Christie Golden - Starcraft II: Devils Due

Dont Miss These Other Tales in the Worlds of Blizzard Entertainment!

STARCRAFT

HEAVENS DEVILS
by William C. Dietz

I, MENGSK
by Graham McNeill

THE DARK TEMPLAR SAGA:
BOOK ONEFIRSTBORN
by Christie Golden

THE DARK TEMPLAR SAGA:
BOOK TWOSHADOW HUNTERS
by Christie Golden

THE DARK TEMPLAR SAGA:
BOOK THREETWILIGHT
by Christie Golden

GHOSTNOVA
by Keith R. A. DeCandido

QUEEN OF BLADES
by Aaron Rosenberg

LIBERTYS CRUSADE
by Jeff Grubb

SHADOW OF THE XELNAGA
by Gabriel Mesta

SPEED OF DARKNESS
by Tracy Hickman

WORLD OF WARCRAFT

THE SHATTERING: PRELUDE
TO CATACLYSM
by Christie Golden

STORMRAGE
by Richard A. Knaak

ARTHAS: RISE OF THE LICH KING
by Christie Golden

NIGHT OF THE DRAGON
by Richard A. Knaak

BEYOND THE DARK PORTAL
by Aaron Rosenberg & Christie Golden

TIDES OF DARKNESS
by Aaron Rosenberg

RISE OF THE HORDEM
by Christie Golden

CYCLE OF HATRED
by Keith R. A. DeCandido

WAR OF THE ANCIENTS:
BOOK ONETHE WELL OF
ETERNITY
by Richard A. Knaak

WAR OF THE ANCIENTS:
BOOK TWOTHE DEMON
SOUL
by Richard A. Knaak

WAR OF THE ANCIENTS: BOOK
THREETHE SUNDERING
by Richard A. Knaak

DAY OF THE DRAGON
by Richard A. Knaak

LORD OF THE CLANS
by Christie Golden

THE LAST GUARDIAN
by Jeff Grubb

DIABLO

THE SIN WAR: BOOK ONE
BIRTHRIGHT
by Richard A. Knaak

THE SIN WAR: BOOK TWO
SCALES OF THE SERPENT
by Richard A. Knaak

THE SIN WAR: BOOK THREE
THE VEILED PROPHET
by Richard A. Knaak

MOON OF THE SPIDER
by Richard A. Knaak

THE KINGDOM OF SHADOW
by Richard A. Knaak

THE BLACK ROAD
by Mel Odom

LEGACY OF BLOOD
by Richard A. Knaak

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2011 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. StarCraft and Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., in the U.S. and/or other countries.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Gallery Books hardcover edition April 2011

GALLERY BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Simon and Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com .

Interior art by Paul Kwon (1), Gerald Brom (2), Paul Kwon (3), and John Polidora (4).

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-4165-5085-3
ISBN 978-1-4391-7271-1 (ebook)

This book is dedicated to the legions of StarCraft fans, who waited so long and so patiently. I must also thank the wonderful folks at Blizzard with whom it is always a privilege to interact, to my former editor Jamie Cerota Costas, and my current editor Ed Schlesinger. You are all fantastic! I look forward to many more projects.

And finally, its dedicated to Butch and Sundance, Paul Newman and Robert Redford, whose cheerful presences helped guide its writing. A special nod of thanks to Paul Newman, who led a life that serves as an inspiration: a life dedicated to his craft and to helping others. Thanks, Butch. We miss you.

Content

CHAPTER ONE

BADLANDS, NEW SYDNEY
2494

The sun was a merciless yellow eye glaring down at a landscape of rock, hard-baked Earth, the hardiest of scrub brushes and the most stubborn of life-forms. There was not a single cloud in the fiercely blue sky to mitigate the intensity of its gaze, and the promise of relief in the form of nightfall was many hours away.

Movement cut through this barren desert; silvery and sleek, it looked almost like water flowing through a valley, but it was nothing so natural or pleasant. The swollen suns rays glinted harshly on the metallic train as it twined, snake-like, soaring through the badlands toward its final destination, where it would disgorge its precious cargo.

Two men waited in the cool shelter of a cave, watching the silvery serpentine object. They were silent, but it was an easy silence, and the only sound was the inhalation of one of them as he sucked smoke from a glowing cigar one final time, dropped the stogie, and crushed it out with a single step from a massive boot.

Lets go ride that pony, said Tychus Findlay. Next to him, not in any way a small man but looking comparatively tiny next to the giant that was Tychus, was a shaggy-haired, bearded man who was already sitting astride a vulture hoverbike. He gave his friend a wicked grin.

Move your ass, then, slowpoke, he said, kicked the bike into life, and charged down the sloping ravine toward the maglev train. Tychus swore, jumped on his own bike, and took after Jim Raynor at a reckless speed.

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 his prey, except the purpose of todays adventure was not the death of a living being but the death of the empty state of Raynors and Tychuss wallets. This was a cargo train, not a passenger train, and inside its silvery innards wasif Tychuss tip was right, and Jim had every reason to believe it would bea very lovely, very large safe filled with Confederate credits.

Why, its a rescue mission, Jimmy, Tychus had rumbled, his blue eyes dancing with good humor as he had filled Raynor in on the plan. Those poor credstheyd just be condemned to lining the pockets of some Old Families who dont need any more money. Or else put to some nefarious scheme that could hurt somebody. Its our dutyhell, its our calling to liberate them creds to where they could do something that really mattered.

Like buying us drinks, women, and steak dinners.

Thats a good start.

Youve got a heart of gold, Tychus. Ive never met such an altruistic man in my life. I got goddamn tears in my eyes.

Its a tough job, but somebodys got to do it.

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 liberated other credits beforeit 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.