Anne Winchell - The Last War

Klaus set three cups of tea down and joined them at the table, across from Raven. Nalia attempted a smile but quickly gave up.

“Raven,” she began, “Thanks for coming in with me. I promise no one will hurt you while you’re here.”

She glanced at her father as she spoke but he didn’t make any comment.

“Raven isn’t with the government anymore,” Nalia continued, again speaking mostly to Klaus. “He’s independent. And I want to hire him.”

Both men looked at her in surprise. Raven spoke first. “Nalia, I’m not joining your cause. I brought you back here but that’s it. I’m not going to kill you but that doesn’t mean I’ll help you.”

“You don’t have to join. I said I’m hiring you. You don’t work for the government, so you’re a free agent. I’m making an offer.”

“I doubt we could afford someone of Raven’s reputation,” Klaus said, lingering on the last word in a way that made it clear how much Raven’s reputation as an assassin disgusted him. “And I don’t know what help he could give us.”

“He knows the government, and he knows how to get their attention and actually cause change in the system,” Nalia said.

Raven watched the two of them argue over his merits without listening. What she said about being a free agent was true. He hadn’t thought of it like that before. Without Medane’s protection, his image could be posted in the media and any of his enemies could kill him without retribution. He knew the mortality rates of free agents and any employer was better than none. Looking at Klaus and Nalia bickering, he decided that he could do much worse. At least if he worked for them, he would still be true to his values. And Klaus would never let him forget his past failures, so there was no chance Raven would again make the mistake of thinking he actually had the power to change things.

“I have requirements,” Raven said, interrupting the father and daughter. They turned to look at him in surprise. “I won’t attack Medane. Any of his people, fine, but not him. And I have the right to refuse any job.”

“That sounds fair,” Nalia said.

“We can’t pay you,” Klaus insisted.

“Whatever you give me will be fine,” Raven said. “I have plenty of money.”

It was true. He had billions in banks around the world. But he used the money to assist refugees escaping from East to West, or West to East. His only real personal expenses were electronics, and he had his personal computer with him at all times. Even if Medane froze his accounts, Raven had no real need for money.

Nalia grinned, a victorious and somewhat predatory smile. Raven couldn’t help but remember the days when he had talked people into joining the cause, and how overjoyed he always felt when he finally convinced people to listen and help the movement. She was so much like he used to be, only she hadn’t fallen in the trap of thinking too highly of herself. He wanted to protect her from that mistake and working for her was an excellent way to do so.

The first rumblings of the landing gear woke Scott up and he glanced around lazily. A ship had finally landed on the moon and returned with passengers. Scott understood why it had taken so long, but was still frustrated. Without communication from the moon, they had no way of knowing if a plague had broken out in the colony, or, as Scott’s favorite movies always predicted, aliens had made the ridiculous leap through the stars and targeted the moon as the first step toward conquering Earth. Scott felt his lips twitch in a smile at the thought. But no, all that was causing the moon’s blackout was something Raven had done, and once a ship finally risked landing, the base was declared safe quickly enough.

Members of the press had priority in returning, and Scott took the first flight to get home. Once aboard, he had fallen asleep almost immediately—he and Lydia had taken advantage of their private vacation and now Scott was worn out and quite pleased. He did need to get back to Earth, though, with a story as big as the moon’s blackout unfolding. Normally Raven was kind enough to give Scott a heads up whenever he did anything drastic; Scott had earned a career as a superb reporter because Raven always told him when and where news would be taking place. Scott wouldn’t, however, be writing about the moon unless assigned by his editor. Too risky. He didn’t want anyone to find out that Raven was involved, and he wasn’t too sure how the Western World would react. It was a major story and not reporting it would hurt his career, but he couldn’t put his friend at risk for a headline.

The air whistled past as the shuttle descended back into the Earth’s atmosphere. Scott held his breath. He hated this part. He knew how rare crashes were, but no matter how many times he traveled back and forth to the moon, he couldn’t get rid of his fear that the shuttle would collapse under the pressure of reentry. He wasn’t even sure that was how it worked. Maybe they would explode, or the engine would just stop and they would fall to the ground. Scott couldn’t shake the feeling that at some point in his life, the shuttle would fail and he would die. As the shuttle leveled out and slowed over NeoLondon, Scott took a breath and felt his body unlock. A drop of sweat ran down his forehead and he realized how tense he had been. He took another deep breath and relaxed. When Lydia had kissed him goodbye a few hours ago, she had assured him that he would be fine. She knew about his fear and he loved her because she never made it seem irrational. She just told him every time that he would be fine. It was almost a command, and, so far, the universe had been obliging.

Lydia had been annoyed that he left so early, but then again, the whole thing had annoyed her. It had taken months for all three of them to arrange to be on the moon at the same time, she said, and there was no way Bryce had a reason for ditching them without warning. Scott had just shrugged. He knew Raven better than anyone and had learned long ago that he had reasons for everything he did. They just weren’t always good reasons. Lydia was the only person Raven allowed to call him ‘Bryce’ and Scott had never been able to figure out why, exactly. Normally Raven hated reminders of the person he had been before the massacre. And he never talked to Lydia about any of it. Raven hadn’t even met Lydia until after the massacre when he abandoned the resistance. She had been a friend then, although Scott had to admit that even back then he was hoping to marry her.

Raven—Bryce—moved in with Scott and for months could barely get out of bed. Nothing Scott did or said seemed to help. Bryce was eight years younger than Scott and even though their age difference had never mattered much, it was easy for Scott to fall into a mentoring role and take Bryce under his care. Bryce started to recover from the shock and horror of all the deaths of his close friends as a result of what he saw as his own actions. He still wasn’t talking much, or leaving Scott’s apartment, but Scott had brought Lydia over for a visit and the two had connected immediately.

Scott had to admit that he had been jealous. Still was, to be really honest. Lydia had only been in training to be a counselor at the time, but her ability to listen must have allowed Raven to open up as he had with no other person. Not even Scott, his best friend. After meeting Lydia once, Raven had resumed some of his ordinary activities and even began doing things independently again, without Scott always at his side. Scott was glad, of course, but it was frustrating that he hadn’t been the one to help Raven. Lydia and Raven had a close friendship now, but it was limited by time and space—they rarely saw each other now that Lydia was permanently stationed on the moon.