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  Cross stood and held one hand up. Jack stood also, with both arms straight up.

  Three Coalition-armored soldiers came into view. They kept their weapons raised. “Rank!”

  “Sergeant, two privates,” McCloud said. “We’re part of the Nineteenth Supply Battalion.”

  “Check them,” one said to the others.

  Gunfire rang out from nearby. Grenades exploded just fifty meters away. Another gun battle raged just out of view. The trees showed shadows and glimpses of two groups that had stumbled into each other.

  McCloud watched the first Coalition soldier hesitate and crouch at the sound of gunfire. Just as he was about to draw his pistol, a voice spoke.

  “Hey, hey! Up, up!”

  McCloud grunted and raised his arms.

  The gunfire fell off. Silence came nearby. Though who’d come out on top was anyone’s guess.

  The Coalition soldier came closer and quickly peeled off their weapons and night-vision goggles. He tossed them into the darkness. When he came to Jack, he commented on the data pad. “What’s this for?”

  “Supply and requisition,” Jack said.

  “Hurry up,” one of the voices said.

  The turbines grew louder. A warning siren rang out in the distance.

  McCloud looked to one side. Then the next. No way out. None.

  The Coalition soldier holstered his weapon and pulled out a heavy plastic line. A restraint.

  “Tie ’em together. We don’t want them running in the dark.”

  The soldier grasped McCloud’s hands and pulled them behind his back.

  McCloud felt nothing but helplessness. The fear of the future filled him. All he wanted to do was fight. He gave a glance to his side. Cross had his jaw clenched.

  The Coalition soldier tightened the restraints.

  “Go!” Cross said.

  McCloud threw his head back and felt a crack as his skull connected with the Coalition soldier’s nose. Cross snatched a grenade and pitched it toward the other two.

  Jack dropped to the ground, and at the same instant, the other group in the trees opened fire. The Coalition soldiers fired into the darkness. Yells and cries rang out. Two more grenades exploded in the darkness. Chaos was everywhere.

  McCloud struggled ahead; he made it to his feet and ran. He pulled at the restraints, but they were secure. The lights of the dropship seemed so close.

  Cross caught up a second later with Jack stumbling alongside. The firefight still raged just behind.

  They stumbled through the eerie light of flames and burning wreckage. The lights of the dropship grew brighter. The woods were a twinkling white with shadow everywhere.

  A rumble shuddered through the ground. The trees shook from side to side. Dew from the cold night fell like a single burst of rain.

  “Oh God,” Jack said.

  “Run!” McCloud yelled.

  The orbital bombardment streamed down from the sky not as an explosive charge but as a purely kinetic weapon. The rounds, deceptively small, plunged straight down from the barges parked above and buried themselves until they struck bedrock. At that point, the massed kinetic energy erupted through the group and seismic shock waves expanded outward like ripples on a pond.

  Tanks flipped. Trucks toppled. Soldiers wobbled and fell. Anything near the impact point was swallowed up. Those farther away were simply incapacitated by the shock wave. It was unstoppable.

  McCloud leaped over a shallow trench. Coalition troops huddled in the bottom and paid them no mind. He ducked low when he heard something whizz through the air.

  The orbitals slammed down closer.

  They were almost to the dropship. The lights flared bright. Weapons fire rang out. More orbitals thudded into the ground just behind them.

  “There it is!” Jack said.

  They broke through the edge of the tree line and stood at the edge of a hastily cleared patch of forest.

  The dropship rose, impossibly slow. Beneath it were hundreds of soldiers, all racing away from the jet blast. They were the ones the dropship couldn’t take.

  “No, no!” Jack yelled. He fell to his knees and sobbed.

  McCloud stared up at the rising dropship. There was no escape, and he knew it. He turned, his hands bound, and looked at Cross. “Well?”

  Cross locked eyes with McCloud and pulled out a pistol.

  A trail of rockets snaked out of the woods and slammed into the bottom of the dropship. It halted for a second and then plunged straight down. The crowds beneath it couldn’t escape. It crashed among a crush of humanity and split open like an eggshell. A second later, the reactor detonated inside.

  McCloud felt the shock wave, and then everything went black.

  ####

  “Angel Nine. Angel Nine. Report. Angel Nine.” The wing commander stood at the edge of his cell and spoke loudly into his microphone. “Angel Nine, do you read?”

  Kane McCloud stood on the edge of the cell with his hands clenched behind his back. He raised his chin up and listened. Angel Nine was the designation for the dropship that was supposed to carry his son and the locksmith into orbit.

  The wing commander dropped the microphone to his chest. “We’ve lost them, sir.”

  The massive command area went still.

  Kane stood alone.

  Across the hall, General Amit shouted across the bay. “I need updates on those orbitals!”

  Gone. He’s gone. Kane was suddenly back twenty years before, the Qin raiders killed his wife and took his younger son and daughter. Now they were all gone. The Qin had taken everything from him. Everything.

  “Thank you, Wing Commander,” Kane said. He stepped away from the cell and felt as if he was watching himself move. It wasn’t real. It felt fake. But the looks of pity were everywhere. He walked proudly down the hall and into his office.

  The marine sentry leaned in behind him, closed the window shades, and locked the door before returning to his post outside.

  Kane sat heavily on the edge of his chair. He expected to feel anger or rage, but just felt empty. He tried to rationalize it and then abandoned that. Instead, he pictured his boy when he was young.

  Then he cried.

  Five minutes later, he smoothed his jacket. He walked into his private bathroom and wiped the tears from his face. The mirror was too much to bear; he walked back into his office.

  When he came back onto the floor of the command cells, he put his professional face on. He didn’t feel right grieving for one when so many more had been lost. He grieved for them all.

  General Amit walked up and saluted. “My condolences, sir.”

  “Thank you,” he said. His voice was still hoarse. “Continue to focus on capturing those planetary defenses. We don’t have to worry about the Qin regaining control of those facilities anytime soon.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Gavin stood in the middle of a column of soldiers stretching into the distance. In front of him, Jack stumbled along. Behind him, Cross was weaponless, his eyes watching everything. Mixed infantry units shuffled in the column. Engineers. Mechanics. Cooks. Data specialists. Tankers in their black fireproof suits. Flight crews still wearing their gel high-G suits.

  Coalition soldiers marched alongside, one every fifty meters. Spaced farther out were trucks with rotary cannons mounted on the back.

  A light drizzle speckled the soldiers and soon turned into a steady rain.

  “Ideas?” Cross said.

  McCloud marched at the same pace as Jack shuffled. Escape. That was the only thing on his mind. He knew that now was the best time to escape, before he was in the prison system or even in a prison camp. All he needed was a diversion. “Jack?”

  “What?” Jack mumbled over his shoulder.

  “Can you run?”

  “Where?” Jack said sarcastically. “Orbit?”

  McCloud wanted to kick Jack square in the ass. As he saw it, they had two options. One, break loose, or two, break loose and get shot. Either way they’d keep the Coal
ition from getting the details they needed.

  The only thing he felt lucky about was the fact that the Coalition had no idea who they were. In the eyes of the Coalition, they were just another group of POWs to be sent somewhere. He didn’t know where they’d go, but eventually it’d lead to a processing area, and hopefully he could bluff his way through. Then it would be like finding a needle in a stack of needles.

  The column slowed and came to a halt. The escorts backed away a dozen meters and faced the line of troops.

  McCloud stepped aside and looked down the length of the column. He couldn’t see much; every other soldier before him had thought of the same thing. Though something looked different ahead, he couldn’t tell what. “Jack?”

  “What?” Jack called back. The locksmith turned slowly; his face was haggard and a nasty set of bruises ran across his head.

  A deep voice called out behind them. “Hey, soldier?”

  McCloud turned around. It took him a second to recognize the burly sergeant major.

  Sergeant Major Holly pushed his way through the crowd. One arm was completely wrapped in bandages and the other was scorched. “Corporal?”

  “Sergeant, actually,” McCloud replied. He’d tossed his ID tag a while back. Cross and Jack had done the same.

  A few of the soldiers around them idly watched the conversation. Not many seemed to be talking to anyone. Those that did grumbled and complained about the folly of the mission. The weight of surrender and the fall of the drop zone were heavy on them all.

  Holly stood right next to Cross. He shook the sniper’s hand. “Bombardment zone up there.”

  “How do you know?” Jack said. He stepped out of line to look.

  “I asked.”

  McCloud looked at one of the escorts. “Them?”

  “Traded one my rank and unit patches. He told me all sorts of stuff. Eager sort he was.”

  McCloud had thought of them as Qin, not as humans. He was missing out on details and felt stupid for not thinking of it. “Good work, uh, Sergeant. What else did you learn?”

  “Our barges up top hammered the area around Claymore. Shredded the place, caught up a shitload of Qin or Coalition assets. My guess is we’ll be marching through nothing but craters.”

  “Coalition?” McCloud said.

  Holly hooked a thumb at one of the escorts. “Qin Coalition.”

  “Huh,” Cross said.

  “Now we’re off to a processing camp.”

  “Then?” McCloud said.

  “Not sure, sir, erm, Sergeant.”

  Soon the line started moving again. A few soldiers fell out and couldn’t walk anymore. One of the Coalition escorts broke ranks and hollered for someone to help.

  Holly leaned in close to McCloud. “When we busting out?”

  “Once we have some cover, then we’ll get a diversion, you think?”

  Holly patted his bandaged arm. “I’ve got a pistol.”

  McCloud suddenly felt that he’d made a very clever friend. “Save it. We’ll wait till we’re back in the trees or if the craters offer enough cover.”

  “I’ll see what I can find for a diversion,” Holly said. He fell back a few ranks and started chatting with some other soldiers.

  McCloud stared ahead and followed along passively. He should have told Holly to shoot him, but maybe they could escape? The Coalition troops would be moving elsewhere, to the other dropsite. There just might be a niche to escape into.

  They came to the cratered lands, and McCloud saw why they’d slowed up. For nearly a kilometer, the ground was nothing but tortured mud, shattered stone, and the remnants of armor and troops. Ribbon marked a marching line that snaked up and down over the slippery slopes. Coalition troops stood on the tops of the craters and watched the POWs shuffle past.

  Jack lost his footing and slid down into a mucky bottom. McCloud reached down and plucked one arm while a soldier from the Royal Light Grenadiers pulled on the other.

  “Thank you,” McCloud said to the soldier.

  “No problem, sir.”

  “Sergeant.”

  “Yah, if you say so.”

  Jack started to curse and wipe the mud away.

  McCloud stopped him. He scooped up a handful of the sticky mud and started wiping it onto his trousers and arms. Cross was already doing the same. He hoped that the escorts wouldn’t be sharp enough to realize they were making localized camouflage.

  They picked through the craters, and McCloud studied the route. At every rise, he hoped for some terrain feature that might offer him a route. Instead, it was more of the same lumpy landscape. At the particularly steep sections, they worked with the other POWs to help the walking wounded up and over.

  He cursed his foul luck when the greenery of the next tree line came into view. There, just ahead, was a line of Coalition troops processing the POWs.

  “What now?” Holly said.

  McCloud looked around. On both sides, the trees were tangled and shredded from the shock wave of the orbital bombardment. Perfect cover. If they could get into it… It’d take the Coalition forever to find them in that mess.

  “Drop your gear, slowly now,” McCloud said.

  They let the line pass them by, one soldier at a time. First, they dropped the webbing, then belts, armor plates, and finally their meager packs. Jack didn’t look happy about any of it, but kept following orders.

  “Once we get to the line, all get to one side. Diversion, Holly?” McCloud said.

  “Just give the word,” Holly said.

  “Right. Once we’re into the woods, just keep moving. Keep the bombardment on your left.” He reached an arm out and grasped Jack’s shoulder. “You all right?”

  Jack nodded. His eyes were tired and sunken in, his shoulders hunched over.

  The column spread into a dozen different lines. A handful of armored vehicles covered the edges. A dozen Coalition soldiers sat at desks that were placed on the edge of a perfectly paved road. Cattle trucks idled on the far side. Terran Union troops climbed into the back after they were processed.

  A voice came over a loudspeaker. “Officers to the right. Officers to the right.”

  A few soldiers broke ranks and pushed their way off to the right side.

  “Keep moving,” McCloud said. They were on the far left side.

  The soldiers manning the station wore light armor that was lined with hoses and wire. They wore no packs; instead, small drones hovered just behind, tethered to their backs. Each cradled a weapon completely different than the more conventional weapons the Terran Union forces had fought against.

  McCloud studied them as the column slowed. This was something completely different from anything he’d ever seen before. Ringer. The word stuck in his brain. Someone who showed up in the second round and laid out the real punishment.

  Perspiration beaded up on his forehead, and he felt warm even though it was raining. His heartbeat was loud in his ears.

  The crowd was slowing. A little man sat at the table ahead; he entered in names and numbers, swiped their arms with a device, and handed each a metal tag.

  “Damn, efficient for this soon,” Cross said.

  McCloud blinked. Already the infrastructure was in place to handle thousands of POWs. Something was out of place. He didn’t know what, but for a supposed surprise invasion, this shouldn’t be happening.

  “Officers to the right. Officers to the right. If you see an officer, send him to the right.”

  A soldier raised his hand. It was the man from the Grenadiers. “Hey, hey! These are officers!”

  He looked over his shoulder at Jack and Cross. They both acknowledged with a quick nod.

  “Holly?”

  Suddenly, three Coalition soldiers pushed through the crowd. They led with the rectangular barrels. Their faces were hidden behind smooth armor plate. The hover drones bobbed behind them.

  Holly backed away two steps. He tucked his wounded arm tight and shook his head at McCloud.

  The soldier hollered again
and pointed at McCloud. “He’s an officer, and his friend!”

  McCloud backed up. “I ain’t no officer. I work for a living, boy. I’m a supply sergeant.”

  Cross stood at his side and pushed Jack behind them. Jack stumbled back and Holly grabbed on to him. The two started to dissolve back into the crowd.

  The Coalition soldier locked his rifle into the drone and grabbed McCloud. With his other hand, he pulled Cross along.

  “No, no!” a different soldier yelled. He pointed into the crowd. “Not that one, him!”

  Voices rang out across the crowd. Hands shoved Jack ahead, while others pulled him behind.

  The loudspeakers crackled. “Preferential treatment will be given to those who cooperate.”

  Holly struggled to pull Jack back.

  McCloud tried to turn. The Coalition soldier was impossibly strong, with a grip like an iron vise. He watched as one of the other soldiers raised a weapon, and finally Holly stopped. Jack hobbled ahead, and the soldier cracked him on the face with the butt of his rifle.

  “Cross!” McCloud yelled.

  The soldier pulled at him and tossed him past the row of tables. Someone tucked a metal tag into his jacket, and then he was bundled into the back of a truck. Thirty seconds later, they tossed Jack in, unconscious.

  McCloud frowned. He looked into the darkness of the enclosed truck. Thirty other officers sat and looked out the door.

  There was a clunk, and a Coalition trooper swung the door closed. The light was suddenly gone.

  Cross watched the line slink toward the desks. He counted the guards again and took note of the weaponry. This unit was completely different from what they’d faced before. These boys, he thought, look like they mean business.

  After the truck left with McCloud and Jack, he’d kept moving ahead as quickly as possible. His only goal now was to get through the line and hopefully end up in the same place McCloud was.

  “Hey,” a soldier called out to one of the guards. “We came to save you assholes. Remember? From the Qin, you fuckers.”

  The guard swung the barrel of his weapon toward the soldier. “Who says we needed any help?”

  The soldier grinned angrily. “You fuckers. You dirty, greasy Qin fuckers. Look at this, all of this, and you just could’ve said ‘no thanks’! We came here to save you!”