Renegade Legion (The Human Legion Book 3) by Tim C. Taylor

Author:Tim C. Taylor [Taylor, Tim C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Human Legion Publications
Published: 2015-06-06T07:00:00+00:00

— Chapter 46 —

“I think you are there present, yes.” The Hardit spoke in a synthesized voice devoid of emotion. “Acknowledge please.”

Arun wasn’t without emotion, though. He longed to punch the veck in the snout. The aliens all sounded the same, but Arun had no doubt that this was Tawfiq. That particular monkey’s voice synthesizer had never quite managed human grammar.

The Hardit couldn’t be sure that Arun was hearing her. She loved mind games, especially any that inflicted mental anguish. I can play games too, Arun thought. So he ignored Tawfiq, uncertain whether he was being petty or whether this was a message to the Hardit that he would only play this game on his own terms.

Arun studied this evil creature who had delighted in torturing him when he was forced to join her Aux work gang. Back then she had dressed in scruffy work gear, scarcely cleaner than her slave workers. Now she wore a uniform that couldn’t be more different. Its silver material had black channels etched into its glossy surface that suggested metal machinery, or perhaps electronics. If the uniform’s intention was to make its wearers look like indomitable military cyborgs, the effect was ruined by the inbuilt elliptical parasol that rose above the wearer’s head, like the haloes in depictions of the most holy people in Earth religions.

Tawfiq’s uniform was similar to that worn by the elite troops they’d encountered at the Labor Camp, except for the cleanliness and complexity of the gold lightning bolts extending from the shoulders, which made him think Tawfiq had reached a senior rank. Somehow the alien looked even more arrogant than normal, as if she were certain she had already won. And that lit a fire of rage in Arun’s belly that he could not control.

“I’ll kill you, monkey,” he blurted out.

“Ah. You acknowledge. Good. Now we know you can see this transmission, human scum. You come from off planet or maybe hide away from war. Hero or coward in human terms, makes no difference to we, your superiors. You steal hundreds of human slaves. Keep them, with our thanks. They are worthless animals. They stink so much we retch. We only kept them alive as a kindness.”

“Do you even have a point, monkey?”

“I wish share observation. You call me monkey. That makes me laugh because my people not animals like you humans. We engineers and scientist. We observe and learn. You too dumb to act on more than instinct, so we teach you what you too stupid to learn for yourselfs. Let me teach you now. What I observe about humans is you having two slight skills. The first is digging into the dirt. Look. We have made use of your skill. Do you see?”

The camera panned away from Tawfiq to reveal a scene of misery that made Arun gasp. A crude trench, about a meter deep, had been dug into fields of human crops. It could be Alabama. It could be any of a hundred agricultural areas. The trench extended far into the distance.

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