World War IV: Empires Read Online Free PDF

his body now?”
    “Kemena, we need—”
    “We need a miracle, General. Now, where is my brother-in-law’s body?”
    Monaghan offered a sigh of defeat and scratched the thin white hairs on the back of his head. “What’s left of Lance’s crewmen set up his tent and placed him inside.”
    “No one sees him before my husband and his brother. And do not let the boys see him. Especially Sam. He’s too young. And Kit will be too angry.” Kemena stood then removed the bloody apron. “Take me to him.”
    Lance’s tent was engirded by dirtied and bloodied men, kneeling with their heads down. The scene before her looked as if a king had just died, their once-invincible shroud torn, exposing them to their own mortality.
    Inside, Lance’s body lay flat and raised on top of a wooden table. Canice didn’t look up when Kemena stepped inside; she only kept hold of Lance’s hand, cupped between both of hers.
    “Canice?” Kemena kept her words soft and quiet. She paced around to face Canice, and saw that the woman’s eyes were bloodshot, the flesh underneath puffy and swollen. Her arms and hands were covered in small cuts, but the knuckles on her right hand were the worst. Kemena reached out her hand. “You should let me look at that.”
    Canice finally made eye contact and pulled her hand away, keeping Lance’s clutched tight. Her lip trembled, and she slowly slipped from her chair and fell to her knees, crying once she hit the floor.
    Kemena rushed to catch her, gently removing Lance’s cold hand from Canice’s. The sobs were silent at first then wanted between random shrieks. The two women sat on the floor until Canice’s grief ran dry.
    “He didn’t see this coming,” Canice said, staring back up at the body on the table. “None of us saw this. It’s like… this was a punishment, for every terrible deed behind closed doors and the whispers down alleys. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end.”
    “It’s not over yet,” Kemena replied, looking at Lance. His body lay naked, save for the stitches from the wounds that killed him.
    Canice’s upper lip curled, her grief morphing into rage as she hardened her face. “Rodion will die for this. I will make him pay. One way or another.” She clenched her fists tight till they cracked and the cuts on her knuckles pumped fresh blood. She pulled something from her pocket, a pendulum dangling from a silver chain, just like the one she’d seen Dean wear for most of his life. She took Kemena’s hand and placed it in her palm.
    “Lance gave this to you?” The silver of the pendulum was stained with dry blood. Kemena turned it over in her hands, the metal sphere warm from Canice’s touch. She’d never noticed Lance wear it before, although he spent most of his time on the ship. “Why?”
    “He didn’t say.” Canice brushed the hair off of Lance’s forehead then leaned down and kissed his lips. Kemena blushed at the sight of such a private moment, and just before Canice was out of the tent, she reached out and grabbed her arm, but Canice twisted away.
    Kemena understood how much she was hurting, but there were larger stakes than just her revenge. “If you want to honor Lance, then stay with us. It’s what he would have done.”
    “Don’t!” Canice thrust her finger into Kemena’s face, the rage from earlier returning. “You don’t get to twist his death into something you can use. And I have no loyalty to you or the generals here, as do none of the crewmen from the Sani . The time for honor is done. I mean to seek revenge.” And with that she disappeared, leaving Kemena alone in the tent, clutching the bloody pendulum.
    Kemena knew that Canice was sending herself on a suicide mission. And while she didn’t doubt Canice’s ability to fight, nor her stamina for fending off failure, she knew blindness when she saw it.

 
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    Women’s screams pierced the air sporadically through the night. Those that hadn’t fled quickly enough were passed around