Redemption's Shadow by Rick Partlow

Author:Rick Partlow [Partlow, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2019-10-08T05:00:00+00:00

The cave was like dozens of others in the Run, barely more than a depression into the sandstone. Nowhere near as large as the one where David Bohardt and the others had taken refuge these past two weeks. One thing set it apart from the others, though: the two-meter-long rock cairn cobbled just beneath the ledge, the head of it marked with a crudely-fashioned cross made from local wood and stuck into a gap.

“We knew he was a follower of the Old Religion,” Bohardt explained, motioning toward the cross. “It seemed right. The two Rangers who’d gone in the car with them were down the ways a little.” He waved back up the short, narrow slot canyon. “We gave them a more traditional funeral, as much as we could.”

Kurtz nodded wordlessly, not looking away from the pile of loose rock covering the grave.

“I can’t believe it,” he murmured. “I can’t believe General Constantine is dead.”

“He was a legend,” Salvaggio allowed, nodding. “Everyone in the business had heard of him.”

“He lived his whole life serving the Guardian,” Kurtz said. “And I guess he died that way, too. But Katy…?” He gestured at the grave, seeming as if he needed to ask the question but didn’t want to.

“She was with him when they ran from the encampment,” Bohardt told him. “And we found this up in the cave.” He dug in his pocket and came up with a small, gold ring. The last time Bohardt had seen it, it had been on Katy’s left hand.

“Her wedding ring,” Kurtz said, taking the gold circle from him. “Why would she have taken it off? Why would the Jeuta make her take it off?”

“They didn’t,” Salvaggio snapped, seeming impatient with his lack of imagination. “Think about it, man. She left it there on purpose so we’d know she was still alive. They took her. They took her with them when most of them left.”

“The Jeuta don’t take prisoners, Josephine,” Kurtz reminded her, his face grim.

“Katy’s no ordinary prisoner,” Bohardt protested. “She’s the wife of the ruler of Sparta. She’s pregnant with his child. That’s got to be worth something politically, strategically. Even the Jeuta can see that.”

“That’s not like anything they’ve done before.”

“Neither is this,” Salvaggio pointed out. “A target this far in, using a force this large, staying this long, exposing themselves to retribution? Something’s changed.”

“If she is alive,” Kurtz said, eyes still fixed on the grave, “if they did take her…” He chewed on his lip. “You know how the Jeuta treat humans. I don’t know if she wouldn’t have been better off buried right here next to General Constantine.” He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. “And I know I don’t want to be the one to tell Logan Brannigan that the Jeuta have his wife.”

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