Free Shedding the Demon by Bill Denise

sentences of at least ten years. Assault on a
soldier with the intent to kill carries a minimum twenty years. Depending on
the judge, you could be going away for a long, long time.”
    Damon looked down as she made her pronouncement, his bravado
severely shaken. He had practiced this situation in training, but it felt much
different when facing real consequences. He tried to imagine so many years
behind bars, but he couldn’t. For the first time tonight he felt real fear.
    He looked up and tried to keep his voice steady. “What are
you offering?”
    Colonel Tashus sat forward, suddenly animated and excited. “You
may actually like this, Da—Demon. We need someone of your skill and training
for a special program we’re starting up. In return for your cooperation, we
will send SecForce out to protect your family from rival gangs in the area.”
    “Will I be free to go after I’m done with your program?” he
asked.
    She glanced quickly at Captain Remmen before continuing, “Unfortunately
no. You will have to stay with the program for many years to come. Fact is, you
will not be able to go back home.” After a short pause she added, “However, your
personal sacrifice will ensure their safety. You will be secure in the
knowledge that you did everything you could possibly do to protect them.”
    Damon put his head in hands and rested his elbows on his
knees. Once again, his thoughts were reeling, and he looked to Andrea’s
training for help. For the first time in his life, nothing came to mind. The
void in his thoughts where he usually found Andrea’s voice left him feeling
abandoned.
    “Tell me more about the program,” he said, his voice
muffled.
    Colonel Tashus was obviously in her element as she described
the plans for the Human Implanted Augmentation program. She told him about D-SAP
armor, how his skeleton would be strengthened, and how weapons would be
implanted directly into his body. She described how he would be stronger,
faster, and nearly indestructible.
    She talked only briefly and in vague terms about the
missions he would execute, but she emphasized how it would be for the good of
the Consensus.
    “The what?” Damon asked, interrupting.
    “The Consensus,” she looked at him quizzically.
    “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    She was surprised that she had to explain to him about the
Consensus, and she was clearly shocked when she realized Damon had no idea
there were other planets besides his own.
    The more she learned about his ignorance, the more she
realized that he was the perfect candidate, and her excitement grew with every
passing minute.
     
    **** ****
     
    At home on Havyn, where legend said
Kyndra herself settled, Renard looked out the window of his office at the vista
before him that never got boring. Even after more than forty years in this
office, he never tired of the view. Calling it a window was truly a misnomer,
the entire twenty-foot high wall was transparent, and it looked out over one of
the largest waterfalls in the Consensus.
    Meltwater from the mountains in the background plunged
thousands of feet over the edge of a gigantic caldera, forming ever-changing
streams all around the rim and collecting in a large lake. The downslope half
of the caldera had fallen away eons ago, sending the water tumbling down the
steep slopes of the mountainous foothills in an angry river that rolled to the
forests miles away and thousands of feet below.
    Calling this room an office was also misleading. It was
housed in a simple tower soaring one hundred fifty stories out of the center of
the caldera lake, but still dwarfed by the rim above. The room was actually a
series of offices, meeting areas, and living quarters that took up the entire
top of the building. All of the external walls and ceiling could be made transparent,
giving magnificent views of the waterfall to one side, and the vast panorama of
the foothills and rain forests as far as the eye could see to the other side.
The