Daugereaux spoke, his voice distant and coarse with old pain.

"It was about '86 or so, when I got dis land. It was old family land, and my daddy was a only son and I was a only son, so everybody knowed where de land was gon' end up. When mon pere died, it reverted to my parrain, my grandfather, and he give it straight back down to me."

"I did not respect de gift like I should have. I thought dat I deserved better, some of de better land up de bayou, but dat was land belong to my gran'mere an' dem's side, and dat side of de family never did much care for my parrain. He was a hard man, and he did not shy away from tellin' a fool when he was doin' a fool thing."

Daugereaux paused and rubbed his eyes.

"It was in '90 dat de Second Corp'rate War started. We din't hear too much about it down here, we was just mindin' our own. But den de awlmen came."

"Dey started so nice, 'oh shah, you got dis ol' useless land, we'll give you money to buy it off you for dem mineral rights,' and all dat. Dey was spreadin' around money wit' a thick hand, all over de bayou. Dey got a lot of my gran'mere's folks, eyes wide wit' lustin' for dat money. Cousins, uncles, nieces, dey all turned over dey land."

"I got to admit, I was thinkin' dat way myself, but my parrain, he pull me aside and he say how mon pere would not want me to sell my birthright to dese men dat come around. I scoffed him some, said dat if de land was wort' money, I should get my share, since all de best land gone up de other side of de family. He say, 'First off, what you gon' do wit' dat money? You got to go to de city to spend it. You jus' watch, all dese kin gon' end up in a town. Second, look what dat money is doin' to 'em. See how it gets in dey eyes, and in dey hearts.'"

"Well I din't like dat too much, but after he done said all dat, I couldn't help but noticin' how dere was less people in de bayou. We always had lots of family, lots of friends and folks always around-- dat is how you survive out dis way. But dere wasn't as many as before. De awlmen was handin' out jobs. Dey would buy de land, give 'em money, and den give 'em jobs, all up in town. I seed dey was buyin' up de whole bayou, not de land, but dey was buyin' up de people, too. An' it was jus' like my parrain said, dat money got into dey hearts and dey heads until dey was no good for nothin' but going into town."

Daugereaux sighed.

"Well, de war got het up, and de awlmen got het up too. Dey started handin' out more money for de land. Den dey was offerin' land for land, but in de city. Den dey come to me."

"I told 'em to just go on. I already had my land and what all I needed. Dey could just buy up somebody else, as far as I was concerned. Dese two awlmen, dey grin at me all greasy-like, and said more money at me. Well I told 'em I din't want none of dat money, and run 'em off. Den dey got my second cousin Aloysius to come at me."

"Now me and Aloysius was never really friends, but we got along all right. He was a momma's boy, din't like de hardness of de swamp and drawin' a living from de land, so it was no surprise to me when he was one of de first ones to sell off and move out. He was always a city boy in his heart."

"Well he come around like family, an' I brung him in an' fed him an' slep' him an' all. But den he starts in wit' de awlmen, how come I should sell, how all-fired wonderful things was out in town. I told him off, but he wouldn't shut up, and I ended up kickin' him halfway back to town, he made me so mad."

"Well right around den is when de awlmen started gettin' ugly. Dey kilt my dog, dey knocked a big ol' hole in de cistern, dey tore up our garden and tangled our trotlines. Me an' parrain was about de only ones left by den, although I think Aloysius was helpin' dem awlmen out some. We jus' went about, fixing what we could, cleanin' up. We figured dat sooner or later dey would get tired of dem games and move on."

"We din't figure on how dey could keep on hasslin' us longer den we could abide. Dat winter was mighty thin, and dey just kep' at us. Den spring came, an' we couldn't hardly get nothin' to eat. We couldn't grow no crops and dey burnt de barn and kilt all de livestock. I had already started to turn my squirrel gun on what fellers I seed creepin' around, but we couldn't stay awake all over de clock."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Daugereaux stopped for a minute, his face drawing in.

"My parrain passed dat spring. I don't know dat it was exzactly de fault of de awlmen, but dey was sure putting the age on him awful fast. After I buried him I tried to keep de line, but when dey messed wit' his grave, dat was de last straw."

"I knew I had to get away from dese bad men, and I knew I could not do it by myself. I reburied parrain and hid his grave, and dat is when I joined up to fight in de war."

"Of course, to do dat, I had to pick a corprotation. I did not do me a lot of lookin' up, I jus' picked one dat sounded powerful. I joined up wit' Bertrand & Ramande. Because of dat, I got shipped out, but I also got some protection. Dey couldn't starve me out while I was in de barracks."

"I did alright, made first sergeant in a couple years. Not much to do, but I knowed dat as long as I was a soldier, dem awlmen couldn't touch me. Dat is what I knowed, but a man can know a mighty lot of wrong things in his time."

"Dis awl corprotation, dey attacked us. My company. Nobody could figure it, we was in different fields, we din't have overlappin' lands, and de attacks wasn't much to talk of. But I knew why. Once dey figured out where I was at, dey did dey last attack on us."

"It was a bête, a stupid attack. Dey arrayed up, but we was fortified, dey had acres of ground to cover, dere was no winning it de way dey played it. Everybody was scratchin' dey heads about what de awlmen was up to. Even I din't understand, until dey started."

"See, back den, when you worked for a corprotation, in a war dey could call you up for soldierin', no matter what your job was. An' well, dem awlmen had hired up all my family."

"What happened?" Oliver asked gently.

"I done my duty."

Silence ringed the table for a long minute.

"After," Daugereaux continued, "I quit all dat job. I couldn't take no more of it. I went home, done up my will proper, as best I could to make it a snarl for de awlmen to take, loaded up my shotgun and waited. I couldn't stop 'em, but I could make it expensive on 'em."

"And then what happened?"

"Nothin'. I'm still waitin'. It was aroun' dat time dey figured out dat fusion, so all de oil everybody was using, suddenly dey din't need so much of. Dat corprotation just kind of dried up. Still dere, but dey din't need near as much awl as dey used to had."

"An' dat. Dat is why. Dey done dat to my fam'ly, throwed 'em at me to kill all dem, just for dey stupid plans, plans dat din't even mean nothing a month later. And now, and now," Daugereaux said, heating up again, "dis other corprotation has gone and done de same thing to dese soldiers. Dey hired 'em just to kill 'em! All for some wicked plan, jus' to cover dem crimes dey already done. It is one thing to murder a man, dat is a sin. But to murder a hunnert men to pretend a sin ain't happen, dat is wickedness beyond!"

"Mr. Daugereaux," Fleer cut in, "I understand your feelings on the matter, but--"

"You ain't understand nothin'!" Daugereaux screeched, advancing on Fleer. "Dey ain't doin' dis to me again!"

"Daugereaux! This is bigger than you! That's what I'm trying to tell you! The only way their plan works is if we're all dead! And they know there's somebody in this swamp who knows their secret! They've got a crew of black ops, high-end killers! All we can hope to do now is escape. We can do that and get you and Ma Daugereaux someplace safe, set you up some new identities--"

"No!" he yelled, slamming his fist again. "I will not run from dis again! I am goin' to die fightin' down dis, dis evil. Now I unnerstan' if you don't want to stay for dat, and dat is beyon' what y'all signed up for, but I will pay you, I will pay you all triple de original contrac' if you stay an' help me kill dese wicked men."

Fleer's first instinct was to run the calculation in his head and realize that even at triple rate, the money still fell well short of what they owed Pearce. And he hated himself a little more for thinking that way.

"Oh really, Mr. Daugereaux--"

"I'm in," D'khara said, standing. "What they did is wrong and I'm with Mr. Daugereaux. I'll stand against it."

"Me too," rumbled Oliver.

"My sheep hanged a camel? Or a lamb!" Roger said.

"Yeah, I guess triple pay sounds all right," Little Timmy said.

Fleer gaped at his crew. Daugereaux stood firm, chest out, arms crossed, wearing a mirthless smile of satisfaction.

Outpaced by events, confused and befuddled, Fleer began to experience a new, unfamiliar feeling. It started deep in his chest and welled up and it took him a minute to recognize what it was.

Pride. Possibly for the first time, he was proud of his company and the people in it.

"Well... well said, men. And Mr. Daugereaux. And you're right. This needs to be stopped. And we will stop it. We'll stop it and expose Cryocorp." He snatched up his datapad and spun through some forms, hunting up old, little-used bylaws and contract templates. He whipped through them, slammed the submission button, then laid the datapad down on the table.

"I've filed the forms. It's official. Riotfish is now at war with Tapstrike."