Read Online The God Mars Book Five: Onryo by Michael Rizzo - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Michael Rizzo
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ill. I remember Colonel Ram warning us
that since we’d lived our lives without eating meat, we might not
have the necessary enzymes to digest it, and I’m beginning to
imagine what that would cause. The Dragon Jerky isn’t unpalatable,
but it seems to sit heavy in my gut, despite being only a few small
bites. I see my companions reflect my discomfort, except for my
father, who eats with his usual reverent gusto.
“Meat isn’t something we ever get where we come from,
not since our Earth rations ran out, and that was before my day,”
Murphy tells Negev.
This seems to give Negev an unexpected look of
relief, followed by an uncharacteristically broad smile.
“Hah! And we’d thought you might be thinking us
stingy and inhospitable, since we didn’t provide you meat when you
arrived.”
“We have been grateful for everything your people
have given,” my father speaks for all of us. Negev gives him a
small bow.
We eat in silence, then Negev signals his warriors to
prepare to move.
“We have a choice before us,” he tells my father. “We
could move northwest to the Grave, dare the machine guards, and try
to see where the dead man came from. Or we continue southwest, into
the Dark Blade, and see where he was going.”
“Dark Blade?” Murphy plays into his descriptor.
“The South Blade from here is very narrow, with steep
walls on either side, rising all the way up to the Sky Roof,” he
confirms what I see on my maps. “Once the sun passes noon, it
begins to fall into shadow. It’s a colder place, and the terrain is
perfect for ambush.”
“Have you encountered violence there before?” my
father asks.
“We have not gone beyond the mouth in my lifetime. My
father tells tales of many deadly guns in the Shadow Canyon,
wielded by invisible men.”
That sounds like Keeper tactics. Snipe from
cover.
“And you’re willing to enter the South Blade now?” my
father wants to confirm.
“We have not gone beyond the mouth in my lifetime,”
Negev repeats, this time with a lopsided grin and a shrug of his
armored shoulders.
“Terina—Kah-Terina Sher-Khan—told us that you’ve seen
the airships of the Black Clothes going east and south from the
Grave, and coming back with loads of structural scrap,” I remember.
Negev nods. “Could they have gotten their southern loads from
Eureka Colony?”
“Unless there was some sky-fall, a colony would be
the only other source of such a bounty.”
There were a lot of ships in orbit when the Discs
triggered the Apocalypse, not to mention the space dock and the
nuclear platform itself. Remarkably little of it crashed in the
parts of the Great Valley that I’ve seen or heard of, but Marineris
is only a small part of a big planet, and I certainly haven’t seen
all of Marineris yet.
“I need to see Eureka,” Straker repeats her personal
mission. “I’m in a lot less danger from bullets than the rest of
you, even from unseen snipers. I should go in alone.”
“You should take point,” Negev counters, sounding
insistent. For whatever reason, he doesn’t seem willing to back
away from a potentially bad fight. It strikes me that perhaps we
shouldn’t have bragged so much about our abilities against
better-armed forces. The Katar may be using us in hopes of winning
battles they’d probably been losing at great cost. I do hear a
desire for revenge in his voice, or at least for restored honor and
the Value such feats might bring. I see it now in the eyes of his
fighters. They’re all eager for this, no matter the risk. I’m
suddenly starting to regret their “help” on this mission. They may
wind up getting us in more trouble than we would have as a small
raiding party, even with their home terrain advantages. (Come to
think of it, they might not even have that—Negev said none of them
have been into the South Blade in their entire lives. That means
all they have is the same maps we do.)
Worse, I expect if we withdrew from any fight before
they did,
that since we’d lived our lives without eating meat, we might not
have the necessary enzymes to digest it, and I’m beginning to
imagine what that would cause. The Dragon Jerky isn’t unpalatable,
but it seems to sit heavy in my gut, despite being only a few small
bites. I see my companions reflect my discomfort, except for my
father, who eats with his usual reverent gusto.
“Meat isn’t something we ever get where we come from,
not since our Earth rations ran out, and that was before my day,”
Murphy tells Negev.
This seems to give Negev an unexpected look of
relief, followed by an uncharacteristically broad smile.
“Hah! And we’d thought you might be thinking us
stingy and inhospitable, since we didn’t provide you meat when you
arrived.”
“We have been grateful for everything your people
have given,” my father speaks for all of us. Negev gives him a
small bow.
We eat in silence, then Negev signals his warriors to
prepare to move.
“We have a choice before us,” he tells my father. “We
could move northwest to the Grave, dare the machine guards, and try
to see where the dead man came from. Or we continue southwest, into
the Dark Blade, and see where he was going.”
“Dark Blade?” Murphy plays into his descriptor.
“The South Blade from here is very narrow, with steep
walls on either side, rising all the way up to the Sky Roof,” he
confirms what I see on my maps. “Once the sun passes noon, it
begins to fall into shadow. It’s a colder place, and the terrain is
perfect for ambush.”
“Have you encountered violence there before?” my
father asks.
“We have not gone beyond the mouth in my lifetime. My
father tells tales of many deadly guns in the Shadow Canyon,
wielded by invisible men.”
That sounds like Keeper tactics. Snipe from
cover.
“And you’re willing to enter the South Blade now?” my
father wants to confirm.
“We have not gone beyond the mouth in my lifetime,”
Negev repeats, this time with a lopsided grin and a shrug of his
armored shoulders.
“Terina—Kah-Terina Sher-Khan—told us that you’ve seen
the airships of the Black Clothes going east and south from the
Grave, and coming back with loads of structural scrap,” I remember.
Negev nods. “Could they have gotten their southern loads from
Eureka Colony?”
“Unless there was some sky-fall, a colony would be
the only other source of such a bounty.”
There were a lot of ships in orbit when the Discs
triggered the Apocalypse, not to mention the space dock and the
nuclear platform itself. Remarkably little of it crashed in the
parts of the Great Valley that I’ve seen or heard of, but Marineris
is only a small part of a big planet, and I certainly haven’t seen
all of Marineris yet.
“I need to see Eureka,” Straker repeats her personal
mission. “I’m in a lot less danger from bullets than the rest of
you, even from unseen snipers. I should go in alone.”
“You should take point,” Negev counters, sounding
insistent. For whatever reason, he doesn’t seem willing to back
away from a potentially bad fight. It strikes me that perhaps we
shouldn’t have bragged so much about our abilities against
better-armed forces. The Katar may be using us in hopes of winning
battles they’d probably been losing at great cost. I do hear a
desire for revenge in his voice, or at least for restored honor and
the Value such feats might bring. I see it now in the eyes of his
fighters. They’re all eager for this, no matter the risk. I’m
suddenly starting to regret their “help” on this mission. They may
wind up getting us in more trouble than we would have as a small
raiding party, even with their home terrain advantages. (Come to
think of it, they might not even have that—Negev said none of them
have been into the South Blade in their entire lives. That means
all they have is the same maps we do.)
Worse, I expect if we withdrew from any fight before
they did,
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