Dead Worlds (Necrospace Book 2) Read Free Page A

transport, he had a clear field of vision across the sea of humanity as it swelled and broke against the hastily constructed barricades that separated them from the food and water.
    Behind the ceramic battlements was a refugee relief center that had been erected by the newly bonded cor-sec forces. Samuel and the other members of Tango Platoon could feel the waves of anger and resentment pouring from the mob, and each silently gave thanks that they were the outsiders to this spectacle. The marines scanned their perimeter in all directions, prepared to engage at a moment’s notice.
    The Reapers were combat soldiers and salvage operators, and had neither the training nor the disposition to be utilized for crowd control. However, thought Samuel, as he checked the safety on his combat rifle and gripped the handle for reassurance, neither did the former Vorhold cor-sec. From what Samuel witnessed it looked as if the cor-sec forces were just as likely to set off the spark of violence as the angry mob.
    The seven vehicles that constituted the Reaper column broke through the lines of the mob and pushed across the makeshift grated roads and tent cities to move deeper into the freshly abandoned spire city proper.
    As Samuel looked at the vast urban sprawl before him he shuddered, not just because of the size, but also because of the realization of the brutal door-to-door and street-by-street fighting that was about to happen here.
    “What is Grotto going to do with an empty city?” asked Ben as he turned his helmeted head back to face Boss Marsters.
    “You’re not looking at it like one of the Anointed Actuaries,” answered Marsters, as he too took in the magnificent and strange view, “Grotto intends to depopulate the city and scrap most of the buildings.”
    “They’re likely to maintain only a few of the forges and a minimal cor-sec presence,” added Boss Ulanti over the com-bead, “They’ll keep the forges and maintain the shipping lane, but that’s about it. Everything else is going to be liquidated.”
    “What about the people?” Virginia asked, keying into the platoon channel on her com-bead, “I thought we were sweeping out armed gangs and militia clans. Aren’t the refugees going back to their homes?”
    “Tillman, you’ve been a Reaper long enough to know that the shift manager never tells us the whole story,” snorted George Tuck from his seat near Spencer and Boss Ulanti, “Grotto is liquidating the people too. They’re assets, just as much as the buildings.”
    “Ah, yes, the projected value of their labor,” Patrick chimed in with a grim laugh, “Makes sense, they might not be Grotto, but our corporation will treat them like they do us. I’ll bet you they have to agree to a life-bond or pay the expatriation fee.”
    “But the elites are gone, they left when Vorhold pulled out, everyone here is a low-rating worker,” protested Virginia, “There’s no way any of them have that kind of cash, regardless of whether or not Vorhold was a life-bond economy.”
    “Red List,” said Boss Marsters, and his words cut across the conversation like a knife, silencing all but his voice.
    “They’ll join Grotto or pay the expatriation fee as a way of covering their portion of the outstanding Vorhold debt. Otherwise they’ll be put on the Red List and then it’s open season,” said Boss Ulanti as she nodded her head, “Anyone who doesn’t bond or pay will be classified as a hostile.”
    “So while we’re down in the sewers playing hide and seek with real gangers, those cor-sec forces who bonded with Grotto will liquidate the population,” growled Marsters. “Once we’ve purged downspire the real salvage work begins.”
    “Man, when cities die they die hard,” said Harold, as he tapped his armored fingers against the barrel of his heavy machine gun.
    The conversation died down after that, and Samuel was glad for it. He’d always been equally fascinated and terrified by the Red List.
    To live in