Pledge Allegiance Read Free

the Oregon ,” she said as I reached the door.
    That made me pause, but only because it had been unexpected, not because I wanted to discuss my old ship. In fact, that was the last thing I wanted to talk about with anyone.
    The smoky, noisy atmosphere in the Dragon had become cloying. I felt like it was wrapping itself around me and squeezing the life out of me.
    I pushed through the doors violently and stepped out into the alley. The bouncers glared at me, wondering if I was going to cause trouble. Recognizing me again and deciding I was harmless, they ignored me.
    I walked along the alley, away from the glowing green sign and into the darkness.
    And all the way home, I kept glancing up at the stars as if they were long lost lovers.

Chapter 2
    M r. Chow had changed the locks. My key didn’t fit when I tried to get into my apartment. I kicked the door in frustration and then stalked downstairs, my already bad mood worsening. I banged on Chow’s door with my fists until I heard him moving around inside his apartment.
    “What do you want, Blake?” he called through the door without opening it.
    “I want to get into my apartment,” I said.
    “It isn’t your apartment anymore.”
    “Look,” I said, trying a softer approach, “I know I’m late with the rent but if you give me a little more time, I can…”
    “You’re always late. Every month. No more chances. Goodbye.”
    I heard him walk away from the door. “Hey,” I shouted, banging on the door again. “What about my stuff?”
    “It’s in the box,” he said. “Now go away. Get out of my building.”
    I noticed a small plastic box a few feet away. Inside were my few meager possessions: some clothes, the contents of my bathroom cabinet, and a half-full bottle of bourbon.
    Everything I owned was in that small box. That didn’t make me feel sad or depressed—I’d never been one for collecting a large amount of material items—but seeing my life’s possessions all together in one place made me realize that I was a nobody and my life was going nowhere. Hell, there was a war going on and I was drifting around on a dead planet with no future. I used to be a fighter with a purpose, a warrior fighting the war against the Horde.
    No point dwelling on that now. I had more immediate concerns, like trying to find a place to live.
    As I stepped out onto the street, a heavy rain began to fall, hissing down between the buildings and onto the road. Because of the way the planet had been mined in the past, the rain on Iton-3 always smelled of earth and minerals. If it got into your clothes, they smelled for days, even after they’d dried.
    I took shelter beneath the awning of a closed store across the road and huddled there, with my plastic box of belongings beside me, while the raindrops pinged off the awning like a barrage of bullets.
    The rain showed no signs of relenting. It looked like I was going to be spending the night sheltered in this doorway.
    A movement in the shadows by the door made me jump. My heart rate calmed down again when I realized it was just a homeless guy huddled in the shadows beneath a ragged blanket. Looking at him, I could see my own future. I had no prospects, no work, and nowhere to live. It was going to take some serious gambling to get me out of this hole, and I barely had enough of a stake to get me into the lowest level WarZone game on the planet.
    From where I sat right now, huddled under an awning while the earthy rain poured out of the night sky, it looked like I was well and truly screwed.
    I’d learned a year ago that there were some things you couldn’t come back from. Maybe being thrown out onto the streets was one of them.
    A long black car with darkened windows pulled up in front of the store. One of the windows buzzed down. I got ready to pick up my box and leave. If this was the store owner coming to tell me to move, I was in no mood to argue.
    As the window lowered, I saw Jane Baltimore sitting behind the wheel. “Nice