Companions in Chains by Melissa Olthoff

Author:Melissa Olthoff [Olthoff, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Seventh Seal Press
Published: 2024-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

Mudhen

In Transit

Shock held Ducky immobile, and she stared unblinking at the image of the ramshackle town until her eyes burned. Rebel. She’s there. She has to be.

That town must be the secondary target, the focus of the auxiliary mission the mysterious Blade sergeant had insisted on. With a harsh exhale, she swiped through the pre-brief, but there was very little detailed on the location short of its existence and an estimated population of several hundred people.

No.

Several hundred slaves. Captured mercs who couldn’t remember what they’d been, who they’d been. All their experience, all their training, forgotten, but why… A gasp ripped its way from her throat, all shards of glass and razor blades, as understanding slammed into her.

What better way to keep control of slaves than to create ones who didn’t realize they were slaves?

“What the hell could do that?”

It wasn’t until Patches answered her that Ducky realized she’d whispered that horrified thought out loud.

“The same thing that could mindfuck a handful of Goka into seeing Veetanho in place of Human pilots,” he said dryly. He scrubbed a tired hand over his face. “Plenty of things could do it. Hacked pinplants for one, drugs for another.”

“But you don’t think that’s it,” Mace said shrewdly, his eyes narrowed on the old man.

Patches shook his head. “No. We recovered data on what those Science Guild flunkies were doing at Rubired before somebody blew the place up.” He shot a pointed stare at the Chipmunks. Alvin clearly strove for innocence, going so far as to actually whistle an off-key tune while his brothers glared up at him. Patches shifted his gaze back to Ducky, and his glare softened. “Mindfucked is a right proper term for what they’re doing to folks.”

Ducky’s hands trembled, and she tightened them into fists to control the shaking. Mace sucked in a sharp breath, and she turned an anguished look on him. Oh god, Rebel. What the fuck did they do to her? Mace’s jaw tightened and his complexion paled, but he gave her a sharp shake of his head. She blew out a steadying breath and compartmentalized the shit out of her fear. Mace was right. Now wasn’t the time to lose it.

“However they’re doing it, they’ve got to be stopped and the technology destroyed before it spreads.” Pity briefly shone in Patches’ eyes before his gaze hardened. “No matter the cost.”

“And we’re the ones who have to stop them?” Quirk called out in a hard voice.

“Your company accepted the contract to assault the Borgar Consortium in their damn stronghold,” he pointed out acidly as he scratched the back of his neck. “You Wombat fuckers are just lucky we pay attention to shit like this and decided to jump on the grenade with you.”

Colonel Adams blew out a short breath. “Way to be diplomatic.”

“I ain’t here to coddle them.” Patches shrugged before he cast a sneer around the room. “They landed themselves in the shit. They don’t get to be picky about how we help them get back out.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.