23


I gathered up our little squad and moved out, determined to put as much distance between us and the Union commandos as possible. Avoiding the RSG, or even the NG, was hit or miss. Their presence was random and extensive. Thankfully, their preference for loud vehicles, rage music, and the random discharge of weapons made them easy to track from a distance.
Their numbers and the limited terrain was the real problem. Dreadmax looked huge from space. It was millions of tons of metal, ceramics, and other hardware, but on the surface, it quickly felt like a microcosm.
Slab and his goons were still looking for me, I was sure, but that didn't worry me as much as what Callus would do if he cornered us. Random violence from gangs didn’t compare with the lethality of spec ops teams.
I couldn't give Elise to the Union. There was no safe place for her, not on Dreadmax and nowhere in the Union if she became a fugitive. As for the doctor, who knew the right thing to do. The mission had been to rescue him for the Union.
What they did with him after that wasn't my problem. I should throw him back to the wolves.
Briggs wouldn't have turned me lose without a plan to put me back in the box or take me out of the game entirely. I understood the danger, but I also knew there was no way I was going back.
I figured that out the moment I entered the warden’s office and saw him leaning against that desk. Hard eyes, hard face—the man was a lot like me but older, with more people willing to die for him.
I needed to pull off a double cross worthy of the Reaper Corps and the darkest of dark ops. Dreadmax would have been the perfect place for a double betrayal if not for the thousands of innocents—or nearly innocent—people who were about to die. “We need to move fast. They’re going to see us. Don't stop no matter what. But most importantly, listen to me and do what I say."
I needed bait, but to make it believable, it had to be all three of us.
"What are you doing, Reaper Cain?" X-37 asked.
I wasn't sure what to say, because X hadn't used my name like that for a long time. Maybe this was random, but maybe it meant something. Trusting a limited AI was a mistake too many Reapers made. They started feeling like part of themselves and it was easy to forget the technology had been made by the Union.
“I'm going to steal Callus’ ship,” I said.
"This is a miscalculation on your part. Abort. Recommendation: run for cover immediately,” X-37 advised. “The ship is on fast approach."
"I already made up my mind.” Up until now, Callus’ teams had to chase us through the surface maze. From the time we stepped into the festival grounds, we’d become vulnerable to a ship assault again. That was what I was counting on now.
"There is a sixty-four percent chance they will shoot first and ask questions later," X-37 said.
I didn't respond.
"What’s your Reaper AI telling you?" Doctor Hastings demanded.
The recon ship materialized out of thin air. I saw a distortion in the air moments before it dropped down, weapons aimed and turbines flaring to slow its abrupt descent. The deployment ramp dropped before it had fully landed. Heavily armed and armored spec ops soldiers swarmed out and took positions to secure the landing zone. These weren’t in recon gear—they were ready for a full-scale battle.
Callus came out in the second squad, seconds after the first. He was bigger than the others, moving with a relaxed grace that betrayed nothing.
"Stop, Cain. Running will just get someone hurt,” he shouted.
“I told you to run faster!" I yelled at Hastings and his daughter without warning and striked the doctor hard enough to knock him off his feet. “Just take them. I'm not going back to get executed. You’ll never take me alive!”
"You don't have a choice, Reaper!” Callus swaggered forward, ready to fight. "I didn't come this far to miss a chance at the title. You had a reputation when you were in your prime. I want to see if the stories I heard were true."
His team surrounded Doctor Hastings and Elise.
I turned and sprinted away from the landing zone, ducking into a hiding place.
"You're not as clever as you think you are," Callus yelled after me.
I stopped as soon as I was out of sight and listened to the commandos arguing with Elise. Her father tried to calm her, assuring her this was the best possible scenario.
“He should have delivered us to these fine soldiers a long time ago,” Hastings ranted.
“I hate you!” his daughter shouted back.
Callus’s second in command ignored the father-daughter squabble and shouted orders. “Red squad and Silver squad, pursue and apprehend the remaining target.”
"Belay that. It's a trick. Halek Cain was a Reaper. He wouldn't give up his principal so easy. Not while they are still alive," Callus said. “He knows the end of Dreadmax is long overdue. Stay sharp. Check the doctor and the girl for improvised explosive devices.”
A few moments passed.
"They're clear,” a soldier said. “Should we take them onto the ship?”
Callus hesitated. “Check them again then lock them in the brig.”