Drifter

Eli drove into the ashes of a dead city. Supports jutted out of flattened structures like bones out of a rotting carcass. Holes had been blasted out of or melted into nearly every building. Derelict vehicles lined the crumbling streets.

A single wall stood amongst a pile of rubble. The windows had been completely blasted out, creating a surreal silhouette against the grey sky. He spotted a small ship coming in for a landing at the baseball diamond. This meant that it was an aid worker. The more opportunistic extraterrestrials had set up their landing site on what had once been the parking lot of a big box store.

A bazaar had been set up in the parking lot of a burned-out grocery store. It was sparsely populated, with more stalls abandoned than occupied, and a precious few customers browsing. The stalls were ramshackle, their goods ranged from canned food to purified water to pieces of Jerry-rigged equipment.

The people moved cautiously, kept an eye on their surroundings. They wore a mixture of ragged clothes and survival gear. None was without a weapon of some sort.

Eli quickly found the stall he needed. The woman who ran it wore something that looked like a cross between body armor and a hazmat suit. The tank on her back bore a symbol, which the translator told him was for argon.

She greeted him warmly, “More Sad’Daki salvage, Eli?”

He placed a bag on the counter, “Of course. This’ll be the last batch.”

“Oh really? Why is that?” she asked, counting out strange pieces of currency.

“I’m moving on.”

“What? Why?”

“I’ve run out of targets.”

***

Eli approached a bombed-out building located in what had once been a lovely little town. He could feel the gunsights on him as he walked.

He entered the building, it looked a little better on the inside. Things had been cleaned up a bit, but it was still a ruin.

Men with guns stepped out of the shadows. They knew him, let him pass without objection. Mercs, what would they do now that the war was over, and their benefactors would move on?

Eli moved deep into the structure, ducking under fallen beams and stepping over debris. He navigated these half-demolished halls until he found a little room that had been furnished. A single light in the center provided the only illumination. On the edge of the light, he could just make out the shapes of a bed, a wardrobe, and a weapon rack.

A woman in a ragged cloak stepped out of the darkness. The pinpoints of her eyes glowed when she moved, as if the shadows revealed a fire within her. Her face had exaggerated, angular features, but otherwise she looked human.

Without a word, Eli tossed a transparent plastic baggy to her. She caught it, took a few moments to examine its contents. The rank insignia gleamed, differentiating themselves from the dull plastic of the ID chip and key cards.

The translator did its work when she spoke, “Congratulations. You’re quite the hunter. We chose you well,” the words had elegance and weight to them, as if thousands of bloody years could be felt in each syllable.

The two embers moved as she strode forward. Now in the light, the beady little eyes no longer shone. They were just two black dots. The sharp features were severe, but she would be able to pass for a human.

She handed him a case. He didn’t bother opening it to make sure that it contained the promised sum.

“There’s something I want to talk about,” he stated.

“First thing’s first.”

She dropped the cloak, revealing a suit of formfitting body armor. This was marred by battle damage, most of which had been repaired using field kits.

***

Eli sat on the edge of the bed, tying up his boots, tucking the laces, “I want to go off world, some place where I can purchase a ship.”

She lay under the covers beside him, “You think that you have enough for that?”

“I know that I do. I know about the wider universe. I’ve read things on the invader’s terminals.”

“I’m sure that you have. And what are you going to do when you get up there? You won’t last long if you hunt them in their territory.”

“Then I’ll find some other place that they’ve conquered and fight them there.”

Irritation in her voice, “Why not stay here and help your people rebuild?”

“What’s the point. The Sad’Daki destroyed everything that they didn’t take. There’s nothing left for me here.”

“Revenge is satisfying but it will only get you so far.”

“It’s not just vengeance, it’s justice too. Besides, you pay me to kill them because they are your empire’s greatest rival. You don’t want me to keep taking them out?”

“I do, but I don’t want to see you throw your life away either.”

“I know that some people are being taken off world. I just want to go with them, that’s all.”

“Make a fresh start?” she said coyly.

“Sure.”

“And if you just so happen to run into any Sad’Daki during your travels?”

“I’ll deal with them in the proper way.”

She let out a low hiss, her people’s version of a sigh, “A shuttle is taking off this evening. I’ll see to it that you are on it. From there, you can get to a populated system where you can buy a ship.”

***

The shadows were long. The half-dead sky livened up for a few precious minutes, burning with pinks and oranges. Eli placed his luggage in the cargo hold and took his seat aboard the ugly but functional craft. Before long, it took off, rapidly climbing.

The ground below was a blur of grey and black. Then they popped out of the upper atmosphere.

The stars. The infinite wonder and horror of countless lights. A vast array of colors and formations. Pale blue, cold white, red and orange infernos, a long trail of green running across lovely purple clouds. The majesty of the cosmos stood before him. He grieved for those that had been denied its splendor.