by R. D. Brady
The deserters exchanged looks. Riley could tell they were on the edge. They wanted to believe Thor, but they weren’t sure.
Movement across the space drew his attention as Petra stepped out, her arms up. If Thor’s appearance caused a stir, Petra’s appearance caused an explosion. All of the deserters whirled around, their shoulders tense, their weapons in their hands and aimed at her.
Thor stepped toward Petra. “No, no, no. She’s one of the humans I live with. She came with me to find you.”
Petra didn’t reach for her weapons. She kept her hands up. “He’s right. I’m not here to fight you. But I am hoping that you can answer some questions.”
The blonde Unwelcome looked between Petra and Thor. “And if we don’t?”
Petra shrugged. “Then I will be incredibly disappointed. Because the Naku have taken someone very important to me, and I’m hoping you might know something that will help me get him back.”
The deserters had not lowered their weapons while Petra was speaking. But now the blonde lowered her romag back until the tip was touching the ground.
“What do you want to know?”
15
The group of deserters sat across from Petra, Riley, and Thor. Although they had agreed to answer questions, it was obvious they were uneasy with Petra’s appearance, not to mention Riley’s. But Riley was surprised that in the presence of these five Unwelcome, he had not felt the familiar warmth crawl over him. His abilities had not kicked in. He wondered if that meant these five were not actually a threat. Or if his abilities would only kick in when there was an immediate threat.
The angry Unwelcome sat on the edge of a log, his spear pointed at the ground but still grasped within his hand. The others kept their spears at their sides, within easy reach, while their hands remained empty. Riley supposed that was as close to trust as they were going to get. Riley’s own weapons were within easy reach as well.
They had exchanged names before they sat down, but since shaking hands was not typical Unwelcome behavior, they did not extend theirs and neither did any on Riley’s side.
Petra began the questioning. “I suppose we should start with the biggest question. Why did you leave your post?”
The blonde Unwelcome, whose name was Trexth, looked at the others before speaking. “We were all stationed together for the last six months. But for the last two, things were … different.”
The other female, named Jxaedlin, continued. “We were stationed in New City. I was stationed at the gate. I was part of the intake for new members of New City.” She flicked her gaze at Riley and Petra before casting her eyes to the ground.
Riley knew what she wasn’t saying. She had been one of the ones who had killed the Cursed. She had also been one of the ones that had taken children in trade for passage to New City.
Jxaedlin cleared her throat. “I don’t know what happened. But one day, I couldn’t do it anymore. A child, she was maybe twelve. They didn’t know for sure if she was Cursed, but she was close enough to the age that they didn’t want to take a chance. I was ordered to kill her … I couldn’t do it.”
“What did you do?” Thor asked.
“I hit the human liaison over the head, knocking him out. And then I told the child to run. A human tried to grab her as she ran by. I dusted them. The last thing I saw was the child disappearing into the trees.”
“What did your partner do?” Riley asked, knowing that there are always two Unwelcome stationed at the entrances.
“I let her do it.” Klapx crossed his arms over his massive chest.
Jxaedlin gave him a small smile. “The humans fled, not sure what was happening. In the chaos of the moment, Klapx and I also took to the woods. That was three days ago.”
“They stopped the intakes after that,” Staexin said. “And we learned that we were going to be restricted to the mothership. Ixghet and I left the next day.”
“And I joined them this morning,” Trexth said.
“How many of you have abandoned your posts?” Riley asked.
Trexth shook her head. “I couldn’t say for sure. But it seems that there have been two or three missing from every shuttle for the last month.”
Riley exchanged a startled look with Petra. That meant at least sixty. And that was just one shuttle. There could be hundreds who’d left all over the area.
“Do you know where they’ve gone?” Thor asked.
Jxaedlin shook his head. “We five spoke one day about where we would go. That’s how we found each other again. We’ve been trying to decide what our next step is.”
Riley scoffed. “Yeah we heard your decision-making process.”
Petra glared at him before turning back to the five deserters. “You’ll have to excuse him. His brother was taken during the raid on the breeding facility. We think he’s on the mothership. Have any of you heard something about that?”
Trexth shrugged. “Like we said, we’ve been stationed in New City.”
Jxaedlin glanced at her compatriots. “One day, actually, they put me on the mothership. It was about two days ago. I was part of the Esteemed Leader’s protection detail.”
Riley leaned forward. “And?”
“The Esteemed Leader went to a part of the ship I’d never been in before. There was some sort of gymnasium set up with lots of different obstacles. It was similar to the ones that we had during training, but it wasn’t located in the training area on the ship. I was stationed on the floor of the gymnasium along with a dozen others. The Esteemed Leader was up in the observation deck with another six chelvah. Then a human with dark skin was brought in.”
Now Petra leaned forward. “Was he missing half an arm?”
She nodded slowly. “But it was an old injury. It had long since healed.”
“That’s Miles,” Petra said excitedly. “Was he okay? Was he hurt? Did you see any injuries on him?”
“What did they have him do? Where were they keeping him?” Riley asked.
Jxaedlin reared back, looking between Riley and Petra. Thor put a hand on Riley’s arm. Riley glanced over at him, annoyed, and then read the fear flashing across the face of Jxaedlin.
It was a strange thing to see. For so long, the Unwelcome had been the bogeyman in the night. Now here were five of them. They outnumbered him and Petra, and yet this one looked scared.
Riley dialed back his emotions. “Sorry. It’s just we’ve been so worried. We weren’t even sure he was—” He cut off the words, not wanting to say them out loud. He’d barely been able to admit them to himself internally.
Petra took a deep breath. “Yes, sorry. But was he okay?”
Jxaedlin nodded. “Besides the arm, he had no noticeable injuries. And the test they ran him through, it was more of a training exercise. They wanted to see him climb a rope.”
Petra grinned. “I bet they were pretty surprised when he did.”
“We all were. We didn’t think it was possible with his …” She gestured to her own arm.
“Miles has never let that stop him. Do you know where they were keeping him?” Riley asked.
“I was only there for the one day. But I do know that there are cells located one floor below the training room that we were in. Naku Aek’s lab is also over there. I think that is probably where your friend is being held.”
Thor leaned forward. “Would you be able to describe exactly where this training room is and where the cells are? Could you draw the route from the nearest landing bay?”
Jxaedlin nodded. “Yes, I suppose I could.”
Relief washed over Riley. It wasn’t a guarantee that they would get him back. But it was definitely a step in the right direction.
16
Riley, Thor, and Petra offered the deserters a place to stay. Three of them took them up on their offer, but two turn them down.
Riley wasn’t surprised, and he was a little relieved that Ixghet had turned them down. He seemed like he was carrying a little bit too much anger right now to assimilate well into the Gats
by. And Riley knew personally about carrying too much anger.
Thor camped out for the night with the deserters while Petra and Riley headed back to the Fringe. At dusk, they once again kept an eye out for deserters, this time with Pxedlin. Just before dawn, they did notice two more slipping out of the same exit. Unfortunately, those two had too much of a head start, and they were unable to track them down.
Lewis, Pierce, and Imogen arrived an hour later. Dax had stayed with the three deserters they had come across earlier. Riley and Petra sent the rest ahead as they slipped into the Fringe to touch base with Jane and Max. Riley knew that Lyla would be mad if she knew they were there, but they needed to know if Max or Jane were having any luck.
They made their way to the small house that Max had been staying in. They quietly walked to the front door and were about to knock when it was pulled open. Otto’s mouth dropped when he saw the two of them. He quickly ushered them inside.
“What are you two doing here?”
Riley stepped past him and into the room. “We needed to know if you’d had any luck.”
Otto nodded to the kitchen. The three of them made their way to the back. Jane turned from where she was at the stove, surprise flashing across her face as well. Then she sighed.
“You guys really aren’t much for keeping yourselves safe, are you? I’ll put on some more coffee.”
Petra got up and helped Jane arrange the coffee mugs and pour the coffee. As they all settled around the table, Petra spoke. “We have a line on Miles, and we were wondering if you’d had any luck with the people here.”
Jane took a sip from her coffee mug with a nod. “Actually, we have. I spoke with three people yesterday. I’ve known them for years. They are definitely not fans of the Naku. But like me, they didn’t have anywhere else to go. They’re nervous but interested.”
“Max said he spoke with four people who had a similar response,” Otto said. “I think if we demonstrate that we’re serious, they’ll help us out. But they’re nervous about it as well. They’re suspicious it might be some sort of test. Apparently the McGoverns aren’t above that sort of thing.”
Riley growled, thinking of the yellow-robed people he’d seen when he’d gone into New City. They turned in their own people for infractions of the Naku’s rules. They sided with the Naku against humans. As far as Riley was concerned, they were as much their enemy as the Naku were.
“We’ve had some luck as well,” Petra said. “One of the deserters that we came across saw Miles on the mothership. She wasn’t sure exactly where on the ship he was being held, but she was fairly certain she knows the location.”
“That’s great,” Otto said.
“And it coincides nicely with what I just learned,” Jane said. “The Unwelcome are being called back to the ship. One of my friends from the dispensary said that the Naku have been all over the factory. They discovered the Ka Sama sabotage. They must be calling them back to get their levels reestablished.”
“But that’s horrible,” Petra said. “That means there will be more on the ship. That means there will be more we’ll have to get through to get to Miles.”
Jane shook her head. “No. It’s actually a good thing. The Ka Sama works as a sleep aid. I think they’re going to put them in a sleep state for an extended period of time. So even though they’re going to be on the ship, they won’t be able to fight.”
Riley smiled. “Which means it will be easier to get through New City to get on the ship. And then once we get on the ship, there will be less Unwelcome in our way.”
Petra met his gaze. “Which means if we are going to get Miles back, we need to do it soon.”
17
The doors hissed open. One of the Unwelcome behind Miles prodded him forward with the tip of his romag. Miles shook his head at the guard. “Really, 41-G, aren’t we past this point? Use your words.”
“Go inside,” 17-H said quietly.
Miles had talked with his guards each time they stood outside his cell. He’d been keeping track, and it had been at least a week. And two nights ago, he’d had a breakthrough: 17-H had asked his first question: What is a friend?
Miles had been explaining how he and Riley had found Petra. Then he’d been speaking of some of the trouble they’d gotten in and out of together. The question had taken him aback. For all the time he’d been on the ship, he’d gotten used to talking without any verbal response. It had gotten to the point that he’d kept talking simply to remind himself of who was waiting for him outside the ship, to remind himself that he had family that cared about him. That his life was not inside the Naku’s walls but outside, waiting for him.
So the question had thrown him. It had been only one question, but Miles took it at as a positive sign. It meant the Ka Sama sabotage had not been detected yet. The Naku were paying for their arrogance.
But even as he thought it, he knew it wasn’t arrogance. They weren’t an arrogant race. They were a logical, unemotional race. They didn’t hate humans or the avad. Both species were simply a means to an end for the Naku. Any resistance was simply a problem to be analyzed and addressed. As far as the Ka Sama was concerned, they had developed and tested it centuries ago, and it kept the Unwelcome in line and obedient. It had been perfected generations ago. They had no reason to suspect it was not continuing in the same fashion.
It was one of their major flaws. But as far as Miles could tell, they had many. The first being their reliance on the Unwelcome for their security and physical needs. The Naku were so weak, even the most basic of physical tasks was out of the realm of possibility for them. Whenever Miles was near, they made sure they had at least ten Unwelcome guarding them. It was a wise precaution but also a telling one.
At the same time, Miles had no intention of attacking one of them. The momentary satisfaction of that action would be outweighed by the damage the Unwelcome would do to him. And if by some miracle he managed to escape the ten of them, there was nowhere for him to go. He was on the mothership. He’d confirmed that.
It was also crawling with Unwelcome, and it wasn’t like there was a window he could sneak out of. He’d need a ship to make it back to the surface. And he had no idea how to fly one or even find one. He’d be just as likely to get himself killed in the process as he was to free himself.
But if things got bad enough, that might be his only option.
Right now, though, they seemed to be interested in his physical capabilities more than anything else. They’d put him through obstacle courses, made him perform physical feats of strength, and even do straight-out runs. He’d willingly participated in all of them. Not to help them, but to keep himself strong.
His abilities had not manifested in any of those exercises. Through a human liaison, the Naku questioned him as to why, but Miles said nothing. And he felt the first emotion from them: frustration. He was not reacting the way they expected. They expected him to refuse to engage in any activities. They expected his abilities to manifest when he did. And the fact that neither of those was true was confounding them.
Miles stepped into the room he’d come to think of as the gymnasium. It had sheer metal walls that shot up at least forty feet. Ramps and metal obstacles were strewn across it. This was where he had completed all of the other physical tests.
Unlike all those other times, however, neither guard stepped forward with him. He frowned, glancing back at them. The doors slid shut behind him.
Now that was unusual.
He stared at the doors for a moment. They were made of clear glass as well. 41-G turned his back to the door, but 17-H stood watching him. Miles frowned, staring at the guard, but his helmet kept him from revealing anything, if he actually wanted to reveal anything. Miles turned back to the room. While he always had at least two guards escorting him, in this room there was usually at least another half dozen guards.
Today it was empty.
He wandered through the obstacles. On his right, there was a series of increasingly taller obstacles that he�
��d climbed over a few days ago. There were circular objects that he’d jumped over. There was a rope that he’d climbed. Compared to some of Lyla’s workouts, this had been kind of easy. Almost fun, in fact.
His ability to climb the rope seemed to have particularly flummoxed the Naku. They expected that because of his half arm, it would be beyond his ability. But Lyla and Riley had never let him use his arm as an excuse. So he’d learned to climb ropes, relying on his legs to keep him steady. He’d even managed a technique that involved his half arm. Maybe he was making the Naku rethink the usefulness of those they considered expendable.
Of course, given the lives they would lead, Miles didn’t exactly consider that an achievement.
The doors at the far side of the room hissed as they slid open.
Miles’s head jolted toward it. He stopped, his mouth falling open. An Unwelcome stood there, sans helmet, a romag clasped in their hand. Miles had never seen an Unwelcome on the ship without their helmet. Which meant the Naku wanted to see his reaction to this Unwelcome. And even though Miles knew that’s what they wanted, he couldn’t keep himself from stepping forward. The Unwelcome was in the shadows, so Miles couldn’t make out their features. Then they stepped into the light.
Anixquold.
Goose bumps rose along Miles’s skin as Arthur’s sister crossed the room toward him. “Anixquold, what are you doing here?”
“What I have been ordered to do.” She brought the romag up, swinging it at Miles’s head.
He ducked, rolling out of the way and back to his feet. “What are you doing?”
She didn’t answer, at least not verbally. Instead, she swung the romag over and over again, her face expressionless.
Miles dodged and weaved, staying out of her reach as his arm materialized.
He flew up a ramp, standing above her. “You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to do what they say.”
She winced, her eyes unfocused. Miles glanced up at the observation window. Xantar sat there, staring intently down at the two of them, a guard on either side of him. The Esteemed Leader had watched some of his other tests as well.