Rug swung her head toward Tessa, whose posture was so much different from what Rug was used to seeing from the human. Normally, Tessa conducted herself with confidence—or at least, as far as Rug could tell, based on her limited understanding of human social interaction.
Now, Tessa looked…well, she looked guilty. As though her spirit had shrunk as small as her body.
“This is a deep betrayal,” Rug said.
“Rug—” Tessa began, and her voice broke off, full of emotion. She began again: “Rug, there is more to this. There’s no excuse for what I did, but I can at least offer you the reasons I had for doing it.”
“I will hear them, Tessa Notaras. Because of the respect I held for you before today, I will hear them. But not now. Now, we have urgent business, and I’m afraid you can no longer be trusted to conduct it.”
“You speak to them with facility,” said the Quatro who’d nearly killed Tessa Notaras.
“Yes,” Rug said. “Our fortunes have been aligned for some time.” For a moment, emotion threatened to overcome her, but she forced herself to press on. “We have come to uncover the truth about this war. I have always known the Quatro would not fight so fiercely unless provoked, and you have confirmed that. Now, all that remains is to find a way to defeat this Darkstream.”
The Quatro sat back on its haunches, his gaze never leaving Rug’s. “The Quatro in this region are already locked in furious combat with that force for evil. We have found allies in some of the humans—and so we know that not all of them are rotten—but I am saddened to report that we have just suffered a major defeat. I do not believe we have the forces required to win.”
“Have you given up hope so easily, friend?”
“No,” the Quatro said. “I said we lack the necessary forces in this region. But there is a region across the Barrens, far to the east, where many Quatro have ventured but none have returned. I am convinced there must be many more drifts of Quatro there.”
“We have craft to speed our journey,” Rug said. “If you truly believe this, and are willing to join actions to your words, then perhaps, together, this we can achieve.”
“I will come—partly in penance for disrespecting you. I attacked one of your party without first engaging you, and for that I apologize.”
Rug did not mention the fact that this Quatro had not even known she was aboard the shuttle until she’d emerged. She did not mention it, since she would be just as remorseful in his place.
“You say you are receptive to the idea that not all humans are rotten. Would you also receive one of my human friends into the care of your drift? He is near death.”
“I will lobby my brothers and sisters on his behalf. They are sure to agree to it. It is the Quatro way, is it not? Despite everything else, that is still true. With luck, he will recover in our absence. No doubt our allies among the Red Company will be able to help.”
“Red Company—these are the human allies you mentioned?”
“Indeed.”
Rug turned back to her human companions. “These Quatro will see that Andy gets the care he needs.” She swung her head to meet Lisa Sato’s gaze. “Based on my discussion with my new friend, it seems our highest chances of success await to the east.”
Lisa nodded. “I trust your judgment, Rug. You can explain the plan while we’re in transit. O’Toole, get Andy out of the shuttle. Will you stay with him?”
O’Toole nodded. “Anything for you, sweetheart. Andy might be a cocky brat, but he was always willing to have a drink with me. Besides, Phineas would have stayed with him. So I will, too.”
“Thank you, O’Toole.” Lisa turned back to Rug, and Rug found her expression just as inscrutable as she had found Tessa’s. “Rug…are we okay? Is everything going to be okay, between us?”
“Nothing could mar our friendship, Lisa Sato.” Nothing, except learning that you slaughtered my people in droves.
“I feel the same way,” Lisa said. She appeared to draw a great breath. “We’d better get started.”
Chapter 11
Emergency Bulletin
The grass of Eresos crunched underfoot as Ash trailed behind Beth.
She gave a pleasurable sigh, which drew a smile from the other young woman.
It’s been too long.
It felt good to experience the world with her own body, after so long inside her MIMAS. To feel actual sunbeams play across her skin, and not a sun simulated by the dream. To breathe actual air, instead of oxygen that had been piped to her by her mech.
To live life unmediated by a walking metal weapon.
Currently, their mechs were being repaired of the damage they’d endured since first deploying to Eresos. Ash’s in particular was being fitted with a new bayonet, since one of hers had been snapped during the recent battle.
Typically, she felt vulnerable outside her MIMAS, unprotected by its armor and weapons. But with the city walls in sight, atop which the garrison of Ingress watched over them, she could breathe easier than she normally might have while clad only in clothes.
Besides, lately, she’d been feeling vulnerable even inside her MIMAS. The mechs Darkstream had engineered, while more formidable than any ground combat unit ever deployed by humanity, were no match for the quads piloted by the Quatro, and she feared the bipedal alien mech that Chief Roach piloted would make short work of her, if they ever found themselves on opposite sides.
The memory of the way Roach had thrown her backward several meters, with such ease…she wouldn’t soon forget it.
Maybe Oneiri Team really is done.
Without their leader, what were they? Could anyone replace Roach, and keep them unified as he had? Sure, both Jake and Ash had served briefly as commander, but Jake wasn’t here, and she had serious doubts about her own ability to keep the team working together long-term.
Since graduation, Roach had wielded them like a single, seamless weapon.
Now, I feel like we’re scattered.
“I wish I could walk through the tall grass,” Beth said, turning back as she spoke, her deep blue eyes shining.
“You’re brave,” Ash said, and she meant it. The real world really did feel less safe to her now, outside of the mech. “I don’t have the courage to go outside the range of the snipers on the wall. Not anymore.”
Wrinkling her cute little nose, Beth turned to continue walking. “It would be worth it, to feel the grass surrounding me. I think.”
The wind picked up, and Ash caught a scent in the air she hadn’t smelled in a while. “Hey,” she called ahead. “Are you wearing perfume?”
“Yeah!” Beth said. “First time in months. And I don’t know when I’ll next get the opportunity, so…”
Ash smiled to herself. Her friend really did know how to make the best of every situation.
I wish I had that ability.
She wanted to help preserve her friend’s good mood, but…
There are things we need to talk about.
“I’m concerned about Roach,” she said at last. “I don’t know that he can lead us anymore.”
When Beth turned this time, the smile had vanished, and that killed Ash. “Seriously?” Beth said.
Ash nodded. “I mean, think about what he’s become. What that thing he pilots did to him. He’s basically an alien himself, now. Just a nervous system stretched across a metal frame.”
Beth shuddered visibly.
“I wasn’t going to mention this to anyone,” Ash said. “Didn’t want to worry them. But…the other day, he attacked me.”
“What? How?”
“He hit me, sent me flying back inside my mech. I can send you the footage.”
“No need—of course I believe you, Ash!”
“Yeah. I just thought you might want to see it.”
“Well, you can send it if you want.”
A silence fell between them, and it felt a bit awkward from Ash’s perspective.
Oh, God. I’ve ruined a perfectly nice day. How many of those do we get?
An alert flashed on her HUD, then, with a high-enough priority that it superseded every other function of her implant.
“EMERGENCY BULLETIN: A FORCE CONSISTING OF FIFTY-THREE QUATRO AND THREE QUAD MECHS HAS BEGUN ATTACKING VILLAGES IN THE GLADES, TO THE SOUTHEAST OF INGRESS. ALL DARKSTREAM COMBAT UNITS ARE TO MUSTER AT INGRESS AND PREPARE FOR AN IMMINENT COUNTEROFFENSIVE.”
After the implant detected that Ash had read the alert in full, it permitted her to will it to dissolve. When it did, her eyes found Beth’s. “Did you get that alert?”
But by the way Beth’s jaw was set, Ash could tell that she had. “I hate to say it, Steam,” she said, “but we need Roach. We need Dynamo. We have to convince him to lead us again.”
Ash nodded gravely. “You’re right. But…I’ll talk to him alone, okay?”
“Are you kidding me? After he attacked you? No way. I’m not letting you be alone with him.”
“I have to, Paste. I have a trump card that I can use to persuade him, but it’s not something I can share with anyone else. So it has to just be me. Okay?” Her last word sounded pleading, to Ash’s own ears.
“Okay, Steam. But please be careful. I’ll be nearby, and I’ll be monitoring your status, to make sure you don’t get into trouble. But I won’t listen in.”
“Thank you, Paste.”
“Just be careful. I don’t know what I’d do, if I lost…if I lost another teammate.”
Chapter 12
A Unified Oneiri
“Chief Roach?” Ash said softly, almost whispering as she stopped several meters away from him, the memory of what he’d done during their last encounter fresh in her mind.
She’d gone to collect her MIMAS before braving this encounter—luckily, repairs on the mechs had just finished.
Roach was standing perfectly still outside the residence whose basement the quad had surfaced inside of. No one had yet made any effort to repair the gaping hole the Quatro had put in the structure’s outer wall, leaving it instead for the elements to get inside and dampen the interior, creating an environment ideal for bacteria and mold.
“Sir?” Ash said, a little louder this time.
Roach didn’t answer, or acknowledge her presence in any way.
Deciding to wait for a few moments, to see whether he was about to do anything rash, Ash’s gaze drifted past him once more, to the wrecked home. From what she’d heard, the quadruped mech had killed the entire family that had resided there. They’d gathered together for family dinner just before its arrival, and now they were all dead.
Had they been renting their house, or did they have a mortgage? Maybe they owned it outright. What would happen to it, now?
She wasn’t sure why she was occupying herself with these thoughts as she waited for Roach to show some sign that there was still a human being somewhere inside the bulk of metal and weaponry he’d become.
Perhaps it was to remind herself of why they were fighting—not just to drive Darkstream profits, though that was certainly a big part of it; every employee knew that.
No, Darkstream doing well meant security for the system. That wasn’t just PR; it was true. If she could help the company subdue the mounting alien threat, then she could create a safer planet for regular people to live on.
That’s if Tessa Notaras’s claims hold no water.
If what Tessa had said was true, then Darkstream was enslaving those regular people, and the line about providing them with system-wide security really was just a PR move, to placate the larger populations on Eresos and elsewhere.
Roach had called Notaras a liar. But the chief had also been exhibiting serious signs of mental instability, lately.
Ash sighed, and she accidentally transmitted it via the mech’s broadcasting system.
That proved fortuitous, since it caused Roach to register her presence at last. He revolved in place, till his fearsome frame was squared with hers.
“What?” he said.
“Do you…do you still receive alerts from Darkstream, sir?”
“What are you here to discuss, Sweeney?”
“The rest of the team just received an emergency bulletin. Villages in the Glades are under attack by three quads and a whole bunch of Quatro.”
“Then that’s where I’m headed.” Roach marched straight at her, fast, and she was forced to sidestep. His massive shoulder clipped hers as he passed, which made her mech whip around so that she was facing his receding back.
“You can’t just go there by yourself, Dynamo,” she called after him.
He kept striding forward, his pace totally unaltered.
“You need us,” she said, yelling now. “You need Oneiri Team. Maybe you took out two quads, but your melding with that mech gave you an advantage in that fight.” He still wasn’t heeding her, so she jogged after him and continued shouting, even louder. “They know about that advantage now, and three quads working together to kill you will prove a much harder fight than the two you caught off-guard. Not to mention the fifty-three Quatro not in mechs. We need a unified Oneiri Team to win this!”
Still nothing. Now, Roach began to run himself, and Ash could tell he was planning to rocket over the city walls again.
“You could die,” she said. “And then you’ll never avenge Jess.”
That did it. The chief stopped, standing stock-still once more, facing away from her.
Ash stopped jogging, but she continued walking toward him. “I know that’s why you were so hard on me in training. I know it’s why you don’t let yourself get too close to me, not even as close as teammates should get who have each other’s backs. It’s because I look just like her, isn’t it? Every time you look at me, you see Jess, and it fills you with rage at your loss. That’s why you were such an asshole to me last time we spoke. That’s why you attacked me, even though I’m on your side—even though I’ve saved your life and you’ve saved mine.”
She reached him, and she placed a metal hand on his shoulder, turning him gently but firmly. The fluid surface of his alien mech shimmered and shifted as he faced her, his inhuman face unreadable.
“It’s why you’re acting so irrationally—in a way that hurts your allies and hurts you. It also hurts your chances of avenging Jess. It’s not fair to anyone, Chief. It’s bull. And you can cut it out right now. Oneiri Team is going to that village together, and you’re going to lead us there. Because you must.”
A brittle silence stretched on. At last, Gabe spoke, and even though mediated by his mech, his voice was heavy with suppressed emotion: “Get the others together and meet me outside the city gates in thirty minutes. In thirty minutes, I’m leaving. I won’t wait for another Darkstream battalion to gather, but if you want to follow me, you can. I’ve already abdicated my rank and position. But you can follow me. Don’t ask for anything else, Sweeney, because it’s all you’re getting.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, and Roach jerked slightly, probably at her steadfast refusal to address him as anything except her military superior.
With that, she turned to jog down the street while switching to a team-wide channel.
Chapter 13
The Quatro Way
So it falls to me to try and clean up this mess, does it?
Lisa supposed that was fair. She had started this militia, and of its members, only she and Andy had recently been paid soldiers in the military Darkstream had established in the Steele System.
Andy was back with O’Toole and the Quatro drift they’d encountered, and anyway, he’d been a lower rank than her. Lisa had persuaded one of the Quatro to loan O’Toole a translator, so that he could communicate with his and Andy’s hosts.
The bottom line was that Lisa was the de facto commander of this militia. Yes, Tessa had once ranked highly in Darkstream’s military, but she had no interest in leading.
Which was good. Because the mess that Lisa had to clean up directly involved her.
In the short-term, the solution was fairly simple. She ordered Tessa to take another sh
uttle, while Rug remained in the one shared by Lisa, as well as Nail and Pen, the other Quatro who’d accompanied them from Alex, and Fan, which was the name chosen by the Quatro who’d left his drift to join them as their guide.
“You did not have to remove Tessa Notaras from my presence,” Rug said, and if Lisa hadn’t known better, she would have said the alien sounded sullen. “I would not have harmed her.”
“You both need time apart from each other,” Lisa said. “That’s my judgment as commander, Rug.” She wasn’t accustomed to being so firm about her authority, but she knew it was necessary, especially since they were still figuring out the command structure of the militia. She sighed. “What you learned today…it’s a lot to take in by itself, and it’s a lot for your relationship with Tessa to bear. You need time apart, no matter what becomes of your friendship.”
“If you say so,” Rug said.
Of the nineteen Quatro who’d left Alex, four of them had decided not to accompany the militia on their journey to search for other Quatro drifts in the lands east of the Barrens. They’d been reunited with long-lost family, friends, and mates, and the temptation to remain behind with them had been great enough for them to abandon the cause.
Lisa didn’t resent them for that, even though fewer Quatro accompanying them would probably mean lower chances of convincing the distant Quatro drifts to join their fight again Darkstream.
No, she didn’t resent them. The opposite, actually: she admired them.
“Rug, I just want to say…I truly appreciate you and the others coming with us on this mission. Especially you. Your mate is still out there, clearly in trouble. Yet you’re here, instead of looking for him.”
“This is true,” Rug said, swinging her head ponderously till her jet-black eyes met Lisa’s. “But the needs of the drift must come before my own. You are one of my drift, Lisa. As is Tessa Notaras—even now.”
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