Colton Cyness and the Gunslingers (Children of the Empire Book 1) Read online

  "I have three stun grenades," admitted Austin.

  "I have a pound of plastic explosives," Toran said sheepishly.

  “No wonder you didn’t want me kicking your pack.”

  Colt waited as his team went through their field packs. The Merits were all talking at once as they rummaged through their kits for the non-standard items they shouldn't have.

  "Does a plasma torch count?"

  "No, that's just for cutting open space ships."

  "Here's a couple uranium rounds."

  "What about a subsonic sniper cartridge, I got three."

  "Here's two shotgun cartridges."

  "Those don't count, we don't have a shotgun."

  "Here's a glide round, I only got one."

  "I have a riot grenade, the small kind."

  "I have two tracer rounds. I shot the rest. They’re awesome at night."

  "Do knives count? I have four."

  "Here's a small hatchet."

  "I have some garrote wire."

  "Okay, okay," said Colt. "I get the point. You guys are scary.

  “How come they let us keep our weapons?” asked Wes.

  “Perhaps because they didn’t think it would make any difference,” said Garth.

  “Put your toys away and let’s move out,” ordered Colt. “Garth on point."

  The team passed under the arch and entered the prison. The path followed a slow-moving lava flow and rocks overhung the sides of the path. Colt heard the sound of people wailing in the distance. A sense of hopelessness hung thick in the air. This was not a pleasant place.

  "We're being followed," said Toran.

  "I see them," said Colt. "Be ready for an ambush, and conserve your rounds. We don't know how long we will be here."

  Colt and his team walked another quarter-mile before the inmates following them finally worked up the courage to attack. The prisoners scrambled down from the rocks and jumped in front of the boys, and charged. They were filthy and their clothes hung in rags, and there was little in the way of organization among the prisoners. The attack didn't last long. The boys fired at the attacking inmates, and the poorly armed prisoners retreated. The prisoners hadn't expected to encounter a fully armed Gunslinger Combat Team.

  "I don't think that was a real attack," said Toran. "They were just testing us. We need to find a better defensive position."

  "The Eldest Mother said we had to walk through seven levels," said Colt. "Let's not get trapped into a defensive position. Keep going."

  "Where are we going?" asked Toran.

  "I don't know," said Colt. "Just keep moving, we'll find something."

  "Hey guys, look at this," said Wes.

  The boys looked where Wes was now kneeling. Wes lifted a handful of gold coins and showed them to the others.

  "Gold, there are piles of it here," said Wes.

  "Leave it," said Colt. "We have no need of gold."

  Wes was already pouring handfuls of the gold into his field pack.

  "I said leave it!" Colt shouted.

  Wes ignored Colt and continued filling his pack. Colt didn't have time to argue with him. The inmates had returned in greater numbers and were coming down the rocks. In a moment, they would be surrounded.

  "We have to go!" shouted Colt. "Move it!"

  Colt ran to Garth's position at the front and passed him, shouting for the team to follow him. He made it twenty yards when he heard shooting behind him and turned back to see what was happening. Toran and Garth had followed, but Wes hadn't moved from the pile of gold and Austin had run back to get him. Austin was now kneeling on the ground firing at attacking inmates. Wes didn't even seem to be aware of the battle raging around him.

  The inmates jumped down from the rocks and blocked the path back to Wes. Even with superior weapons, the boys were in danger of being overrun by sheer numbers.

  "Wes, we have to go!" shouted Austin.

  Wes ignored him and continued to try stuffing more gold into a pack that was already overflowing. Austin stayed at Wes's side firing at the attacking inmates, but there were too many. A rock hit Austin in the side of the head, and he fell over, bleeding. The inmates swarmed over the fallen boy and dragged him away.

  "Wes, help," Austin cried.

  Wes looked up from his pile of gold as Austin was dragged across the ground, then back at the gold. The gold...he only needed a little...just a little more...just enough for a stake in the next Bone Dice game. That’s all he needed, just a little more. Austin cried out again for help. Wes looked at the gold in his hand, then at Austin. He shook his head.

  "What am I doing, have I lost my mind?" Wes pushed the gold aside, grabbed his rifle, and fired repeatedly. The inmates dragging Austin fell to the barrage of bullets. Wes advanced, but for each prisoner that fell, another rushed in. He emptied his rifle and then charged into the prisoners, swinging his rifle like a club. He continued swinging until the rifle broke in half, and then he was fighting with his fists, there wasn't even enough time to draw the revolver he wore.

  Colt, Garth, and Toran fought the group of inmates blocking them, trying to make it to Wes and the fallen Austin. Garth grabbed one of the inmates, lifted him over his head, and ran at the group Wes was fighting. He slammed into the prisoners with the body of the prisoner he carried and pushed them back. Toran dashed in and grabbed Austin.

  "Let's go!" shouted Colt.

  The boys pushed their way back through the prisoners and ran along the path, carrying Austin between them. The path ended at a cliff wall, and the boys took a position behind a boulder with their backs to the rock face. Toran helped Austin bandage the wound on his head.

  Colt turned to Wes. "What were you doing?" shouted Colt. "And where's your rifle and your field pack?"

  Wes looked past where Colt was standing. On the far side of the boulder was another pile of gold. Wes ignored Colt, walked over to the new pile of gold, and looked down at it. The entire team was watching Wes now.

  "The rifle broke, and my field kit is back there," said Wes. He kicked at the pile of gold and turned back around to face the accusing stares of his team. "I don't know what happened," said Wes. "I really don't."

  "We've lost a valuable weapon and supplies," said Colt.

  "I know," Wes reached into his pocket and pulled out his set of bone dice, stared at them for a moment, and threw them down on the pile of gold. "I don't want them anymore," said Wes. "Austin, brother, forgive me." Wes walked over and knelt down next to Austin. "Please, brother, I'm sorry."

  "It's this place," said Austin. "It did something to you."

  Wes smiled a weak smile, his eyes full of shame. "I was only thinking about Bone Dice. I'll never gamble again, I swear.”

  "Hey guys," said Garth. "Was that there before?" Everyone turned to see what Garth had found. There was an arched doorway in the side of the cliff with a stone staircase winding upwards.

  "We can talk about this later," said Colt. "Up is the right direction, let’s go."

  The boys went through the archway and started up the stairs. Torches along the wall lit the way with a flickering glow.

  "Colt," called Wes, walking up the stairs to stand next to him. "I'm sorry."

  Colt's face was raw anger. "I said we'll talk about it later."

  Wes let Colt walk on alone. The stairs continued to wind upward, and the boys were starting to wonder if the stairs would go on forever. The climb abruptly ended at another archway leading out into a cavern.

  "Chief," said Toran. "We should rest here for a bit. I need some water, and Austin needs a moment to get his feet back under him."

  Colt spun around and faced Toran, the expression on his face making Toran take a step back. "I say when we rest!" yelled Colt. "Now move out."

  The boys followed Colt onto the next level. A path led across the cavern, and they could see the opposite wall in the distance. The path didn't have any rocks along the side of the path like the lower cave, and they didn't see any inmates. This cavern was empty and almost like a
desert.

  Colt led the team until they were nearly across the cavern and stopped. Colt waited for the team to catch up with him. The opposite wall was solid, and the path ended. There was no archway leading to another stairway. Colt picked up a rock and threw it at the wall. The rock bounced off and landed in the dirt.

  "Maybe if we follow the wall around we might find a way out," offered Toran.

  Colt picked up another rock, spun around, and grabbed Toran by the throat. He lifted the rock to strike. Toran didn't resist but stood waiting for Colt to strike.

  "I'm tired of you telling me what to do!" screamed Colt. "You think you are so much better than everyone else, you Carinian scum."

  Colt's eyes were dead and cold, and his face a mask of rage. He held the rock in the air, and his body shook with anger. Garth tried to grab Colt's arm and take the rock. Colt pushed Garth with a strength he hadn't known he had. Garth stumbled back and fell to the ground.

  Colt stared at the four boys as hatred and murder raged through his body. The Merits did nothing to stop him. There was nothing they could do unless they shot him, and such a thought never would occur to any of them.

  Colt held the rock, his hand shaking with fury. He was panting, and the world a blur. He focused on Toran’s face.

  “I’m not a Caelum,” screamed Colt. “I’m not.”

  “No, you’re not,” whispered Toran. “You’re my friend.”

  “They tried to make me a Caelum, but I’m not, I don’t hate anyone,” said Colt. “That woman, the Eldest Mother, she was wrong, Hate isn’t what I’m about.”

  Colt glared through Toran, a war raging inside him, hatred, anger, all crashing against him like an ocean against the rocks. Then he pushed Toran away and stepped back. He dropped the rock on the ground and fell to his knees.

  "I am a Kesune," whispered Colt. "They are right, I'm full of hatred. Toran, I'm so sorry. You're the best friend I've ever had. I didn't mean it."

  "I know you didn't, it’s this place."

  Colt reached into his shirt and lifted out the necklace, the necklace his Pa had given him. The Eldest Mother had said the sins of the father passed to the son, but no, his Pa wasn't evil. But... His Pa had been a son with his own Pa, who had hidden him behind the Caelum necklace. And he had been a son, and before him, all the way back to the first Cettise that had fled before the treachery of the Caelum. The sins of the father passed forward for hundreds of years.

  "Racial purity isn't the way," said Colt. "I will keep my faith that Enlightenment is possible, but hatred isn't the way. I'm done pretending to be a Caelum to save my skin. I'm a Cettise."

  Colt threw the necklace on the ground. It seemed justice would be served by leaving the necklace in Hell forever, where it belonged. Colt looked up. The others were staring at the cliff wall behind him.

  "It appeared as soon as you threw down your necklace," said Toran, looking up at an arched doorway into the cliff.

  "These are tests," said Austin. "We are facing our sins."

  “No, these weren’t our sins, but we had to pay for them,” said Wes, in an odd moment of clarity.

  “What do you mean?” asked Colt.

  “My father taught me to play Bone Dice,” replied Wes.

  “Oh, I see where you’re going with this,” said Colt. “My father gave me the medallion, but I don’t think he intended to pass racial hatred to me.”

  “And mine didn’t mean to get me addicted to gambling, but it happened,” said Wes.

  Colt nodded. “Sins of the father passed to the son.”

  "Well, we paid for two of our sins so far,” said Toran.

  Austin limped up next to Colt. "The Eldest Mother said we have to walk through the seven levels of Hell."

  "The first was greed," said Wes. "That was my sin."

  "And mine anger, or maybe hatred, or maybe they're the same thing," said Colt.

  "A sin for each level of Hell,” said Garth. “Five more sins to go, but there are only three of us left," said Garth.

  "You probably have two or three sins, brother," said Toran, grinning. "I'm probably the good one."

  The boys laughed and walked through the archway, beginning their climb to the next level of Hell Prison.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Sins of the Brother

  Austin poked at an evil looking spider that kept peeking out from between two rocks. The creature had something that looked like armored plates covering its body. Austin laid a bullet on the rock near the spider and waited. The spider ran out, grabbed the bullet and carried it back to its lair.

  “I don’t think you’re supposed to be arming the natives,” said Wes, shuttering and moving over to the other side of Colt. "Have you seen him?" asked Wes.

  "He's still up there," said Colt.

  "I can try to grab him," offered Garth.

  "I already tried to force him," said Colt. "I thought he was going to draw on me."

  "What are we going to do?" asked Austin, boring with the spider and moving away from the lethal looking arachnid.

  "I’ll try one more time," said Colt, shoving an inmate away that kept offering a dirty-looking water ball.

  "Aww…he likes you," said Wes.

  "Probably thinks I'll protect him," said Colt. Other inmates lounged on rocks nearby, but none proved dangerous, only annoying.

  "We aren't thinking about leaving him here, are we?" asked Austin.

  "The inmate?" asked Colt with a disgusted expression.

  "No, Toran," replied Austin.

  "Well, we can't stay," said Colt. "I'll try again, but we might have to come back for him later."

  Colt got up and walked back to the settlement where Toran had refused to leave. Some of the more enterprising inmates had set up market stalls along the cliffs and were trying to sell their wares for food or water. Colt pulled one of the clean water balls out of the satchel he carried and swallowed it. The inmates had the dirty-looking water balls, but he hadn't discovered where they were getting them. His supply of water balls was about half gone, and he was getting worried. They had to leave now, or they might not ever leave.

  "Hey, Chief," yelled Toran. He stood on a ledge with his arms wrapped around a voluptuous female inmate, which was just about where he had been since they had arrived on the fifth level of Hell Prison. "Have you come to your senses, Chief?" yelled Toran.

  "We have to go, now," said Colt.

  "There's no harm to us here, and we need the rest," said Toran nuzzling the woman’s neck. The well-endowed female inmate was running her hands through Toran's sandy hair and murmuring in his ear.

  "Goodbye, Toran," said Colt. "We have to find a way out."

  Toran waved at Colt and turned his attention back to his female friend. Colt turned away and left him with the woman.

  "Where were we, my love?" murmured Toran.

  "You are so handsome and strong," the female inmate cooed in his ear. "Let's go inside where we can be alone." Toran followed the woman inside the cave, and Toran found an opulent den, draped with the finest silks and tins of jewels overflowing. A canopied bed fit for a queen was against the far wall.

  Toran grinned.

  "We can be together forever," said the woman as she lowered her hands to his waist and unbuckled his gun belts. "You'll be more comfortable with this out of the way." Toran tried to put his hands on the woman's shoulders and push the silken blouse back, but she lifted his hands aside.

  "I'm shy," said the woman. "Wait for me in there while I get comfortable."

  The woman pointed at a side chamber, and Toran nearly danced his way into the empty cavern to wait.

  "Hurry, my love," called Toran from the other chamber.

  The chamber Toran waited in was bare of any furniture or silk hangings, and he quickly got bored.

  "Are you ready?" asked Toran, but there was no answer.

  Toran peeked out into the main chamber. The silk drapes were gone, the bed was gone, and the woman was gone. The chamber was just a barren cave dug in
to the rock. He walked out into the main chamber. His field pack, rifle, and both gun belts were gone as well.

  Realization struck him like a thunderbolt. How could he have been so stupid? He had been tricked, and she stole his guns. Toran dropped his head in understanding. This had been his challenge, his sin, and he had failed. He walked out of the cave and stood on the ledge, shame and humiliation obvious on his face. Several men nearby roared with laughter.

  "So the little shark has been de-toothed," said a man with a hooked nose.

  "Where's your guns, Gunslinger?" taunted another man with a horribly pockmarked face.

  Hook-nose pushed away from the wall and blocked the ledge. "He's a cute little fish. Come little fish, I will take good care of you."

  Toran said nothing, willed his breathing to slow while he gathered his strength and analyzed the positions of the men.

  "I’m going to take such good care of you, little fish," said Hook-nose, taking a step forward.

  Toran bent his head and looked down at the ground. The ledge was too narrow for more than one of the men to attack at a time.

  Hook-nose charged. Toran bent his knees and jumped up off the ground. His foot kicked out hard and struck the man in the chest. The man flipped over, his feet coming out from under him, and hit the ground with a dull thud. He clutched at his chest and tried to breathe, something he would never do again. His rib cage was crushed, and four ribs had penetrated his lungs.

  Toran stepped over the dying man and grabbed the Pock-faced man trying desperately to retreat.

  "My guns don't make me a Gunslinger," said Toran. "Where's the woman?"

  Pock-face pointed at the end of the rock ledge. Toran released the man and turned away. Pock-face used the moment to lunge, but Toran was waiting for it and spun back around. He drove the blade of his hand into the man’s throat, crushing his windpipe. Pock-face fell to the ground, gasping for breath that wouldn’t come. The other inmates decided this little fish was too dangerous and threw their hands up. They waited until the lethal Gunslinger passed them and swarmed the two men on the ground, stealing anything of value.

  Toran reached the last cave and heard a man and woman talking inside.

  "These are Gunslinger guns," said a woman’s voice. "The price is double."