On cue Leid emerged through the door, a cup of coffee in each hand. I snatched one on my way out.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Eroqam,” I called, already halfway down the hall. “The kid’s awake.”
***
Yahweh was seated in bed, covered in bandages. His only visible eye lit up at the sight of us. He placed his chart in his lap, and with a grimace, tucked his hands at his sides. They were covered in bandages, too.
“Hello, Qaira,” he murmured, looking toward my scholar with a polite nod. “Leid.”
As Dr. Razh turned to leave, I held out a business card. “Take this and contact Eroqam Communications. Tell them to notify Dr. Namah Ipsin that his patient is awake.”
I sent Namah back to Crylle several days ago, since a prolonged absence would warrant suspicion. At his reluctance to leave, I promised that I’d notify him when Yahweh woke, and I always kept my promises.
Once we were alone, Leid sat on the chair beside Yahweh’s bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Like excrement. How long have I been here?”
“Five days,” I said.
“Your hospital food is terrible,” he muttered. “I wish they’d given me a feeding tube.” When neither of us commented, Yahweh looked at Leid. “Can Qaira and I have a moment alone? If you don’t mind, that is?”
“Certainly,” she said. “I’ll get some coffee. Qaira, would you like any?”
“Any more coffee and I’ll have a seizure.”
“I’d like some coffee,” said the kid.
Leid frowned. “You of all people should know that mixing stimulants with your regimen of medications could be harmful.”
“Actually, it would counteract the sedatives they keep forcing me to take.”
Leid shook her head and vacated the room. I watched her leave, smirking.
Neither of us said a thing at first, and I watched the compressor in the vitals machine rise and fall with a steady hiss. I’d never liked hospitals, and judging by Yahweh’s fidgeting, neither did he. Ironically enough.
“They came after dinner,” he whispered. “At first I thought it was the guard returning to collect my tray, but then I saw that there were two of them.”
My attention left the vitals machine and rested on him as he traced the edges of the chart with a finger. “I tried to be like you and fight back. Didn’t work out so well.”
“You’re not even half my size. Why would you ever want to be like me?”
He gave me a half-smile. “The strength and aggression you carry is desirable to weaklings like me. We all want to be alpha males.”
“Coming from an angel, that’s surprising.”
“Is it? It’s the nature of dominance.”
“You don’t want to be like me, Yahweh.”
“Why not?”
“Because you aren’t me. Your strength lies in your intelligence. It’s clear that your brain is a far more dangerous weapon than any punch I could ever throw.”
“Yet I’m sitting in a hospital bed with a trillion broken bones.”
“That was out of your control.”
“What happened to those soldiers?”
“They’re dead.”
“… You killed them?”
I looked away, saying nothing.
“I’m sure that sat well with your brother.”
“I handled it.”
“Thank you, nonetheless.”
Silence, again. This was getting kind of awkward.
“What are you going to do about the simulator construction?” asked the kid. “Judging from my chart, I won’t be out of here for at least another week.”
“Leid’s been picking up your slack. We’ve already finished the prototype and it’ll be tested tomorrow.”
Yahweh tilted his head. I noticed Archaeans made that gesture often. “I thought Leid wasn’t allowed to help in that fashion?”
“Leid also wasn’t allowed to endanger the family member of another scholar, so that ship has sailed.”
He looked down, ashamedly. “You know about Ixiah.”
“Namah told me.”
“I didn’t tell you because it wouldn’t have helped my situation any. It was obvious that you knew nothing of the Court of Enigmus.”
“I still don’t, really.”
“That’s probably for the best.”
I glanced at my watch. It was two thirty. Leid and I still had to grab an early dinner because we were spending all night at the research lab. “Times up. Namah will be in here shortly to keep you company. Welcome back, kid. I’m glad you’re not dead.”
I was on my way out when he said, “I’d like to play chess with you again.”
“I’ll bring it tomorrow.”
He smiled, but it was sad. “I’m sorry that we had to meet under these circumstances, Qaira.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
“I think we could have been friends.”
I lingered in the doorway, looking out into the hall. All this touchy-feely crap was making me uncomfortable. But I was happy to see that he wasn’t angry anymore. The price of winning back his affection had been two liters of blood. “And I’m sorry that I have to kill your father. Really, I am.”
“I know.”
With a nod in goodbye, I left the room.
XXIV
FLIGHT TRAINING
FOR THE FIFTEENTH TIME TODAY, I WATCHED with tribulation as my simulated craft hit the corner of a building and went down in flames. This was so hopeless.
“YOU ARE DEAD,” mocked the simulator, the words displayed in big white text across the screen.
My first impulse was to punch it, but then I remembered how long it had taken to build the simulator. Instead I ripped the headset off and stormed out of the pod. Ara was snickering and Leid was trying not to smile.
“I think it’s broken,” I said.
“Or you suck,” said Ara.
“Says the twat who doesn’t even know how to fly our own crafts.”
“Boys, please,” sighed Leid.
“Tell Ara to wipe that stupid smile off his face.”
“Well it wouldn’t be as funny if you didn’t have a massive tantrum every time you crashed.”
“You’re supposed to be leading Drill in half an hour. Shouldn’t you be on your way to the Commons?”
“Thanks for the advice, but I’m the Commandant. I’ll go when I’m ready.”
“I’m the Regent, and I’m ordering you to go now.”
Ara glared at me. Then he stalked off, muttering under his breath.
Leid watched his dramatic exit. “Ladies and gentlemen, your world leaders.”
I shot her an unamused look and headed back inside the pod. She grabbed my arm, stopping me.
“No,” she said. “We need to check on how the other pilots are faring.”
Sulking, I followed her into the inner lab.
Over the past few days, we’d produced a dozen simulators that were being tested by selected pilots. They underwent rigorous training from six to ten, while our engineers continued to work on the real thing. So far we’d made fifty crafts. Two hundred more to go.
“I hope they’re faring better than me.”
“Cheer up, will you? We still have a ton of time to prepare. Just because you weren’t amazing at your first go of it doesn’t mean you should spend the rest of the day moping around.”
My eyes trailed to her lack of skirt. “Well how about we head to the conference room for a few minutes and you can help replenish my self-esteem by screaming out what an amazing fuck I am?”
“… You’re unbelievable.”
I laughed.
The inner lab was crowded with engineers, craft shell parts and simulators. Within the simulation pods, pilots screamed obscenities as the YOU ARE DEAD announcement flashed across their screens. Their profanities were louder than the drills and hydraulic lifts combined. Flight training wasn’t going so well for them either.
Lakash emerg
ed from a pod in the center aisle, red-faced and furious. “Sir, if that is how those crafts fly,” he pointed viciously at the YOU ARE DEAD message on his screen, “then we are monumentally fucked. We might as well surrender now.”
I couldn’t stop the grin that spread across my lips. I was kind of happy to know that I wasn’t the only one sucking. Lakash was our best pilot, too. “Keep at it, Lieutenant.”
“The steer is too sensitive. If I so much as sneeze on it, my craft barrels into a bridge!”
Laugher crept up my throat, but I choked it down. “I don’t want to hear your complaints. Man up and get the fuck back into that pod. I want you doing figure-eights by next week, got it?”
“Sir,” he mumbled, retreating into the simulator with a hopeless look on his face.
Leid was on the other side of the lab, at Station Four, talking to the group of engineers constructing the Cloak. The cloak was the craft that looked identical to the one I’d brought in after the attack on Eroqam. The other crafts were designed as military upgrades, yet clearly distinguishable between the enemy vessels.
The Cloak’s purpose was to get a team past enemy lines and onto the Archaean base ship. When that time came, I would be its pilot. The Eye of Akul weren’t around to tell me that I couldn’t risk my life on the front lines anymore. I had made a promise to Sanctum and its people that I would fight, and like I’d said before, I always kept my promises. Sanctum’s Savior wouldn’t sit behind a desk and let his men die for him.
As the engineers dispersed, Leid sat at the table and watched them work. I sat beside her. “We’re not going to be ready for at least another two months,” I said, grimly. “And we’re already a month behind schedule. My pilots are going to kill themselves if they’re given any less time.”
“Patience is a virtue, Qaira. Commander Raith isn’t going anywhere, so there’s no rush.”
“And what happens after we win?” I asked.
“…A party? Lots of wine?”
“No, I mean what happens between us?”
Leid looked at me, conflicted. After a moment of silence she glanced at her lap. “I don’t know.”
“You’re not actually planning to leave, are you? After everything that’s happened?”
Her gaze stayed on her lap.
“Are you?”
“I’ve helped dozens of people with their wars, Qaira,” she whispered. “I stood by their sides for years and years. Sometimes bonds were formed. It broke my heart to leave, but I always had to.”
My heart sank into my stomach. A part of me always knew she’d leave, but lately I had entertained the fantasy that she would quit her job and stay here. Yet it wasn’t the knowledge of her leaving that had stung. It was her explanation for it.
“Is that all I am to you? Just another bond to be broken?”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“How many others have there been?”
“Others?”
“How many poor idiots like me have you seduced and then dumped after your job was done?”
Leid’s eyes narrowed. “That’s enough.”
“No, it’s not enough,” I said, getting to my feet. “I realize now that I’m just your plaything—a stiff dick to pass the time.”
All she did was glare at me.
I walked out of the inner lab and headed for the simulator. Lakash was on his way to Drill.
“Have fun, sir,” he said with a crooked grin.
“Believe me, I will,” I muttered, stepping inside.
‘WELCOME TO FLIGHT SIMULATOR Z09. PLEASE WAIT FOR THE GREEN LIGHT ABOVE THE MONITOR TO PROCEED.’
***
Yahweh was still awake when I visited his hospital room, even though it was after midnight. I was planning on tip-toeing in and dropping off some clothes for his release tomorrow, but he got excited at the sight of me and I knew I’d have to stay a while to chat. That was fine, since as of earlier tonight I was avoiding Leid and the dreaded talk we would inevitably have later.
“Why don’t you take me now?” he asked, hope glittering his eyes. Some of the bandages had come off, though the one around his nose was still on. They’d had to completely reconstruct it.
“I can’t,” I said. “You haven’t had your exit examination.”
He sighed. “I hate this place.”
“It’s almost over. Here are your clothes.” I dropped the bag next to his bed and glanced around. “Where’s Dr. Ipsin?”
“He’s working on my discharge papers.”
I took a seat, waiting for him.
Yahweh’s face was still riddled with bruises, but there was hardly any swelling and he looked semi-normal. He’d been in Eroqam Medical Facility for nearly three weeks, and I could tell he was itching to escape. I could only imagine how lying in bed all day could drive a person nuts. Especially him, since he was such a twitchy kid.
Yahweh had strange organizational habits, too. One night when I’d delivered his dinner, I found him arranging his books by alphabetical order, all of his clothes by color, and all of his furniture by size and functionality.
“Qaira?”
“Yes?”
“Could you please move my lamp away from the window?” he asked.
I blinked, following his hand as he pointed at it. “Why?”
“It’s driving me insane. Placing a lamp next to a window; what a redundant act.”
“So what? You’re not even using it.”
“Please? I’d do it myself but I can’t leave this bed without Namah chewing me out.”
Shaking my head, I walked across the room, unplugged the stupid lamp and set it on the desk beside him. He sighed with relief, like I’d just snatched him from a pit of poisonous snakes.
“Thank you.”
“You’re so weird.”
“There’s nothing weird about the adulation of efficiency.”
“There’s definitely something weird about a kid your age saying adulation.”
Yahweh grinned, and so did I.
Namah entered then, holding a stack of files. He nodded in greeting and handed Yahweh his discharge papers. “Everything looks great so far. After your final examination tomorrow, you should be good to go.”
Yahweh hugged his papers like they were a teddy bear.
I headed for the door. “Namah, a word?”
He followed me into the hall. It was dim and quiet, as it was well after visiting hours. “Listen,” I began, “I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and allow you to return to Crylle, no strings attached.”
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t be telling anyone what happened.”
I hesitated, caught off guard by his quick compliance. “Can I ask why?”
“I haven’t said anything yet, have I? Your scholar made the repercussions very clear.”
“I see.”
“That’s not all,” he sighed. “I’ll admit that in the time I’ve spent with you, I know you aren’t the homicidal maniac my people think you are. In fact I have come to respect the Nehel and wish them well.”
I said nothing, stunned.
“I’ve been a doctor for two centuries,” he continued, “and am condemned to neutral ground by default. You are our enemy, but we are also your enemy. You kill us, but we kill you. We showed up here and demanded to move in, and although I think there are much better methods of resolution to this conflict than war, it isn’t my place to say anything because I’m not a soldier, or a leader, or anything like that.
“And whether you deny it or not, I know you care about Yahweh. The only thing that upsets me is the fact that I’ve been condemned to working in that hole because you kidnapped the only doctor who’d volunteered for Crylle.”
“Sorry.”
Namah held out his hand. “Whatever the future may bring,” he said, “it was an honor meeting you, Regent.”
I found myself shaking it. Our grip was firm, our eyes locked.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Dr. Ipsin.”
After a moment of awkward silence we departed in opposite directions; neither of us looked back.
***
I returned home at two in the morning, now on the fence about sleeping at all. Either way I was going to be exhausted. Might as well get some work done before that happened.
I took a detour to Yahweh’s room, making sure Ara’s men had cleaned it up like I’d ordered. It was tidy, but they had stacked his torn, bloody books on his desk—probably unsure of whether to discard them or not. The sight took me back to the night of his attack, and I re-envisioned the scene with growing trepidation.
I couldn’t ensure Yahweh’s safety here any longer. My trust in our military was waning as their hatred for the angels rose. A year ago I would have loved to see that, but now… not so much. As Sanctum’s want of war intensified, Yahweh’s fate dangled on a thread.
Reaching for my radio, I pressed the receiver button and dialed Ara’s frequency. “Are you awake?”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“… Why aren’t you asleep?”
“You called me to ask why I’m not asleep?”
“Come down to the Commons; bring a few guards.”
“Why?”
“I need to move some stuff.”
“Move what?”
I wanted to tell him face to face. He wasn’t going to like my idea. “Just get down here and see for yourself.”
“… Fine.”
XXV
SIMPLE CHARITIES
I TOOK AN EARLY LUNCH SO I COULD drive to Eroqam Medical Facility for Yahweh’s discharge. To my dismay, Leid tagged along even though I’d wanted her to stay in my office in case it blew up or something.
Now I had to deal with midday traffic to a soundtrack of a blaring orchestra that literally shook the windows. For someone who supposedly had exceptional hearing, Leid listened to music like she was deaf.
Surprisingly our argument in the research lab yesterday never came up. Maybe she didn’t want to talk about it, either. I felt bad for what I’d said, especially since she had been so honest with me.
The Antithesis- The Complete Pentalogy Page 41
