Chapter 8: Menace
Sefina stays close as I sneak through the low-lying brush of the clearing. The sun is high in the blue sky as I check the air for scents I don’t like. All I find is the expected vegetation and Sefina’s sweet musk.
We spend far too much time underground for my taste. The moment we’re outside again, a calmness spreads through me. Whatever animals they based my model on, I know they were not cave dwellers. They roamed lands like this—wild and open.
I hope Sefina’s head injury has not affected her too much. I need her coherent if we’re going to succeed together on this mission. Otherwise, I’ll have to leave her with Kelta and hope she can get better care on the BlazeStar. But then I’ll have to set out to find this range extender on my own.
Sefina grabs my arm. I twist and look back to see a welvir watching us from the tunnel’s opening. It doesn’t come closer. Oddly, it just stands there, watching us. I think whatever Sefina did in the tunnels to the packs of welvirs has changed their behavior, though I’m not sure she knows what she did. She hasn’t said a word about it.
Perhaps it was a one-off because of the device Rebel cut out?
Before we cross the last of the meadow to the ship, I want to be sure we have access, and I can confirm who’s inside.
Menace>>FeatherLite: Identify yourself.
FeatherLite>>Menace: Kelta, Thruster’s mate. Scanners are clear. No Skysprinter activity within range. Hurry, while there’s an opening.
I take Sefina by the hand and lug her through the meadow. Being open and vulnerable on this planet for long is never a good idea.
Sefina grunts and struggles to keep up, but she tries, and that’s what matters to me.
Kelta uncloaks the ship. We pass under the wings, and the shield lifts again. I encourage Sefina up the narrow steps in the belly, then hike up after her.
Sefina automatically takes the bench behind the copilot’s seat and motions me upfront. I think it’s a familiar position to her.
I’d rather her be properly belted. “You take it. I will stand.”
Sefina studies me for a moment, then hesitantly takes the seat and straps herself in as Kelta lifts us up. “Hi.”
I’m not surprised Thruster’s mate is a pilot. It makes sense.
Kelta adjusts the sunshade band over her eyes, swings her braids behind a shoulder, and smiles at Sefina. “You must be Fin.”
“I’ve heard about you from Poppy. A rebel from the outer rim, right?”
“Yes. Titan communication is amazing, isn’t it? How far can it reach?” Kelta and Sefina talk as if I’m not standing behind them, watching and listening. And suddenly I get a sense of how humans must feel when I speak silently with my Brothers.
“Med kit is on the bench,” Kelta says, barely sparing me a glance. “Thruster wanted to be here, but he’s busy doing one last scan for other lost Titans. Clover just wants the last piece of the scanner back on board—the range booster.
“She says part of it got ripped out during the crash. They got enough scanners working that they could detect the part not far from the outpost that captured Chaos. That Solcrue base has since been destroyed. But there’s a tunnel that connects to an underground facility a few klicks east into the mountains. Its network will take you to the outpost that has the device now, based on their scan.”
I open the medkit and find the dermal repair gel. “That’s where we’re headed?”
“Yes. Fury said it’s still occupied by someone, likely the outpost survivors.”
Sefina rubs her forehead. “So it’s close to the BlazeStar’s location?”
Kelta nods. “Which means we can’t just blow it to shit or we’ll give away where we are. Commander Savage wants you two because of your stealth capabilities and knowledge of the Solcrue security systems. He wants the targets eliminated and the device recovered. No survivors.”
“Sefi,” I say as gently as I can. “I need to pull your hair—”
“Oof,” Kelta interjects with a waggle of her brows. “Not a lot of time for that, you two.”
Sefina scoffs and corrals her silky black waves away from me. “Don’t touch my hair.”
I lift the gel. “I need itupand out of my way so I can apply this.”
Sefina frowns, then collects her long ponytail and holds it aside. I dab the paste against her damaged skin at the back of her head and watch it slowly seal up beneath the drying blood all the while thinking about Kelta’s dirty mind and wondering if Thruster pulls her braids. He doesn’t seem like he’d be rough in bed.But he is an adrenaline junkie.
