account.”
All of the volunteers had been told about the true nature of magic before they’d signed up, so there was no need to waste their time. They wanted details. “You all know what we’re after. It is a little chunk of the thing that is chasing the Power. The Chairman called it the Pathfinder, so that name will do as good as any. We’ll have one chance to kill it before it calls home. Other Pathfinders have come here twice before. Toru here knows all about how the last ones worked.”
The former Iron Guard surveyed the crew menacingly. “Each one has been different, but they are all creatures of nightmares, so deadly that Okubo Tokugawa, the greatest warrior of all time, barely achieved victory. They eat magic and then use it against you, kill everything, and then turn the corpses into weapons. The strongest amongst you may have a small chance of survival.” The room was dead quiet except for the sound of the engines. “Most of you will surely perish.”
Sullivan sighed. He should have known better.
Lance Talon broke the silence. The burly Grimnoir wasn’t about to take attitude from an Iron Guard, former or not. “What the hell? You son of a—”
“I do not care if you take offense, Grimnoir.” Toru snapped. “I have vowed to defeat this threat to honor my father’s final command. Lying to you will only encourage overconfidence, which will lead to our defeat. Believe my words. The Order of Iron Guard were formed specifically to combat this Enemy.”
Lance stood up from behind the dinner table, revealing that he had a big revolver hanging from a gun belt. Sullivan remembered—a little too late to do any good—that Lance’s wife and children had been burned to death in an Iron Guard attack. “Easy, Lance.”
Lance’s hand was casually hovering over the butt of his Colt. “Except your precious Iron Guard are too busy raping and pillaging their way through a bunch of peasants to do their job, now ain’t they?”
“Yes.” Toru’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “The Iron Guard have become distracted from their true purpose. I will convince them of the error of their ways.” He slowly turned and addressed the entire room. “I will teach you everything I know before we engage the Pathfinder. It will devour your Power, rip the life from your bodies, and then twist your remains into weapons. Yet, as capable as it is, it can still be defeated. Hopefully your inevitable deaths will not bring shame upon our cause.”
“That’ll do, Toru.”
Toru gave Sullivan a small bow. As proud and stiff-necked as Toru was, he had still sworn that he would obey Sullivan’s orders. “I will be in my quarters until you need me.” Toru left the galley. He seemed to take the tension with him.
“Wait . . . How come he gets his own room?” Doctor Wells asked.
Sullivan was just close enough to hear someone’s whispered answer. “Because everyone is terrified of him.”
“Hmmm . . . So that’s all it takes?” Wells responded thoughtfully. “I see . . .”
Sullivan looked at Lance and shook his head. Lance returned grudgingly to his seat. “We can’t count on those Imperium bastards to fix this problem for us. The US government doesn’t believe us. So we’re gonna have to do it ourselves. All systems are go. Captain Southunder says that the Traveler is in top shape.” There was a chorus of cheers and hoots from the pirates and the UBF. Good. They had pride in their ship. “We’re ready to head out.”
“Head out where?” a young knight shouted.
And that was the big question everybody was so eager about. Sullivan went to the map and jabbed his finger into Montana. “We’re here. We’re going to cross into Canada, and once night falls, we’re going to kill the lights and head west, then up the coast, along the Aleutians, into Kamchatka.” Sullivan thumped the map. “Get your cold-weather clothing together, ‘cause I hear it’s not nice.”
“That’s deep Imperium territory,” said
All of the volunteers had been told about the true nature of magic before they’d signed up, so there was no need to waste their time. They wanted details. “You all know what we’re after. It is a little chunk of the thing that is chasing the Power. The Chairman called it the Pathfinder, so that name will do as good as any. We’ll have one chance to kill it before it calls home. Other Pathfinders have come here twice before. Toru here knows all about how the last ones worked.”
The former Iron Guard surveyed the crew menacingly. “Each one has been different, but they are all creatures of nightmares, so deadly that Okubo Tokugawa, the greatest warrior of all time, barely achieved victory. They eat magic and then use it against you, kill everything, and then turn the corpses into weapons. The strongest amongst you may have a small chance of survival.” The room was dead quiet except for the sound of the engines. “Most of you will surely perish.”
Sullivan sighed. He should have known better.
Lance Talon broke the silence. The burly Grimnoir wasn’t about to take attitude from an Iron Guard, former or not. “What the hell? You son of a—”
“I do not care if you take offense, Grimnoir.” Toru snapped. “I have vowed to defeat this threat to honor my father’s final command. Lying to you will only encourage overconfidence, which will lead to our defeat. Believe my words. The Order of Iron Guard were formed specifically to combat this Enemy.”
Lance stood up from behind the dinner table, revealing that he had a big revolver hanging from a gun belt. Sullivan remembered—a little too late to do any good—that Lance’s wife and children had been burned to death in an Iron Guard attack. “Easy, Lance.”
Lance’s hand was casually hovering over the butt of his Colt. “Except your precious Iron Guard are too busy raping and pillaging their way through a bunch of peasants to do their job, now ain’t they?”
“Yes.” Toru’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “The Iron Guard have become distracted from their true purpose. I will convince them of the error of their ways.” He slowly turned and addressed the entire room. “I will teach you everything I know before we engage the Pathfinder. It will devour your Power, rip the life from your bodies, and then twist your remains into weapons. Yet, as capable as it is, it can still be defeated. Hopefully your inevitable deaths will not bring shame upon our cause.”
“That’ll do, Toru.”
Toru gave Sullivan a small bow. As proud and stiff-necked as Toru was, he had still sworn that he would obey Sullivan’s orders. “I will be in my quarters until you need me.” Toru left the galley. He seemed to take the tension with him.
“Wait . . . How come he gets his own room?” Doctor Wells asked.
Sullivan was just close enough to hear someone’s whispered answer. “Because everyone is terrified of him.”
“Hmmm . . . So that’s all it takes?” Wells responded thoughtfully. “I see . . .”
Sullivan looked at Lance and shook his head. Lance returned grudgingly to his seat. “We can’t count on those Imperium bastards to fix this problem for us. The US government doesn’t believe us. So we’re gonna have to do it ourselves. All systems are go. Captain Southunder says that the Traveler is in top shape.” There was a chorus of cheers and hoots from the pirates and the UBF. Good. They had pride in their ship. “We’re ready to head out.”
“Head out where?” a young knight shouted.
And that was the big question everybody was so eager about. Sullivan went to the map and jabbed his finger into Montana. “We’re here. We’re going to cross into Canada, and once night falls, we’re going to kill the lights and head west, then up the coast, along the Aleutians, into Kamchatka.” Sullivan thumped the map. “Get your cold-weather clothing together, ‘cause I hear it’s not nice.”
“That’s deep Imperium territory,” said
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