Reapers: The Shadow Soldiers (25 page)

They helped Burns to his feet and then webbed him to their ropes. Once he was attached, they gave a thumbs-up to the top and he was pulled up.
 

He looked down as Shamera began to release the plates. At first, it was a controlled release. Then she lost control and the plates dropped. She was out of the crushing radius but was thrown to the ground. Burns was near the top, but he could tell that she wasn’t okay from the way the other soldiers were tending to her.
 

Burns was then grabbed from above and pulled out of the hole by Brosi, whose leg injury had been wrapped up by some bloodied linen.
 

“It’s good to have you back, Colonel,” the man exclaimed, putting his arm around Burns’ shoulder and helping him to his feet.

“Wait, wait!” Burns grumbled, not wanting the man to walk him anywhere until Shamera came out. Brosi understood, probably better than most. Despite the pain and the burned flesh, Brosi and Burns waited for the others to come out of the hole. The minutes passed, but Burns didn’t give up hope.
 

He soon felt a decisive breeze from behind as a Libertarian class gunship touched down. Burns expected a team of airmen to exit, but only one person was aboard. Her brown hair fluttered around her fresh face as she leaped off the gunship and onto the tarmac. It was Index. She’d probably been waiting for days to deploy like this. Burns smiled slightly. He’d never thought he’d be glad to see her, but these were strange times.
 

“What’s the hold up?” Index asked. “This whole site is unstable. It’s going to come crashing down any minute,” she explained.
 

“No man left behind,” Burns told her, looking back at the hole and waiting for Shamera.

Sure enough, like Index predicted, parts of the crumbling
Duchess
started to break off. The weight of the gunship caused a piece underneath it to snap, forcing the pilot to gain control and hover.
 

Despite the evidence, Burns wasn’t going to leave without Shamera.
 

The rope then began moving. Burns eyes opened wide as he and Brosi moved forward and looked down. Shamera seemed to be stable but couldn’t move. The soldiers had spent the time to string her up, but now they were all heading to the surface. Despite his injures, Burns assisted Brosi in pulling everyone topside.
 

The extra weight was making things very unstable. The soldiers promptly made their way to the extraction gunship where Index was waiting. Burns’ leg strength had returned, so he and Brosi both helped their nearly paralyzed teammate back to the gunship.
 

Behind them, the entire site began to crumble.
 

“Come on! Hurry!” Index shouted, jumping on to the transport and urgently motioning to them. Burns’ legs weren’t ready, but he increased the pace.
 

Burns was the first to jump on the transport, and he helped pull Shamera aboard. Brosi then managed to jump on just as the final piece broke apart and crumbled below.

“Pilot! Let’s get the hell out of here!” Index shouted as both Brosi and Burns sat on the edge.
 

After an intense heat and equally loud sound, the turbines gained enough lift and rocketed the gunship forward.
 

Soon, they were no longer above the crumbling remains of the
Western Duchess
but instead heading for Silverset’s orbit.
 

Through the cool clouds, Burns was able to see the expanse of war below on the icy planet—Dominion soldiers fighting to retake their planet from the ULC.

“We did it,” Brosi murmured, “we actually did it.” Burns smiled as he looked at the battered man. They had actually done it. Despite the odds and the hardships, they had helped save Silverset. Yet none of them could say it had been easy.
 

Burns saw the cost they’d all had to bear for it.

Shamera was unable to move, Brosi had been slashed, and worst of all, they were missing a member. The sacrifices were indeed heavy, yet Burns was content. Quite a few people now had more hope because of the sacrifices they had made.

The refugees and hostages no longer had to fear persecution, Alvarez and his Survivors could return to their families, and the Dominion people could sleep easy. Yet Burns suspected the person with the most renewed hope was himself.
 

He remembered the portrait, how it had fluttered down unexpectedly. He didn’t think it was anything supernatural or that Evelyn was with him.
 

He looked back at Index.

“It was you,” he said. She turned around to him.

“Excuse me?”
 

“You kept that portrait on me, you placed it in my jacket, and on the Syncopate, and in my flight suit.” She played nervously with her belt loop again, proving that even super spies had nervous tics.

“Listen, Ben,” she began, “what I had to do was for the sake of the mission. I’m sorry to have—” he cut her off.

“No,” he said. “Thank you.” He truly was grateful.
 

Too often it’s easy to forget that the past does define your future. Even if it’s one you’d like to forget, it still defines you. Burns had forgotten that, but the portrait had dragged it all back up. It had helped remind him of who Evelyn was—who he was. They were both more than a bloody portrait. Sure, he had a tough past, but there were good bits in it too.
 

Despite the war that waged below, Burns was able to find great peace in the gunship. He definitely felt different, like a thousand burdens had been lifted off his chest. He really was a free man.
 

Shamera then began to push through the immense pain, and sat up. Burns looked over at her, feeling a cool breeze of relief as she sat between him and Brosi.
 

“So,” she began, more chipper than Burns expected, “anyone up for drinks?” Burns smiled at her and then looked knowingly over at Index.

“Yeah,” he said, “I know just the place.”

Explore the world of the Reapers!

Visit us on the Web:

www.joshcollinsauthor.com

Follow us on Twitter:

@JCollinsauthor