Stars Gods Wolves by Dan Kirshtein (best classic books .txt) 📕

feeling every muscle ache as he sat next to her. “Last name, but literally nobody uses my first name.”

“Yeah?” her eyebrows tented, a small smirk on her face.

“Yeah,” he nodded, finally looking at her. “Why?”

“Just curious,” she shrugged. Harper’s face read that he knew what she was going to ask next, but he didn’t yield any further information. “Alright, be that way,” she teased him. He laughed, and she pretended not to find it funny.

He lay next to her, finding the steel floor about as comfortable as any last resort. “Declan,” he finally admitted.

“Gross!” Gally nearly shouted, putting her head back.

“Fuck off,” he laughed at her. And then she did quite the opposite: she actually laid on him. Still in shock, he put his arm around her.

More might have happened had they not been walking literally all night; had they not been trudging through the snow, or plotting the demise of one very passive aggressive robot. But they were very tired and fell right to sleep.

Nitro was not among the Company. His voice was heard through the halls, calm and collected, as he stood by the door of what looked to be a storage room. He was tired, yes, but that made him focus. And for that he was grateful, as he stood in front of Rook.

The Eighth general was taller than his projection portrayed. Its black plates, which served as both skin and armor, were much thicker than they’d originally appeared. At its side, magnetically attached to its leg, there sat a large laser rifle. Nitro was coming up with ways to fight it, and he wasn’t thrilled with how long that took him.

Still, his eyes never faltered, nor did his body. He knew that, to an automaton’s careful eye, the slightest twitch or the smallest hint of fear would be easily detectable. That was why he kept what he said as close to the truth as possible. “If you don’t mind, the doc is tired from the walk. Maybe you and him could talk in the morning?” He phrased his question like a statement, and his posture would have prevented an argument from anything organic.

“Of course, captain.” A thin smile appeared across its chrome face. Despite being built by non-Humans, its facial expressions were very relatable. The smile either conveyed disbelief or disdainful pity; Nitro couldn’t tell which. “I apologize for not anticipating that. I often forget the fragility of organic material.”

The captain’s eyes narrowed in insult, his head jerked back slightly before an angry smirk crawled onto his lip. As insulted as he was for anyone to imply that he was fragile, it sounded even worse coming from something that was built on an assembly line.

That’s when Nitro realized what had just transpired. He’d held up a shield for so long, keeping his emotions and reactions in check, and Rook had just broken that shield. His eyes snapped back to attention, but it was too late. Rook was already giving a satisfied smile.

Nitro knew the smile well; it was the smile of something that had sized up its opponent and found a weakness. “Yeah,” he said, with the realization that he was not the only one playing a game. “Well,” he patted the hulking automaton on its shoulder and turned away. “Good luck with that.”

Frustrated that he couldn’t find a better comeback, the captain tried to retain his composure as he walked to his room. He felt Rook’s eyes on him before he closed the door. He entered the room and didn’t spare a moment to rest or gather himself. He found Boomer asleep in one of the bunks while Ox and Josie sat on the floor with Ula. “We’re sleeping in shifts tonight,” he told them, still fuming from being outwitted. “I’ll take the first watch. You two rest up.”

Josie’s face fell into concern, and she paused from unstrapping her armor. “You think they’re on to us?” Before stepping out of the doorway, Nitro let his eyes provide her with an answer.

Deciding that Gally should hear of this recent confrontation, Nitro walked to the room next door and stopped short at the doorway, seeing Gally and Harper asleep on the floor, her head resting on his chest. It was the first time he’d seen her so content, so comfortable and casual. “Oh,” he said to no one in particular as he immediately felt as if he was intruding. Nodding and gesturing at them while they slept, he felt stupid, as if this was inevitable and yet unseen. “Sure,” he grumbled as he turned around and exited the room. “Fine.” The captain put his back to the wall outside his own door. “Perfect.” He kept watch right there, itching for a fight for the entirety of his shift.

The deep, rumbling sound of Ox answering questions in the other room had woken Harper, and he wondered how long he’d been asleep. Time, within this structure, was difficult to ascertain without a clock. The dim interior lighting proved incessant and unyielding. There wasn’t even a switch to shut it off. With a grunt, he realized he’d been sleeping with an empty duffle bag over his eyes. He moved it and forced his eyes to adjust.

He stretched and looked at his chest, realizing that Gally was no longer resting there. A slight frown appeared on his face as he glanced at the bunks to look for her. He then discovered he couldn’t find Martin either. Harper remembered the years of his wife calling him a deep sleeper. This was the first time in a long time he conceded that she had been right about something.

His eyes narrowed for a moment before a hand slid into his pocket and felt the familiar gold ring in his pocket. He didn’t put it on, only rolled his fingers around it. Biting his lip, he leaned against a wall to put on his boots. Once they were tied, a sigh escaped him as he looked around for a moment. He felt