Marcus’ mouth felt so dry. After watching those bandits strip the ship for two hours and then walking another three—all in the blazing hot sun—it was beginning to take its toll. He licked his lips. It made him want water even more.

He nearly tripped on a red rock surrounded by course tan sand, his legs heavy. The terrain was beginning to rise again with those reddish rocks cropping up more and more. Mountains of the same color loomed in the distance, maybe another three or four hours of walking. He sucked in a lung full of air before hopping onto a large slab.

Where were the others right now; Ambassador Silverman and Diplomat Kolivar, and the rest of the passengers? Marcus wondered if it would have been better to surrender when he had the chance. He’d been so scared when he saw them taken away. For all he knew, they were dead now.

Not likely, he thought. Otherwise they would have been killed right there in the sand instead of being taken away.

How safe was he now? Not being in immediate danger, he actually felt... excited? He felt a thrill, the thrill of danger. Being on this planet was very dangerous, but it was also exciting in a kind of way—it was an adventure. Maybe not the kind he would have had if he’d joined the navy, but it was an adventure of a kind.

Don’t be stupid, he told himself. This was reckless. What if Marcus died on this planet? Who would take care of Kaisa and the kids?

A measure of guilt wracked him. Marcus wasn’t here to help. He was just a pilot. What he needed to do was survive.

He glanced at the two men who identified themselves as Alliance operatives. They were very quiet—probably trying to blend in, to keep attention off themselves.

One of the prisoners at the front of the pack shouted as he lifted an arm to point. Ahead was a mountain that hadn’t been visible until they crested the rocky mound.

It was a city inside an oasis that was settled at the bottom of a valley. The mountain at the center of the valley looked to be split in half, maybe by an earthquake? It seemed the important centers were located in this area.

Marcus squinted. “Is that a river?”

It was more like a stream, surrounded by small rocks and little ponds. Shabby canvas had been erected as shade bearers over the ponds.

Heads swiveled and Marcus realized there were motor vehicles close by, the growling of their engines coming from several directions.

Closer.

The group huddled together, faces pointing outward for signs of the vehicles when the ATVs crested the rocky mounds. Four of them.

The motors were shut off and eight men with guns got out. All four of the ATVs had eight seats and a small flatbed in the back with rugged tires.

One man moved to the front of the pack, the prisoners—and Marcus—shying back, wary of these men. They didn’t look like prisoners.

The man in front was of average height, not strong. He had a brown goatee and a pistol at his side. “My name is Blake Halls. My men and I will be escorting you to the city.”

Marcus glanced at the two special operations men. They glanced back, then to each other before the man named Shane got a look of determination on his face. He stepped forward. “Who are you?”

Blake frowned and his seven men started fanning out.

Marcus’ stomach clenched as a knot formed inside his throat. And he’d been enjoying this?

“In that city,” he half turned and pointed toward the city, “is the strongest clan on the planet. I was ordered to escort you in, as we do for all new drops. You want to find a place here, don’t you?”

Dan stepped forward. “Why do you care about a bunch of prisoners?”

Blake scanned the faces of the prisoners. He seemed a little impatient. “Every mouth is a drain on resources, namely food and water. If you don’t play your part, you get kicked out of the city. It’s my job to bring you in and find you work.” He gestured for his men to take action.

Some of the guards slung their weapons onto their backs and moved forward. One of them grabbed Shane by the arm, but before he could pull the special operations man toward the ATVs, Shane reacted, deflecting the grip, then connecting his palm with the guard’s chest.

The guard grunted and went to the sand.

The other guards quickly stepped back, guns bared. The man who had identified himself as Blake Halls had his pistol out, but he didn’t point it at anyone.

“Wait!” Dan shouted, putting a hand forward. He was at the front of the group now after pulling Shane back by the shoulder.

Shane grimaced, his bottom lip making a strange twist as he shrugged off Dan’s hand.

“We don’t want any trouble,” Dan continued. “You can take us to the city.” He glanced back at Shane, a look in his eyes that said “don’t.”

Blake and his guards eyed the group warily. “I want that one, bound,” he said, pointing directly at Shane.

“Fuck that!”

Blake narrowed in on the man. “You’ll do it! Unless you’d rather bleed out in the hot sand?”

Shane snarled as he sarcastically moved his hands in mock obeisance to be bound. After they tied his hands together, Blake and his guards proceeded to load the prisoners up in the ATVs, two guards in the back seats to keep an eye on the prisoners in case any of them tried anything.

The drive back to the city was rough and bumpy at first, but then the four ATVs hit an old paved road half covered by sand.

“Life City is what we call it here,” Blake said over the growling engine.

Marcus was in the seat directly behind the front passenger seat where Blake was sitting, one of his guards driving the vehicle into Life City as he turned back to speak to them. Dan was next to Marcus on his left, along with a couple other prisoners behind them. Shane wasn’t in this ATV for some reason.

“Like I told you on the dunes,” Blake continued. “Everyone has a place here. You’ll want to tell us what skills you have so we can find you some work. If you can’t provide the clan with anything, you will be exiled outside of the city and forbidden to enter again.”

As they drove into the city along the stream, Marcus could see that the waterway was protected by stones and rough canvas to keep too much sand from clogging the ways. The ponds were not natural, but made purposely to catch and hold water. Green plants and shrubbery coalesced about these water holes.

Most of the buildings were small shacks or sun-faded domiciles that looked to be decades old. The inhabitants milled about, performing work, cooking, cleaning. Children played. Men slaughtered meat. There were grime-covered mechanics and old women sweeping sand from walkways.

Blake pointed. “A lot of the construction we have here on Acheron was left by the original colonists. We don’t waste anything here—too valuable when nothing ever gets replaced.”

Marcus nodded, feeling much less uneasy now. This man, Blake Halls didn’t seem like a brute. Marcus expected to see a city filled with destitute people scrounging and begging for a scrap of food, a place where criminals and savages ruled. The city looked orderly, for the most part.

The driver took them toward the crag in the mountain. At its face was a factory with a drive-in tunnel. Old mining equipment was scattered about like the remnants of an ancient civilization, rusted and in place as permanent fixtures to the environment.

Inside the crag, most of the ground was shaded and the trees were taller here. Marcus glanced about the cliff faces lined with shacks built from all kinds of materials. Some were built from scraps; old metal sheets, plastics and other materials left behind by the colonists. But inside the mountain, most of the homes were built out of bricks that had tiled roofs.

Everywhere Marcus looked he could see rain catchers built from smooth clay that descended into metal tanks. Water seemed very precious here.

“How often does it rain?”

Blake glanced into the dusty rearview mirror. “About every five years. It’s why we have so many water catchers. The stream can’t sustain the entire city.”

“How many people live here?” Dan asked.

“About a hundred and ten thousand, last the clan checked,” Blake said. Then he chuckled. “That was about ten years ago, so I hear.”

Marcus shifted in his seat. “You mean you haven’t been here that long?”

Blake shook his head. “No. About five years now.”

* * *

The ATV stopped and Blake handed off the new drops to Razen so he could deal with interviewing them. The spec ops men he kept with him, and the pilot of the Kerris. Rork would probably want to see the pilot, and if he didn’t, he seemed somewhat attached to the spec ops men in some way.

And then came the spiral. Blake tensed against his seat as the driver took them down. He always felt sick after a few minutes no matter how slow they drove.

He glanced in the rearview mirror to see Rork’s guests looking about with wide eyes. The spiral was open on the side, allowing anyone in the ATV to see down the shaft where the main stronghold of the Iron Kin of War was located.

They didn’t have to go all the way down, since Blake was supposed to take these three men to the main audience chamber, which was about mid-level. Thankfully.

“It’s an old mining shaft,” he said. “The original colonists who abandoned this planet sucked the world dry of almost all the resources. The only thing that remains are trace amounts of any metal and gas.”

Or so the Alliance thinks, Blake thought, knowing full well that the planet contained vast hidden reserves that were completely untapped.

“Are there very many settlements on the planet?” Dan asked.

“Dozens, but Life City is one of the largest for sure.”

“Where are you taking us?” Marcus asked. “Why did you drop off the others?”

“My boss needs something done—he wants to meet you.”

“Why us?”

“Those two friends of yours look like they have military experience,” Blake said. It would be obvious this was a ruse if they chose to pretend otherwise. “He has something big planned for the planet. It’s going to be huge, and he wants you three to be a part of it.”

Saying the words made Blake feel like a predator, the kind that lured you close, then struck with monstrous ferocity. If Blake was going to put his past behind him and become a better man, this wasn’t the way.

They reached mid-level and the ATV driver pulled into a parking area. Blake got out of the vehicle, feeling a little dizzy. At least he didn’t need to empty his stomach. “This way.” He opened a thick metal door and led the three men toward the audience chamber. Metal sheets and pipes lined the corridors

This place wasn’t only a mining complex; it had been a missile complex. The original colonists on Acheron weren’t many and so posed an easy meal for pirates and marauders, hence the need for the surface to orbit missile complex.

They reached the end of the corridor and Blake opened another door that lead into a semi-dark room with filtered light shining through shafts that lead to the surface over small fields of lush plants. The whole place teamed with plant life in fact.

* * *

Blake led them into a large room that looked like a nursery. Ambient light pervaded the area and streams of light shot in from above. The area smelled like dirt and plants. Interesting.

A tall man misted some delicate looking botanical organisms in early development before he turned around.

“This is Rork,” Blake said, gesturing to the man with the mist bottle. “He’s the leader of the Iron Kin of War.”

Dan raised an eyebrow. He didn’t expect a warlord to take up gardening in his spare time.

Rork set the bottle down. “Welcome to Life City,” he said. “As my man, Blake Halls has no doubt already told you, anyone who wishes to remain in the city must provide my clan with something valuable, otherwise you cannot stay here.”

Dan nodded. If they were going to find Ambassador Silverman and Diplomat Kolivar, they would need access to the city. If Rork denied them, this was going to get a lot more difficult.

He glanced at a Shane, then to Rork he said, “What can we do for you?”

Rork moved the table in the middle of the room and brushed his hand against its face. “There’s a device that I need. Unfortunately the Dust Dogs stole it from me. I need it retrieved.”

“What’s the tech?” Dan asked.

Blake shifted on his feet.

“It’s a surface to orbit missile guidance system,” Rork said.

Dan noticed Blake’s eyes widen slightly as he glanced toward the warlord. Shane crossed his arms. “Why the fuck would you need a missile guidance system?”

“You would be surprised how much technology was left behind when the colonists left.”

“What was the purpose of leaving everything? Marcus asked.

Rork looked at the pilot for a moment. “This star system lies on the border between Alliance space and the Borodan Empire. They threatened to attack the colony and even moved ships into the system to do it. There was a standoff and the colonists evacuated.”

“Why us?” Dan asked. “Don’t you have soldiers for that?”

“As I’ve said already, everyone must do their part if they want to be a part of Life City and the Iron Kin of War. You have military backgrounds, so this is what I need you to do.”

Shane scowled. “How do you know we have military backgrounds?”

“I’ve trained my man to watch out for your types when dropped here,” Rork said impatiently. “I have use for you. Have I explained myself enough?”

Shane growled and Dan gave him a look.

“What about me?” Marcus said.

“Ah,” Rork said, looking Marcus up and down. “You’re the pilot of the Kerris, aren’t you?”

Marcus stiffened.

Rork laughed. “Take the pilot with you.”

Shane frowned. “So he can get us killed?” He seemed to have a slightly higher measure of respect for the warlord now. He wasn’t stupid enough to piss this man off.

“People can surprise you,” Rork said flatly.

“All right,” Dan said. “We’ll do it.”

Marcus looked at Dan, a look of “Oh, shit” in his eyes.

“Excellent,” Rork said. “Blake Halls will be in charge. Obey him.”

Dan glanced at Shane, then to Blake, nodded.

“Guard,” Rork called.

A man appeared a few moments later. Dan didn’t even know he was in the room until now—not with this many plants.

“Escort these fresh drops to their new quarters,” Rork told him.

The guard nodded and gestured for Dan, Shane, and Marcus to follow him. They did as Blake moved closer to the warlord and started speaking in hushed tones so they couldn’t hear.