Hyperion whipped into an elaborate horned owl avatar on Lakhes’ arrival. Vanity was not one of its better qualities.
“Praetor, how gracious of you to pay me a visit. Come to ensure I have not been troublesome?”
“Hyperion, I ask you to put aside ill sentiments and remember you have served the Idryma for epochs. I suspect you have served it because you believe profoundly in its purpose. If this is not so, say it and I will leave you to your lamentations.”
“And if it is so, Praetor?”
“I will ask you to serve it once more.”
“You offer to lift my exile from Amaranthe?”
Lakhes did not answer the question asked. “You directed an armada of warships in a campaign against the Humans. We are not fighters, but you have traveled closer to the reality of warring than the rest of us.”
“An act for which I will not express remorse, so if your intent is to shame me I regret to disappoint.”
Lakhes had spent cosmic ages manipulating the various personalities of the Conclave in such ways as to maintain harmony, cooperation and furtherance of all of their goals. Its skill in this endeavor was a primary reason why it was Praetor and the only reason why it did not so much as flinch at the provocation.
“You did so to cow them or, failing that, eliminate them, but the result was instead to unite them and urge them forward to greater accomplishments. For this, I am most grateful. Now you must listen, because our remaining time to act is no longer measured in centuries, but hours.”
Hyperion stilled. “Speak, then.”
“A new armada has been constructed and is awakened. Lead it—not against the Humans but alongside them. Add our forces to theirs in a gambit to destroy the Machim invaders who seek to destroy us both.”
Lakhes sensed Hyperion’s anxiety in the tremoring of the waves beneath its form, and waited.
“You realize we may merely be trading one master for another, and there is no guarantee the Humans will be the better option? I have seen their capacity for cruelty.”
“As have I, but I have also seen their capacity for kindness. Yes, it is a risk, but it is one I will gladly bear. Regardless, it matters not, for the die has been cast. Katoikia is gone. We are declared for Eradication and hunted throughout Amaranthe. A fleet of warships approaches to shatter the Mosaic and all it holds. We stand up now or perish for eternity.”
‘Eternity’ was not a word the Katasketousya used lightly, for they appreciated the magnitude of its meaning more than most, and Hyperion drew into itself. “I have devoted the entirety of my existence to ensuring our survival. I will stand.”
“Then come, and let us wage our war at last.”
AURORA
58
ROMANE
IDCC COLONY
* * *
THEY’D MOVED EMILY FROM the chamber in the ICU wing into a normal bed in a normal room by the time Devon got back to the hospital. He’d showered—for the second time today no less—donned fresh clothes and even eaten a meal while on the transport, all so he could appear the perfect picture of normalcy to her when she woke up.
Because she wasn’t awake yet. Dr. Johansson said he expected her to wake up. Mia said she was going to wake up. Soon.
He tried not to dwell on how frail she still looked as he moved the guest chair over beside the bed and sat down to wait.
Devon sensed her in his mind before his hand felt the movement of her fingers in its grasp.
Instantly he was leaning over her, one hand squeezing hers while the other gently stroked her hair. “Hey, babe. Can you hear me?” Hey, babe, can you hear me?
I…. “Devon?” Her eyes fluttered open.
He smiled broadly. “I’m right here.”
She started to return the smile, then frowned and licked her lips; he retrieved the canister of water and offered it to her. Her brow knotted up as she sipped on it. “What happened? We were…leaving the amphitheater and…I don’t remember.”
“We were attacked by some thugs, and you got hurt. But you’re going to be just fine.”
She blinked several times. “Am I in a hospital? My eVi’s all messed up.”
“The doctors had to flush your cybernetics. But the good news is, this means we can write you the snazziest custom ware anybody’s ever seen. It’ll be better than before. Does that sound okay to you?”
She nodded. “Yeah. That sounds like fun. What did the attackers want?”
“They wanted to hurt me. But I took care of it, so they won’t threaten us anymore. I’ll never let them hurt you again.”
The alert from Alex blasted into his mind, but he ignored it. Instead, he pulled a crystal out of his pocket and put it on the bedside table.
With a touch, colorful holo flowers burst to life and began rotating above the crystal.
Emily’s face lit up in delight, and he thought he might die from happiness.
Devon, about the—
I don’t care, Annie. They can fight this battle without me.
Mia studied Malcolm in growing suspicion as they settled onto the couch after dinner—the first proper, appetizing meal she’d successfully consumed since the night of the celebration. “You’re unusually edgy tonight.”
Granted, she knew what his reply would be before he said it; her thought was getting it out in the open may help him move past it. The edginess, as it were.
He huffed a breath, looking blatantly chagrined, and she rescued him by lounging her back against his chest and snuggling in close.
“After everything that’s happened—after it tried to hurt you, hurt Morgan and that girl—I kind of wanted to invade New Babel with an army and smash the murderous Artificial to pieces with my bare hands. I’m glad we were able to destroy it without bloodshed on our side, but…I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get a fight. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s understandable.”
He hugged her closer. “Maybe, but you deserve to relax, and I should be helping with that—so no more edginess from me.”
Mia trailed her fingertips lazily up his forearm. She felt simultaneously bone-tired weary and energized from sheer relief that the nightmare was over, but mostly she was happy to be here, now, in a position where she could afford to find his oh-so-honorable bloodlust cute.
“You know, you’re not as different from him as you think.”
“Who?”
“Caleb.” She held up a hand when she caught his the expression flaring on his face. “I know, you don’t approve of his career or many of the life choices he’s made along the way. And believe me, you have a far, far greater respect for authority than he’s ever shown. No question. I’m simply saying you two share a fierce sense of right and wrong, and a determination to defend not merely the people close to you but all innocents from harm. Your response to these attacks has made that quite clear.”
Malcolm was silent for a moment, staring not at her but at the floor. “You care a lot about him, don’t you?”
“Yes. He extended a hand and lifted me out of the gutter, and he’s been there for me ever since.” This wasn’t a secret or a surprise, was it?
His eyes shot up to her, and the shift in his posture had the effect of nudging her away. “He wasn’t there for you when you were left lying in a coma, or when you had to flee for your life from Earth.”
The acerbity of his tone gave her pause. She’d picked up on the fact he didn’t like Caleb, but this was another level of animus, or something else.
“He was and is doing important work to help protect all of us. I don’t expect him to come running to my rescue every time life gets hard.” She smiled and placed a hand on his knee. The last thing she’d meant to do was start an argument with her idle rambling. “Besides, you’re here, and doing an excellent job of protecting me when I need it.”
Instead of accepting the compliment, Malcolm lowered his chin and slid farther away, eyes hooded. His Adam’s Apple bobbed several times. “Mmm.”
He winced, studied the f
loor for several more seconds, then stood as she regarded him in growing confusion. “Okay. I’m going to go now.”
She hurriedly stood as well. “All right. I bet you have a lot of work to do back at the Presidio, which you’ve been neglecting to be here with me. Once I’m confident Emily and Morgan are improving, I can come by and visit. If not tomorrow, definitely—”
“No.”
The quiet but firm delivery sent her stomach churning. “No?”
“I don’t mean—of course if you have business with AEGIS or…or anyone else you can come to the Presidio. But…” his jaw trembled, but his eyes refused to meet hers “…not to see me.”
“I’m not sure I understand…and I think I missed something rather important.”
He sighed and finally allowed his gaze to settle on her, but a soldier’s mask hid any emotion. Impenetrable. “I know I’m so very far from perfect—I know I’m a small cog in a large machine—but I do have some pride. Enough pride to refuse to be the one you get when you can’t have the one you want.
“Mia, you are a wonderful, amazing, extraordinary woman, and I will always be grateful to have been able to spend this time with you. But I will not be what you settle for.” He turned on a heel and strode toward the door.
“What? No! Malcolm, that’s not—”
“Stop. I don’t want justifications or excuses. All I want is to leave with the smallest shred of dignity intact.”
“Meno, lock the door.”
He spun to her, eyes wide in enough shock to break through the mask, and it occurred to her she’d never seen him genuinely angry before. Well.
“For two minutes. After two minutes, Meno, unlock it.”
‘I will do so.’
“If you still want to leave when the two minutes are up, you can go on your way and I won’t try to stop you. But please, listen to me first.”
He squared his shoulders, clasped his hands behind him in a parade rest stance and locked a stony glare upon a spot on the wall somewhere over her left shoulder. The move had cost her, but hopefully not as much as letting him walk out would.
She began pacing frenetically, though her movement couldn’t keep up with her racing mind. Clearly she’d acted out of panic; she damn well better make good use of the time she had. Her thoughtless mistake was blindingly obvious now, but fixing it was another matter.
“First off, I think you misunderstand the history and nature of my relationship with Caleb. We were never ‘together.’ There were a few years where we were more than friends, but it was just…the point is, I ended that part of our relationship years ago, and I haven’t regretted it.”
Her chin dropped to her chest. “No. You deserve an explanation, not a brush-off. Caleb is honorable and good-hearted, but…chaos is always either running from him or chasing after him. He gets near you, and suddenly you’re in the center of the vortex, too.
“I worked too hard to escape that world to let myself get dragged back into it, even by my dearest friend. Which he is, and probably always will be. I’m not ashamed of it. But I don’t want that kind of life—if you know me at all, surely you see the truth of this—and I don’t want him. I want…”
…‘you’ would come off as both lame and pandering, and the least likely of all possible options to convince him of her veracity. If he would only look at her! She veered. “I’ve been on my own since I was eleven years old. I’m not asking for pity—I’m glad for what happened. It worked out, eventually. It’s important now for this reason: friends and lovers have come and gone, but I’ve kept them all at arm’s length. Given them a façade layered over the real me.
“It’s a defense mechanism, and I recognize it is, but it’s also often been the right choice. And now I have a flood of voices and people and Artificials floating in and out of my head…and I’ve never felt so alone. Except when I’m with you.”
His focus darted to her. He quickly jerked it back to the spot on the wall, but the mask was visibly cracking.
Progress she dared not let slip away. “You are the kindest, most considerate, most generous man I have ever met. I think you may be the first person who, when I’m with you, I can simply…be. No façades, no veneers, no performances. You disarmed me, the first time I met you and every time since, with your unabashed forthrightness and damnable sincerity.
“I realize you’re strong and tough and dangerous to the rest of the world, but to me, you feel like home.” She smiled, trying to convey the truth of it. Brutal, terrifying, naked truth.
‘Door unlocked.’
Malcolm’s caramel eyes now fell fully on her, softening from fear through caution to something akin to hope. The parade rest stance vanished as a hand came up to work at his jaw. He didn’t say anything, but he also didn’t move toward the door.
“I’m sorry I haven’t said any of this to you before now. I’m good at many things, but this doesn’t appear to be one of them. I didn’t want to frighten you away.”
She inhaled deeply and took a step toward him. “So, to recap…and summarize…you’re the only person I want here with me. Please don’t go.”
“I’m only good at a few things, and any fool could see this also isn’t one of them.” He considered the ceiling for a long breath before closing the remaining distance to her. “Forgive me. I was being stupid and petty.”
“You were protecting yourself, which I understand intimately.” She tentatively drew him close, shocked at the power and comfort of the sensations that accompanied his arms wrapping around her. Solace, perhaps contentment. “But I’m not protecting myself from you.”
“God, I’m sorry. I’m an idiot who should have had a little faith in you. This wasn’t even really about Marano—I hope he is what you say. I truly do. It was more…people I care for always seem to want something from me I can’t give them. I’ve come to expect it, and now I’m jumping at shadows.”
She didn’t know nearly enough details of his past to pretend to comprehend the full scope of what he meant. But she didn’t need to, because she knew him. Though he was far more than he believed himself to be—far more than a cog in a machine for certain—she’d told the truth about his forthrightness. Outside of the battlefield, he was utterly without guile or pretense. Sadly, it didn’t surprise her that others had taken advantage.
Her fingertips traced his temple, down his cheek. “I’ll try to be sure I don’t make those sorts of demands.”
“I know you won’t, because you are entirely too wonderful to be real.”
She placed the first kiss on his lips, along with a teasing whisper. “Yes, I have bad news: the last two months have been a dream.”
“I suspected as much.” He renewed the kiss with enough fervor to foreclose any further conversation. She surrendered to his embrace—
—The alert pealed through her consciousness to drown the suffusing joy in a tidal wave of dread, leaving in its wake a solemn acceptance. Perhaps it really had all been a dream.
She didn’t flinch. She just held him close, cherishing the tender intensity of his embrace and memorizing the feel of his mouth pressed to hers. The final seconds were ticking down, and it might be a while before she felt it again.
Abruptly he pulled back from her, and the darkening of his expression told her the call from AEGIS had gone out. Leave it to Miriam Solovy to be scrupulously attentive and instantly prepped to move.
He dropped his forehead to hers, and his hands rose to cup her face. “I am so, so sorry, but it’s time. I have to go.”
59
ROMANE
IDCC COLONY
* * *
‘KENNEDY, DO YOU HAVE A MOMENT? I wish to discuss a matter with you.’
“It isn’t anything to do with Machim warships, is it, Vii? I’ve been eating, sleeping and dreaming Machim warships for days now. I close my eyes and I see negatives of Machim warship schematics on the back of my lids.”
She’d hardly gotten the optimizer switch-out handled and the assembly line running smoothly
when the data dump from Valkyrie had come in. This resulted both in her returning to the Presidio from Earth and staying longer than she’d intended as her sleep-to-wakefulness ratio dove to perilous levels.
She yawned to emphasize the point.
‘It is not, though I suspect we’ll need to discuss them before too long. No, this is a more personal matter. When Valkyrie and Alex departed for Amaranthe, they left something in my care. A side project, one might call it. I haven’t allowed it to distract from our work for AEGIS, but when time and cycles have permitted I have been working on it.
‘My progress has reached a stage where I’m no longer comfortable keeping the project’s existence from you. I was not hiding it as such, so perhaps it would be better to say I wish to affirmatively share it with you now.’
If Valkyrie and Alex were involved, it was guaranteed to be audacious, likely to be dangerous and possibly to be exciting. She groaned dramatically. “This ought to be good. Fill me in.”
‘Thank you. When—’
The door opened and Noah walked in carrying a package. Her heart did a spirited somersault in her chest. She’d sent him a message to let him know she was home, but she hadn’t talked to him in two days and had been afraid to think about where he was.
She gave him a broad smile, trying to appear as welcoming as possible. “Hi.”
“Hey.” He’d hesitated in the doorway at first, as if he needed to be invited in, but now he continued on inside until he reached the front of her desk.
‘Kennedy—’
“Can we talk about your project later, Vii? Thanks.”
Vii responded, but she’d tuned the Artificial out. She was so relieved to see him—so busy perusing his eyes and stubbled jawline and the messy fall of his hair—that for a minute she forgot he was carrying a fairly hefty package.
She straightened up and cleared her throat. “What’s in the box?”
Relativity: Aurora Resonant Book One (Aurora Rhapsody 7) Page 35