Authors: Henry V. O'Neil

Dire Steps (24 page)

BOOK: Dire Steps

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“Under the direction of the newly appointed colonial minister, Ayliss Mortas, discharged veterans successfully defended their new home of FCâ7777 against a Sim raiding fleet that had taken advantage of the Step's unavailability.”

McRaney's ruined ship appeared before them, broken in half and still smoldering. The camera panned away carefully, not showing the abandoned Zone Quest mining operation and instead focusing on the entrance to the tunnel system. Weary men and women, many of them wearing bandages, were removing fallen rocks from the tunnel mouth while newly arrived medical teams were treating the wounded out in the open.

“Showing the same kind of battlefield leadership as her father, Ayliss Mortas personally commanded the defense of the underground colony the veterans had dug out of nearly solid rock. Despite ferocious casualties, the outnumbered colonists soundly defeated the Sim invaders and drove them off before the Step was reinstituted.”

A flatbed mover slowly came down the road, passing close to the film crew. An almost unrecognizable Ayliss was kneeling in the back, holding a scarred Scorpion rifle in one hand and the upraised palm of a wounded man in the other. Her blond hair was almost completely cut off, and it looked as if it had been dipped in tar. Her torso armor was covered in brown dust, and the visible side of her face was streaked with what looked like sweat and ash.

The mover stopped and two men riding with her, also covered in dust, hopped off before gently pulling the stretcher down. The man on the litter was large, and he gritted his teeth as they carried him toward the field station. Ayliss strode along next to him, never releasing his hand.

“Minister Mortas, how are you feeling?” called a voice near the camera.

Ayliss turned to face him, as if noticing the crew for the first time. The black camouflage paint had morphed into a gray paste, but for the first time the audience could see the right side of her face. Dried blood covered her cheek, and numerous small wounds were evident. The volume cut out as the group passed, but Ayliss's lips moved in an unmistakable dismissal.

“Was that Blocker on the stretcher?” Reena asked.

“Yes.”

“Did Ayliss say what I think she said?”

“I believe she told the reporter to get the fuck away from her.”

“Nice to see we were able to teach her a little diplomacy.”

The scene changed, flipping to a flat hilltop ringed by lush foliage. Shuttles were landing and taking off, and dirty infantrymen were breaking down supplies and cleaning weapons.

“On Verdur, Lieutenant Jander Mortas and a company from the famous Orphan Brigade were likewise engaged by the Sims. An ecological monitoring facility was under attack by a Sim force estimated to number in the thousands, and Lieutenant Mortas's company force-Âmarched through miles of dense jungle before assaulting straight up the side of the hill where the station is located. The Orphans destroyed the Sim attackers, and are now enjoying a well-Âdeserved break.”

The view swung from the landing zone to the pristine white of the Victory Provisions building. Armored Orphans stood guard at the open blast doors, and Emile Dassa could be seen just inside, speaking to Jander. His hand was on Mortas's armor, and they'd both removed their helmets and goggles. Dassa clapped him once on the shoulder, then disappeared into the darkness. Standing there alone for a moment, Mortas fastened his helmet's chin strap before hanging the headgear on one of his canteens. Dangling his goggles in one hand and holding his rifle in the other, he walked out into the sunlight as if unaware anyone else was near.

This film crew had the sense not to engage its subject in conversation, but it slowly zoomed in on Mortas's face as he looked at a segment of defensive wire that had been taken down. The ground beyond it looked like a logging trail, and several of Almighty's vehicles were visible at different points along the shattered slope. Work parties were gathering the broken bodies of the Sims who had rushed up that incline with no thought to their own safety the night before. Mortas stared at the scene for several moments.

Notches cut into his cheeks where the goggles had rested for days, and a spray of dried soil covered much of his face. His dark hair was matted and pressed down onto his scalp, and he gazed out over the devastation as if seeing it for the first time and not understanding any of it at all.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T
his book is the result of a great many collaborations on a wide range of subjects. I want to extend special thanks to my editor at Harper Voyager, Kelly O'Connor, for her insightful and instructive editing of
Dire Steps
. Additionally, I'd like to acknowledge the marvelous work of the Harper Voyager artists who designed the book's excellent cover.

I also want to thank my West Point classmates Michael McGurk, Meg Roosma, and Ginni Guiton for reading earlier versions of
Dire Steps
. Their invaluable observations helped this novel realize its true potential.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

HENRY V. O'NEIL
is the pen name used by award-Âwinning mystery novelist Vincent H. O'Neil for his science-Âfiction work. A graduate of West Point, he served in the U.S. Army Infantry with the Tenth Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York and the First Battalion (Airborne) of the 508th Infantry in Panama. He has also worked as a risk manager, a marketing copywriter, and an apprentice librarian.

In 2005 he won the St. Martin's Press Malice Domestic Award with his debut mystery novel
Murder in Exile
. That was followed by three more books in the Exile series:
Reduced Circumstances
,
Exile Trust
, and
Contest of Wills
. He has also written the theater-Âthemed mystery novel
Death Troupe
and two books in a horror series entitled
Interlands
and
Denizens
.

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at
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.

Also by Henry V. O'Neil

The Sim War series

Glory Main

Orphan Brigade

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DIRE STEPS.
Copyright Â© 2015 by Henry V. O'Neil. All rights reserved under International and Pan-ÂAmerican Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-Âbook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-Âengineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperÂCollins e-Âbooks.

EPub Edition SEPTEMBER 2015 ISBN: 9780062359230

Print Edition ISBN: 9780062359254

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