“No, I think,” Kolivar said, crossing her arms. She was speaking to some senator and another man who looked to be in a high position in the military. “I will wait here until a vessel from Retu’alae arrives, and then I will depart, yes?”

The senator looked disappointed. “Very well...” he continued talking, but Marcus zoned them out. He was so tired. He just wanted to go home and have a very long vacation with Kaisa and the kids. By the way, he needed to find a public IC unit so he could send them a link.

He was rubbing his forehead when Colonel Taver came up to him. He still seemed sad that Dan was dead. The colonel had been there during the debriefing. That had taken over three hours of constant questions, all being recorded.

And still nobody knew what had happened to the ambassador. He probably got toasted. Good riddance.

“What can I do for you,” Colonel.

The older man shrugged. “Just wanted to let you know that I’m very impressed with you, Captain West. The Alliance could use more men like you.”

Marcus shrugged as if to say, “no way.”

“I could pull a few strings,” Taver went on. “After basic we can ship you off for special forces training. Sound like fun?”

Marcus raised his eyebrows. “I appreciate the offer, Colonel, but I don’t think so. I just want to go home. I’ve had enough excitement to last me two lifetimes.”

Colonel Taver chuckled. “If you change your mind,” he said, holding out a card. “You never know, you might decide civilian life is boring.”

Marcus took the card. “I don’t think so. A boring life is a safe life.”

Taver raised a skeptical eyebrow, then nodded and turned to speak with Kolivar and the senator.

Marcus turned around to find somebody about a shuttle out of the Sheol system when he came face to face with a pretty young woman who had identified herself to him as Yeun. She had been another person at the debriefing.

“You sure he’s dead?” She asked, arms crossed.

“Everything’s in the report, Ms. Yeun. You were there.”

“But you weren’t there when the explosion hit. How can you be sure?”

This woman was persistent. “The Alliance can always send some scouts down. Do some reconnaissance to find out for sure.”

Yeun nodded. Then she smiled. “Can I help you with a shuttle? I bet you can’t wait to get out of this system”

Marcus smiled. “Please, get me the hell out of here.”

She laughed.

* * *

Among the smoldering ruins of the hangar bay, there was a thumping sound coming from a small blackened tool locker built into the rock wall. The thumping became louder, more constant.

Inside, Dan kicked with his good foot, using all his strength. It was hot—very hot inside that locker and he was nearly out of air. For some reason the door wouldn’t open no matter how hard he kicked.

Either something had fallen in the way, blocking him from getting out, or the metal door was fused shut from the heat. Either way, Dan kept kicking.

I should have gone into mage training.

Unfortunately the commando had zero aptitude for magical ability.

His breath was beginning to labor under the heat and lack of oxygen, when finally a small dot of light appeared inside the dark locker, a bar of hope shining in. He kicked more vigorously where the light had appeared, and in reward for his efforts, the small crack got larger. Larger still.

“Yes! COME ON!”

Finally the door slammed open and he fell out. Compared to the air inside, it felt cool and fresh, despite not being anything of the sort. But Dan barely noticed his surroundings as he gasped for fresh—fresher—air.

Tired and out of breath, Dan began to notice the damage the hanger had sustained. Most of the walls were blackened from the explosions. Overhanging and support beams, along with piles of rock and other ruble were strewn about the hangar.

He got to his feet, limped to an access ladder and began to climb. When he reached the top, he unscrewed the lock and opened the hatch.

After crawling out, Dan found himself on a hill overlooking Life City. Surprising, it was mostly intact, but surrounding the area were massive craters edged with burnt rock and rubble. The craters surrounded Life City. There were... Dan counted twenty or so of these craters, one of them about five hundred yards off from the hangar bay.

When he made his way into the city, he found people looting and pillaging. Since their warlord was dead, and no obvious second in command to take his place, the army of the Iron Kin of War was beginning to tear itself apart.

The Dust Dogs would probably soon be on their way. Dan scratched his head. How was Life City still here? The only explanation he had was that the missiles were designed to take out ships. Area of effect explosions were not their intended purpose.

Lucky us…

There were no Alliance soldiers in the city. Not a single one. They had already evacuated the planet.

Without Dan.

I told him to leave me behind.

They thought he was dead. They wouldn’t be coming back for him. He was stuck. Here.

On Acheron.

“Well fuck!”