War Girls (The Juniper Wars Book 5), Aaron Ritchey [read my book TXT] 📗

though, that damn cough plagued us all.

Sharlotte hefted Tina Machinegun to her shoulder, and I had my G18, full of enough darts to turn the Octo into a pin cushion.

“I come in peace!” the Octo called. Her voice sounded relatively human, but murky, husky, like she’d spent her life screaming through mud. “Micaiah sent me and me alone. I follow his orders and his orders alone. I’m alone.”

“Skank needs a thesaurus,” I muttered.

“You simply have to quit talking like Wren,” Pilate said.

“Cavvy talk good,” Wren grunted.

“It’s Cavatica,” Sharlotte corrected. “And she talks well. Damn, Wren, becoming a mutant sure hasn’t done anything for your grammar.”

“Jack. Grammar,” Wren growled. “Wren loves Cavvy.”

“Petted her as a baby,” Sharlotte said, echoing what Wren had said on one of her many death beds.

“I’m liking the witty banter,” Pilate said, “but I think we need to deal with the octopus thing in front of us.”

“On your knees, Kutia!” I shouted.

The Octo stayed standing.

“You. I’m talking to you! What does Micaiah want?”

The Octo went to her knees, but then stood. “Should I answer your question, or should I kneel? I do not understand.”

Wren sighed and stalked away from us, the hood of her cloak covering her face and the canvas poncho blowing in the wind.

My sister grabbed the Octo, hauled her back to us, and threw her into the melting snow and mud.

On her knees, leaning on her tentacles, the thing peered into our faces from her scatter of eyes. “I have a letter.” She reached into a pants pocket, and all of us, and I mean all of us, leaned into our guns.

Pilate slung his Mauser onto his shoulder. He shoved the Beijing homewrecker into the Octo’s face.

“You have a name?” he asked.

The Octo nodded. “Foxtrot Eighty-Three.”

“Catchy,” Pilate said, coughing. “Give my regards to Mr. And Mrs. Eighty-Three.”

“I don’t have parents,” Foxtrot said.

It was such an echo of Rachel, that confusion, that failure to grasp even such a simple joke. “The letter is in my pocket. I am unarmed. I am also very hungry. I do not expect you to give me nourishment.”

I stepped up and eased the letter out of the pocket of her fatigues.

My name was scrawled across the front.

“It’s for you,” Foxtrot said.

“You’re a jackering genius,” I snapped back. Then a cold fear gripped me. “How does he know I’m out here? How does he know I’m not in Kansas?”

“I do not have that information,” Foxtrot said.

If Micaiah knew, Hoyt must’ve known, which meant Anju and Billy might already be dead. And our sneak attack was ruined.

That letter?

I still have it. It’s in my desk, and forty years later, in my restored Burlington ranch. I pull open the drawer, and there it is.

The paper is yellowed, and my name is faded.

Another text floats across the screen in front of me. Another goddamn text.

Hurry, Cavatica. He doesn’t have much time.

A response from my personal secretary scrolls across the air. Madam Governor is in her private office. She does not wish to be disturbed.

Madam Governor. God, I hate when she calls me that.

I swipe away the screen, hold the letter, and I take my glass, and fill it up with whiskey.

I don’t drink it, but I want to.

I want to.

That letter changed everything and not for the better.

Men. Good thing they die before us ’cause they have a way of complicating everything they touch.

I can still smell the wind on the plains, the snow, and the mud.

And Foxy, waiting for me to read it.

All of us there—Pilate, Sharlotte, Wren—waiting for me to read it.

What did it say?

Next book, my friend. One last book.

Somehow, I’ll find the courage to write it, and then we’ll all be able to rest for a good, long time.

To be continued...

Cavatica Weller’s adventures will conclude in Messiah Girls (the final book in The Juniper Wars series).

Glossary of Historical Figures, Slang, and Technology

Angel, June Mai—The most powerful of the outlaw warlords and the most organized. Her past is a mystery, but her soldiers are fierce. She controls the Denver area, from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins.

ASI attachment—A steam engine that can interface with the drivetrains of larger vehicles such as trucks or minivans. Manufactured by the American Steam Ingenuity Company.

ARK—The American Reproduction Knowledge Initiative—A publicly funded corporation researching the Sterility Epidemic and running insemination clinics across the world.

AZ3—The next generation of assault rifle manufactured by Armalite Industries. Includes self-correcting laser targeting, tactical readout/ammunition count, and water-cooled barrels.

Beefsteaks—Cattle.

Besharam—Shameless (from the Hindi word).

Besiya—Prostitute (from the Hindi word).

Burke, Sally Browne—Co-founder of the New Morality movement.

Chalkdrive—Removable computer storage devices.

Cargador—A large steam-powered vehicle used in the Juniper for salvaging operations and later as military vehicles

Colton, Anna—Professor of Sociology, Princeton University, and a firm supporter of women’s rights outside of religious or domestic roles.

Corfu, Archbishop Jeremy—An archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. and highly critical of the ARK and any artificial insemination outside of marriage.

CTRA—The Colorado Territory Ranching Association—An organization created by Robert “Dob” Howerter, presumably to ensure high quality beef and ethical ranching practices, but in reality was used to fix prices and drive other ranchers out of business.

EMAT—Emergency medication absorption tape—A delivery system for medication during combat situations.

Eterna batteries—A perfectly clean power source created by General Electric. Named after Chinese food, the most powerful and efficient is the Kung Pao. A weaker version is the Egg Drop.

Frictionless automobiles—The next generation in automotive engineering, frictionless cars float thirty centimeters off the ground.

Gillian—Lesbian (from the Mandarin phrase tong xing lian).

Girly ’strogen—Excessively feminine (’strogen is short for estrogen).

Headcount—The number of cattle owned by a ranch.

Howerter, Robert “Dob”—Founder of the Colorado Territory Ranching Association and the largest cattle baron in the Juniper.

Hoyt, Tiberius “Tibbs”—President and CEO of the American Reproduction Knowledge Initiative.

Jankowski, Maggie—Lead engineer on the Eterna battery project funded by General Electric.

Johnson—A derogatory term for a male.

Jones, Calvin “Crush”—Founder of the Old Glory Salvage and Renewal Company and the first to become what was later known as the Juniper Millionaires.

Juniper, the—1,438,577 square kilometers in the middle of the United States of America comprising