Page 60 of The Space Between Stars

Niklaus squinted at the boy. “Attilatia Mitar?”

“Yes, the foundation of your livelihood. Creation, if your brain ran half as fast as your mouth did.”

Niklaus stroked his chin, and appeared surprised to discover a beard had begun to form over it. “You can’t blame me for not making the connection sooner. She clearly took all the good genes.”

Dex’s slim face drew long. Then he flung a war cry, his loosened fists, and all his dignity at the gangly dishwasher, who held up a tray in a pitiful attempt to protect himself. Calver caught Dex in the gut mid-leap and strong-armed him into a headlock.

“Get. Off. Meee!”

Calver could just let them kill each other. It might be the easiest way to get out of this dilemma.

Dex thrashed against him. “It was bad enough that they set me up with you, Meyernes! Transgressor against everything she’s worked to build!” Calver tightened his hold. “Don’t trust him, Nameless! He’d do anything to topple Aetech, and he’ll con you into doing his bidding.”

On second thought, toppling Aetech did sound convenient.

Niklaus scoffed and leaned against the wagon’s frame, though he kept his tray at the ready. “Hardly my present focus.”

“Then why did you give a man on the restricted list—at the top of command's watch list—access to Aethertech Mechanics’ technology?”

Calver’s muscles clenched. Dex was Thyatira’s plant, after all. His arm was already locked around the boy’s neck. Tightening his grip would be simple. And he needed to be removed.

Didn’t he?

“It was a gamble, alright?” Niklaus admitted.

“For what? Another scheme that will allow you to capitalize on the insurance?”

“I needed resources so that I could ultimately tell the truth.”

“What truth?”

“That the General Prime is conspiring against Nelfindar’s sky society, and the Groundlings are his tool to do it.”

Calver’s grip slackened and Dex shouldered away from him, hands balled. “That’s a perversion of a national hero. He’s supporting Groundlings, not using them.”

Niklaus ignored him and gestured to Calver. “I wouldn’t be surprised if loud-mouth here is right and these plates are defective as a part of it.”

Niklaus was still an ally. An addict, perhaps, but in a desert of deaf soldiers, the man with one ear wore the crown.

Calver told him.

Niklaus blinked twice at Calver’s hands. “I—I’m what?”

Calver grimaced. He’d already dipped a reluctant toe into this alliance. Niklaus had proven himself enough for Calver to take the plunge.

The moment was a boulder upon a precipice, and Calver waited for it to crash down on his head. Niklaus’s eyes were bloodshot. It was hard to tell whether he was emotional or intoxicated. “We… We—do we need to have a conversation?”

Most likely both.

Dex tensed. “What’s he saying?”

Niklaus shot Dex a look. The man’s signals were sloppy and difficult to distinguish.

Niklaus’s nose wrinkled.