ll leave this place with me.”

  “Can you get me boots, too?”

  Hayden smiled. “Pozz. I’ll get you boots.”

  “Deal,” Thomas said, pausing a moment to gather his thoughts. “So, I know the Grand Custodian set things in motion in the Southern Reach with an eye toward hitting New Eden within a year or two. From there, a few more years to build some ships followed by an attack on Proxima. I think you know about that already?”

  Hayden shook his head. He knew about the Custodian’s designs for Earth. Their desire to attack Proxima was news to him. “Part of it. How do you propose to build ships here? We’ve got a long way to go to restore manufacturing to that degree.”

  “We have all the engineering designs. We’re recruiting all over the area for help. It’s just a matter of scale and time.”

  “What about energy? I’m not an engineer myself, but I know it takes a lot of it to produce a spacecraft.”

  “We’ve been salvaging reactors from around the planet for nearly a hundred years. And we found a big prize in Natch City.”

  “The crystal?”

  Thomas nodded. “An Axon battery.”

  “It’s a QDM?”

  “A Quantum Dimensional Modulator? No. Nowhere near as much juice in it. But if it’s even half-charged it can power the most energy intensive processes for a couple hundred years.”

  “But you told Ruger you didn’t think the Southern Reach was a priority right now, including the factories. Why? What changed?”