Fireteam Delta by J. Halpin (ebook reader that looks like a book txt) 📕

“Thank god for that.” Cortez grabbed the first peg. “Sarge, please tell me we’re not doubling up on guards again. The caravan’s people are going to be here for the most part. One of us should be enough.”

Nowak sighed. “Fine. We need some down time, anyway. For as long as that will last.”

Cortez almost smiled before catching herself. “Asle, you ready to turn in for the night?”

Asle looked up at the group in response. “I wanted to visit someone.”

“Who do you—?” Summers started before remembering Beorn’s family was in the city. Right, of course she’d want to check in with them.

“Could you go with her, Summers?” Logan looked down at him. “I’d rather she be with someone who can help explain things, if it comes to that.”

“If that’s okay with her?” Summers glanced at Asle, who only nodded in response.

There was a good chance this was going to be incredibly awkward.

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

“How do you know my brother?” The man in the door stared down at Asle. She was more or less fumbling her way through the conversation.

“I . . .” She froze. It wasn’t that she couldn’t think of a lie. A boy had stepped out, his face looking so familiar that her thoughts came to a grinding halt.

Summers must have seen her hesitate, for he stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“We’re merchants. Apologies if they’re not here. We’ll stop by another time.”

His accent was atrocious, but the man in the doorway seemed to accept it all the same. He probably assumed that Summers was being intentionally cryptic, hiding some debt his family owed. In truth, that was probably the most conversation Summers could manage without help.

As he hustled Asle away, she got one last look at the boy behind the door.

They looked nothing alike. She was being stupid. She had to be better.

A few minutes later, Asle was still silent, staring at the ground as they made their way back to the wagon.

“Asle, there’s no way they’d have made it into the city. You know that, right?”

Asle nodded.

Summers’ eyes showed a pained expression. She still said nothing.

“All right, how ’bout this? We’ll write a letter, attach some cash, and let them”—Summers gestured back to the house—“know that their family might be waiting at the gates. After that, they can try to bribe someone to get in or figure something else out. That work?”

She nodded. That was probably as much as they’d be able to do for them. But it was still hope. And it was better than doing nothing.

“Thank you,” she replied.

Summers stopped.

Asle looked up, seeing that Summers had stopped in his tracks.

“What—?” Asle started, but Summers cut her off.

“I smell gunpowder . . .”

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

Summers rounded a corner, Asle close behind. They’d followed the trail of the scent for more than a few blocks. Soon, they found themselves at the inner wall of the city.

Then a man’s voice rang out in front of them.

“Fire!”

Summers instinctively flattened himself to the wall, but nothing followed.

The voice, however, was speaking English.

Carefully, Summers moved toward the large open gate of the inner wall. He could only see a glimpse of what was happening inside, but it looked like a training ground of sorts.

A line of elves were knelt on the ground, M4s aimed at the wall in front of them.

Even from this distance, he could see they didn’t have any magazines loaded. Summers recognized it as a dry fire exercise—a basic army drill.

Then Summers saw the scarred man again. He strode past the gate, watching the line of elves carefully. They looked half-starved, much like the “recruits” Summers had seen him collecting.

“Fire!” the man yelled, and the group pulled their triggers once more.

Summers saw the man move to a recruit, correcting their form.

“Let’s go,” Summers whispered to Asle. “We should tell the others about this.”

As they moved off, Summers took one last glance back toward the gate.

Only now, he saw a young woman standing on the wall, staring directly back at him.

That probably wasn’t good.

Chapter 21: Chain of Command

“I’m telling you, he was one of ours,” Summers explained.

Nowak sat atop the wagon, the warehouse beside them still bustling with activity. Most of the caravan merchants had their guards hauling everything from equipment to crates of supplies back and forth. Much like Summers’ group, they didn’t want to stick around for what was coming.

“If he’s training elves, I don’t think he’s still with his unit. No way would the army hand out guns without some massive supervision. And you said he was alone?”

“There was a woman. Don’t know about her.”

“Either way, we need to figure out what this guy’s deal is. I don’t like the idea of running blind.”

Summers considered that. While there was no doubt the guy was clearly from their world, he remembered just how many assholes he’d met in the military.

“You think he’s got an agenda?”

“Everyone’s got an agenda. Look, you never really had to deal with officers, but I guarantee there’s some cutthroat motherfuckers out there. Until we know what homeboy is after, I say we lay low.”

“What about the others?”

“They’re already asleep by now.” Nowak looked to the distance. “We’ll explain things in the morning. If this guy’s everything you said, then I don’t expect it’ll be hard to learn something about him. The locals practically worshipped us once they saw what we could do, and this guy’s handing out weapons.”

Summers let out a breath. Nowak wasn’t wrong, but somehow, he doubted it would be that easy.

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

That morning, when Summers got up from his furs, he had no doubt they had a long day ahead of them.

The inn they’d found was only a