Havoc Read Free Page B

don’t expect anything as formal as an alliance, but it might make things easier if we both rescinded our kill-on-sight policy—with regard to the other’s personnel. It’s about to get violent up in here.”
    â€œAs opposed to the peace and prosperity we have enjoyed until now.” The gentle irony in Katur’s voice prodded a smile out of Dred.
    â€œYou make a good point.”
    Katur went on, “There’s no question how you’ll recognize my people, should they pass through your territory. But all humans look alike to us.”
    Jael smothered a chuckle, and she nudged him with an elbow. “You just enjoy saying that. Regardless of how we look, we don’t smell like Silence’s or Mungo’s crew. We
bathe
occasionally in Queensland.”
    â€œVery well. The safety of your soldiers depends on their hygiene, then.” That seemed to amuse Katur.
    â€œI’ll let them know,” she said dryly.
    â€œIf you’ll pardon me, I need to send scouts to verify what you’ve told me.” The alien didn’t reveal fear if he felt any. Maybe Perdition had burned it out of him.
    â€œThanks for your time.”
    â€œThank you for the forewarning.”
    Dred dipped a shallow bow in response and followed the guard back to the ladder where they’d dropped down. As she climbed, she strained for the sound of laser fire but came up with only the normal groaning and banging of the ducts. Other machinery nearby made it tough to hear anything, so she wouldn’t know if there was fighting on the deck above. Mentally, she mapped what she knew of the station.
    They’ll cross into Mungo’s turf first. With any luck, his men will engage.
She had no clear intel on what kind of offensive or defensive capabilities Munya could bring to bear, but they were numerous enough to slow the mercs down. She hoped. Silence’s people worked best in the dark, but they would find it impossible to take out their targets through so much armor. Death’s Handmaiden would have to find a workaround.
    That will buy us some time.
    In her mind’s eye, she saw laser fire threshing the Shanty-men like wheat while the soldiers stood untouched in the armor. It reminded her of period vids she’d watched as a kid, about the dark time before humans were “civilized” and they stopped wiping out primitive people from Class P worlds with advanced weaponry. Even as a child, she’d known it was wrong, but she never considered how those people must’ve felt: how fear and futility came on, so powerful as to shatter the spirit.
At what point do you buckle and say, no more? This, I cannot fight.
In the vids, the doomed, noble tribe fought to the last man, then the wheels of progress rolled over him, and the credits began.
    Dred didn’t equate the plight of those inside Perdition with Class P sufferings, of course. Nobody here was innocent. But it was human nature to survive.
    Once she swung out of the hole in the wall and down onto the ground, she glanced up at Jael. “What can we do to upgrade our defenses quickly?”
    â€œYou want my help, love?”
    Though she might find it hard to speak the words with anyone else around, she said, “I need it. You’re the only one with any tactical experience. The rest of us are just criminals.”
    His blue gaze locked with hers. “You’re not
just
anything. But yeah, I’ve a few notions. I could use Ike’s help and a crack at the parts we got as victory spoils.”
    â€œWhatever you need,” she said grimly. “I have the feeling hell just got worse. And that shouldn’t even be possible.”

2
    Building the Walls
    The supply closet was dark and jumbled with gears, wires, scrap metal, and lengths of pipe. Ike had some kind of organizational system with items sorted according to what could be built from each piece. Jael skimmed the makeshift shelves, narrowing his eyes to