Depraved by Trent Evans

Chapter 14

“Let’s try that again, asshole.”

Bright blood flew from Harling’s mouth as Tom slapped him with the back of his gloved hand, Harling’s head rocking backward.

The man, seated cross-legged in the dirt, his hands bound behind him, almost toppled over backward with the force of the blow.

Harling recovered though, blood smearing his teeth as he hissed.

“I already told you. I came out here to check the perimeter.” The man’s eyes blinked. “We’ve got new perimeter sensors installed.”

“You really expect me to believe that? We’re miles away from Gamma.” Anson shook his head, sneering at their prisoner. “You’re alone, barely armed, clearly don’t have any idea where you really are… and you say you’re checking the perimeter? Try another line of bullshit, Harling.”

“That’s the truth.” Harling spat blood onto the ground next to him. “I don’t care if you believe me.”

“Is that so?” Tom leveled his rifle at the captive, the barrel poised an inch away from the man’s forehead. “You ready to prove it? What if we do decide you’re telling the truth. If you are, then you’re useless to us. What then, tough guy?”

The blood drained from the man’s face. “Don’t… don’t do it! I don’t want to die.”

“Nobody wants to die,” Tom said, lifting his rifle, scowling in disgust. “But we’re all dyin’ anyway.”

“Harling, you’re a fucking traitor. Everyone here knows it.” Anson dropped to a knee, resting his arm across his thigh. “But you’ve got the chance to do the right thing for once in your miserable little life. Tell us what you’re really doing all the way out here.”

But Harling only shook his head.

“Okay. Then tell me how many Loyalists are there at Gamma? How many are working with you, and Carter?”

Their captive said nothing.

“Where is Yulia? Are you holding her at Gamma?”

Harling merely stared at the ground.

Anson sighed, then glanced up at Tom, giving him a nod.

Tom raised his arm once more, but Lyssa stopped him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“Wait.” She crouched down in front of Harling. “Whatever you think. Whatever you believe we’re doing here, it doesn’t really matter. We all—all of us—decided to fight. To tell Kaman to go fuck himself. Even you. That much hasn’t changed. I know it. We all still have the same goal, we just have… different beliefs in how we get there.”

Harling raised his gaze to hers. “He’ll fucking kill me if I tell you.”

Lyssa’s lips quirked. “You’ve got an imminent date with a bullet if you don’t tell us what we need to know. Tom won’t miss. You know that. Look, Carter might never find out. Right? We sure as shit won’t tell him you tipped us off. Hell, he might never even get a hand on you. You’ve got a chance to get away from him here. A fighting chance. You’ve got no chance if you keep stonewalling us. Do the smart thing. Look, tell us… and we’ll let you go.” She looked at Tom. “Cut him loose if he talks. Got it?”

Anson watched, curious where she was going with this, but he nodded his assent to her when her gaze flicked to him, too.

“Tell us, Harling. Give us something.”

He shook his head, cursing as he looked away, his lips twisting. Then he took a deep breath, and looked from her to Anson. “There are… only a handful of officers who’ve gone over to Carter. Maybe times two, enlisted. The rest… I don’t know. But I assume they’re still loyal to… Wyndham.”

Anson suppressed the urge to smile. Things were looking up—finally.

Lyssa’s voice was soft, but the tone urgent. “Yulia? Where is she?”

“I don’t have Yulia—not anymore. Carter told me… he’s got her now.”

“Who’s he?” Anson stood up. “Carter? Who? Tell us.”

Harling looked down a moment. “Fuck, he’s gonna kill me for this.”

“Tell us, goddammit!” Anson stepped toward him. “We can’t save her if you don’t fucking tell us.”

“He said… Carter got hold of an HKU. Somehow. I don’t know how. Said he captured one. Yulia is with him.”

Anson’s stomach dropped.

Holy fucking shit.

“You’re sure about this?” Anson rubbed his chin. “Harling, this is…you’re sure?”

The captive nodded. “It’s what he told me. He said… he said the HKU will bring her back to Gamma.”

“When?” Anson met Tom’s gaze, the blond soldier scowling.

He could tell Tom wasn’t buying this. Not yet anyway.

Anson wasn’t sure he was either. Something… didn’t feel quite right about this.

“Carter didn’t tell me when. But I’m assuming soon.” Harling’s heels shuffled in the dirt as he leaned over on one hip, as if trying to find a less uncomfortable position. “It’s why I was trying… to get back.”

“Why were you all the way out here?” Anson slung his rifle against his shoulder.

“Carter dumped me out here. He was… pissed off about something.” Harling shrugged. “I was just… glad to see him go.”

“Bullshit,” Anson spat.

But he was thinking. He needed to talk this over.

“You two, on me.” He pointed at Harling. “You stay where you are. Try to move, and I swear Tom here will cut you down before you take two steps.”

Harling nodded miserably. “I won’t.”

Anson led them out of earshot of their captive, but close enough to keep tabs on him. He and Lyssa turned their backs to Harling, but Tom watched him.

“You got eyes, Tom?”

“Got him,” the big man drawled, rifle resting across his forearm.

“He’s lying,” Anson said. “At least about some of it.”

“We’ve got nothing else to go on,” Lyssa murmured. “He thinks we’re going to kill him.”

“He’s not wrong,” Tom drawled, eyes never leaving their prisoner. The man’s tone said it wasn’t completely in jest.

“I think he’s telling us the truth,” Lyssa said. “At least some of it.”

“Fuck.” Anson rubbed the back of his neck. “This is… I don’t like this.”

“You’re starting to sound like Tom.” Lyssa shook her head. “But I mean it—he’s not lying here. As soon as you asked about Yulia, he changed. Didn’t you see it in his eyes?”

“Soft spot,” Tom muttered.

“Maybe,” Anson said. “But it’s fucking thin, and thinner. And I do not like the idea of waiting for this HKU just to deliver Yulia right back into our hands.”

“Set up,” Tom said, almost barking the words.

“Fucking stinks of it.”

“You two, listen to me.” Lyssa pointed back at Harling. “He knows if he sets us up, he’s dead. He knows if Carter knows he talked to us, he’s dead. Harling’s not stupid though. He’ll give us at least enough for us to let him go. Which is the only fucking chance he’s got. So, I’m telling you, he’s not bullshitting here.”

Anson shook his head. “I hate it when you’re right. But there’s a shit load we don’t know, and can’t take the chance of trusting him on it.”

“Such as?” Tom spit, wiping his chin with the back of his hand.

“I’m not buying it that the HKU is bringing her back to Gamma,” Anson said. “Something’s not right with that.”

Lyssa nodded. “If he really had a Ravager—he’d have him bring her to Carter directly.”

“And Carter’s in New Vickers. Probably.”

“Which means… what? Where does that leave us?” Lyssa’s voice held an uncharacteristic note of frustration. “We right back at square one then?”

“Shit,” Tom said, chuckling bitterly. “That’s home sweet home for us, Lyss.”

“Maybe not,” Anson said, glancing back at their captive. “I am buying that he doesn’t have her. I’m buying that Carter dumped him out here—that’s just the sort of thing that cocksucker would do.”

“The Ravager though?” Tom scowled, looking down. “That’s fucking bullshit, Cap.”

“I wish you were right about that, but it’s too off the wall for that to be a lie. We’ve got to assume that Carter does have an HKU. But we don’t really know if he’s bringing her back here, or if Harling plans on setting us up for an ambush while we wait like good little boys and girls for the Ravager to show up with our Yulia.”

“You’re giving Harling a lot more credit than he deserves, boss. He’s telling the truth, but he’s not some diabolical mastermind.” Lyssa’s tone betrayed her uncertainty though.

“Did you think Harling would turn on Wyndham?” Anson looked at Tom, then back to her. “Did any of us? Harling’s cunning. He fooled every one of us, probably for months.”

“Termination then?” Tom hefted his rifle, a cold gleam in his eye now.

“Negative. We let him go. But we’re assuming he’s still hostile, and won’t actually run.”

“You know that’s stupid. Killing him is a helluva lot safer.”

Anson met the gaze of his hulking friend. “We murder him out here in the forest, Tom, and we’re no better than Carter.”

“Or Kaman,” Lyssa murmured. “Cap’s right. We let him go. If we see him again—then we kill him.”

Anson grunted. “Sounds about right.”

“But that doesn’t help us figure out where the fuck Yulia is,” Lyssa said.

Though something told him it was an extraordinarily bad idea, he knew in his heart he had no choice left.

“I’ve… there’s someone else who might be able to help. But you’re not going to like it.”

“You say that as if I’ve liked anything we’ve been doing since, well, forever,” Tom said, his jaw clenched. “But if it gets us where we need to be, let’s just get it over with.”

Lyssa unslung her sniper rifle. “We have to do whatever it takes, boss. You said it yourself.”

“Good—because I’m going to have to leave you two in the Fen.”

“Wait, what?” Tom scratched his chin. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

Anson looked at both of them, the somberness of their gazes reflecting his. “I need you to take up a position here, until I get back. It’s too risky for all of us to go back…”

“You’re telling us to let you go alone back to New Vickers? Are you nuts?” Tom shook his head, frowning. “Where you go, I go, Cap. I told you.”

Lyssa laughed, rolling her eyes. “For once, I agree with this prick. The meathead’s right. We’re coming with you.”

Anson sighed, glancing back at Harling.

“Then cut him loose, and get him gone. We’ve got to move, and move fast. There isn’t much time left if we’re going to do this. Every day they’ve got Yulia, the more danger she’s in.”