Fringe Runner (Fringe Series Book 1) by Rachel Aukes Page A

the familiar weight of his guns and knives was absent.
    “Not true,” Critch said. “ Everyone on the Coast wants you dead.”
    “I see you still have that silver tongue of yours.”
    “And I see you’re still damn lucky to have that head of yours.”
    “’Luck’ is not the word that comes to mind with the pounding headache I have right now. Oh, and thanks for the welcome committee out on the Coast. That was real nice of you.”
    “You’re still alive, aren’t you?” Critch smirked, a crooked tug of his lips that in no way reflected humor. When he scowled, you didn’t have much to worry about. When he smiled, you were screwed.
    Reyne motioned to the pirate. “Tell me, buddy. You invite me all the way out here just to catch up on old times?”
    “You’re the last man I want to converse with.”
    “Setting the bar a little high considering your chosen profession, aren’t you?”
    “I may be a pirate, but I’ve never been a traitor.”
    “That makes two of us.” Reyne gritted his teeth. “I’d tell you I had nothing to do with what happened at Broken Mountain, but I’m guessing you wouldn’t care.”
    Critch leveled a hard gaze at Reyne. “Damn straight.”
    This Critch had colder eyes than the young man Reyne remembered, but his face had otherwise remained unchanged. He still had the familiar scars crisscrossing his cheeks. Reyne was there when the pirate had gotten those scars. They’d been searching for survivors after a particularly bloody battle during the Uprising, and an unexploded grenade went off. Critch had still been a fresh recruit under Reyne’s command then, not yet twenty years old, headstrong, and full of passion.
    Reyne gingerly touched the bump on his head. “I think I liked you better back when you were Drake Fender.”
    “Well, not all of us marshals were able to have our torrent records cleared, like you. When there’s a death sentence tied to your name, you’re better off starting over.”
    “From what I hear, you’ve earned several more death sentences with the new name.”
    He shrugged.
    “Speaking of death sentences,” Reyne said, holding out his hands. “I’m still breathing, which means you need me alive, at least for now. Why don’t you tell me what the hell I’m doing here?”
    The pirate gave Reyne his back as he walked over to a table and poured himself a glass from a glass decanter that looked like it was worth more credits than what most colonists made in a year, including Reyne.
    “For the record, Vym wanted to bring you in,” Critch began. “Not me.”
    “I promised Vym I’d come out here and meet you. I did that. You don’t want me here, so how about I make it easy for you.” Reyne pushed to his feet, and started heading toward the door. “See you around. Though, hopefully not in this lifetime.”
    He heard a glass set onto a table, and he prepared for an attack.
    Instead of attacking Reyne from behind, Critch said simply, “The Uprising isn’t over.”
    Reyne turned slowly around to face the other man. “The Uprising ended twenty years ago.”
    Critch shook his head. “The battles that took place there may be over, but the spirit of the Uprising, the need for an Uprising, is stronger than ever.”
    Reyne’s brows rose. “You’re thinking about starting a full-out Uprising again? Then, you’ll get yourself killed along with every fool who follows you. The CUF is stronger than they were when we ran the first Uprising. Myr and Alluvia will squash any rebellion—”
    “You’re wrong. Relations between Myr and Alluvia have fallen apart during Myr’s recession. Myrads are jealous of Alluvians because they’re thriving. The two are butting heads, and the fringe is stuck in the middle.”
    Reyne brushed the air. “Nothing’s changed. They’ve always used us—first, to satisfy their greed for our resources, then, for our labor. As every year passes, they take away more and more of our rights. There’s a reason the Uprising happened,