Vontezza ignored their sidebar. “I humbly request sanctuary at your Academy so that I may train the gifts granted to me by your people and use them for the betterment of humanity, thus beginning down the path of reparations for centuries of Mogadorian aggression.”
“Jesus,” Nine said. “What?”
“This is absolutely mental,” Nigel muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Gifts?” Malcolm asked. “Do you mean . . . ?”
“She’s got Legacies, Doc,” Kopano said. “Telekinesis, anyway.”
“That isn’t possible,” Rabiya said.
“She wouldn’t be the first, actually,” Walker said.
Nine waved a hand at Vontezza. “Okay, okay, sit down. You’re weirding me out with all this courtly stuff.”
“As you wish,” Vontezza replied, settling on the edge of the couch next to Kopano.
Malcolm turned around in his chair so that he could peer at Vontezza. “This is fascinating. When did you receive your Legacies?”
Vontezza met Malcolm’s eyes, her posture rigid like she was under some kind of military inspection. “I developed my telekinesis at the same time as the humans.”
“Wait. During the invasion?” Kopano asked. “You were one of the first?”
“Yes.”
“Lorien picked you,” Kopano said, awe in his voice. “Even though you were on one of the enemy warships.”
“Surprised we didn’t see you on the ground trying to kill us,” Nigel said.
“This is actually the first time I have been off that warship in years,” Vontezza said. Her feet moved and it looked to Taylor like she was squeezing her toes inside her boots. “My father was a general, in command of a regiment preparing to attack Earth. My mother was a priestess and a scholar—”
Nine laughed. “The Mogs had scholars?”
“Yes,” Vontezza replied, unoffended by the sarcasm. “She taught the Great Book, the writings of Setrákus Ra. When I showed her my Legacies she became skeptical of her faith in our Beloved Leader. You see, he wrote that Legacies would be impossible for our people without his experimentation. It was our justification for invading Lorien and then Earth. We truly believed that these other races were hoarding the Loric energy for their own selfish ends and that we could never progress as a people unless we controlled it ourselves . . .”
As Vontezza went on, Taylor couldn’t help but think about how similar the goals of the Foundation sounded to the Mogadorians. Well, the group had grown out of the MogPro contingent. It made sense they’d share a screwed-up worldview.
“And then I was pulled into John Smith’s telepathic vision,” Vontezza continued. “Where the history of Setrákus Ra was revealed. How he was Loric and betrayed his people, then manipulated the Mogadorians into war . . .”
“I was in that vision!” Kopano said, slapping his leg. “It was sweet.”
“Glad you liked it,” John said wryly.
Kopano eyed Vontezza. “I didn’t see you there, though . . .”
“I didn’t see you either, large one,” she replied simply. “Many of the human young were too busy mewling or panicking to notice my presence.”
“Tough-as-nails Mog in a room full of humans,” Nigel said. “You didn’t freak out at all, huh?”
“I assumed it was some kind of trap and attempted a tactical retreat,” Vontezza replied. “But the back door of the chamber would not open.”
“Oh, so you were hiding in the back,” Kopano said.
“Tactical retreat,” Vontezza snapped.
“Okay, okay. What happened next?” Taylor asked.
“Soon after that, Setrákus Ra was badly injured in battle. There was a rumor that he was dead. Because of my telekinesis, my mother believed that I was the rightful heir to power. She convinced my father and they led a mutiny against our warship’s captain. The crew was divided virtually in half. There was a battle . . .” Vontezza brushed at a smudge on the shoulder plate of her armor. “My mother was killed in the fighting, but her side—my side—ended up winning.”
Taylor wasn’t sure what the protocol was when a Mogadorian told you their mother had died. Kopano was the first one to speak up.
“I’m sorry about your mom,” he said.
Nine made a face. “You know how many people lost families because of the Mogs? They wiped out an entire planet and would’ve done the same here.”
Lexa nodded in agreement. John kept his expression neutral, not weighing in.
“She didn’t wipe out any planets, though,” Rabiya said from the doorway. “You can’t blame her for the actions of her people.”
“We can’t always choose where we come from,” Nigel muttered.
“You’ve got some smart students,” John said to Nine.
“Give me a break,” Nine replied, crossing his arms.
“So why did you end up hiding behind the moon for like two years?” Kopano asked.
There was a tiredness in Vontezza’s dark eyes that Taylor could see growing, but she answered Kopano dutifully.
“After the mutiny, I found myself suddenly in control of the warship. I still did not fully understand what was happening to me, much less what all this meant to Mogadorian society. I chose to pull back to a defensive position until I could decide what to do.” She paused. “When my shipmates learned that Setrákus Ra was still alive, there was a second mutiny by those who wished to reenter the fight. By the time I regained control of the ship, the invasion was over and Setrákus Ra was dead.”
Taylor noticed the way Nine’s fingers dug at his cybernetic arm while Vontezza spoke. Setrákus Ra might have been dead, but the damage he caused wasn’t forgotten.
“Damn,” Kopano said. “How many mutinies can one ship have?”
“Seven,” Vontezza replied with a straight face. “There were seven in total in my time as captain of the Osiris.”
The condition of her armor made more sense now. It sounded like she’d been fighting nonstop. Taylor found herself staring at the puncture in Vontezza’s breastplate, where it looked like a sword had been plunged.
Just then, Maiken zipped back into the room carrying a tray of food. A blueberry muffin, some chicken, pretzels, an apple. She extended the tray to Vontezza, careful not to get too close.
“Sorry, uh, I don’t really know what you people eat,” Maiken said.
Vontezza took the tray. “Thank you. This is perfect.”
“How did you survive all those battles?” Kopano asked, wanting to squeeze in more questions before Vontezza started to eat.
“My Legacy,” she replied, touching the hole in her armor. “I would have died if not for that.”
“So you’ve developed a primary Legacy?” Dr. Goode asked. “What is it? Can you control it?”
Vontezza grimaced. “I don’t need to control it. It works on its own.”
Without warning, Vontezza picked up a fork from her tray and jammed it into the soft flesh of her forearm. Taylor gasped. Kopano flinched backwards. Maiken looked like she might faint.
The Mogadorian removed the fork and held up her arm, showing off three punctures dark with fresh blood. As they watched, the wounds sealed up on their own. Vontezza picked up a napkin and wiped the blood away. It was as if it’d never happened.
“You could have chosen a less dramatic way of showing them,” John told her.
She cocked her head in response. “I learned I possessed this Legacy when my own father drove his blade into my chest while I slept. That was the sixth mutiny. According to my crew, I was dead for five hours before my flesh grew back.” She looked at John. “Is that less dramatic?”
Nine laughed incredulously. “A Mog who can’t be killed. That’s perfect.”
“Why did you stay up there so long?” Taylor asked. Her gaze slid to John Smith. “And why come here now?”
“I have been reaching out to the Garde since shortly after the invasion,” Vontezza answered. “But most of my time was spent trying to keep my crew alive and stop the
m from killing each other. You would be surprised how time flies when you’re trapped aboard a spacecraft with a population who know nothing except war.” She sighed. “At this point, we are nearly out of fuel and rations. We no longer have the capacity to run both our shields and life support. Much of our equipment is damaged. The Osiris must land now or what’s left of my crew is doomed.” Her stomach growled again and Vontezza glanced longingly at the tray of food on her lap. “Forgive me, but I would very much like to stop talking now.”
“I can take it from here,” John said. Vontezza nodded gratefully and immediately began to devour a cold leg of chicken.
Nine leaned forward, looking closely at John. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like what you say next?”
John shrugged. “I heard Vontezza broadcast when I was scavenging the wreck of a warship in China. We made a deal.”
“You made a deal,” Nine repeated.
“Her warship will safely land and the remainder of her crew will turn themselves over to the authorities and be sent to Alaska with the others. Except Vontezza will stay here. So that she can be trained.”
“You want us to take in a Mog,” Nine said flatly, then laughed. “Do you have any idea what’s been going on here? Technically, this isn’t even my office anymore. I’ve been fired. And, no offense to you, kid—” Nine gestured at Vontezza, who was too busy eating to notice. “But I don’t care about some Mog right now, whether she’s got Legacies or not.”
“I’m not letting her be sent to Alaska,” John stated. “We should’ve never let Adam go there and—”
“Is that what this is?” Nine asked. “You feel bad about Adam and you’re trying to make up for it with this rando? He chose to be imprisoned.”
“John told me of this Adamus and he sounds honorable,” Vontezza said, swallowing a large bite. “What’s left of my crew have agreed to join him in this northern prison and work on reeducating the less forward-thinking of our people. Bringing them to the light is not easy.
“You made that clear with all the mutinies,” Nigel said dryly.
“If Mogs are ever to find a home on this planet and coexist with humanity, then we must show them we are capable of good,” Vontezza continued. “I wish to set an example by attending your Academy and, perhaps one day, joining Earth Garde. I want to repay Earth for the violence done by my people.”
Nigel snorted. “Guess you don’t get any news up in space. We aren’t exactly Earth’s favorite people right now.”
“Um, they like us more than Mogadorians, at least,” Maiken said, making a face.
“You said you made a deal,” Taylor said to John, her eyes narrowed. “What do you get out of this?”
“I need the force field technology built into Vontezza’s warship.”
Malcolm pursed his lips. “For what, John?”
“For what I’m building,” he replied.
John reached under his shirt, producing a pendant with the azure glow of Loralite. Nine made a noise of recognition, yanked open a drawer on his desk and revealed his own identical pendant. Taylor found herself clutching the necklace that Kopano made her for Christmas that also contained a chunk of Loralite, wondering at the significance of these items.
“I call it New Lorien,” John said. “It’s a place where our people can be safe. Especially once I have enough of the force field generators. Vontezza’s will be the third one I’ve acquired.”
“You’re going to seal it off,” Nine said, a note of disbelief in his voice. “Like Setrákus Ra’s base in West Virginia.”
“Yeah,” John replied. “That’s the plan.”
Taylor was grateful that Kopano raised his hand and interjected. “I’m lost. What’s New Lorien?”
“It’s a friggin’ cave,” Nine said dismissively. “A cave in the Indian Himalayas where one of our dead friends used to hide out. Now John spends all his time there practicing the sitar or some bullshit.”
“It’s more than a cave,” John snapped, glaring at Nine. He took a breath and calmly turned to Kopano. “It’s more than a cave. It’s a sanctuary that the Loric would use on their previous visits to Earth. We’ve been building it up. Myself, Marina and Ella—”
“That’s Number Seven and, um, the other one,” Kopano said as an aside to the others who either already knew that or were more interested in what John had to say.
“There’s a small village nearby that are very welcoming of our kind,” John continued. “I’ve been in talks with the Indian government. Last week, they agreed to grant us status as an autonomous territory.”
“They what?” Lexa exclaimed.
Walker mimed plugging her ears. “I should not be hearing this.”
“You’re one of us, Karen,” Nine said. “Whether you like it or not.”
“They gave you a country,” Malcolm said to John, his eyes wide. “Is that what you’re telling us?”
“Autonomous territory,” John corrected him, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “But yeah.”
“Wow, cool! When can I come visit?” Kopano said.
“Anytime you want,” John replied. “All Garde will be welcome once we’ve got the place secure. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to do classes and training there.” He looked to Nine. “Sort of like what you’ve set up here.”
“But without the UN looking over your shoulder,” Nine said, his voice even.
“Right.”
“Do they know about this?” Malcolm asked. “The UN, I mean. Earth Garde.”
“This was one of those situations when I thought it’d be better to beg forgiveness than ask permission,” John replied. “I’m trying to keep the place on the low until it’s safe.”
Nine clapped his hands. “Well, sounds great, John. Thanks for dropping by to let us know you’re opening a competing Academy.”
John sighed. “It’s not always a competition, Nine. I’m trying to plan ahead. Don’t you think it’d be good for us to have a place where we can train if things go wrong? I know you don’t have the tightest grip on this place right now—”
“Hey!” Taylor stepped forward before Nine could respond, standing beside her professor. “Who are you to show up here like this? Where the hell have you been? I know, I know—everyone worships the almighty Number Four. My boyfriend’s probably thought about getting your face tattooed on his butt.”
“Boyfriend,” Kopano repeated with a grin. “Wait. What?”
“You’re supposed to be hot shit,” Taylor continued, gaining steam. “But from what I’ve heard so far, you’ve been hiding out in some mountain while the rest of us are out here suffering. Did you know there’s a group of rich assholes calling themselves the Foundation who are trying to enslave us? Do you even care?”
“Please, Taylor, this isn’t productive,” Dr. Goode said in an attempt to calm her down.
“Nah, Dr. Goode, all due respect, but Taylor’s right,” Nigel added, pushing off from the wall so he could look at John. “You remember me, mate? You benched me during the invasion for my own protection. Cut the cord after that, didn’t ya?” Nigel motioned to Dr. Goode. “The old man here ain’t telling you for some reason, but his kid’s been snatched by Earth Garde. Locked up somewhere. I remember you two being pretty buddy-buddy. Haven’t checked in on that relationship, have ya?”
John turned to Malcolm. “Is this true?”
“I believe so,” Malcolm said. He held up his hands. “We only just found out, John. You know as well as I do that Sam and Six can take care of themselves.”
“Oh, don’t let him off the hook, Dr. Goode,” Taylor said.
John turned around to look at Walker. “Do you know where they might be holding them?”
She shook her head. “When Watchtower recruited Kopano and Ran, I met them at a secret facility in Nova Scotia. That place was being shut down. I heard talk about a new, upgraded detention center, but it was on a need-to-know basis and if I didn’t need to know then, they certainly wouldn’t tell me now that I’m AWOL.
”
Taylor snapped her fingers to get John’s attention. “You know what she means by ‘recruiting’? Earth Garde put Inhibitor chips in Kopano and Ran. Forced them to go on a mission they didn’t really want to do. So now we’re thinking maybe this Earth Garde thing we’re working towards isn’t so noble after all. The one place we have that any of us feels even close to safe is here, this Academy, and if you haven’t noticed the general vibe since you waltzed in, I’ll tell you—we’re hanging on by a thread. And you’re in here talking about India and force fields and helping Mogadorians. Let me channel my friend Isabela when I say, Bitch, please.”
Kopano’s eyes widened and Rabiya smirked. Vontezza continued to eat, basically oblivious. Malcolm and Lexa discreetly looked into space, while Maiken hopped from foot to foot like she couldn’t wait to share the details of Taylor telling off the hero of the invasion. John just stared at her, digesting everything.
Nine cleared his throat, breaking the silence. “I cosign all of that.”
John looked down at his hands, folded there in his lap, gathering his thoughts. He actually appeared chastened when he finally met Taylor’s eyes.
“I know I’ve missed a lot. I’ve made mistakes. After the invasion, I was just so tired of fighting. I couldn’t face the possibility that someone else I cared about could be hurt. But, of course, people are getting hurt, and me sitting out isn’t helping . . .” He shook his head. “I won’t make excuses. I’m here now and I hear what you’re saying. I thought that I could take my time with New Lorien. I didn’t think we’d need a safe haven—not yet, at least. Hopefully not ever. But it’s looking like we do. We gave up too much when we signed onto that Garde Accord. I thought we’d be able to trust the UN but—”
“We can only trust each other,” Taylor said, cringing inwardly as she realized that she was echoing Einar.
“I agree,” John said. “That’s why I came here. I need your help.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
RAN TAKEDA
SOMEWHERE OVER THE TYRRHENIAN SEA
“ARE YOU EVER GOING TO EXPLAIN WHAT THE HELL that was back there?” Caleb snapped, making no effort to conceal his impatience.
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