Raiders Read Online Free PDF

prisoner. One request.”
    “Yes sir, what is?” Aurelia asked.
    “Try not to kill her.”
    “Will do, sir.” And with that Julian and Aurelia exited the room and headed to the the stir fry stand which was down on the Military Centre's main floor.
    The stir fry stand's cook there tended to go a little heavy on the ginger root but it was still a good place to stop and eat. He never washed the wok. Not ever. All the cooks and their little secrets in this last great stand for civilization, the great Polar City Three which couched itself gently underground, away from the violent surface world and its perils.
    Centuries ago everyone once believed that the climate would never really change or reflex the surface world to an uninhabitable place. They said once that a changing climate was a delusion, a hoax. The stars in the sky were once the superstitious Gods and Goddesses of dreams long lost. In the end the truth won her rightful place in the thrones of consciousness but the people would always secretly look back to the past in melancholic reverence. Back to a time when powerful fantasies ruled their thoughts and great gods once roared over the heads of men.
    The cook wiped out the wok with one of his trusty rags. His stock of toasted sesame oil ran low and he worried about the supply.
    The smallest things in our lives are worth the greatest fight. “Next. What you want?” The cook said to Aurelia and Julian. He nodded and then prepped his wok with a spritz of sesame oil from a squeeze bottle wrapped in linen. He swirled the wok in a circle. The oil smoked up and crackled away.

Four
    The next day Aurelia set out to visit the mysterious prisoner Raider. She dressed in her full ceremonial dress uniform that she usually only dusted off for award ceremonies or formal events. She originally wanted to go alone but then changed her mind. Julian thought it was a ridiculous waste of time but then realized that somehow or other Aurelia needed this. Maybe it would provide closure for her.
    They heard through friends who worked at the Military Centre that the captured Raider girl was a whole new level of strange. They said that she just stared at the ceiling or wall most of the time. She responded to nothing except one time when she actually told them her name. It was Kama. No last name, no title, just Kama.
    They arrived at the prison, a visually mismatched couple, Aurelia in full dress while Julian donned only regular around-the-City clothes. They approached the automated guard which was a fixed, barren cylindrical column with only three small holes on its face. Julian spoke into the guard’s embedded microphone. “City ID 30278604,” he said. He placed his palm near the scanner opening which was only a few millimeters in diameter. The scanner returned an emotionless deadpan response, “Clearance granted for City ID 3027522.” Julian backed away from the guard.
    Aurelia recited her ID into the auto guard. “City ID 3027522.” She quickly held her palm up.
    The robotic guard responded, “Accepted. Please enter with caution. No weapons of any kind are allowed past this point. All Personal Assistants must be removed. Please place all articles in bin.” A large drawer emerged from the guard from a seamless section of the guard.. Julian inspected the drawer in disbelief. How did they machine that thing with such precision? He thought.
    They placed their armbands in the drawer.. The drawer recessed back and disappeared into the guard’s body. Julian rubbed his hand over the surface and tried to feel any evidence that there was even a drawer there at all. The guard rebelled against Julian’s caress. “WARNING, STEP ONE PACE BACK NOW DO NOT TAMPER DO NOT TAMPER!” Julian comically sprang back from the menace in response.
    Aurelia laughed at him. “Damn the one time I wish I had my Assistant to record that!”
    “Well at least I got you to laugh. Christ I thought we were going to some kind of funeral here.” Julian huffed,