Shrouded Loyalties

by Reese Hogan

  “So why would your captain have self-destructed?”

  A look of annoyance crossed her face, but she didn’t turn away from her work. “Because we were captured by Dhavvies, Andrew.”

  “I always thought…”

  “What?”

  “I mean, in Mother and Father’s notes, they discussed the possibility of self-destruct systems, but it was always so the things in that other realm of theirs – whatever it was that ripped the test subjects apart – didn’t get the technology. They talked about never leaving anything from here there, in case something got hold of it. I…” He shrugged uneasily. “I got the feeling they thought those shrouding creatures might get out if they did.”

  Mila did look at him then, her eyes a bit wider than normal. “Is that true? That’s what it’s for?”

  “I think so. I thought so.”

  She cursed under her breath and bent back to the wires. Andrew listened to the rumble of the motors, felt the soothing vibration of the submarine against his back and under his feet. He couldn’t see anything from the tiny room, couldn’t tell if Holland had picked up the other soldier’s body yet.

  He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering Cu Zanthus kissing him against the loading truck. Would he ever do it again? Would he do more? Not if Andrew let him down, he wouldn’t.

  Andrew let his eyes drift open, looking at the barely visible ladder beyond Mila. Down here, no one would hear him even if he did try to give her up. No one except Mila, who’d knock him out in a second. Besides, those soldiers at Kheppra Isle had almost killed her; the ones here might do the same. Once Cu Zanthus was involved again, it would be OK. He’d tell them not to hurt her. He’d tell them he and Andrew had talked about it, about just keeping her prisoner if they had to.

  “There is a broken wire!” Mila exclaimed. Andrew looked over to see her holding the two pieces in her hands. She picked up some of the others, shuffling through them with her thumb. “Why would this one have gotten such worse wear than any others? It almost feels like it’s been scraped. With a knife.”

  She sat back, a tense look on her face. “I told you one of my deckmates had dekatite, right? And that’s why we were attacked during shrouding?”

  “No…” Andrew said cautiously. But Mila wasn’t talking to him, not really. She was still staring at the wire.

  “This department could have had one, too,” she said. “A saboteur. A spy. It would’ve been hard for anyone outside the department – like Deckman Vin – to get down here, at least not without landing in the captain’s office.” She raised her eyes to meet Andrew’s. Her dark face had gone a shade paler.

  “What?” Andrew said warily. “What is it?”

  “Holland was found down here at least twice,” she said softly. “Holland? Your Holland?”

  “Yes. Deckman Holland. He had dekatite, too. And he… he speaks Dhavvish.” A slow look of horror was spreading across her face now.

  “Just because he speaks Dhavvish–” Andrew began.

  “No. Not just that,” Mila cut in. “It’s the way he walked onto that submarine base and ordered those men around. It’s the fact that he chased down a sniper, when a rookie like him should have been scared stiff. It’s the way he cracked that man’s head back, just now in the torpedo room!” Her eyes had gone distant, as if she were picturing those things in her mind right that moment.

  Andrew swallowed. “What are you thinking?”

  Her eyes slowly focused again. Something dangerous had awoken in them. “There’s no way Kyle Holland is some kid fresh out of the academy,” she said. “He’s just very good at pretending to be.”

  “You’re not saying–”

  “Yes. I am,” she growled. “And if I hadn’t been so cursed distracted lately, I would have seen it sooner!” Her head snapped up, eyes locking on his.

  Andrew stiffened, his back pressing harder into the wall.

  “Please tell me you didn’t know,” Mila said, her voice low and furious.

  “What? No! Of course not!” Andrew stammered.

  Blackwood’s mouth twisted and she turned back to the wire. “Get me some banding tape for this. Tool locker, other side of the compartment. It’s silver. Hurry!”

  Andrew jumped up and opened the locker four steps behind her, just outside the tiny room. He found the skinny roll of tape and passed it back, running his eyes over the still-empty compartment as he did. Mila tore off a piece, binding the two broken ends together. Andrew was still standing in the doorway, watching the far ladder, when Holland appeared without warning halfway down the compartment. She ran straight past Andrew and through the doorway, pausing with her hand on the jamb.

  “CSO!” she gasped. “They’re here! The backup. They were lowered from an autorotor. The… the one who captured me, his commanding officer, a whole bunch more, and they know where you are, they’re coming–”

  Mila shot to her feet, stumbling only slightly on her wounded leg. She grabbed Holland around the neck and slammed her against the orange pipes. With her other hand, she slapped the arphanium pipe from her grip. It rolled across the floor, toward the wire Mila had just repaired. “Of course they know where we are. Because you told them, didn’t you?”

  Holland’s eyes flicked to the bound wire to the arphanium pipe, then back to Mila, her breath coming quick. “CSO, I’ll tell you whatever you want, but if we don’t leave now–”

  “Leave? Leave this submarine of explosives to hit Marldox? You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You’ve set it all up very nicely.”

  “I didn’t set this up!” Holland burst out. “I have nothing to do with this! I’m trying to save your life, CSO, you and your brother both–”

  Andrew crept away while Mila’s back was turned and clambered up the ladder the unconscious soldier had been below earlier. He found himself at the floor level of another narrow corridor lined with white steel containers. The room was just as noisy as the one below, if not more so. From his left, he heard the ring of boots along the metal floors. He looked up and saw a small group of men headed his way. A man with dark wavy hair led them. Cu Zanthus was at his side. Andrew’s breath caught when he saw the gun at his friend’s waist. There was something about it that made him seem so… so much older. He couldn’t place whether it was a good feeling or a bad one, but it shook him more than he expected.

  “Andrew,” Cu Zanthus said sharply. He glanced at the man beside him, who sneered down at Andrew. Cu Zanthus knelt, grabbing his wrist. “You’re gonna blow your cover,” he said through his teeth.

  “Oh. Right. I just–”

  Still holding his wrist, Cu Zanthus wrenched him from the ladder, then swung down the short distance to the lower room. Andrew clanged against the brass tank as he fell from the ladder. Mila looked back. From the angle they were at, Andrew couldn’t see Holland. Cu Zanthus’s associate and the soldiers following him poured into the compartment between them.

  “There she is, Leuftkernel Lyanirus!” one of the soldiers said.

  “Yes, I see that!” the man beside Cu Zanthus snapped. “Grab her!”

  Right in front of Andrew, one of the men pulled a pistol before running forward. Andrew yanked his hand from Cu Zanthus’s grip.

  “They won’t kill her, right?” he said.

  “Holland has arphanium, doesn’t he?” said Cu Zanthus.

  “Yes, but–”

  “That’s how he escaped. It’s that mark. Can he do it without, or does he need the arphanium?”

  “I think he needs it–”

  “Where is he? Is he still with you?”

  Andrew looked again toward the little room they’d been in, but the soldiers were blocking the way now. Was she still there? Or had she managed to grab the arphanium and get away? He turned back to Cu Zanthus.

  “So you didn’t send h- him to get us?”

  “No! I need to find him and take that arphanium before he can get away again!”

  “I’m on it!” said Andrew. Before Cu Zanthus could answer, he dar
ted forward, scrambling up the bombs and pipes to squeeze between the ceiling and the top of a tall locker midway through the room. He wriggled on his stomach toward the back, through a space so cramped he couldn’t even raise his head. From his vantage point, he saw Mila yanked from the small room and slammed against the other side of the corridor, one soldier on each arm. She was lunging and kicking, and one of them already had a bloody nose. The other one threw an elbow into her stomach. Mila buckled, vomiting over the slatted floor.

  Before Andrew realized what he was doing, he swung his legs from the locker and jumped into their midst. He shoved the man who’d hit Mila.

  “Don’t hurt her!” he yelled.

  The man pushed him back and he crashed into the front of the locker door. Cu Zanthus’s commanding officer stormed forward. He pulled a gun and pressed it against Andrew’s forehead, forcing his head back against the locker. Mila screamed.

  “Sir. Sir!” yelled Cu Zanthus. He ran forward, shoving soldiers away to place himself in front of Andrew. He pushed the gun aside. “Leuftkernel, don’t! I’ll take care of it.”

  “I don’t have time for this!” the other man snarled.

  Cu Zanthus grabbed Andrew by the back of his neck and pulled him away, toward the back of the compartment. Behind him, Andrew heard Mila cry out again. He tried to turn his head, but Cu Zanthus tightened his grip on his neck, keeping his face turned forward.

  “You promised you wouldn’t kill her!” Andrew said.

  “We’re not! We want her alive. Pull yourself together.”

  “You swear?”

  “Yes! You’re the one who’s gonna end up dead, acting that way!” Delayed adrenaline surged through Andrew. He put a hand to his forehead. “I’m sorry–”

  “Focus, Andrew. We were talking about Holland.”

  “Holland!” He looked forward, where he could just see her feet. She appeared to be on her hands and knees, no doubt trying to find the arphanium shard Mila had knocked from her hand. Mila’s shouts were fading; he thought they were probably taking her up top. Andrew hesitated, but only for a second. Cu Zanthus had said they wanted Mila alive, probably because of that mark she had. Holland also had a mark. They wouldn’t kill her, either.

  He bolted forward and rounded the small doorway. Holland was on her stomach, her hand out of sight in the section of floor Mila had removed. She looked back at the sound of his footsteps, her eyes wide and terrified. Andrew ran forward and grabbed her other hand, the one with the makeshift bandage on it. He tried to pull her away from the compartment. She shoved him off, baring her teeth. He could see her other hand in the darkness, illuminated by the slight glow of the arphanium pipe. Her fingers were barely gripping it, as if she’d just stretched far enough to reach it.

  Cu Zanthus came in right behind Andrew. He grabbed Holland’s legs and yanked her out. Holland howled in pain as her battered body slid across the rough floor. But she was still clutching that arphanium within her fingertips.

  “Andrew! Take it from him!” Cu Zanthus shouted.

  “Kommandir! What’s the hold up?” called Leuftkernel Lyanirus from the bigger section.

  Andrew lunged for Holland’s other side. She chopped the blade of her hand down on the bridge of his nose. He reeled back, half-blinded by pain. Holland freed one of her feet and kicked Cu Zanthus in the jaw, snapping his head back. Then she curled her legs away from him – and was gone.

  Andrew peered up, hands over his bleeding nose and tears of pain standing in his eyes. Cu Zanthus was raising himself to a crouch, one hand against his jaw.

  Lyanirus stood in the doorway, staring down at them in fury. “Hollanelea was here?” he roared. “Why didn’t you say something?” His gaze shot to Andrew. His lips thinned and he raised the gun again.

  But before he could fire, Holland appeared behind Lyanirus. She grabbed his shoulder. Andrew only had time to see her murderous glare, pinned directly on him, before she vanished again, taking the officer with her.

  Andrew pulled his hands down. He used his sleeve to wipe the blood away, though his arm was shaking badly. “I thought–” he began.

  Cu Zanthus leaned forward and slapped him across the face, hard. Andrew jerked back in shock. He stared at Cu Zanthus, trying to remember how to breathe.

  “How could you let him go?” Cu Zanthus snapped. “What is wrong with you? Now he’s taken the leuftkernel! Do you know how bad this is?”

  Heat washed across Andrew’s cheeks, followed by a crippling wave of shame. “I’m sorry! I tried–”

  “Did you? If you hadn’t stopped back there to check on your sister, we would have made it before he got away. This isn’t good enough, Andrew! If you want to be my partner, you need to act first and think later, and you damn well don’t worry about whether your target got bruised while they were trying to kill you! Do you hear me?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I just – everything happened so fast–”

  “Where did he go? Where did Holland go?”

  Andrew struggled to get himself under control before Cu Zanthus hit him again. “Sh- shrouding! That shrouding realm, the one from the notes.”

  “The one with the monsters?”

  “Yes! And the ring and the smoke and the volcanoes and the…”

  Cu Zanthus cursed, cutting him off once more. Andrew turned away and put his face between his knees, pressing his hands as hard as he could to the sides of his head. He wanted to keep pouring out apologies, excuses, to say how much he hated himself, anything to make Cu Zanthus forgive him; but he was also sure that Cu Zanthus would strike him again at any moment, so he forced himself to hold the words and the panic back, though he felt it would kill him. He just wanted to be gone. Gone somewhere so far and so small that he’d never have to look at himself or anyone else again – somewhere he could cease to exist at all.

  He felt Cu Zanthus’s hands around his wrists, pulling them down. He tried to push himself away, but Cu Zanthus wrapped his arms around him and drew him close. Andrew found his head pressed close to the Dhavnak soldier’s chest, the man’s heartbeat strong and steady in his ears.

  “Calm down,” said Cu Zanthus quietly. “I know you’ll do better next time.”

  Another wave of humiliation washed over Andrew. He closed his eyes tight. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

  “Yes,” he finally choked out. “I will. I promise.”

  Chapter 23

  KLARA YANA’S RETALIATION

  The bullet meant for Andrew shattered the still silence of the shrouding realm, sending a spray of rocks from the sheer cliff rising straight above them. Klara Yana let go of Lyanirus immediately and took two quick steps backward, lifting her palm from the arphanium just long enough so she could make the connection again and shroud back out. But Lyanirus whipped around, faster than she would have thought possible, and slammed the pistol down on her left wrist. Her hand went numb, and the pipe tumbled from her fingers. Lyanirus shoved the barrel of the gun under her chin, pushing her head back, and forced her backward until she hit the cliff wall. One of the suns, smaller than even Bitu Lan, shone weakly through the smoke overhead. The wide starry ring arced across the sky beneath. She didn’t think Lyanirus had even noticed it. Somewhere above them, a low moan sounded, ending after several moments in a screeching cough. Lyanirus didn’t seem to notice that, either. He just stared down at her, his green eyes glittering in the shade from the cliff.

  “I didn’t think it was possible,” he said. “I thought I was imagining things. But now that I see you again…” He shook his head, laughing under his breath. “You’re a woman. And not just any woman. You’re Ambassador Talgeron’s daughter. Aren’t you?”

  Even though she’d half-expected it, the confirmation still came as a shock. She fought her sudden surge of fear down, but she could tell by the leuftkernel’s smirk that he’d seen it on her face.

  “What have you done with her?” Klara Yana said.

  “What have I done with her?” Lyanirus raised his eyebrows. �
�Your ama broke the law. She used government funds to incite movements and rebellion from Dhavnakir to Vassis to Descar. How is this about what I’ve done?”

  “She did all that?”

  “Oh yes. And even then, I would have been happy to let her serve her sentence out in one of our lighter labor camps. But she hadn’t been there even five cycles before she broke free, changed her name, and fled to Belzen. I suppose she thought they could help get her daughter out of Dhavnakir. Well. She was wrong.”

  Something turned over in Klara Yana’s stomach even before Lyanirus spoke his next words, watching her closely as he did.

  “Belzen killed her.”

  The ground seemed to rock beneath Klara Yana’s feet. “No,” she whispered.

  “You and your partner brought us the information yourselves,” he said. “Idyna Larine Onosylvani. That was the alias she used. Sound familiar?”

  Klara Yana heard Zurlig’s dying words in her head, as she’d struggled to make Blackwood understand. President Wixxer gave her to SAI, for studying. It was because of her…

  She shook her head, trying to shove herself farther back into the cliff. Trying to get away from the things he was saying. “You’re lying.”

  “Denial is such a cowardly trait. No wonder you were a terrible agent.”

  “No!” she shot back. “I mean, you’re lying about Belzen killing her! It was a Dhavnak assassin! Everyone knows that.”

  A slow smile spread across Lyanirus’s face, very like the one he’d given her right before beating her. “You might call it a combination. There was an accident in the lab, but it triggered the explosives wired underneath. If it’s any consolation, Kommandir Ayaterossi never knew he was partnered afterward with the child of the woman he killed. Then again, how could he have?”

  “Cu Zanthus?” Klara Yana said sharply. “But he was just a kid then!”

  “Yes, and only a child’s body could fit in the conduits beneath the laboratory. Why do you think we recruited him at fourteen?”

  “I figured it was because of Andrew…” she began.