StarCraft II: Devils' Due by Christie Golden Read Free Book Online

people wouldn’t forget, that they would learn
    from it, but he knew better than that. There would be
    other bombed-out skeletons in other places, in other
    planets of the Confederacy. The only difference
    between wars was how long the lul s between them
    lasted. Once, he had been naïve enough to believe in
    things like a “cause” and “justice.” And then he’d
    fought in the Guild Wars and seen, up close and very
    personal, that the only “causes,” real y, were those of
    the individual. With good people, there were good
    causes. With selfish, evil people—
    Jim hadn’t even left a note for Misty. He hoped to
    be back before she woke, and if not, he knew she’d
    simply shrug and get on with her day, with her life. The
    message from Myles Hammond had told him too little
    and too much, and both things had put him in a foul
    mood. And when he was in a foul mood, he tended to
    not want to be responsible. Besides, the wind in his
    hair felt good.
    He veered to the left, to the remains of a building so
    nearly obliterated that it was impossible to tel what
    kind of function it had served in better times. It was
    large, so Raynor guessed it was a public building of
    some sort. Saloon, hotel, magistrate’s office—al
    were hideously equal in the aftermath of a war.
    He brought the vulture to a halt. He checked his
    fone. According to the navigation system on the
    vulture, the coordinates that his old friend Myles had
    sent him should be just a few steps ahead. Raynor
    trod careful y over the broken lumber and shattered
    plascrete. And there, partial y obscured by the pile of
    rubble in which it had landed, was what he had
    expected to find.
    The beacon was an older model, smal and
    decidedly not sleek. But it served its function. Jim
    nudged it with his toe and debated with himself.
    He didn’t want to find out what it said. He real y,
    real y didn’t want to. There was no way in hel that
    anything Myles had to say to him at this point in his life
    was going to be good news. His hangover was
    receding but stil there, crouching in the back of his
    mind like some dark beast. He rubbed at his beard.
    But he did have to find out what it said. He owed
    the man that much—he owed himself that much.
    Sighing, Raynor squatted down, pressed a button,
    and activated the beacon.
    A holographic image of Myles Hammond
    appeared. Jim hadn’t known Myles when he had hair,
    but the fringe that had encircled his head above the
    ears was now snowy-white rather than gray. He had
    always been lean, but now he looked even thinner. Al
    in al , he looked older than Jim remembered him—
    older than a mere five years should have aged a man
    —but that was no surprise. War and time did that to
    people.
    But Jim suspected mostly war.
    “I’ve always been a blunt man,” said Hammond’s
    image, “and I don’t beat around the bush. Jim, you
    need to come to Shiloh, and you need to come soon.
    There’s issues with the money you been sending to
    your mom.” The hologram sighed. “She ain’t taking it,
    Jim. She’s getting by, thanks to something cal ed
    Farm Aid. By that I mean she’s getting food and the
    basic comforts, but …” The image looked flustered. “I
    can’t tel you what I need to this way. We need to talk
    in person. Come on back to Shiloh. Come on home.”
    The image flickered and disappeared.
    Raynor stared at the spot where the image had
    been. What did Myles mean, “issues” with the money?
    Why wasn’t his mother taking it? He couldn’t go back
    to Shiloh. Myles knew that. What was going on? His
    mother needed that money. Had needed that money
    for a long time, since before his father had died. It
    was the reason he had joined the military in the first
    place—to help out with money back home—and now
    there were “issues” …?
    His eyes narrowed. Was what Myles had said real y
    true? The whole thing was real y kinda strange, when
    you thought about it.
    Anger flooded him. He swung his leg back and