Read Phoenix Rising (Book Two of The Icarus Trilogy) for Free Online

They’re just accidents when I do.  I try to aim away.  So I die.  I deserve it,” Cortes concluded before looking at his brother.  The coward didn’t mind if Carver noticed; he’d already confessed.  Carver might not have been a priest, but Cortes felt a considerable weight lift from his shoulders.  He could hear Carver sigh but chose to watch his brother, who in turn tilted his head and shrugged.
    “You looking at him now?”  Cortes looked back at the old man and nodded.  It felt good to come clean.
    “I’ll never understand you religious types.  But I guess if the guilt drives you crazy like that then you’re not all bad.”  Cortes looked back at his brother and noticed a lone soldier with a sword approaching from the distance.  They would have to cut this conversation short, but they still had some time.  He turned back to the veteran and pursed his lips.
    “So are you going to turn me in?”  Carver looked at him and scoffed.
    “For being a terrible soldier who sees his dead brother?  Nah, I’m not that mean.  Besides, I always figured you weren’t trying.  No one’s that poor of a shot without doing it on purpose.  You can atone all you want, Cortes.  It’s not like your religious fervor really hurts us now,” Carver said before looking at the opposite wall.  Cortes didn’t like the veteran’s disdain for his religion, but he appreciated that the old Crow wouldn’t turn him in.  He always worried that the Commission would find out somehow.  The Spaniard turned back to see Feldman almost at the entrance to the transport and saw his brother sitting along the opposite bench again.
    “So are you ok, Carver?”  He didn’t bother looking at the old man.
    “No.  But I made my choice.  I can’t change it.”  Cortes shrugged and nodded.  He knew exactly what Carver meant.  He watched as the giant trudged up the loading deck and walked along the opposite edge.  The Spaniard breathed in sharply as he watched the titan in power armor sit down on top of the hallucination of his brother.
    He had to remind himself yet again that the boy didn’t really exist.  He could never completely get past that.
    -
    Christopher Roberts winced as he walked up the loading deck.  The constant pain was bearable, but it was still something that he shouldn’t have to experience.  Once more he cursed his nebulous antagonists.  He wasn’t sure if it was some former enemy from his life as a hacker or the Commission itself, but someone was responsible for the massive amount of pain he encountered with each resurrection.  There were only three soldiers he had told about his secret addiction and plight.  One was his contraband supplier, another was stoic and silent and the other a walking ghost.
    The young soldier separated himself from Warner and walked up to Feldman.  Even when standing, Roberts was only the same size as the titan as he sat on the bench, but the boy soldier shrugged and sat down anyway.  Roberts felt like a child when the swordsman was next to him.  It didn’t matter if he actually was the average height for a man in his society or that he was old enough to be considered an adult.
    Roberts shifted on the bench, unable to get entirely comfortable while the infernal pain tore at him.  The best he could do was to constantly dose himself with painkillers, but he couldn’t do so on the transport.  It was supposed to be a secret, after all.  The boy soldier sighed and tried to push the pain away.  It would do him no good to focus on such a thing, now.  He shook his head and noticed that most of the other soldiers had started to file into the transport.  Roberts turned his head slightly towards Feldman and cleared his throat.
    “You make it through all right?”  He knew Feldman wouldn’t say much, but he was curious about the man’s perspective.  He had known Jenkins the best before the soldier’s change and this was the first time the titan had been paired with him