Page 186 of Star Claimed Omega
He was back in the nuclear-ravaged streets of New York.
With sand in his teeth and smoke in his lungs, regardless of his safety suit, he dragged civilians out of crumbling buildings.
Alongside him was Davon, a paramilitary medic, who worked by his side, calm and focused, patching up the broken hour after hour.
Now Santi chuckled in disbelief as he’d thought thekinailost in the churn of Earth’s chaos.
He suited up fast, threw on his hooded cloak, and made his way to the lower decks, where the light was always dying, and hope went to rot.
It took two hours and three sets of directions to track Davon down.
He found him in a loading bay corridor, wearing a half-worn badge, mediating a fight between two dockworkers twice his size.
His hair was now gray, his face lined deep, but Santi recognized the man at once. From the way he stood and the way heheldback the disarray around him.
Santi waited until the scuffle calmed and stepped forward.
‘Davon Reitz,’ he rasped.
Davon turned, his tired gaze lifting.
It took him a second.
Then recognition hit him like a shot to the chest.
‘Santi Alvarro?’ he breathed.Fokk! Is that you, man?’
They clasped arms, pulled into a brief, rugged grip that said more than words.
‘You’re here,’ Davon murmured, his voice cracking with disbelief. ‘I caught news you lit out onThe Sombrawith the Signet crew. Luckyfokkin’ bugger. Your squad did well for itself.’
‘We did, with pure luck, brother, and a hella lot of elbow grease,’ Santi rasped, stepping back, really studying the man. ‘What the hell are you doing down here?’
Davon exhaled. ‘Trying to survive. They needed warm bodies for crowd patrol. I took it. Figured if I kept my head down, I could scrape together enough schills to get my wife and kids off this floating junkyard.’
He paused, eyes distant. ‘But truth is, I wasn’t even close. I can’t afford a single berth, let alone four.’
Santi’s chest pulled tight.
He spotted the lines in Davon’s face, the wear of a man carrying his whole world on his back with no promise of a future.
He shifted his offer for Davon on a whim.
‘Brother,’ he said, stepping closer. ‘How about this? I’m always recruiting for senior men like you, and you’re coming with me. We need your steadiness on theSombra. That includes your family, your wife, and your kids. All room and board inclusive, plus schools and healthcare, thefokkin’ lot.’
Davon’s mouth fell open. ‘You for real?’
‘Deadly so.’
Davon blinked fast, but the tears came, glinting at the corners of his eyes.
‘I thought I had no chance,’ he whispered. ‘My little girl keeps asking me what stars look like. My boy doesn’t even remember sunlight. I didn’t know how to tell them we might never leave.’
Santi swallowed hard and coughed, masking the tightness in his throat. ‘You’re gonna show them stars, Davon, all the way to Pegasi.’
Davon nodded, speechless, for a moment until he found his manners. ‘Santebrother, Ifokkin’ owe you.’
‘You don’t owe me anything. Just show up and do what you’ve always done. Be the rockstar you are in security, heavens knows we’ll need them because we’ve a hella lot more fights to come in the Wildlight.’
