Page 59 of Exit Strategy

“That’s spot-on thinking, well done, but do go on.”

“Yeah, si-so I grabbed Calanthe, put her in my car, and bugged out. She was in terrible shape, and I think at that point I was panicking, so I pulled a full bug-out – ejected my phone, dumped the sedan, and picked up my old truck and kit, and hit the road. Went with following the old path of Route 66, instead of going for the obvious or quickest paths out of LA.”

“Seems to have worked,” Roan said as our second round of pints were delivered to the table. “And don’t worry, everyone who knows about this place, they’re our brothers, eh?”

“If you say so, sir,” I said and looked down at my new pint. It finally felt like there was someone in this besides me, someone else who could shoulder some of this mess I had made.

“I do say so.” He gave my shoulder a squeeze. “So, you made it across the continent, got Miss Callie fixed up with an off-the-grid doctor, and got here for the best pints this side of the pond.”

“Yeah, all that, and now I’m not sure what to do.”

“What was the plan when you were on the road? Oh, and what is Calanthe’s take on this?”

“The plan I guess was to go to my cabin and wait it out.”

“The one across the bay, out in the middle of the forest?”

“That’s the one. It has a well and between the generator and eventually solar panels, I have plenty of power without being hooked to the grid. Between hunting, fishing, and a stock of MREs, I could live out there for a long time.”

“Yeah, almost any former Marine could live like that, and live happy,” he agreed. “But what about red-headed lasses?”

“She’s different. Arik kept her cloistered and controlled everything she did, and apparently, New Eden is a bloody fucking cult.”

“What do you mean a cult?”

“She told me that her parents groomed her to be a child bride, for whomever New Eden decided was important enough to warrant such a prize. If she was willing to tell me that she was traded to Rex when she was a minor, what is she not telling us? What goes into grooming teenagers to be married to wealthy assholes, thirty and forty years older than they are? It feels ugly and wrong.”

“I’ll have some of my people look into this, but it does shine a light on that batty woman on the news who says all that about New Eden only caring about green cash and pink girls.”

“I saw her on the news. Seems like maybe we should reach out to her? She has an organization and they’re public, and New Eden hasn’t gotten rid of them.”

“What sort of response do you think they’re going to mount, lad?” Roan asked.

“They have a full security force, enough that they can send large numbers of armed men and women after us, and their new commander was my previous second, a monster of a woman. She’s a zealot at heart and she knows where we’ve gone, somewhat.”

“What do you mean somewhat?”

“She knows I have a cabin near Indigo City, but that’s all.”

“Well, that makes things difficult, doesn’t it? So here is the new plan unless you have a problem with it.” I nodded in agreement. “You and Calanthe are going to stay with us for a few days, get you rested up, and give her some civilization. She looked a touch feral.”

“Fair,” I said.

“While you are in repair and refit, we can find a way to reach out to the short-haired woman with whatever that group is called and circle the wagons there.”

“It won’t be like Escadrille,” I said. “That was ugly business all over.” The captain gave me a dark look.

“You have no idea how ugly that was.”

“My apologies,” I said.

“Don’t worry about it, lad.”

“Fallout, but they spell it all caps like they’re shouting,” the barkeep said. “And yeah, they’re usually shouting. The short-haired woman is Marion Tate. Used to be some fancy important player inside the organization before she escaped or got burned, I’m not sure.”

“How do you know that?” Roan asked.

“She’s on the telly all the time, mate, and this isn’t exactly the busiest pub on the block. I’ve got time.” He gave a shrug.

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