by E L Strife
Tanner was younger than the rest and spent half their time in the Hatoga fields in shock, half the time making lighthearted conversation to hide the darkening hope inside, a dangerous form of denial in the long run. Josie and Panton had fallen for one another despite Panton’s removed verbal filter and her brazen Kojaqx unskinning.
The three of them knew something wasn’t right with her when they’d rounded a corner during the mutiny and five Warruks instantly slumped to the ground in a blur of light. Josie had lowered her smoking e-rifle and moved on before anyone else had a chance to squeeze their triggers.
Atana, the most apathetic of the group, had held a child in her arms, calmed his crying, and then turned into Blue Bomb, blowing the top off Agutra. Bennett, hours later, had become an amber version of her explosion. She broke him to pieces emotionally, but something about her presence appeared to make Bennett’s physical strength grow.
Cutter’s private concerns seemed menial, comparatively. At least, that was how he saw it. He was hiding from his own issues so he could be there for them. He silently prayed he could keep it together. UP was all he had left of Esmerella.
“You’ve been reading my mind like you do everyone else?” he asked.
“No.”
“Good. I prefer to be in other peoples’ heads than my own.” He bit his tongue. Shit.
She eyed him with a shallow bob of her head before rounding her back and leaning forward onto her knees. “I don’t have as much mental control when I’m asleep. Sometimes I hear things or see things I would otherwise not allow myself to. Inside Ether, I respond more instinctively and less consciously.”
Cutter knew Ari were supposed to be telepathic, but like most, he was concealed. The few odd elements remaining in his life were quieted easily by the serum. He couldn’t figure what she’d want with him and Ether. “I have a lot of shepherds to attend to. Can you please get to what’s on your mind?”
“Guess I’m rambling details you don’t need.” She rubbed her palms over the thighs of her blood-stained slacks. “Your crew raid of the warehouse bunker full of ammunition, before you transferred to Bennett’s team—I saw what happened, why Lyle took the hit and your team never made it out.”
Cutter stilled, unable to tear his eyes from hers, wondering what it was like to see things in Ether.
“Mika was a traitor. He worked for Kronos.”
There was that cold feeling again, filling his veins with prickling, pulse-stopping reality.
“He knew where every terrorist was. He wasn’t getting shot at. Your team took him out. It’s why they never followed you.” She spun a finger in the air. “Had to do a few circles around the scene to confirm what I saw in the dream.”
Cutter’s brows crushed together, trying to find the link he felt in the back of his mind.
“I didn’t intend to pry,” she insisted.
“No, it’s not that.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “Tanner got a request to inspect chameleon cloaks and heat syncs after he checked in with the doku.”
“I don’t see the connection.”
His shoulders fell. A part of him expected her to know everything. “That was Mika’s secondary specialty. He helped build the interfaces for the cloaks.”
Atana dragged her fingers down her face, stopping to glare out at the inky ocean. “You think he leaked information?”
“Possibly. He was associated if what you say is true.”
“But why wait until now? Why so long after his death?”
His concern for what she was putting together vanished at a single question. “Please explain to me how you know about the warehouse, again.”
She drummed the sides of her face with her fingers. “Bennett has been dream drifting, seeing things in the past, the present, and possible future. He doesn’t remember them yet. I do, through our telepathic connection to Ether.”
He scrutinized her impassive response like she was mentally off in a different land. Did Bennett mean nothing to her? “How and why are you surfing his dreams? You aren’t sleeping with him are you?”
“Whoa, no.” She tilted away from him, a dark blush spreading outward from the center of her cheeks. “He was exhausted and not admitting it. I was checking in on him. I encountered the vision by accident and wanted to tell you what I saw so your mind could rest the matter.” Combing the loose bangs back into her ponytail, she shook her head. “Now we have an entirely new problem.”
He stood from his seat, feeling defensive of the man who took the heat for all their mistakes, bullets for Tanner and Panton, and upheld a safety net of truce for the team. No other Team Leader had a sanction, not one he’d worked under. “While I appreciate it, if you’re using him for some personal benefit, I swear to God—”
“Cutter,” she held her palms up in defense. “I care for Jameson. That’s why I’m not acting on it, because I don’t want to hurt him. When housed in this system, I follow Station rules.”
Pacing a step away, he checked the hallway behind them before glaring back at her. “Why aren’t you with him? Why are you with Azure?”
She closed her eyes. “I met Azure when I was a kid. We survived testing for almost a decade together. Command approved Azure to remain with me. I don’t know why. I didn’t know Jameson until last week, let alone what he would become. So, it doesn’t matter what I— We’re different. He’s—” Atana stopped herself, mindlessly picking at her wristband straps. “I will not hesitate to protect him with my life.”
Cutter stared at her, at a loss for words. The most ruthless, effective shepherd in all of UP, the one Independent who melted the top half of a ship, was reduced to a fumbling, adolescent girl over his Team Leader.
“I made a promise to Azure first, when I was someone else.” Her eyes widened and snapped up to him. “You can’t tell anyone! Him.” She grimaced. “Them.”
Resting his hands on his hips, he hung his head. “You have no idea how many secrets I keep locked away for others.”
Her fingers gripped the edge of the bench. “I am two different people inside, but I cannot be two places at once.”
He tracked her gaze as it dropped in sync with the tone and volume of her voice. “You—Nakio—loves Sergeant Bennett.”
Atana’s eyes darted to his with a startling swiftness. They pleaded for silence, for pain to end and life to begin. It was all he needed to confirm his suspicions.
“You called him Jameson. No one calls him by his first name, not even Tanner, and they’ve been paired up since Tanner acquired R1 status. They’re like brothers.”
She didn’t have to say anything. He knew the look she wore, loving someone she couldn’t have. He knew exactly how it felt.
Chapter 43
HOME STATION WAS ABUZZ with medical activity and chatting sergeants. Bennett and Azure escorted the Coordinator to the stairs leading up to Command’s offices on Level One.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to look at your wrist, sir?” Lavrion asked behind them.
The man paused on the steps, glancing at the bruise darkening his arm. He’d broken out of Azure’s shield to knock a Kronos down, free the child from his grasp, and then return her to her mother.
“Not a word of that to anyone.” His brows jumped with a subtle gesture toward Command in the room above. “I’m sure the Infirmary could use your help. All of you, please get some rest. We have a long journey ahead.” He spun and proceeded up the stairs.
“Either of you?”
Bennett patted Lavrion on the shoulder. “No. Great job out there. I’m glad you’re on our side. Call if you need anything.”
Lavrion dipped his head and turned the corner of Level Two, heading behind Command’s offices toward the Infirmary.
Frustration with Command’s lack of interest in getting them proper intel on the Linétens had been building all day. Bennett and Azure, being assigned to the Coordinator, were not to fight except to keep the man safe.
Bennett had emptied five SI wad magazines o
n Kronos and Linétens. It still wasn’t enough to calm him. Without the use of serum, he would have to burn off his negative energy the old-fashioned way.
“Where are you going?” Azure voice boomed after him.
Descending to Level Three, Bennett glanced over his shoulder. “To the gym.”
“What’s a gym?”
Bennett pushed through the doors with Azure at his heels, nodding at the man in the corner folding towels. “Sergeant Porter, how are you?”
“Not very busy today, sir.” The shepherd tossed a towel at Bennett. “Still learning how to balance on the prosthetic. Med. staff said next week I can transition to the Armory.”
Bennett caught the towel and smiled. “The Armory suits you much better than the gym.”
“Yes, sir. I can clean and assemble at a bench.”
“Glad to hear it. Keep up the good work.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Bennett continued inside, giving Azure a quick tour. “There are rock climbing walls at the back and machines and free weights in the far corner. Then this over here,” he said walking to a large enclosed are on the side, “is the simulation room. It has programs you can select before you go in. The units rotate, lift, swing, and create humanoid movements like punching and kicking. You can do it in the dark too, which is my personal choice. They do hit you though, so be prepared.” Spinning around, he directed across the facility. “Hand-to-hand practice mat with punching bags and the like. You are cleared to use this or any gym at any time, so long as you wear the band.”
Bennett hung his jacket, holsters, and the polo he peeled off, on a wall hook, keeping his black t-shirt on. His slacks were already drenched in sweat. It didn’t make sense to change.
With the towel over his shoulder, he headed for the free-weight area. “If you have any questions, holler.”
Azure wandered around, inspecting the different areas. Reaching the rock-climbing wall, he fingered a rough protrusion. “I have a question.”
Bennett slid several disc weights onto a bench press bar. “All right, shoot.”
“What?” Azure retracted his hand and spun around.
Lying back on the bench, Bennett picked up the bar. “Shoot, it means go for it, ask me what you need to ask.”
Azure stuttered while Bennett started his set. “At the crash site, why did you hurt your own kind?”
Bennett stopped lifting the bar and rested it on the pegs, sitting up. The challenge of explaining a reaction made air burst from his lungs. The motion made him think of Panton. Atana had messaged him his sniper’s guard was stable and Josie was with him. Bennett decided to check in on them later.
“I don’t know. For a lot of reasons, I guess.”
“Saha—I mean, Nakio got in trouble for it.”
Bennett brooded in silence. He’d been summoned to the meeting with Atana after their return from Agutra but hadn’t pulled himself together yet. He was furious with Command for trying to protect the minds of others with lies. It made the truth, when it came out, particularly about his father, much harder to bear. So instead, he’d stayed in the main hangar to help unload collectors.
Because no one else can accept reality. His upper lip twitched, wanting to curl in disgust. He no longer trusted Command but lived under their rules, rules they didn’t follow. Showing up to that meeting was a risk to his career he wasn’t willing to take. He’d pushed the limits of his control enough.
Azure climbed the rock wall with ease, jumping and swinging from one narrow protrusion to another.
“Much smaller than what I’m used to.” Azure’s bellowing voice echoed through the gym.
Two Sergeants sparring in the corner stopped, mid-wrestle, to stare.
Bennett stood up from his bench to watch Azure walk out across a ceiling truss. “What are you, a fucking bird?”
Azure rested his forearms on his thighs and crouched. “This is how we train in Agutra, climbing structures. We don’t have that stuff.”
Catching the bewildered looks on the other sergeants’ faces, Bennett let out a laughing snort under his breath. “You’re freaking people out. Please, come down.”
The squeak of the gym door made Bennett look.
Atana froze, standing in her leathers, letting the metal slam behind her. “Azure?”
The man’s name barely made it across the gym.
Swinging himself from the beam, Azure dropped to the top of a tall machine frame and then landed on the floor beside Bennett, rattling the weight stacks. Atana started toward them. Azure took a step in her direction. Bennett put a hand out, not wanting any misunderstanding between them.
He lowered his voice. “I shot them with the stun setting because I didn’t want to hurt them. I also did it to make us even. You saved me on Agutra and everyone else from my fire. It’s fair I protect you in return.”
Azure whipped his gaze back to assess Bennett, the shoulders of his polo stretching when his muscles flexed. “You hurt your own kind, innocents. Why?”
Bennett let out a short growl. “They were attacking you, Azure. Why didn’t you fight back?”
“Perimeter guards do not kill innocents unless it is life-threatening to the masses. They do not understand. They are scared.” Azure’s deep voice rumbled through the gym. “It is an acceptable sacrifice.”
“Our innocents are not like yours.” Bennett pointed to the ceiling. “The reason our planet fell apart in the first place is because many humans are more concerned with self-preservation than the wellbeing of their neighbors. If they’re scared, they will fight, unrestrained and unfocused, to survive.” Bennett glanced at Atana to ensure she was still out of vocal range. “Up there, you had no escape. You had to make peace, or everyone would die. The circumstances on the surface are different. You cannot be so trusting of humans.”
Azure’s posture stiffened. “Last time I was here, you sent me to a cage.” A slight fear washed over his brightening eyes. “I didn’t want to be taken away by your security again. There were many other shepherds being overrun by the crowd. I don’t understand why you did, for me.”
“Because, Azure.” Bennett stepped in close to him. “You are more important. You can help us save everyone. You’ve helped us save everyone. I’m doing everything I can now to keep you alive and out of Detainment. I didn’t understand before.” He glanced at the other shepherds already back to their routines. “If a shepherd who knows how to protect many is lost, more innocents will be hurt than the few I temporarily took out. We need every warrior we’ve got to have the best chance at fighting off the Suanoa headed our way.”
“Yes, but—”
“I did it for Atana,” Bennett snapped.
Azure surveyed him in disbelief. For her?
Bennett spun away, wiping a hand down his face when he saw her approaching.
“What are you two talking about?” she asked, scanning blankly between them.
Hands on his hips, Bennett took some of the weight of his shoulders off his spine. He’d noticed they were feeling heavier with each passing day. They were also getting stronger, his back, his chest, every muscle, without a change in routine. “What the stun feature is for.”
“Ah.” She looked up at Azure. “Imara will arrive on a transport with more workers from Propulsion and Maintenance soon. Command wants to speak with you when you’re ready.”
“What about?” he asked.
“Collector modifications.”
“Right.” Azure inspected Bennett as he passed, heading for the gym doors.
Leaning against an upright machine, Bennett’s eyes fell to stare at the scuffed up toes of her backup pair of brown boots. He knew she would leave and he would be alone again. Inside, his visceral mustang kicked at the gates. Bennett crossed his arms, and it helped to tighten the reins.
“Thank you.” Dipping her head, she summoned his gaze one last time, greeting it with sincerity, before following Azure out of the gym.
He returned her gesture halfheartedly, a moment too la
te.
When the doors had shut behind Atana and Azure, Bennett slapped two more forty-five-pound disks on each side of his bar and lay back on the bench, pushing it up off the blocks. It might be heavy enough to stomp out the fire, for now.
Anything for her. He cursed himself inside and continued his workout, an added fury thrusting surprising levels of energy into his muscles. Even Azure.
Chapter 44
WALKING IN SILENCE, Azure put a hand to Atana’s back. Her heavy breaths and long blinks worried him. Starting across the floor of the Central Auditorium and up the small, open steps to 1-CR, he couldn’t take it any longer. “You look tired. You should rest.”
“I always am. I never have time.” Atana sighed. “You know what that’s like.”
“I do.”
“And you’re making a habit of asking when we’re outside Command’s office.” She grabbed the handle. “You two have got to stop worrying.”
Azure held the door, and she slipped into the packed room.
Cutter and Tanner stood off to one side, a handful of other Munitions and Technical Integrations Specialists and Air Crew lining the walls around Command.
Cutter’s hands hung from the chest of his Flack vest. “All I’m saying is it’s possible H.Co missed detecting some skilled individuals. A few species are particularly good at hiding, and there are always individual anomalies like Lavrion. Combine those things and there could be more Verros on Earth than you know about.”
Hyras tilted sideways onto an armrest at the far end of Command’s table. “What are your thoughts on the Kronos and Verros threat, Sergeant Atana?”
Atana gave Cutter a sidelong glance. “It’s hard to say what their plan is. I think we should post a crew to protect and monitor Agutra, in case anyone tries to take them out from Earth. After today, our defenses need to be up for our own people. We seem to be less of a secret every day.”
