Hell Divers XI: Renegades by Smith Nicholas Sansbury

Author:Smith, Nicholas Sansbury
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing & Aethon Books
Published: 2023-12-05T00:00:00+00:00

Not even a full day at sea, and Gran Jefe was more than ready to see land again. He had grown up on ships and boats and spent many of his younger years on them, training to be a raider. But this vessel was a far cry from one of the massive warships el Pulpo had deployed to the wastes in search of treasure and slaves.

This boat was a research yacht that the Cazadores had discovered a century ago. Forge had selected it for its long open deck, which would accommodate both Jayhawk helicopters.

Gran Jefe sat in the cargo bay eating canned fish and thinking of the past. But he wasn’t thinking about glory days. He was thinking about Jada and what could have been. If he was correct, the night he had fathered Pablo was the same night they had split for good.

It had to be, because that was their first night together in the almost six months since Jada gave Gran Jefe the boot for fooling around. It wasn’t unusual for Cazadores to have several wives—hell, Blackburn had three. But that was an arrangement, and not every woman was okay with it.

If only he could go back and make things right. He would have given up all the women, booze, and treasure to be with Jada and Pablo. To be a family. Something Gran Jefe never had and didn’t know anything about.

He shoveled the rest of the fish into his mouth, ran his finger around the inside of the jar, and licked it. Across the cargo hold, Blackburn was playing a hand of cards with Zuni and Woody. They spoke quietly together in English, talking about their lives. He was still learning the language, and it was hard to understand when he couldn’t see their lips move.

“We tried to fight back against the machines once,” Woody said.

Blackburn glanced up from his two cards. “You fought them?”

“Not me.” There was guilt in his voice. “Kade did. He lost his whole family in the crash—all three boys and his wife. That changed him. After that, he didn’t care about dying.”

Gran Jefe thought about those words. In a different way, he could relate. Knowing that he had a son had changed his entire perspective. He loved the boy and didn’t even know him.

Oddly, knowing that he was a father made Gran Jefe fear death for the first time—partly because if he died, he would never know his son. Staying alive was something Gran Jefe had never really worried about, until now. But it was the only way to keep his son safe.

This mission was immensely important. The cowboy king was right—to have any hope of surviving, they needed aircraft.

Gran Jefe also believed what both el Pulpo and King Xavier had believed: that they needed outside resources to keep the islands running. With their outposts all wiped out, they could use aircraft with Hell Divers to help them restock.

“Want in?” Blackburn asked.

“Nah,” Gran Jefe said. He got up and told them he was going to check in with Slayer.

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