Damnation by M R Forbes

Author:M R Forbes [Forbes, M R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-25T22:00:00+00:00

39

Caleb

“General,” Jason Stacker said, entering the small cube where Caleb, Hayden, Tora, General Haeri, and Sergeant Gray were making final preparations for their escape. Haeri looked up in response. “Probably not a surprise, but they found us.”

“It took them longer than I expected,” Haeri replied. “They’re at least five minutes behind, and I believe we’re all just about ready to go. Sheriff?”

Caleb looked at Sheriff Duke. Hayden had reluctantly accepted a shower and change of clothes, swapping out his filthy, torn and bloody duster for a more modern coat, plain black pants and t-shirt, along with dark boots, shoulder holsters that hid his revolvers and a more modern version of a stetson, black with a wide-brim.

Tora had called the coat a scaley. It was designed to mimic the look of lizard skin, available in a huge assortment of scale shapes, sizes and colors. Hayden’s was relatively straight and fell almost to the knee, with a high folded collar that sat over most of his neck. The scales were what Tora called dragon patterned, dark red and maroon in color, large and overlapping. Added to his sunglasses, the coat gave Hayden an intimidating but stylish look, reminding Caleb of the assassin thrillers he had watched when he was a kid. Because the apparel came from the Organization, the jacket was also bullet and stun resistant, offering the best protection under the circumstances. They couldn’t exactly go out into Praeton in full combat armor, guns blazing.

“I’m ready,” Hayden replied. His damaged arm hung at his side, hidden by the coat. Caleb imagined the loss must have impacted Hayden in some way, but it hadn’t stopped him from getting Caleb off the Centurion base intact and saving his life. General Haeri promised to get it repaired once they were safely on the Invincible.

Caleb was excited about the prospect of heading to the human-made warship. He was excited about being one step closer to having the data Valentine had left in his brain finally put to use. He had never expected anything to turn out the way it had, especially after using the portal to cross from Essex to Earth, but now that he was in the middle of it, he was beginning to get a sense of how all the pieces connected. He hated to admit it, but he was developing a stronger respect for Riley Valentine because of it. She had played the long game, helping the Organization plot a path that began centuries before that path would eventually become viable.

How much of it had gone the way they planned? How much was pure luck or coincidence? There was no way to know. But Valentine had dedicated years to deciphering the trife, and she had passed that information down to him. Had she foreseen the invention of the interlink? Had she guessed at how it could be modified or extended? The questions were intriguing, though he would never have the answers.

Or maybe he would when there was time. The Organization knew more about the Hunger and the Axon than anyone, and now he was a part of it.

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.