by Ella Young
It took her two hours just to reach the rendezvous, east of the airstrip. The equina pilot did a double take when xe saw her. Knight glanced down at herself and saw only blood—blood on her scales, on her ilhuei, dried to the edges of her mantle and hood.
"What happened?" xe asked.
"Someone knew we were coming," Knight said.
Xe shook xer head. "That's impossible."
"And yet there are seven soldiers with knife wounds who beg to differ." She reached into the pocket of her ilhuei and withdrew the worm. "But I got what we came for. We need to get this back to Levala as soon as possible."
The equina nodded. "I'm already prepped to leave. Let's go."
It was one thing to land on Valiant. It was another entirely to leave it. The Hegemony had known they were coming and so would be on the lookout for any ship entering orbit from the planet below. The equina kept the ship low to the ground, putting distance between them and the shipping company. The further away they were, the less suspicious it would seem when they entered the upper atmosphere.
After nearly an hour of flying below the sensors, the equina pilot brought the ship into a steep ascent. No one hailed their ship—so far, so good. They streaked for the boundary between the atmosphere and the vacuum of space, and as Knight watched, the distant stars lengthened into thin lines. With a burst of pseudomotion, the ship jumped to a speed faster than light. They were home free.
CHAPTER NINE
It took them hours to reach Levala. Knight slept most of the way, spent from the battle. Part of her couldn't wait to tell Weinan what she'd done. The other part of her knew that she'd barely escaped with her life, and it was likely more luck than skill that secured her victory.
Five hours later, the ship finally touched down on Levala's airstrip. Ferrao was waiting for them. The admiral's eyebrows shot to his forehead when he saw her, and Knight suddenly remembered she was covered in blood. She hadn’t had a chance to change on the flight over. So much for being discreet. She saluted and passed the worm to him as inconspicuously as possible.
"Run into trouble?" he queried as he took the small device. For the briefest of moments he actually looked…concerned. It was the most emotion Knight had seen from him.
"Nothing I couldn't handle."
"I can see that," the admiral responded. "Are you alright?"
Knight decided not to mention the knife she'd taken to the side; the lack of scales on her leg said enough.
"As good as I can be."
"Good. Get cleaned up. We'll meet in the debriefing room in half an hour."
Knight was grateful he wasn't going to make her relay her mission covered in blood. She saluted and rushed off to her quarters to shower, hoping she didn't run into Taz on the way. What would xe say if xe saw her like this? Thankfully, xe must have been working late in the hangars because xe was nowhere to be found.
Knight meant to hurry through her shower, but the warm water on her aching muscles felt so good. She had a hard time forcing herself out with enough time to meet the admiral. She was going to be sore tomorrow.
The debrief took place in a meeting room deep within the mountain. A large conference table took up most of the space, lined on all sides with chairs. Seated around the table were Weinan, Ferrao, and a handful of other officers of various races. Knight immediately knew not to mention the worm. To her knowledge, only Toshi and the admiral, and possibly Weinan, knew about its existence. She relayed all she had learned, and all that had transpired, minus the detail about how she'd gotten it. Ferrao's brows pulled together when she mentioned the soldiers who showed up.
"Someone, somehow, knew we were coming," Knight finished.
"It certainly seems that way," Weinan said, disturbed.
"This is troubling." Ferrao rubbed his chin. "If indeed there is a mole in the Remnant, we have no way of knowing what level they've infiltrated or how much they know."
He was talking about the worm. Knight shifted on her feet, eyes darting across the faces in the room. There were only so many people who could have known about Toshi's work, and most of them were present at this meeting.
"Sir, there's something slightly more troubling. What are we going to do about Caesyn?"
"It's only a human settlement," one of the officers interjected. A levian. Knight ground her teeth. "It has no strategic worth and would be a gigantic waste of resources. We need to worry about securing primary worlds."
"But Caesyn is under our protection. Shouldn't we, I don't know, protect it? We're talking about millions of lives, here," said Knight angrily. The levian officer frowned at her.
"Human lives," she said, her four eyes narrowed.
Knight glared, a retort on her tongue, but Ferrao cut her off. His eyes jumped from her to the levian officer. He did not look happy about the jab.
“That’s enough. The question is not whether or not to protect Caesyn," the admiral said, clasping his hands behind his back. “But whether or not this is a trap. If someone is feeding the Hegemony information about the Remnant, it is entirely possible that this is a ploy to get us away from Hlean."
"But they were winning on Hlean," an avian officer argued. "They didn't need to withdraw in the first place."
"Unless their forces have dwindled more than they let on." Ferrao turned to Knight. "Did you see anything that indicated the withdraw might have been genuine?"
"I've given you all I know, sir," Knight responded.
Ferrao hmmmed. "Our forces are spread far too thin between Hlean, Levala, and our other holdings."
"Sir, I believe we should keep our forces here." Weinan added her input. Knight blinked, shocked. She stared at her captain. Did Weinan share the levian officer's disdain for humanity? "The possibility that it's a trap is too likely."
"I am inclined to agree with you. Either there is something waiting for us at Caesyn, or it is a chance to strike on Hlean again.” Ferrao’s tone was solemn.
Knight balked. "Sir, we can't just let these humans die!"
"Unfortunately, Knight, we do not fight for the humans. They have their own battle. We fight for the old Royal House. We must protect our assets, not spread them thin."
"Ivet would have sent ships to Caesyn," Knight said coldly.
"And how do you figure that?" Ferrao asked, leveling her with a cold gaze that clearly said, You're on thin ice.
And Knight was, but for a very different reason. She was very close to blurting out, "Because I knew xer!" But she held her tongue fast. Edaui was dead, and she wanted nothing to do with that part of her anymore. Instead, she collected herself and cleared her throat.
"Ivet was always on the side of the humans," Knight said instead.
Silence. Then, from another officer, "She is right, sir."
Ferrao stared hard at the ground. At last he sighed heavily and nodded. "Yes, she is right. And I serve my Heir even in death. We will send some ships to Caesyn."
Weinan looked worried, as did the levian officer. But Knight only felt relief. A few ships weren't much—but they were something.
-~-~-~-
"Hey, you," Weinan said, catching up to Knight after the debrief. Knight had left the meeting room fairly quickly, and the older avian had to jog to keep up with her. "You still owe me a fight."
Knight remembered the day she'd learned of the mission. She did indeed owe Weinan a fight. "I think I earned at least a day's rest after all this." Truthfully, though Knight did ache all over, she was miffed that Weinan hadn't supported the idea of sending aid to Caesyn. It could be argued there was sound military strategy behind her stance, but to even chance that millions of humans might die? Knight had thought her captain was better than that.
Weinan seemed to pick up on this. She looked at the floor, considering her words. "It's not that I disagreed with what you were saying in there," she said carefully. "Any loss of life in war is tragic. But we are the only hope the Cradle has; we have to do what it takes to get the throne back. There are going to be casualties."
&nb
sp; "It's wrong," Knight bit out. Weinan nodded.
"No one wins in war. It is an ugly thing."
Knight thought back to the seven soldiers she'd killed. They certainly hadn't won.
"But you got to Ferrao. He likes you," Weinan said, and nudged Knight with her shoulder. "That's a good place to be."
"I'm just glad something came of this mission. That I didn't almost die for nothing."
"You did good," Weinan said, and smiled. The praise warmed Knight, and her expression softened.
"I only got out because I had such a good teacher."
Weinan laughed. "You could have gotten out just as easily without my help, I have no doubt. You're special, Knight. If more of our recruits were like you, maybe we wouldn't be in the mess we're in."
Knight could only smile a tense smile in return.
It was a mere few hours later that the Remnant was ready to make their move to Caesyn. The admiral had wasted no time in assigning a couple of ships and a unit of troops to protect the small resource world. If the attack was imminent, they had to get men off the ground as soon as possible. Knight, who had been looking for Taz since the debrief, finally found xer in the main hangar, prepping a troop transport for takeoff.
"You're not shipping out now, too, are you?" she asked, stuffing her hands into her pockets. Taz jumped and glanced over xer shoulder.
"I thought you must have come back. I figured this order had to be in direct relation to what you'd found. Glad to see you're okay." Taz's voice was guarded. Knight assumed xe was probably still anxious about her taking a mission. Knight nonchalantly shifted on her feet, hiding the missing scales on her leg from sight. Taz continued. "Yeah, they want people to be ready to go on the ground if need be."
"But it's starless sickness. That could get a whole bunch of people killed. You could be killed."
Taz sighed. "It's war, Knight. Casualties are inevitable." Xe sounded an awful lot like Weinan. "They have to get the sickness on the planet somehow, either by dropping it from the air or carrying it on the ground. My ship is a contingency plan in case they go the latter route."
"You're not part of the landing party, are you?" Knight couldn't keep the worry from her voice. Taz smiled, amused.
"Now look who's worried," xe teased. "No, I'm staying with the ship. Perks of being a mechanic and all that." Knight nodded and toed the ground in front of her.
"All hands prepare for takeoff," a voice boomed over the base's intercom. Soldiers began to file onto to the ship Taz was working on, and the equina looked to Knight.
"You should get going. We'll be taking off soon."
Knight bent down and hugged her friend. "Just be careful, okay? You're just as important to the cause."
Taz clearly didn't believe that, but didn't say anything in response. Xe only hugged her tighter.
They parted, and Taz boarded, leaving Knight alone on the tarmac. She crossed her arms tightly against her chest, suddenly cold. She knew she wouldn't feel at ease until Taz was back home. With one last look back at her friend's ship, she returned to the inside of the base.
-~-~-~-
Knight sat with Toshi in the rec room when news from Caesyn reached them. Toshi was typing something on a pad, lost in her coding. Knight fiddled with the photoshiv she’d taken to carrying with her, spinning it between her fingers. They hadn't talked much since Taz left two days ago. Now Knight knew how her friend must've felt when she announced she was headed back to Valiant. She was so worried she could hardly think. Toshi sensed this and, instead of making conversation, just sat close. Her presence was comforting.
Suddenly, a young ensign burst through the door to the rec room. "They're back!" she shouted, and then was gone. Knight shared a look with Toshi before bolting out the door.
Taz was disembarking when they arrived in the hangar amid a small crowd of Remnant personnel, all eager to hear the outcome of the mission. Knight's heart stopped when she saw the weapons' scoring on the hull of her friend's ship.
Taz is fine, she told herself. But Taz could very easily not have been fine. Had it been a trap after all? Toshi and Knight finally managed to push their way through the crowd to reach the equina. Xe actually grinned at them. It was, Knight realized, the first time she'd seen her friend genuinely happy since they'd arrived on base.
"You were right," was the first thing xe said. Knight relaxed.
Thank Ichari, she thought, and almost meant it.
"What happened? Your ship looks rough," Toshi noted. Taz glanced over xer shoulder.
"It looks worse than it is. There was one Hegemonist ship, an infiltrator. Small, fast, and poorly armed. It turned and fled when it saw us waiting for it. Managed to get a few shots in, but that'll scrub off the hull easily."
"Do you think they'll try again?" Knight wondered. Taz shook xer head.
"Ferrao ordered a few frigates to be stationed there until further notice. If they try again, they're going to have to come with a lot more firepower."
A likely possibility. The memo Knight had read didn't indicate any large-scale battle plans, but after this failed attempt at sending a message, the Hegemony would have to regroup and find another strategy. An attack on one of the Remnant-controlled worlds was almost expected. Knight felt they might come back for Hlean. Caesyn was of no strategic value and Levala, to her knowledge, was still not known to the Hegemony as the Remnant's base.
"I'm glad you're safe," Knight said, putting as much feeling into her words as she could. Taz nudged her with xer nose.
"That makes two of us."
At that moment, Knight's comm chirped in her pocket. Knight withdrew it and thumbed the answer button.
"Knight, where are you?" a voice asked. Ulahim.
Knight cursed and glanced at the chrono on the wall. Her shift had started fifteen minutes ago. She was late.
"On my way, sir," she answered, and stuffed the comm back in her pocket. She looked apologetically at Taz and Toshi.
"I've gotta go. I'll see you in the morning, yeah?"
The two nodded and Knight turned and left, hurrying out of the hangar as fast as she could without running.
On her way to the temple, Knight caught sight of Weinan walking slowly, an odd expression on her face. It didn't look good. Perhaps she hadn't heard that the mission team had returned successfully?
"Did you hear the news?" Knight asked, falling into step beside Weinan. The captain glanced up at her.
"What? Oh, yes. The mission was a success. You were right, Knight." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. She looked…anxious. Knight tilted her head.
"It's a victory for the Remnant," Knight reiterated.
"A victory, yes. But it was luck that we got access to that file, and now that the Hegemony knows that their move was anticipated they will be holding their cards closer to their chest. We won't get another heads up like the one we had."
"There's always the worm," Knight said, and then immediately regretted it. It hadn't been mentioned in the debrief. It was still likely top secret. She wasn't supposed to talk about that. Out of the corner of her eye, Knight caught a levian soldier with a missing eye a few meters behind them shift on his feet at the mention of the worm, flicking his large ears in their direction. Weinan noticed this as well and lowered her voice.
"The worm?" she didn't look angry that Knight had mentioned it. In fact, she looked confused.
Knight frowned. Did Weinan not know?
But then a look of realization crossed Weinan's face. "Oh, yes. That worm. Sorry, it's been a long day."
"Well, with it, we just have to worry about them amping up security around their computer banks. As long as we have access to their network, we have access to their files."
Weinan nodded. "It was not easy for you to get out the first time. It will only become harder."
The levian had moved closer to them. Knight felt uneasy. Weinan, too, seemed to realize this was not the place for this conversation.
"Right," the captain yawned. "It's been
fun, but it's getting late. I should get some rest." Weinan squeezed Knight's shoulder. "Stay sharp." With a last smile she veered off down a nearby hallway. Out of the corner of her eye Knight saw the three-eyed levian behind them also turn away. A chill ran down her spine. How much, exactly, had he heard?
-~-~-~-
It was a sunny day when the Hegemony arrived.
The day had started bad enough, with Knight sleeping through her alarm and unable to snag even a quick meal before her shift started. Then a rush as alpha shift began and the new recruits ran off to their training. Today Knight was working with Ulahim. Despite her lack of enthusiasm for the job, she really felt like her skills as a healer were progressing at a decent pace. Ulahim, however, arrived in a bad mood and for once was not impressed by her.
"How many times have you used a med scanner before?" he asked her when she sought help taking a patient's vitals.
Knight flinched at his tone. "A lot, I just forgot--"
"You can't just forget these things, Knight. You depend too much on your Luminance and not enough on practical skills. Take an early lunch and get your mind in the game."
This, in turn, put Knight in a bad mood when she plopped down in the mess hall at an empty table. She angrily stirred her stew but didn't take a bite.
