Flight

by J. A. Huss

  "It's true, Junco, ya can't deny–"

  "Listen to me, you giant asshole! You do not blab about a baby until you know for sure it's healthy, OK? It's bad fucking luck and everyone knows it. I've already lost one baby. All I need is that Luck bastard to take notice of my new potential for happiness and swoop in to collect on his debt."

  My words shut him down and I feel Isten's sympathy as he sends me a message. We're not used to this, Junco, cut him some slack. He's trying.

  "I get it," I say to both of them. "You have no experience with babies and all that. Fine. But that just means you should be extra careful, dammit. So the standing order is shut the fuck up about it. I'll let you know when I want that to change."

  They nod their compliance. "And I tell you what," I look up at Tier, "if I find out that you and Lucan planned this pregnancy to force me into coming back with you, I will make sure it backfires."

  They both stare at me briefly before erupting into complete denial. "OK." I put my hand up to stop the barrage. "I believe you. But it better just be a happy coincidence."

  Tier snaps back from the place I put him in and pokes his finger down at me. "Fine, Junco. But from this second on yer number one priority is this goddamn mission. If I hear ya push it aside one more time I'll have Ryse snatch ya up and hold ya on ship until we're done. Ya understand me?"

  "Perfectly."

  Tier turns and walks away and Isten prods me to follow. And I do, caught in between the two of them. One overprotective prick and one manipulative mind spy.

  Chapter Twenty

  "One."

  Ashur is pacing slowly around the various pieces of furniture we've arranged in a ring in the center of the room. "We need those 50 cals from the drop camp. Two. Do we really want to waste arms and energy fighting off mutants in the tunnels? Three. We have no idea what they have up there protecting their tunnels. Four. We could just bomb the fuck out of them and drop in straight away and probably keep just as much tactical surprise as coming up through the tunnels. Five. It's a long fucking flight up that goddamn mountain, let alone the flight down to Peaks to catch the right tunnel upland."

  Ashur stops his rant against the idea when he gets back to his own chair. "OK, so that's the cons. Here's the pros. One. Complete cover. Two. We can use the grav bikes offered by Subjack and let some of his people join us. Three. We can pack those fuckers up with more ammo than we could ever carry alone. Four. We can still bomb the shit out of them and have the backup teams meet us up there once we shoot them the coordinates. Five." He stops behind my chair and hesitates. "We can use Sera and Arel along the way and fuck up just about everything they have in the way of security."

  Ashur makes his way back to his seat in the circle, then Tier nods to Braun.

  "I vote tunnels."

  It gets passed to Rikan. "Tunnels."

  "Tunnels."

  "Tunnels."

  Isten yawns. "Tunnels."

  And then it's my turn. "I go for tunnels, too." Sera appears in the center of the circle and we all sit back in our seats for a second, taken by surprise.

  Tier throws up his hands. "What? You have a fucking problem helping?" It comes out as if Sera materializing into thin air isn't something strange. Hell, maybe it's not. What the fuck do I know about how she works?

  Sera is dressed in fatigues, but she looks like an actress on a screen dressed up like a soldier, and not a real one. She lifts her chin at Tier. "Don't I get a vote?"

  He growls. "What's yer vote, Sera?"

  She brightens and tosses her long red hair. "I vote tunnels." She pushes her way through the circle and stands behind Arel. "But Junco and I have business to complete. So, please keep that in mind. When I say she comes with me, she comes with me."

  "Hold on, what the fuck is this?"

  "It's true," I say. "We have a deal. There's nothing I can do about it."

  "What deal?" At first I think he's talking to me, but when I look up he's staring, wild-eyed, at Sera.

  I interject before she gets him riled up. "It's nothing, Tier. I'm gonna drop her off here and that's something we all want, right?"

  She shoots me a dirty look. "Don't piss me off, Junco, or I'll–"

  "All right." Tier cuts her off and turns to Moju. "How about you, Moj? You got anything to add here?"

  I'm sitting on a piece of furniture, a small end table that looks like it belongs in a living room two centuries past. It has a shelf on the back end of it and Moju sits on the shelf with my wings between his legs and his hands fiddling with my hair. He clears his throat. "Well, I'm all for those tunnels, but" – he looks around, a little nervous – "I hate to tell ya this now, but Soli is very sick. She might not make it unless we can get to them soon."

  Isten pipes up before anyone else can. "Who the fuck is Soli?"

  "Oh, sorry. Right. I never told you guys their names or nothing. She's the two, Isten. I have a connection with the other four Siblings – Soli, Irin, Tuk, and Sariel. She" – he hesitates, clearly saddened by this – "tried to escape and it didn't go well. She's fucked up."

  Braun is standing, shaking his head with the thought of the repercussions. "Fuck! If she dies we're fucked already and we haven't–"

  Tier puts a hand up. "So are we all in agreement about the tunnels, then?" We all nod in the affirmative. "OK, then I'm gonna go contact Layla and tell her this shit about Soli. Arel, you and Sera can come with me and we'll get Monk to make us a com patch for the tunnels. Moju, you come with me first and then meet Ash, Braun and Isten to go and get our 50 cals back. And take the short fucking way 'round this time, eh?"

  Moj nods.

  "Rikan, you and Mish go grab those gravs and start stocking them. See if they can get us some mounts for the big guns, too."

  The room is bustling with bodies as I just sit there, completely forgotten.

  "What about me?"

  Tier stops what he's doing to look over at me like I'm an afterthought. "Go meet yer friends, Junco. Figure it out."

  And then they are gone. I sit there stunned. A knock comes from the door and it opens a crack.

  "Junco? You still in here?" Gid looks over at me as he enters. I'm still on my end table wondering what the fuck just happened.

  He laughs. "Did they leave you behind on purpose?"

  I stand. "I guess so. What do I have to do to eat something? I'm starving."

  "Again?"

  "Oh please, Gideon, I know you were listening to us in the tunnels. I heard an extra pair of boots after Aren turned the first corner. Ya know why I'm starving."

  He waves me through to the hallway. "So what did you guys decide to do?"

  "Ask Tier, he's the captain. I'm just the nine."

  He pulls the door closed and puts a hand on my shoulder to prompt me to move. "Well, I don't have any idea what a nine is in your new world, Junco. But I doubt it's meaningless."

  We end up sitting alone in a large tent with about a dozen resin tables serving as a restaurant on the far side of the marketplace. "I thought we were meeting Aren and Selia?"

  The waiter comes over and stands next to Gideon, they talk and laugh in German and then the man leaves as Gideon turns his attention back to me. "They'll be here. I ordered you an orange juice, he doesn't speak English. They only serve beef stew, so," he laughs, "I hope you're not a picky eater."

  I watch his face for a few moments before answering. "You have a file on me."

  He turns away, but only to hide his smile of satisfaction. "I know everything about you, Junco."

  "Yeah, well, I've heard that one before. You clearly know nothing about my recent life, so why waste your time bullshitting?"

  He shrugs as his gaze redirects to my eyes. We stare at each other for a few seconds and then I break the moment on purpose. "So you're my mother's – what, exactly?"

  "I'm nothing to her and she's nothing to me. I'm only here to help you out with the truth."

  I laugh and decide to knock him down a peg. "Well, since Sera just informed me this mo
rning that I'll pretty much believe anything, I bet you'll accomplish that goal. But that doesn't mean you're special or talented, Gideon. It's not a testament to your skill, but a reflection of my seemingly unwavering gullibility."

  He looks away again, but this time the smile is gone.

  "No, you wouldn't, would you?"

  He cocks his head at me.

  "Have any idea who Sera is."

  "I have an idea."

  "You have no idea, Gideon. None, because Sera isn't from this world and you've never been anywhere. You know nothing about me so don't kid yourself."

  "I know you're the most deadly motherfucking avian the General Fledge has ever seen."

  The waiter drops off my OJ and a beer for Gid and disappears without a word. I pick up my glass and hold it up. "To deadly motherfucking Juncos. May they repopulate the RR in force."

  He laughs at this, a real laugh. "That was so inappropriate I can't even begin to explain it. But fuck it, you don't know any better, so–"

  His eyes glow a little as he holds his beer up and my hand stops the OJ before it reaches my lips. "You're avian."

  He tips his glass in my direction one more time. "I might not know all there is to know about your last eight months, Junco, but right now, you know a whole lot less about me." He brings the mug to his lips and takes a drink as Aren and Selia enter the tent and force us to move on.

  Selia's blonde hair has grown out and covers her mutilated ear and the scar that runs down the side of her head pretty well. She's still wearing a uniform and has a weapon strapped to her leg. I stand and she hugs me tight. "Feeling better today, Junco?" She pulls back to study my face.

  I nod. "Yeah, thanks for letting me crash at your place last night. I was so fucking tired." I watch her to see if she buys the lie. Her crooked mouth says not quite.

  "I wanted to tell you all sorts of stuff last night, but you looked pretty out of it. So, good thing we still have time today, right? I sent you all those messages but I never heard back, so I've been having a sort of one-sided conversation with you for months now."

  "I got your first message but they never let me see the others, so I'm not really up to speed on what's happening in your world, Selia. I'm sorry." Gideon grunts and I watch him shake his head in my peripheral vision.

  Selia's excited face changes to confusion. "Oh." She lets out a long breath of air. "Well, then you have no idea about a bunch of stuff like the clones?"

  I hold my hands up. "I'm not sure, Selia, sorry."

  I move on and greet Aren, but Selia isn't done.

  "Why didn't they give you the messages?" Her expression is something between a scowl and sadness.

  "I was in Fledge and Tier was on trial." I look away from Gideon's judgment and Selia's disappointment, and smile at Aren. He raises his eyebrows at me in expectation so I end up back at Selia. "The Archers were not entirely on board with me being there. Your messages scared them, I think."

  She nods and looks up at me with a forgiving grin. "OK – well, then we have a lot of shit to talk about."

  I breathe out some relief. Her chatter fills the tent and I sit and listen to her tale, looking at her and Aren between bites of beef stew when they switch off in the conversation.

  Gideon never says a word.

  Most of what she tells me I already know, or at least have an idea. Out-of-control cloning, mutants, collusion between governments, stealing of alien genetic material. I look over at Gideon when this comes up and watch him feign disinterest.

  Then Selia explains how Charlie's family ended up being MR military and didn't see my description of Charlie's death as the closure I meant it to be. Luckily the pilot who flew her out of the RR went with her to deliver the package because she refused to give him his half of the bribe until that part of the deal was completed.

  Charlie's family tried to kill them, but the pilot was an ex-operative in the Polar Friendly. He flew them up there and that's how she got involved with all this Subjack stuff. Her life since I left earth sounds like the twisted plot of some espionage book.

  Junco?

  Yeah.

  Where are you?

  Where are you?

  Uh, west entrance.

  I shake Gideon to get his attention. "Hey, where is this place relative to the west entrance? Isten wants to know?"

  Gideon answers me without turning his head. "Straight back on the left, red tent, sign's in German."

  I repeat the directions to Isten and Aren is suddenly interested in me. "You have an internal com or something, Junco?" Aren asks with a skewed frown.

  I don't have a chance to answer because I hear my team outside and crane my neck with anticipation. They are boisterous and loud as they enter the tent and then get louder when they see me.

  Isten, Braun, Moju, and Ashur walk over to the table.

  "What the fuck happened–?"

  Ashur and Braun look like they've beaten the shit out of each other.

  Braun picks me up to steal my seat and then sets me back down on his lap. "We put that shit to rest, Juncs. That's all. Not the first time Ash and I have scrapped. And it definitely won't be the last, he's such a straight-backed fucking piker."

  I look over to Ashur and while his serious eyes say nothing, his mouth sure does. "You stay away from his stupid ideas, Junco. I'm not fucking around, either. I'll punish you somehow if you ever take his advice again, you got it?"

  This is a sore spot for Ashur, so I nod. Braun pinches me on the stomach and I twist away and stand until Isten grabs me my own chair and we talk privately.

  Are they really OK?

  Yeah, sure. They really do fight all the time.

  So, you get the 50 cals?

  Yeah, and the suits just in case. These guys giving you trouble?

  Nah.

  "Junco!"

  "Yeah?" I look over at Ashur. "What?"

  "If you two have something to say, say it out loud, goddammit. I told you, that shit pisses me off."

  "I was just asking about our weapons. Jasus, why are you so angry?"

  Ashur brushes me off and calls the rest of the team to give them directions. They straggle in over the next several minutes. Tier is the last to enter and he smiles at me as he walks in but takes a seat between Gideon and me.

  Their food arrives and the 039 and Moju settle down to eat. I watch my team carefully to log how they react to the human food, but it's a non-issue. They converse easily with the humans, even Selia. Arel bothers her for whole stretches of time about the reports we saw back in the Band. It's clear that the 039 is just as at home on this planet as they are on Amelia. I guess that's what happens when you spend most of your life living between two worlds.

  "Junco?"

  I look over to Aren. "Yeah?"

  "Wanna go for a walk with me?"

  Both Gideon and Tier begin to object but I put up my hand. "Sure, Aren. Lead the way."

  We walk out into the bustle of the marketplace and turn left and enter an adjacent tunnel that is far less busy.

  "What's this part?"

  Aren grabs my hand and smiles down at me when I look up, a little startled. "The cheap seats, that's all. But it's quiet so we can talk a little. Are you happy, Junco?"

  I let out a long sigh. "Happy? I'm not sure what that means. I have moments, ya know? But happy. No. I don't think so. I don't understand what's happening, Aren. I have memories that I can't trust. Like earlier you said we were best friends for three years, but it was four and in my memory we were a lot more than friends."

  He stops and lets go of my hand. "What?"

  I shake my head and smile. "See, this is what I'm talking about. In my reality you came back after your graduation, Aren. We had a pretty serious relationship going. Am I crazy? Did I make that up?" He looks away for a few seconds and when his dark blue eyes meet mine again they confirm my worst suspicions. "He was a clone, wasn't he? That Aren?"

  He nods. "I left the RR after graduation, Juncs. Came up here with your father."

>   I turn away and start to go back and Aren trots a little to catch up with me. We turn the corner and I see all the guys waiting outside the tent. Tier's eyes find mine and I stop short. "That Aren that went looking for me after my father's funeral. That was my real Aren, wasn't it?"

  "I'm not sure, Junco. I'm really not."

  "And Tier really did kill my Aren." I look up at Aren now. "I loved him, ya know. I thought he was you."

  "He wasn't real, Junco. He was a copy of me, for fuck's sake. Just a copy. And whatever information you told him, he sold it back to the MR. He sold you."

  A memory comes back to me. Not a deep one, just a few moments of my Aren and I out on the scrub, when we were running from Tier. I figure I had all that field experience, so I took my skills to the highest bidder. And frankly, Junco, I'm having a hard time swallowing this fucking holier-than-thou attitude you suddenly seem to have about it. You and I are no different.

  I shake my head. "No, Aren, you're wrong. He didn't. I told him something the very first day back to school. That very night we slept together for the first time and I told him something that I know for a fact he never repeated."

  When I look back up he's angry. "I cannot fucking believe the words coming out of your mouth. He was my fucking clone! I was your friend, Junco. For years! We did everything together."

  "My father paid you, Aren. He set us up to be friends and he paid you."

  He hisses out a breath. "I never took the money, you know that! I told you I never took the money!"

  "But you never loved me either. The other one did, Aren. And Tier killed him."

  He laughs now. "You know what, you are fucked up. He was the traitor, Junco. Not me. How can you possibly–"

  "I told you, dammit. He did not tell them what I told him. And he reminded me out on the scrub that day when we were running from Tier. You remember when the Mayor of Peak City was assassinated a few years back, Aren?"

  I watch his face as the words come out. He remembers, but he's too busy fitting the pieces together to answer me.