It was at times like this that Jim Raynor, former marine lance corporal, proud citizen of the Confederacy and erstwhile farm boy, felt most alive. At the speed at which he was urging the vulture, the wind cooled his face so that the oppressive heat vanished. He felt like a wolf hunting down prey, except the purpose of todayโs adventure was not the death of a living being but the death of the empty state of Raynorโs and Tychusโs wallets. This was a cargo train, not a passenger train, and inside its silvery innards wasโif Tychusโs tip was right, and Jim had every reason to believe it would beโa very lovely, very large safe filled with Confederate credits.
โWhy, itโs a rescue mission, Jim,โ Tychus had rumbled, his blue eyes dancing with good humor as he had filled Raynor in on the plan. โThose poor credsโtheyโd just be condemned to lining the pockets of some Old Families who donโt need any more money. Or else put to some nefarious scheme that could hurt somebody. Itโs our dutyโhell, itโs our callingโto liberate them creds to where they could do something that really mattered.โ
โLike buying us drinks, women, and steak dinners.โ
โThatโs a good start.โ
โYouโve got a heart of gold, Tychus. Iโve never met such an altruistic man in my life. I got goddamn tears in my eyes.โ
โItโs a tough job, but somebodyโs got to do it.โ
Jim grinned as he recalled the conversation. He and Tychus were behind the train, catching up to it quickly. He stayed right and Tychus veered left. Tychus crossed over the maglev tracks, adjusting the magnetic frequency on his bike to compensate so that he, like the train itself, could cross easily. Jim increased his speed, moving alongside the maglev until the right car came into view. He and Tychus had spent hours analyzing all kinds of transportation vessels over the last few years, sometimes simply from blueprints or images, but usually up close and personal, as they were about to do now. They had โliberatedโ other credits beforeโit seemed to them like hundreds of thousands over the years, although the liberated credits never seemed to stay with them very long. That was all right too. It was part of the ride that life had become.
***
The year is 2494. Almost five years ago, Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay were members of the Heavenโs Devils, an elite Confederate marine unit praised for its nerves of steeland combat expertise. After making a stand against their corrupt commanding officer, the two men were forced to go AWOL or risk being unjustly prosecuted and resocialized.
Now, Raynor and Findlay are outlaws hounded by an unyielding interstellar marshal. Life, however, has never beenbetter. Each day is another chance to pilfer more credits from the Confederacyโs deep coffers. Each night holds the promise of spending their hard-earned profits in bars, brothels, and gambling halls. But a man can only run so far before the lawโand his pastโcatch up with him. . . .
Devilsโ Due recounts an unforgettable period of Jim Raynorโs life as he descends into the Koprulu sectorโs criminal underworld alongside the street-savvy Findlay. Here, far from his humble upbringing on the fringe world of Shiloh, Raynor will face some of the most trying challenges of his life. The decisions he makes will alter his destiny forever and put his fatherโs oft-spoken wisdom, โA man is what he chooses to be,โ to the ultimate test.
Sciencefiction en fantasy