Gun Metal Black

Kienan Ademetria lay in an expanding pool of his own blood, well on his way to dying. If he could have looked down he would have seen that most of his chest was gone, blown away by two explosive rounds, one of which had shredded his body armor, the next had shattered his ribcage, nicked his head and exited by shredding one of his vertebrae.

He took a deep breath, which felt more and more difficult, it seemed to take more and more effort to get oxygen to his lungs. That was because of the blood, he knew. If the loss of blood didn't kill him, the blood filling his lungs would drown him.

His quarry, one Eben Williamstern, lay almost completely opposite him, his face blown off, quite dead already. Kienan had chased him here into this warehouse, certain he could take him quickly and collect the reward on Williamstern's head.

Williamstern, however, had an extra weapon, and was quite a fast draw. His three shot backup pistol gave him enough of an opening, and he had fired wild. The first shot had missed.

The other two, well . . .

Should never have sent the Marionettes to take care of the rest of his men, Kienan thought. I always knew I?d die alone.

Kienan wondered how much time had passed. It felt like hours, but more likely it was probably seconds.

Funny how much time you have, Kienan thought. He closed his eyes . . .

* * *

. . .and opened them again in a garden on his home colony, Caldera. It was a small mining colony on the Frontier, important only so long as there was a healthy strike of gevenite to be found.

Kienan had lived fourteen years on this colony before he finally left it for good. Or was that left it for dead? He couldn?t make the distinction objectively, not then, and not now.

He looked at the garden around him and tried to relax. It was unnatural, as it had been in life, a hydroponics garden that was used to keep the oxygen fresh, and give the miners and their children a little break from the red-orange wasteland that was Caldera.

Kienan, for his part had spent many days here just to escape. From work, from his family, from the schooling shifts, just from the dull monotony of his life as it was.

He loved it there, he loved to sit under the trees and listen to the silence. He leaned back against his favorite tree. He had kissed his first girl under this tree. Michelle, he thought her name was. It had been so many ears ago it seemed like a dream, now.

Kienan tried to close his eyes and relax against the tree, but the tightness in his chest made it difficult. He couldn?t seem to take in a whole breath. He put his hand to his chest unconsciously and raised it to his eyes. He grimaced at the dark-red color that covered his hand.

No question, he thought. I'm dying.