“He’s naïve like every other CSP traitor,” Firebolt remarks.
“Yes,” I confirm. “Not much else to do but listen when I was crawling through the guts of enemy ships.”
“Why not just blow them up?” Karambit asks.
“Looking for my sister. Solcrue took her a decade ago.” I lift my hands. “She’s alive. But she’s not the same. I’ve been trying to find a way to get to her. I did that when I released all the other women from their cells. I just had to get access to all the different systems lined up in the perfect order. Can’t release women without a place for them to go that’s safer, plus a way to get there. And Rogue Evo needed an escape. He was onVessna. I was onMarst, but I monitored both because they were in close proximity.”
Javelin gives Armor a wild look like he doesn’t believe it.
“I’m a Gray. After the Tetrionic era of battle ended five years ago, Solcrue started coming to Earth Minor in waves, taking women as servants of various kinds. Some worked ships. Some as practice mates for officers. I’ve been caught a few times. Slipped free. Freed those I could when I could. But again,destination and transportation. I couldn’t afford tag-a-longs. I barely kept myself alive.”
Whip gets to his feet from where he’s been sitting with Turbine. He looks like he’s wrecked inside. He walks to Slasher’s side. “We all have regrets. If I could go back, I would change many things. I would pull Harpoon and Mischief back and take the missile for both of them. But I can’t. So we carry the fallen with us in our memories and our ultromotors as we get our revenge.”
A green unit with tracework all over his body steps forward. Radar salutes Armor with a fist over his chest. “I will go with Carver to scout the surface. We will find a route to the CSP outpost.”
“We will be right behind you.” Armor takes a nearby gear bag and straps it over himself backward, then picks up Fenrir and hoists him across his shoulders, using his wings to hold him in place. “Let’s move. Not much time left.”
I find a crate of wiring and parts that Atox has picked through. “Care if I steal from what’s left?”
He motions to it, and I grab a few items. “A Gray… I haven’t heard of those in years. Glad there are still a few of you out there.”
“I may be the last.” I pack the supplies in my bag and fish out my empty bottle of water.Might need a recharge of something else.“I’m going to scout with Radar, see if we can make a stop on the way. I’m sure you’d all like to properly hydrate and wash off.”
“Don’t stray too far from Armor,” Atox quietly warns. “Once you’re in his squadron, he will always want to know where you are. Since you can’t talk with our coms, you’ll need to tell him.”
“I’m going to be just ahead of the group. How can that be too far? It’s not like there’s anywhere I can go.”
Atox hoists a duffel bag over a shoulder and frees a device from his side as the Titans pick up their sleeping brothers. He passes what looks like a medical diagnostics unit over Anilius, whose striped body dangles from the grip of Javelin and Mace. Anilius is crushed in several places.
“Any chance you know Titan tech?” Atox asks.
“We had a shell to study in the pit. That’s it. Only reason we had it was because it was scrapped during the final retreat from Titan. It never got nanotoner fluid or a cyberpsyche download.”
“That’s decent. We may need your help.”
“Understood. Let me just talk to Radar about the creek network.”
Atox gives me a look like I shouldn’t. But I don’t care. I want water. The Titans need it. I know where it is. But as I skip ahead in the pack, Armor calls after me.
“Esthi?”
“I’m just going to talk with Radar.”
“You need to stay with the squadron.”
All I want is some space to think. It’s been a rush of running and digging and charging Titans. I’m not used to it. I need the silence. So I slip out behind Radar and Carver, who is boring a fresh tunnel.
“Radar is not going to stop and help you if you get stuck.”
“I don’t expect him to. He has a job to do.”
“Esthi!” Armor hustles after me, then stops and looks back at his Brothers like he’s torn between who to protect.
I like the space between Radar and Armor. It’s dark and quiet except for Armor calling my name. But we don’t have time to waste. My sister might be on the BlazeStar. We need water, a ship, and to get moving. And I do not want to be a drag. I don’t want to be too slow. Armor’s made it clear that I move slowly. So if I start at the front, that gives me a chance to lag in pace without being left behind completely.
I’m not helpless.
In one hand, I carry my gun, in the other, my knife. I expect an attack. It’s just like being back in the vents of a ship, only fighting vertically instead of horizontally.Or the mines, looking for thorndogs.
