“Lieutenant, who killed these people? Who killed the civilians?” Sawyer pressed for an answer to his question, taking notes on the man’s ranting as he focused on the subject he needed clarification on first.
“We did.”
“We did, why?” Sawyer’s throat closed, his lungs burning with the lack of oxygen.
“Field testing,” the Lieutenant took another large swallow of alcohol.
“The people in the dwelling district.” Sawyer didn’t phrase the words as a question, but the Lieutenant nodded his head anyway.
“There was no blood.” Wil denied, his head shaking in refusal of the Lieutenant’s claims before his eyes widened in understanding. “They’ve been dead long enough for the rain to wash it away.”
Sawyer’s heart thundered in his battered ears as nausea threatened to erupt in a volcano of disgust. “You killed them, for a demonstration?”
“Not me directly, but I gave the order. The rest of the higher Admins thought if the TSS saw how effective it was, they would send a transport down for the rest of us. Less risk of Alien Disorder infection if only we’re left, right? It was stupid. Why would they come? They have what they need.” Lieutenant Pierce sighed and closed his eyes, his head lolling back against the aluminum wall he sat against with a loud ping. The man sat up with a start, swaying with the movement as he glared up at Wil. “You! You’re Dehring’s boy, aren’t you?”
Wil’s jaw worked as he clenched his teeth, the tension in his body tightening visibly as he gave a curt nod in response. A sickening hoot of laughter sprayed Bourbon-tainted saliva from the Lieutenant’s lips. “What’s so funny?” Wil’s question was met with another chuckle and the Lieutenant’s slap of his thigh with his empty hand.
“You,” the Lieutenant pointed at Wil with his bottle of bourbon, “were supposed to be on that last shuttle. They made me give up my seat for you. Dehring’s boy, but here you are! Still on this shithole planet with me!”
“I’m not going anywhere, least of all with my trus father,” Wil’s spit erupted from his lips as the word ‘father’ did from his tongue.
Lieutenant Pierce grew silent and serious at the insult Wil placed with his father’s name. After a moment, the Lieutenant nodded and smiled at Wil sadly; “yes, boy, yes he is. A coward; a traitor.”
“What did he do this time?” Wil sneered. “Other than take your seat on the last transport off this dump.”
“Your old man sold me out; sold us all out,” his chuckle was heavy and dark, not light as it was when speaking of his weapon. “He went up to the TSS and told them we were making these weapons. Didn’t matter that we were doing it to protect their settlements, or that we would have given them the plans for the right incentives. All they cared is that they didn’t have the deadliest weapon in the universe anymore.”
“We can’t let them have this technology,” Wil looked toward Sawyer with a distressed look on his face.
“If they have your father, they have the technology,” Lieutenant Pierce scoffed. “He invented it.”
Wil went oddly still, drawing Sawyer’s gaze to ensure the man was still breathing. His chest jerked once, twice, before laughter erupted from his core with a force that doubled him over. “My father? My father invented that? Not a chance.”
“Yeah, I guess the TSS didn’t believe him either, which is why your trus father went to Beta Sect and offered it to them. If he’d kept his mouth shut, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“They’re the ones firebombing us?”
“Probably, as soon as those assholes found out about the pulse tech, they had higher aspirations than this dump. Those bastards took over one of the TSS transports.”
“They what?” Wil’s eyes widened at the information. “What are they thinking? The TSS won’t sit with that; they’ll strike back.”
“Exactly the plan. They were content letting us kill ourselves slowly before. Now, Beta Sect has a means off-world and soon they’ll have the pulse weapon.” Lieutenant Pierce tried to stand, but sat down hard as his legs proved useless. He didn’t notice how quickly Wil turned his pistol on him until he was back into his seated position. He laughed at the sight and pulled out his own. “I’ve got me one of them too, boy. Want to see who’s a faster draw?”
“I guarantee I am, Lieutenant,” Wil’s usual arrogant tone was replaced by a darkness Sawyer hadn’t heard before.
“Probably,” the Lieutenant conceded, placing his gun in his lap with a sigh. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. We’ll all be dead soon.”
“What do you mean?” Sawyer’s gut twisted with the man’s slurred information.
“The order for a purge came in this morning after the transport was taken,” Lieutenant Pierce offered his bottle to first Sawyer and then Wil. Both men refused, and he shrugged and finished off the last of its contents. “It was set for noon, so they could gather the rest of the Admins and command staff, but they moved it up to dawn. As soon as Beta Sect turned on us and sent in their squads, it became too heated for the TSS to risk their precious transports. Their phase canon will emit a blast powerful enough to wipe out this whole sector – from here to Beta Sect. The EMP following the initial blast will kill all tech on
