“I couldn’t sleep,” he said.
“Oh, great. So, you decided to wake me up. You know I’ll be driving the Mauler, right? Don’t get upset with me when I smash into a tree because of sleep deprivation,” I grinned.
“Wouldn’t be the first time you’ve smashed into something with that thing,” he smiled.
“That’s true, but the last time, I was outrunning an avalanche,” I recalled.
Leo panned around. “Well, the reason I woke you up, it’s personal, and I need advice,” he said.
“Oh?” This wasn’t what I expected. Leo hadn’t sought me out for personal advice often, and the fact that it was so early in the morning worried me. We always had a strong rapport, so I wanted to do my best to help him.
“I’ve met someone... in the colony,” he said. He reminded me of a teenage boy momentarily as he slumped his head.
I perked up. “Well, that’s great news,” I said.
“I’m not so sure it is. You see, I’ve never had someone to speak of. The knight order has always occupied my time, and, well, the timing is terrible considering the ordeal with the Moderator,” he said.
“Leo, since when has the timing ever been ideal for a relationship here?” I asked.
He nodded, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes. “Fair point. And you would know. We’ve only been seeing each other for a short time, but I fear for her. She, like many others, are speculating as to why we’re considering moving them below decks—”
I stood up with the blanket around me. “Please tell me you haven’t said anything to her about the Moderator,” I said, holding my breath.
“No. Of course not,” he replied.
I closed my eyes for a moment. “Whew, okay great, then what’s the problem?” I asked.
He sighed, glancing up at the ceiling. “She was assaulted by a group in the colony,” he said.
“Sexually?” I asked.
“No. They knew she was close to me and pressed her for information about why the Engineer was moving everyone below decks. She says they intimidated and threatened her, which caused her to attack first. She smacked one of them in the face. In retaliation, one of them punched her in the nose and bloodied it,” he said. I noticed his nostrils flare as he lost himself thinking about it.
“We should report them immediately,” I said.
“No. If I report it, they will call on witnesses. Claire says at least a few people saw the incident, and they will back up their story that she attacked first. I don’t want to leave her here in fear, we could be gone for days. I’m asking you to come with me,” he said.
“And do what exactly?” I asked.
“Confront them, and keep me from losing control,” he replied.
I nodded. “I see. Claire is her name?”
“Yeah. And that’s the other thing. When you see her, she’s very petite, they used their size and numbers to bully her,” Leo said.
“Who are they? How many are we talking?” I asked. I wasn’t keen on playing heroine this morning, but Leo needed me. He chose to confide in me.
“Around seven. They call themselves the Sons of the Legion. They keep to themselves mostly. I don’t know much about their political views. Usually, they keep their noses clean other than this incident. They’re around the docks at this hour. I understand if you can’t help me but—”
“Give me a moment to get dressed, if we’re going to do this... we need to hurry,” I said without hesitation. This wasn’t by the book, but I still felt like it was the right thing to do. Just as Leo was shutting the door, he stopped. “I appreciate this,” he said.
I stared at him. “No problem. Leo... but I’ll need your sword,” I said.
He hesitated, looking down at his weapon. He walked toward me and placed it on the bed. “Good idea,” he said.
“We don’t want things to get too heated,” I said.
LEO AND I STOPPED JUST before entering the docking area. There was a light blue fog that obscured the area ahead.
Leo peeked around the wall to get a view inside. There were several groups of people huddled together. One of the groups comprised of five praying women holding hands and standing in a circle.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Leo arched an eyebrow. “I’m trying to spot the perpetrators. Many of the people you see here are waiting for an announcement about the rumors. This is typically where the Engineer conducts his business with the population,” he said.
I had a flashback of the day Luther executed a man and his wife for stealing food weeks ago. I was standing in almost the exact same spot as I was when it happened. I remembered Neona staring at me as their lifeless corpses plopped on the ground. I recalled Luther walking away casually as a chill went up my spine.
“There,” Leo whispered. I snapped out of it and followed Leo’s eyes to the top of the docks. There were seven men standing together in matching brown overcoats. Three of them were leaning against the handrails while a redheaded man about forty-years-old paced back and forth. He was a tall, husky man and rubbed his hands together as he spoke to the group.
They were a grizzled, rough-looking bunch all with long hair with scraggly beards, and their ages ranged from about thirty to fifty.
Leo looked back at me. I could see rage settling in his hazel eyes as he blinked quickly. I gathered he was trying to calm himself. “I’ll do the talking, just back me up,” he said.
“Hey. Are you okay? I don’t mind taking the lead. We’re just sending them the message, right? To stay away from her?” I asked.
“Exactly, but it needs to come from me. Let’s go,” he said, walking out into the docks. A young boy of Asian ethnicity came running over to us. “Look! The Legion knights, the Engineer must be on his way!” he yelled. His voice echoed off the concrete walls as he walked beside us.
Leo put up his hands. “The Engineer has made no plans for an announcement today,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear. I noticed the group of men on the dock. They met eyes with one another as we approached them, standing up tall.
The man with the auburn hair stood in front of them. He looked down on us, tilting his head as we stopped a few paces beneath the docks. Leo glared up at him as the room went silent. You could cut the tension with a knife. All eyes were on Leo as he nodded toward the tunnel. “May we have a word? Knight business,” he said.
Their leader grinned, looking over his shoulder at his associates as they stared at us without emotion. It seemed to me these men were trained not to give away much by their body language. Now that I was closer, I got the sense they were more of an organized group, and there was a sense of professionalism that contrasted their meager, unkempt appearances. Perhaps that was part of an act.
Their leader turned back toward Leo, outstretching his arms. “Well now, who are we to refuse a knight’s order?” he said with a slight Russian accent. His voice was very deep and powerful.
“Speaking of which, what is your name?” Leo asked the auburn-headed man.
“Cornelis,” he answered plainly, crossing his arms in front of him.
Leo nodded, staring through them with vacant eyes. In the frigid air, I could see his breath. As it exhaled from his nose, I imagined him as a dragon preparing for an attack. While he was calm and focused, he was prepared to spew fire onto his foes. “Let’s take a walk, and speak in private,” he ordered.
“Your wish... is my command,” Cornelis replied. I noticed Leo glance at my belt. He was staring at my sword a little too closely. I put my hand over it, and I made sure he saw me do it. He quickly looked away.
“Leo,” I said. He ignored me, marching up the steps to the dock.
The men sat down on the dock before jumping onto the tracks. Leo and I did the same, following the men about sixty paces behind, out of earshot from the citizens around the dock. Leo walked ahead of me by about four paces. The men casually strolled along, one of them mumbled something as the others snickered.
I was surprised.
Leo was known as a cunning warrior, a deadly swordsman, yet these men seemed to navigate ahead with little concern. I wondered if it was because they understood Leo was a man of honor, thereby securing their safety. I didn’t share their confidence in Leo’s restraint. In that moment, I felt I was their best chance of survival and they had no idea what they might be up against.
“That’s far enough,” Leo said, halting them. They turned around. Cornelis propped his foot up on the train track, tapping it. He leaned forward on his knee, looking around.
“So, how can the Sons of the Legion be of service to you, knight?” he asked.
Leo narrowed his eyes at Cornelis. “You know damn well why I’m here,” he said.
Cornelis sighed. He stepped off the tracks and stood up tall. “I had no idea that was your woman.” He sniffed, wiping his nose. Cornelis met eyes with his men briefly.
“Then how did you know to interrogate her for information?” Leo questioned.
Cornelis shrugged. “We were following up a rumor that she was affiliated with the knights. We had no idea she was linked to you specifically,” he said.
“So, you surrounded, intimidated, and punched a woman who was half your size in the face because she was affiliated with the knights?” Leo demanded, raising his voice.
“Leo,” I whispered. He held his stare at Cornelis. He glanced away briefly at my voice.
“Before we surrounded her, we simply asked her questions about the Engineer’s motives for moving the population below decks. That move is alarming to many people, they are afraid. The Sons of Legion take these matters very seriously,” he said.
“And I take an assault on that woman very serious as well!” Leo roared. He stepped forward, stabbing his finger at Cornelis. My eyes widened as did Cornelis’s.
“She hurled threats at us. She told us that she didn’t have to answer our questions, that the knights would kill us if we so much as looked at her sideways,” Cornelis said. Leo and I met eyes briefly.
Cornelis pointed to his cheek. “She smacked me across the face... and, I reacted. I was wrong by striking her back, and, I apologized,” he said, outstretching his arms.
Leo lunged forward and punched Cornelis in the jaw, forcing him to stumble and kneel. “Don’t go near her or anyone else with your questions! It’s not your place!” Leo shouted. His voice echoed down the tunnel.
I put my hand on my sword, waiting for his comrades to retaliate, but, they didn’t. Cornelis looked up at them and shook his head. He opened and closed his mouth, flexing his jaw. “I’m fine,” he muttered.
Leo turned and stormed away with me in tow. I sighed in relief.
“Leonidas,” Cornelis erupted. Leo stopped in his tracks.
I ushered him away from them. “You’ve already made your point, let’s go,” I said.
Leo turned around and faced Cornelis. We were about twenty paces from him. “What?” Leo asked.
“We, the Sons of the Legion were the Elders’ agents before they were murdered by Vlad. We were their eyes and ears. We did our best to assist them, and until the knights honor their legacy and vision by reinstating our true leader, we are lost,” he said.
“Your true leader?” Leo asked.
“We honor you, Leonidas, and we wait for you to take command, that was the Elder’s last wish. To lead us,” he said.
Leo chuckled. He took a few steps toward Cornelis. “The Engineer is in command.”
Cornelis shook his head. “The Elders made their choice, and we do not recognize the Engineer as our leader, not anymore.”
“Well I do, and if you truly consider me as your leader, I command you to accept the Engineer. We need unity, not division, and I willfully turned over my chance to lead for the betterment of all our people,” Leo said.
Cornelis shook his head. “Young leaders sometimes make foolish decisions.”
“As do the people that follow them. Keep this in mind, I will never lead the Legion, so whatever ambitions you had for me will never see the light of day. I have my role, and I suggest you find one for yourselves that’s part of the solution, not the problem,” Leo said, turning away from them.
We marched to the docks and walked back toward the barracks. Leo seemed to be deep in thought. I found it odd the Sons of the Legion didn’t consider me a threat to their plans to propel Leo into leadership. Perhaps they didn’t recognize me.
Leo looked at me. “That could have gone better,” he said.
“Or much worse,” I replied.
“I will have a talk with Claire. I’ll need to get to the truth. Her comments about the knights killing the Sons of the Legion were inflammatory. She didn’t deserve to be assaulted, but she didn’t help matters either by attacking him first,” he said.
“Agreed. If Cornelis was telling the truth, she could use a lecture on how not to provoke people like that,” I said.
Leo nodded. “She’s only twenty,” he said.
I grinned. “Twenty? Several years difference between the two of you then.”
He looked at me for a moment. “Isn’t the Engineer several years older than you?” he asked.
“Yes. He was. Now he’s much older considering he was unfrozen from cryosleep first,” I said.
He grinned as we headed back up the docks. “I appreciate you coming with me.”
I looked at him for a moment as we walked side by side. I could tell he was genuinely grateful as he stared into my eyes. “Absolutely,” I replied.
He stared forward as we marched past the crowd on the docks. “Before I left this morning to confront them, I knew you would help ground me. It wasn’t so much anything you could say or do, it was your presence. It’s who you are, and I knew you would understand sticking up for the one you love,” he said.
“What gave that away? Was it traveling all the way across the solar system when I had no idea if Luther was even alive, or fighting hordes of cybernetic zombies?” I asked, grinning.
“A little of both,” he replied, smiling.
“I noticed the Sons of the Legion seemed adamant about you taking over as commander from Luther,” I said. I wanted to gauge his reaction.
He glanced at me. “And they’re not the only ones,” he said.
“Oh? Who else?” I asked.
“I’m approached from time to time by the general population. I would say the majority support the Engineer until he chooses to step down, but it’s obvious many people see me as the next logical step,” he said.
“And you don’t feel any pull towards this leadership role?” I asked.
“I feel more confident that I could lead, and I do feel it’s part of who I am, but it feels wrong for some reason. I’m not sure how to describe it,” he said.
I put my hand on his shoulder. “You’ll know when it’s the right time to step forward Leo, we all will,” I said. I didn’t want to imagine the day Luther had to give up his command. It was likely the knights wouldn’t want him to step down. The only other alternative was his... death. Leo stopped and looked both ways. “Victoria, thanks. I appreciate your words, but if I could ask one more favor.”
“Go on,” I said.
“If you would. I would like it if the Engineer didn’t know about what happened with Claire until we get back,” he said, lowering his voice.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Let’s worry about that after we deal with the Moderator. Deal? We have a super soldier android piloting the deadliest spacecraft I’ve ever flown, barreling towards Earth as we speak, and it aims to destroy us all. That takes precedence if you ask me,” I said.
“Agreed,” he said.
Chapter 5
A FEW HOURS LATER...
“Wait here,” Luther said. I parked the Mauler about two hundred paces from the entrance of the Nomad cave. I overlooked the mountaintop view at the overcast sky. I glanced in my rearview mirror. Luther had decided to bring less firepower this time around, opting to leave Corporal Dinu and his soldiers behind.
“Let’s go over the
plan,” Luther said.
Luther met eyes with Leo and I before turning around in his seat and staring at Neona and Xena. He paused for several seconds. “Remember to keep quiet about what you know about the Moderator. As far as the nomads know, we’re here to renegotiate a deal with General Haik regarding the vehicle convoy to our north. I want him to think our interests are seizing the solar panels from those vehicles and stopping the threat they pose before they continue south into our region,” he said.
“How are we going to conceal our interest in the anti-aircraft vehicle without coming off as suspicious? There’s never been a threat from the sky,” Leo asked.
“I’ll handle that part,” Luther replied.
“Sire, may I speak freely?” Neona asked.
“Yes.”
“I’ve thought about this on the way here. Why aren’t we sharing our information about the Moderator’s intent? We’re not the only ones at risk here,” Neona spoke up.
“I realize that, Knight. I wish it were that simple, but we’re dealing with a leader who’s extremely unpredictable. This is the same man that blew up the android warship knowing innocents were inside it. I don’t want to give a man like that any reason to think he needs to be in control of this situation. There’s too much on the line,” he said.
Neona nodded slowly, staring a thousand miles away.
“Speak of the devil, I bet that’s him,” Leo said, peering ahead. Three men were now standing outside of the cave. They were obscured by large snow flurries that slowly drifted to the ground.
I looked back at Xena. “What about her? The nomads weren’t exactly thrilled about our decision to keep Xena around,” I whispered, holding my stare as General Haik came into view.
Luther looked at me. “Xena stays inside the vehicle at all times. She’s none of their business. All General Haik needs to know is we’re willing to cooperate if he holds up his end of the bargain,” he replied.
“Xena,” I said.
“Yes, Captain,” she replied, looking at me in the rearview mirror.
“Don’t leave this vehicle unless told otherwise. General Haik is still a bit wary of androids,” I ordered.
The Legacy of the Lioness Page 3
