Dead Man's Game Read online

  Her eyes were cold. I’d seen eyes like that on some of the more hardened criminals I’d put behind bars, but this was something different. It was more controlled.

  She wouldn’t have a concern about killing a man and eating a candy bar over the dead body, I thought as I entered the canvas room.

  I’d worked as a public defender for a stint after leaving the prosecutor’s office. Some—few, too few—I had believed when they had claimed innocence, but I’d thought most were guilty of the crimes that brought their file to my desk.

  It had been miserable work and after only a year I’d known I didn’t want to spend any more of my life doing it. It had been almost a decade but I had not forgotten the way a killer made me feel.

  I had that same feeling as I walked into the general’s office.

  The table she used for a desk was a match for the counterpart behind it and there was another along the far wall. The office wasn’t tidy, but that was in line with the woman’s casual appearance. It seemed a badge of honor that she was not refined like the woman at the desk outside.

  “Take a seat,” Roth said nodding at two folding chairs in a tone that told me she expected people to do as she said and they usually did.

  As I took my seat I noticed the foot of a toy doll sticking out from a bag on the back table. I looked away while trying to fit this piece of the puzzle in the with rest of what I had observed about the general. The foot was made from plastic, just like a doll from earth.

  It was the first physical connection to earth I’d seen, not counting Jeffords’ book, which had been so worn I hadn’t been able tell a thing about it.

  How had she come by the doll?

  Was this a reflection of a soft side she didn’t usually show or was it something else? Perhaps she had a daughter, though it seemed unlikely in a place like this.

  I averted my eyes.

  The rest of the office was austere. There was a makeshift shelf to one side that had several things, including a few books. I did not recognize the titles.

  When she sat I tried not to glare at her, even though I’d awoken in a foreign world and she was in charge of those who’d captured me.

  Her killer eyes narrowed.

  “I am Brigadier General Katrina Roth,” she said. “Earth is gone. It ended five years after your death.” Roth paused as if expecting the news to affect me. I wasn’t going to believe it until I saw proof even though this was a possibility I’d already considered.

  She was trying to recruit me. I expected a story that would get me to comply with her desires.

  “It is unusual for a man upon awaking to take a few steps, much less walk. This speaks well of your potential. How are you feeling?”

  I shrugged uncomfortably and gave her a wan smile. “I’m okay, all things considered.”

  Roth wanted me to ask about my family, I could see it in her eyes, but I was not going to give her the satisfaction. She wanted me to show emotion at the supposed news earth had been destroyed, but I would give her nothing.

  Unless Roth offered incontrovertible evidence, I was going to have one view of everything she told me.

  It was all manufactured.

  I’ll bet real money she is going to say we are at war with the race who destroyed earth.

  “Our records indicate you lost family.”

  I didn’t answer. A part deep inside feared she told the truth and wanted to mourn but I kept it stuffed inside a tight box. I refused to believe my family was gone. I would not accept that as true.

  “A lot lost family. It is by luck you were chosen for this project.”

  “This was done by the government?” I asked.

  “You betcha, but not the one you think. The United States died the same day.”

  I nodded. “Who are we fighting?”

  “The maggots that took out earth.”

  “And you want my help?”

  We stared at each other. When she averted her gaze I had been a moment away from doing so myself. I’d planned to hold her eyes long enough to show I was tough but not unnecessarily belligerent. I needed her to think she could train me, but that I also had backbone.

  “I’ve dealt with stubborn men like you,” she said in an even tone. “Men who don’t do what they’re told, who think they already know what they’re about. I received a full report and already I don’t like your attitude. Some of you come around, but most don’t. I’m gonna give you an opportunity to prove yourself, but if you cross me that will be the end. I’ll have you shelved so quick you won’t know what happened.”

  Perhaps I had miscalculated.

  My reputation had already preceded me, but I was hard-pressed to see how anybody had spoken ill of me. I’d been resistant to what Dolores wanted, but wasn’t that a natural reaction to waking up here?

  I too had my own stereotypes through which I wanted to define Roth but realized that could be dangerous. I wasn’t going to underestimate her.

  “I ask again,” she said. “How are you feeling?”

  “My head hurts,” I said with a contrite voice, figuring it best to do what she wanted. I wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t know or suspect, but I downplayed it. “My body feels like it’s on fire, my mind will not let me rest. Does that answer your question? Is that what you want to hear?” The tone of my final question didn’t come off as I’d wanted—it was too challenging—but I let it stand. I didn’t want her to think I could be cowed so easily.

  She doesn’t want a coward no matter what she says.

  Her eyes went colder, if that was possible.

  “I want to get the people who destroyed earth,” I said evenly before she could speak.

  “You’re telling me what I want to hear. I don’t enjoy being toyed with. I don’t suffer fools.”

  Roth leaned forward.

  “It’s accepted we don’t talk about life before, but I’ll make an exception to teach you a lesson about what you can expect from me. A man came to my father’s house, said they fought together in the war. When my father came out he told me to go inside. You see, he was paranoid. He had insisted on training me with a code word in case of danger. He inserted that code word so naturally I almost missed it. As he pulled the door shut I realized what was happening. Terror overcame me but I did as he’d instructed, locking the door even though he was on the wrong side.

  “I went to the window.” She paused for several seconds. “The man held a gun on my father.”

  She looked at me, curious to see my reaction. I was careful to keep anything from showing.

  “The discussion was brief and the man left. My father waited several minutes before tapping out the signal to open the door. A messed-up childhood, don’t you think?” Her eyes misted. Despite her rough appearance she did not look ashamed. She was far away now, thinking back to that day.

  Apparently.

  “The bullet ripped through the door and into my father’s back. As he fell there was a noise outside. I assumed the man would come for me but didn’t care as I grabbed tissues and stuffed them into my father’s wound. That did not work, blood was soon all over. That was when he muttered, ‘Katrina, you must hide, don’t come out until the police arrive.’ I sobbed, not wanting to leave my old man, but I did as he said.”

  I shifted. Why was she telling me this story? It had come from nowhere and had no point.

  General Roth is nuts.

  “That day comes back, haunting me, even here on the other side of what I thought was death. It comes at night, making it difficult to sleep, but I must tell you… you need to know. I found that man years later and put a knife in his back.” She licked her lower lip and sneered. “I turned him around so he could see my face. He recognized me with his dying breath.”

  I frowned at the surprising confession. While I believed she could kill I figured this was fiction. I wished Sam was here, he was always good at witness analysis, bringing up insights I hadn’t considered.

  “I won’t hesitate if you wrong me.” She looked m
e square in the eye but kept her hands flat on the table though I sensed the threat was real. “I’ll watch you die too.”

  “What was your father into?” I asked coldly.

  The general tilted her head as if thinking of answering. The wheels in my mind moved too, it was like she was trying to decide if she’d given me too many details. She wanted the story to appear genuine. Too many details could prove the lie.

  “Don’t forget my warning. You are on Aldreda, world of a thousand deaths,” Roth finally said, it took me a moment, but I remembered Jeffords had also called this place Aldreda. “This isn’t earth. If you don’t do exactly what we say, you’ll be dead quicker than a frog tossed in boiling water. When somebody tells you to stay in bed, you get back in bed. Drop the insolent act and learn everything you can so you live longer than a few days.

  “I probably won’t need to put a knife in your back, lady Aldreda will do it for me.”

  I allowed my frown to deepen as I nodded, wanting her to think she’d made her point. She definitely had a loose screw or two and that alone was reason enough to be careful around her.

  While I was certain General Roth had lied about some things, her warning about the planet appeared genuine. The little I’d seen told me it was every bit as dangerous as she claimed.

  “Return to your cot and rest. You’re not scheduled to begin orientation for two days. Do everything you’re told—”

  Roth was cut off by a screaming siren. It was followed by a loud explosion and earthquake. The ground shook again with a great rumbling and I was tossed from my chair.

  We leaped to our feet, she a smidge faster than me. The fall made my muscles groan but I ignored the pain.

  A voice called over a distant loudspeaker, broadcasting words I probably could have understood if it had been slower.

  Roth frowned. She had been hard before but she became like stone, unyielding and defiant.

  Was it just my imagination or was there fear in her eyes?

  What did she have to be afraid of?

  “You need to get back—” she was cut off when the wall of the tent behind her was thrown backward, collapsing as it landed on the other side, there was a muffled yell from the soldier at the desk out front.

  She needs help.

  The thought disappeared as I looked at the creature that had uprooted the structure.

  9

  The monster was more than thirty feet tall and stood at the edge of a ravine. The chasm hadn’t been there moments before, a tent on the other side was half suspended over the gaping hole.

  The fissure must have formed during the quake.

  The creature opened a mouth that was as long as I was tall, showing blackened razor-sharp teeth. It let out a piercing cry, tilting its head in the air as it did, making me think it was calling others. It stood on two feet with legs and arms that were half the length of its body. At the end of its arms were fingered claws that also appeared to function as digits.

  The creature screamed again.

  I caught a glance of what might have been an eye, it was small and far out of proportion to its body.

  The skin was scaly, looking like rusted metal. As I wondered if it was a robot, its chest heaved.

  A living creature. My first alien contact if I don’t count the bug.

  Its feet were broad and covered with something I could only describe as porcupine quills. Even though it seemed to be made from metal, it was far more agile than its appearance suggested. When the creature lifted its leg, the exotic skin moved naturally, instead of remaining rigid.

  I was in awe of the terrible sight.

  “Run!” Roth said as she darted past me. I followed her through a tent door, surprised to see that part of the original command structure still stood. Multiple tents had been placed side by side to form a larger unit.

  After I ran out I realized the soldier in the collapsed section was silent. I glanced towards where she’d been but didn’t see movement in the fallen canvas.

  Just as I thought of going to help, the monster brought down its foot onto the fallen tent and the ground shook, nothing like before but enough to make me run.

  I can’t do anything with that monster right there.

  It shrieked as it turned toward us.

  The sun was higher and already hot against my skin. What’s a little sunburn compared to getting eaten?

  “Go, go!” Roth cried.

  I had thought she was in front but she came up from the rear, exiting the tent just before the rest of it collapsed. She now had a rifle slung over her shoulder that she’d pulled out from somewhere.

  The creature came for us.

  I hoped the woman inside survived as I ran away, feeling like a coward for not going to her aid.

  “The grenlings move faster once they sight their prey, relying on smell at first,” Roth said as she pulled up beside me. “It probably hasn’t seen us yet but it won’t be long.”

  Grenling, I thought, remembering the booming noise I’d heard upon first awakening.

  I am on a strange planet being chased by a grenling.

  I wanted to glance back but didn’t have the luxury as I turned down a row of tents. The cords staking down the tents were clear, making it hard to see. The slightest mistake and I would be sent head over heels while getting wrapped up in rope like a fly in a spider’s web.

  My legs burned, perspiration covered my body, my lungs were on fire, my eyes watered, and my skin felt like it was going to get the worst sunburn of my entire life.

  Roth sprinted, jumping over the clear tie downs to get ahead. I suspected she wanted to leave me behind as an offering to the grenling, but I pushed harder, not wanting my short new life ruined so soon.

  I had to figure out what had happened to my family.

  Despite my efforts, Roth gained ground and soon hopped in front of me, having outrun me, even with the rope tie downs in her way.

  Each step was painful, but as I ran it got easier. It was that or I was becoming more familiar with the pain that coursed through every muscle.

  The grenling screamed in fury.

  I was surprised at how close it was, spurring me to move faster, my legs were on fire as much as the exposed skin of my bald head. When we came to a break in the tents, I chanced a look and was relieved the grenling was further back than I feared. Although it could walk wherever it wanted, it didn’t have the clear path we did because of its size.

  Maybe it saw me looking because it let out another cry and headed straight towards us, crushing everything in its way. I had a distinct feeling it was no longer using smell to hunt us.

  Strange that it only saw us when we were far away.

  Roth changed direction and ran out of camp. I considered going a different way, liking my odds of survival better with the camp in between the grenling and me, but she knew what she was doing.

  Roth increased her speed now that she had fewer obstacles.

  As I followed my boots crunched the dry ground, kicking red rocks in front of me. My legs brushed against foreign bushes that belonged on a planet far from the one I called home.

  I risked another look and saw that while we had left the monster behind, it still came after us. It had noticed our change of course and likewise adjusted its route.

  The general stopped, her sides heaving. Surprise registered on her face when I ran up beside her, a look that was forever etched in my mind.

  It wasn’t my imagination. She intended for the grenling to get me.

  Panic crossed her face, but then was gone.

  “How is this possible?” Roth asked between gasps. “You should have been…” She trailed off and did not finish what she was saying, it appeared she had thought of something that answered her question. Whatever it was she did not speak it aloud. “These things don’t stop coming, keep up if you can, our only chance is to run until somebody takes it out.” She made no move for her rifle, but that wasn’t a surprise. The creature was far away and the weapon didn’t look powerful en
ough to take it down.

  I suspected she had picked it up just to have something. During my time as a prosecutor I’d heard cops mention they felt naked without a weapon. She was probably the same.

  Roth held her watch to her mouth and pressed a button on the side, the display lighting up as she did. “This is Roth. Call in air support.” She lowered her hand. “They should have already done that but sometimes…” She didn’t finish her thought.

  She took off without another look at me. Not knowing what else to do I followed, hoping I could stay up with her long enough to escape the grenling.

  10

  General Katrina Roth and I ran in the opposite direction of the cliff wall I had seen when I had first looked out the window of the infirmary tent. The land in front of us stretched for miles, but I soon learned it was far more treacherous than it looked. Roth was aware of the dangers, almost as if she had this area mapped in her mind because she kept making turns rather than running straight. At first I was baffled by her erratic behavior, but at one of the twists, I realized if we had gone straight we would have run into a ravine that was covered by brush.

  Without a working watch I had no concept for how long we had been running, but my best guess was fifteen minutes. I was covered with sweat from head to toe. My exposed head, neck, and arms were already starting to feel crispy from the sun that was climbing ever higher in the sky. It was a massive red fireball and was considerably more prominent than the sun back home.

  I could not remember my last drink of water.

  My tongue was beyond parched and I feared if this went much longer I was going to keel over from dehydration.

  I kept wanting to look at the sun but figured if it could scorch my skin so fast, the last thing I needed was to expose my eyes any more than necessary.

  The general stopped and looked back. She was once again surprised to see I had followed. She did a better job of keeping it from showing on her face, but it was still there. I got the feeling once again she hoped the grenling would get me.