The Lazarus War: Artefact by Jamie Sawyer Read Free Book Online

work.
    “We’ll report in seven days and find out what our next mission is,” I added.
    “You’re not curious?” Jenkins asked.
    I shrugged. “Not our place to ask questions. Five years ago – that was when I decided I would just stop asking.”
    Jenkins looked down at her drink, her face slightly blushed. Either that, or it was the neon light.
    “I know, Harris. And it must still hurt.” My squad knew everything, especially Jenkins. She was the unofficial listener: someone to talk to about history, concerns, the future, when it got too much. She was a damn better listener than the psych-evals, with their cold, dispassionate eyes.
    Once, you didn’t mind a psych-eval so much , a voice reminded me in my head.
    Jenkins leant across the table, giving me a knowing wink. “I hear that something big is happening. We’re about to be mobilised , and I don’t think it will be against the Krell. If you ask me, we’re going to be deployed against the Directorate.”
    I barked a laugh at that. “Bullshit. If I had a credit for every time I’ve heard that the Sim Ops Programme would be deployed against the Directorate, I’d be a rich man.”
    Jenkins held up her hands, palms open. “Hey, just telling you what I heard. Seems odd to me that so many teams get extracted, and so many are sitting around the Point just waiting for orders. I even hear that Old Man Cole is back on the Point .”
    “I’d like nothing better than to go up against the Directorate, but it wouldn’t be a fair fight. You know they don’t have a simulant programme. We’d wipe the floor with them.”
    Jenkins and Blake laughed again. Conspiracy theories were a constant source of chatter for Jenkins. She didn’t just listen to me and my squad; she picked up scuttlebutt from all over. She could be relied upon to offer a piece of unreliable gossip. A tenacious rumour, never yet proven to be true, was that Sim Ops would be mobilised en masse against the Asiatic Directorate. Jenkins liked to recount this particular story whenever she got the chance.
    Our conversation was interrupted by a persistent tapping on my shoulder. I turned to see someone hovering behind me – a short middle-aged man, wearing a distinctive blue cap and a flak jacket with MILITARY REPORTER printed across the front. He was accompanied by a news-drone – a small flying camera that flittered overhead, glaring down at us.
    “Fuck off!” Blake shouted, swiping at the camera like it was an annoying insect.
    “Troopers, if I might just have a few moments of your time?” he blurted. He was sweating, waving a microphone device under my nose. “I’m from The Point Times and newly assigned to the base. I’m compiling a piece on the Simulant Operations Programme. Your names have come up as veteran operators who can speak of the Programme.”
    “Didn’t you hear me the first time?” Blake said.
    The reporter was undeterred. He licked his lips and continued. “Just your views on the operation so far. How do you think it’s going? Maybe something on the Maelstrom. Have you ever been inside?”
    “We’re on downtime,” I said. “Go speak to someone who cares.”
    He shook his head, dismissing my objections. “What’s it like seeing the Krell face to face – as it were – on a regular basis?”
    “The man told you to go away,” Jenkins said, half-standing from her seat.
    “Captain Harris – you have experienced two hundred and eighteen simulated deaths. You are the most prolific simulant operator ever inducted. Some are calling you a military hero. I’ve heard another trooper refer to you as Lazarus – care to comment on that?” The reporter paused, waiting for me to respond. When I didn’t, he pressed on, as though reading from some invisible cue card: “What are your personal views on the Treaty? You have an unusual connection with it, which must be distressing at times. Can you share your views with us?”
    Martinez appeared at the reporter’s shoulder, and