Fledge

by JA Huss

  I peer under her head to see her face. Her mouth, hidden unless you're underneath her, is open in a scream, her eyes wide.

  "What do you want from me?"

  "What do you have to give?"

  I stand up and turn around. "Annun, what the fuck – you scared the shit out of me!"

  "Sorry, I saw you come up here and I needed to make my visit anyway, so–"

  "What will you do in here, Annun? I'm not quite sure what the purpose is besides convincing yourself that you're worthy."

  "It's not to convince myself I'm worthy, Junco. It's to convince her. She chooses, not us."

  "But she's not real. Is she?"

  He smiles. "It's faith, right? If you believe, she's real. If you don't, she isn't."

  "OK."

  "Do you believe, Junco?"

  "In her?" I pause and look back at the icon. "I already have a God, Annun. I'm just a bit infatuated with her persona at the moment."

  "Has the Fledge changed you? I barely know you, so it's hard to tell if you've changed from the first fight."

  I shrug. "Of course, yeah."

  "I only ask because I don't even recognize myself anymore."

  "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

  He shakes his head. "Bad, I think. Killing all those people–"

  "Yeah, that has changed me. My scroll is so long now, I'll never fit through the strait gate."

  He looks at me funny. "Huh?"

  "Nothing. I just mean, I've done a lot of bad things, way before I ever came to the avian world, and the only way to get past it is to push it down. Put it away. Only bring it out when you need it, Annun. That's the only way to get up in the morning."

  "Sounds risky."

  I huff out a laugh. "It definitely is, but it gets you through, right? To the next step. We're at the end now. We're done. Lucan says we have to take advantage of our last day, no training or nothing. And I agree, push this shit down and enjoy each other for one more day. Then whatever happens at the last fight, we'll at least have something good to counter the bad."

  "You're for sure getting through, Junco."

  "Yeah, I know that, Annun – but do you see my friends? Your friends are for sure getting through with you. So you're light-years ahead of me in that department. And the really ironic part is that all along Ashur warned me not to get attached to the weak ones. He warned me, but I thought I could save them."

  I let out a huge sigh and shake my head. "It would be a lot easier if they were already dead." I look up at him, meet his eyes. "Because I'd have that shit locked down already, and be on the other side of death. That's the best place to be, ya know? On the other side of death."

  "So, that's it? You can just turn it on and off like that? Forget about stuff and move on?"

  I shrug.

  "That's pretty impressive, Junco, really, I envy you. But it also makes you a little bit insane."

  I laugh. "You should have seen me on Earth, Annun. I was beyond insane."

  "So if Tier dies? If Ashur were to die? You'd turn that off too."

  I look over at the syrinx and breathe, letting a few seconds pass before answering. "You bet, Annun." I look back up to his face, meet his eyes. "You fucking bet I would."

  He shrugs. "You're the perfect fucking warrior then, right? Do what they tell you and then say more, please."

  He's judging me now, but I don't even feel it. It's already turned off. "Annun, I was born the perfect fucking warrior, I never asked for it. They made me this way. If I were to let it go, what would I be then?"

  His voice stays soft. "Just Junco, maybe?"

  "And who the fuck is Junco except one small girl from Earth whose only worth is tied up with how accurately she can hit a target in the head from four thousand yards away?"

  He watches my face for a moment. "I've heard she does a pretty mean flip on horseback. And she plays the piano so well it makes you want to cry."

  I feel my chest heave and turn away, the tears filling up my eyes.

  He walks over to me and puts his hand on my shoulder. "Sorry, Junco. I'm sorry. I'm no different. In fact, I'm much worse. You didn't choose to be here, but I did. I did. I left my safe life with the politicos to come here knowing full well if I made it I'd have this blood on my hands. At least you can say they made you what you are. I made myself this way. I wanted this."

  I shake my head and look down at the syrinx and whisper, "I'll let you in on a secret, Annun. Since we're sharing. I like who I am and what I can do." I look up at him. "I do. I'd like to think that given the chance, I'd choose to be someone else. Someone kind and loving. Maybe a mother. But I think the odds of me actually doing that in an honest-to-God real situation are almost zero."

  "I like it too, Junco. That's why we're both here in the church telling the syrinx we're OK with what it took to get here. And she should mark us worthy because we want to be here. We're not sorry we made it. We're proud. And when the last battle comes, we'll do what we have to because it's these shitty fucking moments that will show what we're made of. What kind of warriors we really are and what we have to offer. How much of ourselves we're really willing to sacrifice to hold it all together."

  I stay silent for a few moments as I let his words sink into my memory. "They're gonna give you the command, I bet. Make you a captain."

  "If they do, it'll only be because you're already taken."

  "I'd follow you, Annun." I look up at him. "I would."

  He smiles. "I'd definitely follow you, Junco. Just say the word and I'm there."

  This is what Isten meant when he said the Fledge makes the team. I can feel it, how bonded I am to this guy I barely know. This stranger who will stick it out with me in my darkest moments and give me the words I need to hear so badly it makes my chest ache. I want to tell him, but I just smile instead. He grabs me by the shoulder and turns me around so we can walk out of the church together. Then we jump off the ledge and go back to the dorm to sleep away our midnight confessions.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  I wake to the whine of plasma rifles charging against my head and I lie still.

  "Junco, please open your eyes and make no other movement until instructed to do so."

  I open them. There are seven Aves warriors, not my team, and another man who looks a lot like Lucan, but who is definitely not, standing around my bed. The fair man smiles at me.

  I wait.

  "I am Rache, the Archer of Justice. We require your testimony today and when I instruct you to do so, you will get up, shower, dress, and come back out for transport over to the Justice habitat for the proceedings."

  "Yes, sir."

  "You may get up."

  All seven warriors follow me to the showers and train their rifles on my head as I clean up and dress. I exit and am offered some type of food, which I refuse. Rache is waiting by the door and we take the stairs down the three flights to the ground floor. I watch the mods frantically talking on coms as I pass by the windows and I know they are speaking to the 039 or Lucan.

  There is a large transport flyer waiting in the space where I usually puff on my cigars. As we approach, the doors open and I am ushered inside and take a seat in the middle, surrounded on all sides by plasma rifles on target.

  Rache takes a seat opposite me and smiles.

  I raise my eyebrow at him.

  "This went better than expected."

  "Really?" I say calmly. "You thought I'd, what? Kill you with my SEAR because you want to ask me questions?"

  He sniffs and straightens his back. "Junco, you have an unprecedented wild side. We cannot be too careful."

  "Huh." I stare at his blue eyes. "Well, good luck if Moju comes back. If you think I'm wild, I can't wait to see how you treat my brother."

  "There's no need to be spiteful, Junco."

  I shrug. "You're the one with the weapons trained on my head, Rache. If you're so afraid of me, why not just let the 039 bring me over to Justice? Or Lucan?"

  "Because I wanted to meet you."<
br />
  I squint at him. "Well, you're not making a great first impression."

  He flicks his fingers and the guys back off. I nod to them and they nod back. It's not their fault he's excitable. I hold on to the arms of the chair as the flyer banks hard to the left and we glide into a parking structure.

  "Have you been off Amelia before?"

  I shake my head. "No, except to look at the stars with Lucan."

  He stares at me for a split second and I catch his surprise before he locks it down. "Well, you are about to leave. We need to transfer to the ship that will take us to Justice. The men will remain on alert but will not target you. If you attempt to–"

  I cut him off. "Rache, we're on the same fucking side. I'm not gonna make any attempts to do anything."

  He smiles. "You'll excuse me if I'm suspicious. You are the only person that I know of who has successfully lied while under the truth drugs."

  I keep my mouth shut for that one.

  "Lucan confessed your actions, Junco."

  I shrug. "It's always a bitch trying to predict how a drug will react with certain metabolisms. That's pretty basic toxicology and you should really have a handle on the possible side effects if you're gonna give that shit to humans."

  "Half human," he corrects me.

  "One third actually," I say as I turn my head away.

  The door opens and we all exit and transfer to a waiting ship only a few dozen meters across the terminal. The G is light and feels artificial so I figure we're near the center edge of the torus. I enter the ship and buckle myself into the harness. A warrior sits next to me this time, his weapon stowed. He leans over and extends his hand. "Monk."

  I smile and shake it. "Junco."

  "Don't mind Rache, he's really not bad."

  "Yeah, OK. So, is this gonna take long? This is my last day before Fight Seven and I wanted to spend it doing something fun."

  "You'll be gone all day, sorry."

  I nod and look away. "Not your fault."

  I watch out the window as we are propelled out into the blackness of space and jump a little bit when the thrusters rumble alive to push us to wherever we're going. Being out in space in a little transport ship like this isn't as exciting as it sounds. In fact, there is absolutely nothing to look at and you're constantly adjusting yourself in the harness chair because free-G and sitting in one place don't really go together. I sleep the entire way and only wake up when Monk's hand forcibly shakes me back into reality.

  I unbuckle my harness and stumble a little in the light G as I make my way to the door. From there the gravity evens out and I get heavier as we move through a series of polished tile hallways until we reach an unobtrusive beige door.

  The guards talk on implant coms and we wait until some unknown signal tells us to proceed through the door. Rache goes first and turns left, I am directed to go right, led down another long hallway and through another door that leads out into what I could only describe as a courtroom.

  Lucan is already there, but the other 039 aren't. He must have used his little teleportation thing to get there ahead of us. He comes over and dismisses the warriors around me with contempt.

  "I apologize, Junco. They did not inform me of this until this morning."

  "I figured, obviously."

  He leads me over to a chair in the center of the room and motions me to sit. "Any advice?"

  He smiles. "Just tell the truth, Junco. And if the AI gets involved, refuse to listen this time. It is important that we build trust with Justice."

  I nod and he leaves and takes a seat in the circle of chairs which surround my own. Nothing like being in the hot seat.

  "State your name for the record."

  I look up at an officiator who stands in a corner of the room with a panel of other people, monitors maybe. "Junco Abigail Coot."

  The officiator comes over with a red book and places it in front of me. "Put your left hand on the Bible and hold up your right hand."

  I do.

  "Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you or may God strike you down dead?"

  I almost laugh, but I hold it in. "I do." He takes the Bible back. "But my God doesn't strike people down dead. Just to be clear, that's not how the oath goes."

  "Junco."

  I look over at Lucan and shrug. "Sorry."

  "State your age and place of residence."

  "Nineteen. The Fledge place on Amelia. I don't know what it's called."

  "Did you lie in the last testimony?"

  "Yes."

  "How were you able to lie?"

  "I have a program inside me that can counteract the drugs."

  "Did you ask the program to counteract the drugs when you were giving testimony?"

  "No."

  "Why did the program run?"

  "I don't know." I hear a lot of murmuring from the back panel and look over, squinting my eyes.

  "Are you running any programs now?"

  "No."

  He looks at me dubiously. "None?"

  "Nope."

  "Why not?"

  "Because I don't know how to run them."

  Lucan stands and speaks like he's bored out of his mind. "Objection. The topic has been exhausted."

  "Sustained." The ruling comes from a voice in the ceiling and I figure out the process. The officiator is a prosecutor. Lucan is my defender. The voice is Rache, the judge.

  The officiator tries a new tactic. "We've thrown out the treaty charge for Captain Raubtier at any rate, so we will not rehash that issue today. Today I want to know why he didn't kill you as he was instructed."

  I frown. "Shouldn't you ask him that?"

  "I have asked him that, now I am asking you."

  I sigh. Loudly. "He told me that he made the decision to disobey orders when he saw how I reacted after I crashed my Goat into a tree on my way to The Stag."

  "Continue."

  "He said I was fearless, that I wasn't a quitter, and that he felt I'd have a lot to offer you, the avians, if I was just told the truth once in a while."

  "Continue."

  "That's it."

  "That is all the reason he gave?"

  I nod. "Yes. That's it."

  "Did he mention the reward for bringing you back?"

  My heart skips. "No."

  "Did he mention what he might receive if he brought you back?"

  "I actually did ask him that, believe it or not. I'm a rather suspicious person by nature. And he said he was looking for redemption."

  A lot of murmuring from the back panel now, and I can't help myself, I turn and look over at them.

  "From what, specifically, was he seeking redemption for?"

  "Killing a lot of people I think."

  "Did he tell you who these people were?"

  "No, but I was told by someone else who they might be."

  "So you knew that he was responsible for killing children?"

  "Objection, this is embellishment."

  I look over at Lucan but stay silent.

  "Overruled, continue, Miss Coot."

  "I know he killed mutant children out at The Stag Camp, he said they were monsters."

  "Who else did you think he killed?"

  "Corporate humans. I don't really know."

  "It wasn't worth asking about? To know this for sure before you decided to leave your planet and come to a strange world, uninvited?"

  "Well, I've killed a lot of people myself, so you know – typically we just do the old wink and a nod at that stuff, right? Like the code among thieves."

  "Junco." I look over at Lucan and he shakes his head at me.

  "I absolved him," I say, shrugging.

  The officiator looks at me strangely now. "You what?"

  "I absolved him. From whatever it was he did."

  "Miss Coot, please explain how that works for those of us unfamiliar with the process."

  I exhale loudly. "I forgave him, in advance. Before knowing what he did." />
  He stares at me now, like I'm a wart on his hand. "Why?"

  "Because I needed to trust someone and I really wanted it to be him. And I didn't want to hear what he did. I tried to prevent him from telling me, in fact."

  "Did anyone send you here, Miss Coot?"

  "No."

  "What do you hope to receive from the avians, if we should allow you to stay?"

  I stare at the officiator, then look over at Lucan as my heart begins to race. "You're kicking me out?"

  "I didn't say that, Miss Coot. What would you want from the avian people if they should allow you to stay?"

  I take a breath and calm myself as the vision screen comes alive. Tell them: to be accepted and allowed to prove myself.

  "To be accepted and allowed to prove myself."

  "And how could you prove yourself to the avian people?"

  Say: I will bring back the Siblings on Earth and deliver the code you need to survive.

  I say it and the room erupts in a gasp. I look over at Lucan and he gives me an ever-so-slight nod.

  "I have no further questions."

  The voice above erupts. "Miss Coot, you are free to leave with your Archer."

  Lucan comes over and takes my hand, leading me towards the door, then touches my shoulder and we are outside Fledge.

  "Well done, Junco."

  "She told me to say that."

  "Well, thank the gods above that she did because it probably just saved your life."

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  I walk into Fledge and it is so quiet I think that the entire place is empty. But when I look around I see that all fifteen of us are there, just spread out among the many, many extra beds.

  "What's going on?"

  At first no one answers, then Kush comes up. "There was a pretty big fight earlier, everyone's upset."

  "What was it about?"

  He shrugs. "Who will live and who will die tomorrow, Junco. Fuck."

  He walks away and I go sit down next to Tessen. "Bad day, huh?"

  She nods. "Where have you been, Junco?"

  I sigh. "I was on trial, I think."

  "What?"

  "Yeah, at first I thought I was there to testify against Tier, but I think I was on trial myself. To see if they will let me stay or kill me, or whatever."

  She looks at me, stunned. "So what happened?"