Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

My light played around the room, picking up a series of four bodies on the ground in pools of their own blood.

“We sliced their throats from behind,” Sulk said. I couldn’t see his face due to his helmet, but I could imagine the grin he wore.

“Won’t Legion know something is wrong, even if he can’t see us?” Stacy asked as the others piled in through the vent shaft behind us. “I mean, he’ll know he’s losing infected and which ones, since he controls all of them, plus they will be dropping in numbers.”

“He might.” Dama nodded in agreement. “We should press on and move quickly.”

“No argument there,” John said, sidling up next to us. “Lead the way.”

Dama did just that, ducking into a much larger hall at a light jog. We had a few kilometers of halls and levels to make our way through. Right now, speed and stealth were keys to our success.

Sulk took point with his three Rung assassins. The rest of us made up the middle of the pack with a pair of larger Rung that guarded our rear.

We ran without lights. At every corner and in every dark hallway, I half expected to see Legion. He was smarter than we gave him credit for. He would understand exactly what we wanted, and as such, he would be waiting for us.

Just over halfway to our target, Sulk and the Rung in the lead came up short. We nearly ran into the back of them as they stopped abruptly around a sharp corner.

“Don’t shoot,” a familiar and unwelcome voice said. “I’m not infected.”

I turned the corner, already knowing who the voice belonged to. Maksim stood there blinking in the bright lights our weapons gave off. His time on Genesis had not been kind to him. The burn on his face was rigid and cracked, with webs of scars stretching across his cheek. He held his right hand to his side, where a tide of blood oozed through his hands.

Despite his injuries, he gave me a bright smile when he saw me. “Brother, you came.”

My weapon was aimed directly at his chest. My trigger finger twitched. It would be so easy to end him now, and at that moment, I really wanted to. He was the man who was responsible at least in part for bringing us crashing down to Genesis, as well as the man who ambushed me and bashed the back of my head with a rock. I wouldn’t be wrong in squeezing the trigger. It would be so simple. One big problem taken care of and a little vengeance in one act.

“Dean,” Stacy warned out of the side of her mouth. “Dean, I want to as much as you do, trust me, but maybe he knows something useful.” And with that, I came back to reality. I knew Stacy was right.

“What are you doing here?” I growled.

“Well, I guess we’re going to skip the pleasantries and get right down to business,” Maksim said with a heavy sigh. He seemed disappointed that I wasn’t greeting him with wide open arms and a smile. What a weirdo.

Behind him was a set of closed double doors. A faint scratching could be heard on the opposite side.

Maksim placed his back to the door then sank down to a seated position. He gestured with a thumb at the closed doors behind him.

“The stairwell to the level below where the power armor is being kept,” he said with a sadistic grin. “Filled with infected. Any of the ways down are. I thought this would be my best bet to try breaking through their lines. I was debating about going when you came. Now we can all go together, like it should be. Like it always should have been. Brother with brother, allies in arms.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, trying but failing to keep the anger out of my voice. I stalked over to Maksim, towering over him in what I hoped was a menacing way. “If you had it your way, we’d all be dead by now. What are you doing here? What kind of game are you playing now?”

“No more games,” Maksim said, shaking his head in vehement denial. “No more agendas or room for hate. This is about survival. This is about justice.”

“Survival?” I asked incredulously. A wave of heat hit my face, which I was sure was turning a fiery shade of red. Anger erupted inside of me and I had to take deep breaths. I pressed my weapon to his forehead. “Justice? You want justice? This is justice. Your brain spattered against the doors behind you is justice.”

“We fought Legion together in the forest and we survived,” Maksim said, looking up at me despite the barrel of my weapon on his forehead. It was as if it wasn’t there or maybe he didn’t believe I would actually kill him. “If we want to live, it’ll take us doing the same one more time.”

“Please remove the barrel of your weapon from his head,” Dama directed me. I felt a nudge on my shoulder as she pointed her own blaster at me.

A second later, weapons were pointed in every direction. John held his rifle pointed at a Rung, who aimed at him right back. Tong had Sulk dead to rights. Stacy held two weapons, one in each hand. One was aimed at Dama and the other at one of Sulk’s assassins. In turn the Rung pointed their weapons at us. If it all wasn’t so potentially deadly, it would have been somewhat comical.

“No one has to die here,” Dama continued. “Whatever hate you hold for this man, it is nothing compared to that which we have for Legion. We need as many infection free fighters as we can get. One more on our side means one less for him. Please lower your weapon.”

“Do it,” Maksim said, closing his eyes. He pressed his head harder