Free Grendel Unit 1: Bad Day at Khor-wa by Bernard Schaffer

as they forced him up the ramp onto the general's ship.  They yelled at him and threatened him to get him to stop struggling, but Vic fought them the entire time until they finally had him on board and threw him into one of the flight chairs.  They strapped him down with restraints and pulled tight, cinching him down until it was all he could do to breathe. 
    Sitting across from him, just a few feet away, was a short, pale-faced man with hollow cheekbones and a receding hair line. The man watched Vic and the guards nervously, and his eyes kept shifting from side to side, as if he expected to be attacked at any moment from any direction. 
    The entire group of soldiers struggled to load Monster aboard the ship, rolling him to the back of the ship.  The cargo doors hissed open and the lot of them heaved the Mantipor up onto the hydraulic lift. 
    The man sat staring at the ground, mindlessly biting his fingernails.  Vic saw that they were scarred and discolored from Kerogel burns.  Vic shook his head and let out a hollow laugh, then turned toward where Monster lay, "Hey!  Wake up, Big Man.  I found him.  Come sit on him until you hear his bones break."
    The man did not respond. 
    "You're a dead man," Vic said.   
    The man's eyes fixed on Vic momentarily, flaring with contempt, but he remained silent. 
    Vic sat back and said, "Look at me." 
    He did not move, except to nervously bite on his thumbnail, chewing at the ruined skin as he waited for the ship to take off. 
    " Yultorot, look at me."
    The other man finally lifted his head from his wet nail and said, " I am looking at the face of a lifelong prisoner who will never be free from this moment forward.  What could you possibly have to say to me?"
    " Someday, we'll meet again.  That's when I'm going to kill you."
    Yultorot snickered and waved his hand at Vic, "Perhaps you do not understand your circumstances.  I will not waste my time arguing with an idiot."
    "Just remember," Vic said.  "Someday, I'm going to remind you of this conversation , right before I choke the life out of you." 
    Yultorot rolled his eyes and looked away, unmoved.  When General Milner came aboard, he said, "General, can I sit up front with you?  This man is bothering me."
    General Milner waved for Yultorot to join him and looked down at Vic, "Save your strength, Victor.  You're going to need it." 
    Vic laughed slightly.  "You know what's funny, General?"
    "What's that?"
    "For the first time in all the years I've known you, I actually believe the words coming out of your mouth."
    The General slammed the door shut and Vic looked back at Monster, seeing the Mantipor roll over on his side and take a deep breath, snoring loudly.  Vic leaned his head back and closed his eyes to try and get some rest.   
     

The Grendel Unit Series Continues
     
    Grendel Unit 1: Bad Day at Khor-wa
    Grendel Unit 2: Ignition Sequence
    Grendel Unit 3: Fight the Power
    Grendel Unit 4: Any Means Necessary (COMING SOON)
     
    Also read: Grendel Unit: Sun Hammer 2 (Suicide Planet)
     

Abou t the Author

     
    Bernard Schaffer is the author of multiple books that span a wide variety of genres, including modern American literature, police procedurals, and science fiction westerns. He has worked on several projects with famous authors such as Harlan Ellison, Alan Dean Foster, and Bill Thompson (the editor who discovered Stephen King and John Grisham). In 2011, Schaffer founded KAS, a select group of independent authors that donates proceeds to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  
    Recently, he collaborated with J.A. Konrath on two books that feature Konrath's best-selling Lt. Jack Daniels characters, and ones from Schaffer's own Superbia series.
    Aside from writing, Schaffer is a lifelong resident of the Philadelphia area and the proud father of two children. He is a decorated police detective and expert in narcotics distribution. 

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