Son of Justice by Steven L. Hawk Read Free Book Online Page A

back toward the finish line. She had to hand you off to me before we got all the way back—you’re not all that light, it turns out—but just seeing her lift you out of the sand was a sight I’ll never forget. When she did it, Johnson and I just stared at each other and trudged along behind.”
    “Wow,” Eli mumbled, not knowing what to say. Adrienne had saved him from washing out. “Why would she do that?”
    “Same reason you went to the back to help the laggards, I guess. It was the right thing to do.”
    Eli thought about Simms and the other recruits he had helped keep ahead of the pacer. He was afraid to ask how many of their fellow humans had washed out, but did anyway.
    “Not a single one,” Benson replied. “That was your doing, EJ. That was your Justice.”
    Eli plopped back down on the mattress. The previous agonies of aching muscles and shredded feet were nearly forgotten, little more than echoes. Amazement, and a sense of wonder at what the three platoons had done, washed over him. He remembered something that his dad had once told him. He now knew it was true. A single unit working together can do what an unlimited number of individuals could never hope to accomplish.
    “Wow,” he repeated. Further words escaped him.
    “There’s only one problem,” Benson mumbled just before the shadow that defined his head disappeared. The slight tremble of the bed indicated that he had flopped heavily onto his back. “Twiggy wasn’t very happy. Neither were the other two sergeants.”
    Eli smiled, pleased to know that their effort at winnowing out more humans hadn’t succeeded.
    “He wants to see you first thing in the morning.”
    Eli’s smile disappeared. His ability to keep a low profile had apparently ended. He considered how the sergeant might react to his actions and wondered what kind of trouble those actions had called down on his head. It was a brief thought, though. With a realization that was as sudden as it was unexpected, Eli found he didn’t really care what the alien thought, or how he might react.
    “Hey guys,” a female voice interrupted. He lifted his head and saw Adrienne Tenney approaching the bunk. The unofficial leader of third platoon nodded to Benson, then ducked under the top bunk and sat down on the edge of Eli’s bed. “How’s the patient?”
    “The patient’s fine,” Benson replied, still looking down from his perch. “For now, anyway. He’s got a date with Twiggy in the morning, though. You might want to check back then.”
    “I’m not worried,” Eli offered, but the titled head and blank stare he received from Benson informed that maybe he should be. “Okay, maybe I’m worried a little bit. Not much I can do about it now, though. What’s done is done.
    “I understand I owe you a ‘thank you,” he said to Tenney as he pushed his tired body into a seated position. Somehow, it didn’t feel right to be lying down with her sitting less than a foot away.
    She waved a casual hand at the suggestion. “Don’t mention it, Jayson. You saved a bunch of my guys with the advance warning. And those theatrics at the end of the march. What made you turn back and help the stragglers?”
    Eli pondered the question. He knew what made him do it—his loathing for the Minith sergeants, and the overwhelming need he’d felt for his kind to succeed—but he didn’t think he could adequately verbalize any of that, so offered up a simplified version. “I didn’t want to lose another person. That’s my new motto: ‘No more washouts.’ From here on out, I’m going to help anyone who needs it.”
    “Very nice,” Tenney nodded, then cocked her head and squinted, as if studying him. “I like that.” She then reached out her right hand and gently squeezed his knee. Eli swallowed the knot in his throat and tried not to shy away from the unexpected attention.
    “Well . . . feel free to use it,” he said. His tongue seemed thick in his mouth and he felt a flush of heat cross