The Gunner Chronicles by Bard Constantine

Author:Bard Constantine [Constantine, Bard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BWB Publishing
Published: 2019-12-09T05:00:00+00:00

It was afternoon when he walked back into the Town, the sun dipping behind the broken buildings and turning the horizon angry shades of red. He approached the tall, rusty towers of the enormous power station, where the spouting and latticework trembled from the vibrations of the generator, rumbling and rattling from somewhere in the bowels of the building as if about to explode. Chips of rust and dusty powder trickled from the overhangs, creating a constant haze in the air that piled on the floor. Men and women in dust masks and dingy labcoats ran back and forth, harried expressions on their faces as they threw switches, analyzed machinery, and shouted at one another over the thunderous din.

No one paid Gunner much attention as he passed through, so he made his way to the locker room and removing his hat and duster, exchanged it for a labcoat and safety helmet. Walking into a hallway, he tapped a janitor on the shoulder.

"Where's the main office?"

"Down the hall, then the first left. You don't wanna go in there, though. Mr. McArthur is having another one of those days."

Gunner nodded, following the directions anyway. He pushed the door open into a grimy office, where a short, stocky supervisor shouted up at his subordinate in front of an array of screens displaying readouts.

"No, this won't do at all. These readings have to be wrong."

Despite being nearly foot taller, the other man cringed as if fearful of being struck. "We triple-checked them, sir."

"Well, quadruple-check them, Johnson. This consumption rate will be impossible to maintain. We'll have blackouts again tonight for sure."

"I'll rerun the numbers, sir." Johnson left, bumping into Gunner in his haste to leave the office. McArthur thumped his fist against a control panel, grimacing as he turned toward Gunner.

"Who the hell are you—another one of the Baron's messenger boys? Why isn't she here in person? She needs to see the mess she's created with this lithium nonsense."

"The new fusion ain't operating right?"

"Of course it's not. You can't just go from blood shards to hectorite without major retrofitting and the ramifications that come along with it. It's a band-aid on a gushing wound. I'm dealing with a near-catastrophe every day, and she can't even take a minute to see me? This isn't worth the pay. Not for this kind of risk. You tell her if she can't get me the parts I need to do my job, then I'm finished. Let's see how she plans to run this piece of junk without my team."

"I'll let her know," Gunner said. "Meanwhile, she wants to know where to put the blood shards when they get here."

McArthur's eyebrows rose as if trying to climb up his forehead. "Blood shards? Don't talk about—blood shards? Are you kidding me? Blood shards? I just hope we run another day. Another day!"

"I thought you'd be happy to get a new supply. You just said the hectorite—"

"Hey, who the hell are you, bud? An idiot? The Baron is sending me imbeciles

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