MERCS: Crimson Worlds Successors by Jay Allan Read Free Book Online

back to normal in a week.
    He paused for a few seconds, his eyes moving from bandage to bandage.  Cain was normally indifferent to collateral damage in war, but he found himself feeling regret for her suffering.  He wondered if the Eagles had caused any of her wounds. Certainly none of his people had assaulted her directly, but bombardments were indiscriminate things, and bystanders were killed and injured all the time.  He’d never tried to calculate how many civilians his people had killed in their operations.  He’d never cared.  But now he realized it must have been thousands.  Tens of thousands.
    “No, it is most certainly not a game,” he said softly.  “But it was your government’s actions that brought this down on your world.  At least they shared in the responsibility.  My Eagles were merely the instrument used.  I can assure you, this would have been much worse for your people had it been any other force sent here.  Indeed, it was a group of Raschidan soldiers who were pursuing you, and mine who rescued you.  Perhaps you see some meaning in that fact?”
    He was hoping to reach her, but she just scowled at him.  “Rescued me for what?  To be your slave, your spoil of war instead of theirs?  Her voice was heavy with disgust—and fear she was clearly trying to hide—but her eyes remained fixed.  She was scared and angry, but she wouldn’t look away.
    “Well, you are technically my captive, I guess, but I can assure you that no harm will come to you under my stewardship.  Indeed, you are safer in my custody than you would be anywhere else on Karelia right now.”  He paused then added, “Nothing approaching slavery, and certainly not a…how did you put it?  Spoil of war?”
    “Why would I believe anything you say?  If I am not your slave then let me go.”
    Cain admired her spirit, even if it was mostly directed toward hating him at the moment.  “I am not even sure you can stand right now, but I am positive that you wouldn’t get a hundred meters before you collapsed.  The Raschidans have taken over the city, and I am afraid their conduct is less than admirable.  I would hate to see you end up victimized by another group of drunken looters.”   He allowed a fleeting smile.  “So, let’s say that you will accept my hospitality for now, at least until you are healed.  Then we will discuss your status.”
    She nodded but didn’t respond right away.  The hatred in her gaze had faded for an instant, but then it flared back with renewed intensity.  “So, I am safe here with you…while people all over the city are raped and robbed and murdered—by the animals you placed in power.”
    “I’m afraid the Raschidans are not my concern.  My people have completed their part of the operation.  We have some…ah…unexpected business to attend to, or we would have departed already.”  He saw the anger in her eyes, and he knew what she was thinking.  My soldiers could stop the sack of the city, restore order.  Perhaps, but we cannot change the ways of the universe.   In the end, these people had made an enemy and allowed themselves to be conquered.  Vae Victus.  Woe to the defeated.  It is how things have always been, and protestations to the contrary are nothing but lies.  Perhaps she thinks I like it, the suffering, the destruction—that I want things to be as they are.  But it is not my choice, Ana Bazarov.  It is inevitable, like storms and earthquakes.  Mankind’s eternal curse.
    He kept his thoughts to himself.  He’d found people were rarely prepared to accept the universe as it truly was, preferring to exist under varying levels of self-delusion.  Cain had never seen a use for anything but cold realism, but now he found himself hesitating.  He normally didn’t care what people thought, but he found that he didn’t want Ana to view him as a cold-blooded monster.
    “But I can promise that you will remain safe.”  He turned back toward the entrance.