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“Yes,” Nico says.
“And my mentor Jupiter Course.”
I put my hand on Nico’s arm because I know he wants to leave this apartment, find Jupiter, and make him pay. I do as well, but patience is what will make us come out on top.
“Do you know a Calvin Degree?” Nico takes a drink from a tray on the table and sits next to Castor.
“No.” Constantine takes a drink too. “Is he Braesen?”
“Yes, but he’s older.”
“I haven’t lived there for a long time, so it’s hard to say. But enough talk of politics. Let’s raise a glass to the new mates. Salvomaris.” Constantine toasts.
39
NICO
“You’re not Calvin Degree of Braesen, the scientist?”
The male that answers the door at Calvin Degree’s apartment shakes his head. He’s older than my fathers, certainly the right age to be the guy we’re looking for. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to kill him there on the spot. Being old isn’t an excuse for your past behavior. Hell, even I know that, and I’ve got a trail of ghosts behind me. But years in the service are different. At least, that’s how I used to think of them. Different. The culture of our military has never been the same as the culture of our science and technology. At least, it was never perceived that way. They’ve been fighting for our civilization, our way of life, for years, the same way I fought back the Vikings, but instead of tridents and knives, they use the power of science. But now? Now all that is in question.
Holter, Eros, and Castor are off finding an address for Jupiter’s apartment. Annabelle and I stand in the doorway of what we thought was Calvin Degree’s apartment.
“No,” says the man again. “I told you I wasn’t, and I’m still not. Stourch’s my surname. But you should come in.” He steps back and lets us enter the apartment. It’s old and full from a lifetime of collecting, but it’s clean.
Little Krill touches my arm. She’s asking if she can take point. I nod. She’ll have more patience than me.
“Did you know Calvin Degree?” she asks.
“Of course.” He clamps his jaw tight and sits at the crowded kitchen table, a mug of tea in his hand. But then it might be seaweed gin from the way he smells.
“And how do you know him?”
“He was my pod brother.”
Annabelle smiles and grips the top of the chair across from him. “And did he work with Richeal Callis?”
“Of course.” The old male smiles at Little Krill, and I want to wipe him from the ocean. But that might be my anger at the governor’s brother coming through.
Annabelle nods. “Right, right.”
The old male pinches his nose. “I only have one pod brother left. You know, the two of us are just hanging on to make the other one stay here in pain. Calvin’s been gone a long time.”
“Oh, ah. I’m sorry to hear you’re in pain.”
“You shouldn’t be. I was a horrible male, and Calvin was worse. But it was necessary. I had a duty to perform. You understand duty, don’t you? Second coming of Poseidon, my ass.”
So he does know who we are, despite the charade he put on at the door. I don’t think we’re going to get any information out of him.
“How closely did Calvin and Richeal work together?”
“Close enough that she figured everything out. Or at least Calvin thought she did.”
Is he even telling the truth? Why is his mouth running like she’s got a trident pressed to it? I take a step forward, but she puts her hand on my arm and smiles at him. “Richeal figured things out. Like how Braesen has a lab underneath their dome.”
His cup clatters to the table. “Everyone knows that. I mean, if they stop and think for a half a minute. It’s not a secret now, is it? Not anymore. Not with the governor yapping his trap.”
“I suppose, but back then? Back when... Nico was a podlet? Then it was a secret?”
