Sword of Minerva (The Guild Wars Book 10) Mark Wandrey (e novels to read .TXT) 📖

still in place, though the long gash on his arm was bleeding through, so he replaced it. Everything done, he reclined on the other bed, gave a sigh, and quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * * * *

Chapter Five

Rick woke up to find out they were going to Japan. Part of him wasn’t surprised. Sato was Japanese, after all. However, the scientist had never once mentioned visiting his homeland. In fact, his English was so free of any accent, Rick had wondered if he actually was from Japan.

“What are we doing there?”

“Going to a museum.”

He’d heard worse reasons to travel halfway around a planet. Even with a destination, they still had other stops to make.

The first proved to be pretty easy. They located a black-market hacker just outside Houston startown. Rick was glad they could avoid entering the startown. Despite the area being in total chaos, there was still some security. The hacker they hired modified their Yacks to show that they’d arrived legally on Earth at the Houston Starport instead of aboard an alien ship in Sao Paulo.

With their newly updated Yacks, the pair could go anywhere they wanted with impunity. It was unlikely the IDs would pass muster with a Peacemaker or someone from the UCX, of course, but they were unlikely to run into either in their travels. Regardless, they didn’t want to risk a flight from Houston.

Dakkar didn’t seem to mind where they were going. His only request was some fresh food soon, and maybe a chance to swim in the ocean, though he was in no hurry. Once again, it seemed maglev trains were the best option. Luckily the US had much better ones.

They left the car at the curb by the North Houston maglev station. Sato typed 666 on the phone and hit dial. It quickly made a connection.

“Thank you and good luck,” someone said and disconnected.

“Pretty shifty.” Rick laughed.

“Sounds about right,” Sato agreed.

Rick picked up the support module with Dakkar inside. His repaired leg was working well, though the armor’s computer warned him it was only operating at 91% capacity. He decided 91% was better than 0%. The short sleep had left him fully refreshed, and his armor’s batteries were at 35%, higher than he’d predicted. More than likely, he could finish charging them on the train.

Leaving the nice SUV behind, they rode the lift to the maglev station. Because it was adjacent to Houston Starport, it was modern and well maintained. The corporation that operated the maglev trains had hired mercs who stood around in light combat armor, weapons on slings, carefully watching the passengers.

Rick was glad he had his cloak and hood. Next to the various aliens taking advantage of the cheap transportation, and apparently a tourist, he didn’t draw unwanted attention.

Tickets were purchased from a robotic kiosk for a ‘mere’ 250 credits, including baggage in the form of Dakkar’s support module.

“Prices are outrageous right now,” Rick grumbled as they paid; 250 credits should have been enough to buy a new luxury car. ‘War surcharges’ were more than half the price of their tickets.

“I think we can afford it,” Sato said. They watched the robotic luggage handler pick up Dakkar’s module and move it into the lower deck of the maglev parked in the station. Rick thought it was a strong juxtaposition from the station in South America, where the baggage handlers were all poor downtrodden men and women, probably working for a pittance.

The kiosk took no notice of their forged documents. It issued them tickets, and the pair boarded. The train was nearly empty. Not many were moving about the country. The pair were able to secure comfortable seats in the upper deck, just behind the dining car. Minutes later, the train left the station and quickly accelerated to 450 kph.

The seats were comfortable, and thanks to a mostly empty train, largely anonymous. As the train had security, there were no conductors, and robots handled service from the dining car. Rick wasn’t sure whether any Humans were physically operating the train, or if it was being operated remotely.

Sato was snoring in minutes, still exhausted from their ordeals over the last few days, so Rick used the train’s Aethernet access to study the war.

General Peepo was dispatching her dreadnought and a massive war fleet to the Winged Hussars’ secret base, which she apparently knew the whereabouts of, in order to deal a deathblow to the Human mercs’ last bastion of resistance.

A slight smile crossed his lips. Peepo would find New Warsaw a far harder target than she could ever imagine. His memory of the Hussars’ home system was incomplete due to when his memories were copied, shortly after his arrival. He remembered a vast field of asteroids, many apparently both mobile and armed. Then there was the Hussars’ huge fleet of ships. Finally was Prime Base, the biggest space station he’d ever seen. No, despite the power she wielded, Rick doubted Peepo would come out of that fight a winner.

There were a lot of images from Sao Paulo of the immobile Raknar, 30-meter-tall battle machines. These were often accompanied by stills of Jim Cartwright and his fellow ‘Raknar Pilots,’ as they were called. They’d surrendered to allow the rest of the Horsemen to escape, when Alexis Cromwell was killed and the attack fell apart.

Colonel Cromwell dead will make things more complicated, he thought as he looked at his long-lost friend. Jim looked defeated, but not beaten. He recognized the boy in the man. One of the now-fabled Horsemen. One of the articles showed all the Cartwrights who’d led the Cavaliers. Jim looked the most like his great-grandfather, the original Jim Cartwright, who’d been in the Alpha Contracts over a century ago. Jim Cartwright senior might not have been as large as his grandson, but he had the same facial features. Sometime