Read Online Swords of Exodus [Dead Six 02] by Larry Correia, Mike Kupari - Free Book Online Page A

man. He grabbed the grenade and snatched it away from me. I let go without a fight. “The grenade has been safed,” Antoine confirmed.
    “Thank you,” Ling said. She was calm, but seemed visibly relieved. “Shen?”
    Shen skull-punched me so hard it was like getting cracked with a bat. Lights flashed before my eyes, and my face hit the table. So she has a temper after all . . .

    Gideon Lorenzo, my foster father, was a big man. Physically intimidating, with one of those bald heads that managed to gleam in the sun. I always felt kind of dwarfed in his presence. “You want to look at the target, but the front sight is the important part. Focus on the front sight. The target is going to be blurry behind it.” He was standing slightly behind me and his deep voice boomed even through my ear plugs.
    The old Colt Series 70 bucked in my hands, and this time the can flew off the fence. I did what he had taught me, and focused, and pulled the trigger straight back to the rear. Seven shots, and I got five that time. I was getting the hang of this.
    “Much better,” he said.
    “Way to go, bro,” Bob said. My brother was sixteen, and nearly as big as Dad. I was fourteen, and a shrimp in comparison, but I didn’t have any of those Lorenzo family monster genes. According to the wall lines in my real father’s mug shot—the only picture I had of him—he was only five foot five. “You should stick with the 1911, you stink with the revolver.”
    “Bob . . . ” Dad said sternly.
    “I’m just saying. Hector can’t shoot a round gun to save his life.”
    I was careful to keep the muzzle downrange like Dad had shown me as I reached over and slugged Bob in the arm. Realistically the muscles on his arm were so thick that he wouldn’t have felt it anyway, but he made a great show of being injured.
    “No horseplay,” Dad ordered. “Bob, go pick up those targets. Hector will help me pick up brass. Remember, always leave the range cleaner than you found it. Your mother will have dinner ready soon.”
    I put the .45 back in its case, ditched my ear plugs, and started picking up brass. Dad grimaced as he sat down next to me. He had ruined one of his knees in Vietnam, and I knew it was bothering him lately. He watched Bob go downrange, and waited until he was out of earshot. I could tell he wanted to say something.
    “Hector, I just wanted to let you know. Your real father’s parole hearing was today.”
    I kept looking for brass. “I’m assuming they’re keeping him in.”
    “Yes.”
    “Good. Hope he rots in there forever.”
    Dad cleared his throat. “You know, someday he may be fit to return to society. A man can be redeemed.”
    “Redemption?” I snorted. I was fourteen and knew everything. “How can somebody like him make up for what he’s done?”
    One giant hand clamped onto my forearm. I looked up from the brass pile. “Hector, listen to me. You might not believe me now, but no matter what somebody has done in their past, they can be forgiven. They can make up for what they’ve done. There still needs to be justice, and that person has to pay for what they’ve done first, but anyone can be redeemed. Just remember that.”
    I went back to picking up brass. “That’s insane.”

    “He’s insane.”
    “Obviously.” Ling’s voice. “Unfortunately we need him. We don’t have the numbers for a frontal assault.”
    “They might kill Valentine as soon as we attacked anyway. No, you’re right, Ma’am. If we’re going to free him, then we need this man, even if he is unpredictable,” Antoine responded. “Did you think he was bluffing?”
    “A Godless, self-absorbed narcissist like him would never willingly sacrifice his life for the sake of others, much less in a childish attempt to prove a point . Frankly, I’m rather surprised that the fact his brother is in danger was enough to compel him to do this,” Ling responded with some contempt. “However, he’s very good at what he does. His reputation