Read Online Exodus: Tales of The Empire: Book 2: Beasts of the Frontier. by Doug Dandridge - Free Book Online

Larussian continent, scared the hell out of the
Enforcer.  He wasn’t surprised that they would terrify a man who was looking at
his death in the form of the large carnivores.
    Deveroix had
gotten the information he needed from the man, and would be facing multiple
major felonies if the Constable testified against him.  Maybe not enough to get
him executed, but more than enough to put him away for a century or more.  So,
much as it had been drilled into him that the law was off limits, in this case
he had a witness who needed removal.  Fortunately, the Swamp provided the means
of that removal.
    “Push him out,”
he ordered two of the men, two of his enforcers who would follow his orders
without question.   Farrell looked into his eyes with a pleading expression,
but there was no mercy to be had this day.  The Constable could not put up much
of a fight with his wrists and ankles in restraints, and a quick shove put the
lawman into the air.  He would have screamed on the way down if not for the gag
in his mouth, but the set of his body showed the terror of the man through the
fall.  He splashed into the water, and the tropes were on him, a half dozen
great jaws closing on the parts they could reach, biting down, then pulling. 
In an instant the surface of the water was tinted red, and the man gone.
    “I’d hate to go
like that,” said the Enforcer named Jubil.
    “At least it was
quick,” said Francois.
    Deveroix shook
his head, listening to the two men, watching the roiling waters where more of
the big predators were attempting to get their share of the food that had
dropped from the sky.  He had a bad feeling about this Swamp, this place filled
with death.  Not that he was a stranger to death, only he preferred it when he
was the one in control.  And this place felt like a spot where no stranger was
ever really in control.
    “Let’s go get
our boy,” he said, turning to look at the forward cockpit of the aircar, where
the two man crew was controlling the vehicle.  The pilot nodded and pulled the
joystick over, setting the car on the course for the homestead the Constable
had told them about.  The copilot got on the com to the other trio of aircars.
    The vehicles
flew quickly and silently over the Swamp, just about the tree tops.  All were
civilian models that had been modified to the point where they were the match
for most military transports of the same class.  Armed with beam weapons,
automatic cannon, even a few hidden missile pods, they carried the two man crew
and up to seven heavily equipped passengers each.
    Those passengers
included twelve of the mob enforcers and twelve mercenaries, not including
their boss.  All had either been in the organization for decades, with the
training that Deveroix made sure all of his men received, or were ex-Imperial
military, including three who had been augmented.  The Chief Enforcer didn’t
know everything about most of these men, except that they were desperate
killers who would do anything for the proper amount of money.  And Centari had
authorized top pay for this job.
    “We should be
over the homestead in ten minutes,” said the copilot, turning his head to look
over at his boss.
    “Follow the plan
when we get there,” said Deveroix, looking out the window at the wilderness
below.  And we should be back to civilization for dinner if all goes well ,
he thought, wondering why that thought didn’t seem to bring much comfort.
    *     *     *
    “They’re heading
your way, Uncle,” came the voice over the com.  “We’re located sixty-three
kilometers from your homestead, and I estimate they’re going at five hundred
KPH.”
    Matthew did the
math in his head.  They were just under eight minutes from his Uncle’s homestead. 
If they had been there, it would be a scramble to get away, and the mobsters
would have been able to find their track in no time.  As it was, they were
ensconced in one of Timothy’s cabins, thirty-five