The Blood Solution (Approaching Infinity Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

day to day dramas that nature could still play out for his amusement, drawing pictures in the sand.

4. THE SKELETON GENERAL
     
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    From around Kapler Tower, at the fringes of the Black Fields, they watched, thousands of them, stirred by the sudden flash and crack, roused to interest and alternately filled with or drained of hope. The Lightning Gun hadn’t been fired in a few years now, and none of the groups, affiliated or independent, had made any moves of aggression, but what fell from the sky, touching down where the Lightning Gun had so many times before, was similar—too similar—to do anything but stoke an already present and building feeling of unease.
    When the light faded, a lone man rose from a crouching position to stand his full height, which many onlookers thought was little more than that of a child. As they scrutinized, though, many began to shake uncontrollably when they realized—or assumed, really—just what had been deposited upon the Black Fields. It wasn’t a man, or a child, but a skeleton, an incarnation of death come to reap. But to reap what? Was death here for them or for the Kaplers?
    Jav Holson, Dark with the Kaiser Bones, stood, checked the Tether Launch control device upon his wrist, then took a moment to survey his surroundings. Immediately beneath him, marked by rings of etched stones, buried in stages within the mixture of char-black ash and sterilized soil, were more bones than he could register. He noted, too, the camps of men and women, their primitive arms, and how they formed an extended perimeter, now animated somewhat by his arrival, around the Tower. He stared into the distance for a moment, thinking. If necessary he could secure the Tower and defend it indefinitely with what were essentially inexhaustible resources below. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be necessary.
    Jav turned his attention to the Tower and regarded the Lightning Gun. As a part of his show of good faith, Kapler had provided the Empire with the gun’s specifications, and Jav knew that not respecting such a weapon would be unwise—just as unwise as becoming its target. He had already dawdled too long, and if he didn’t now exceed its ability to track him, he would witness the gun’s power firsthand.
    He employed a now simple technique of the Approaching Infinity discipline he’d learned during his study of the Eighteen Heavenly Claws and leapt easily to the top of the Tower. He landed softly alongside the Lightning Gun, which he briefly studied. He didn’t have the technical knowledge to really appreciate the gun’s marvelous construction, but he was impressed with the state of its upkeep. The Lightning Gun was like new, probably cleaned and maintained daily. It had, according to Kapler, stood without being replaced or ever once failing for more than a thousand years. Hearsay maybe, perhaps a legend only, but Jav could believe it.
    “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Raus Kapler said. He stood, arms folded, at the entrance leading down into the Tower.
    Kapler was huge. Jav thought he must be taller than Wheeler Barson who stood over two meters, but Kapler was thick with muscle and at least twice Barson’s bulk. In the dim light Jav could only determine that Kapler’s complexion was pale, but there was something else, a color that was unidentifiable and that was somehow unsettling. Kapler’s dark hair was combed back, neat and tidy, with only a hint of its length and its waves, and revealing a face, clear and expressive. Jav supposed that, though youthful in his appearance, Kapler did in fact look the part of king.
    “It is,” Jav said, approaching him and extending his hand in greeting.
    “I am Raus Kapler, regent of Sarsa.”
    “Jav Holson, Emissary of the Viscain Empire, Death Squad Specialist. Will you accept my hand in friendship?”
    Raus cocked an eyebrow as he took Jav’s diminutive hand. “Death Squad indeed. Is that armor? And will it—” A wide grin fell over Raus’s face.