Keep Your Friends Close

by N. D. Roberts

Trey’s eyebrows met in the middle. “I’ve got a what, now?”

  Alexis raised an eyebrow. “Very funny, Trey.” Her laughter dried up when she saw he wasn’t joking. “It came with your neural chip. Didn’t you follow the prompts after you had the procedure?”

  Trey dropped his pretense and burst out laughing. “Of course, I did. I’m not a complete dumbass. Eve heard me, I know it. She doesn’t need me to bother her with messages.”

  Gabriel felt a tingle in his mind. He frowned at the unexpected sensation, and then the notification came up in his HUD. “I’ve got a message.”

  Alexis sat bolt upright as she was hit by the same sensation. “I got it too.”

  “What is Eve saying?” K’aia asked. She poked her head out of her bunk to get a view of Gabriel.

  “It’s not from Eve,” Alexis clarified. “It’s from Mom and Dad. Gabriel, I don’t like this. I got the worst feeling when I opened the message.”

  Trey eased himself into a sitting position, ignoring his physical pain. “Your ‘feelings’ are never wrong, Alexis.” He hesitated to ask why he hadn’t received a message from Mahi’. “What did they say?”

  Gabriel hopped down from his bunk and grabbed his boots from under the bed. “They’re coming into the game to talk to us.”

  K’aia had an idea about what would make Bethany Anne and Michael interrupt their training, and it wasn’t anything good. “Something’s wrong.”

  Alexis pursed her lips. “Well, yeah. Otherwise, I’d have gotten a happy psychic flash instead of the ocean of sorrow that drowned me for a second.” She fixed K’aia with a concerned look. “We’ll be back soon.”

  Gabriel touched Alexis’ arm as he set off for the door. “We’d better go.”

  The rest of the day crawled by for Trey and K’aia.

  Trey slept some. He also wrote to Mahi’, a long letter full of longing for home and her presence. There was no sign of Alexis and Gabriel returning to the barracks.

  K’aia spent the time maintaining her carapace. She held back her rebukes for Trey’s restlessness, feeling the same nervous tension of not knowing what the bad news was. It was up to her as the eldest to ensure all three had support.

  There wasn’t much she hadn’t lived through during her time as a slave in the salt mine. She was tougher than all three, having spent the majority of her life with no status whatsoever.

  K’aia enjoyed the luxury of having people around her who cared, but she never let herself forget what it had been to be owned.

  The twins would return, and then they would tell her what loss they’d suffered. Whatever the emotional fallout, she would be there the way her duty to them as a friend demanded. Same thing with Trey. It couldn’t be easy knowing your only parent was away at war and might not make it back.

  She couldn’t see Bethany Anne achieving anything except victory, but what price had fate charged for it?

  Fate always called in her chits.

  K’aia buffed out the scratches in her carapace and kept her counsel to herself.

  The dinner bell rang, and K’aia made Trey hobble over to the mess tent. They ate their mush in strained silence, neither wanting to put a name to the cloud hanging over their heads.

  It was full dark when Gabriel and Alexis finally came back to the barracks. They trooped in together, the dejection surrounding them almost physical in its presence.

  Trey dropped the book he was reading and sat up on his mattress. “What is it?”

  Alexis burst into tears. “I…I can’t!” She ran into one of the bathrooms and shut the door.

  Gabriel was in little better shape. He climbed up to his bunk without saying a word.

  K’aia hesitated, torn between them. She settled on Trey, who looked confounded. “Stay with Gabriel.”

  Alexis didn’t reply when K’aia tapped on the bathroom door. She tapped again. “Alexis? What happened?”

  There was a snick as Alexis unlocked the door. She opened it, then hopped up onto the cistern and rested her feet on the toilet lid to make room for K’aia. “Come in.”

  K’aia was less than certain about the wisdom of trying to fit both her and Alexis into a bathroom made for one. “Just come out. There’s no point you being in there. There’s no one here to see you cry but us.”

  Alexis sighed, but did as K’aia asked. “I just wanted to be alone for a minute is all. Addix. She’s dead.”

  K’aia’s heart dropped. “No.” She turned to see Trey receiving the news from Gabriel. “Not Addix. She’s too tough to die!”

  Alexis nodded, fresh tears flowing without her noticing. “Yes. There was an Ooken; it had Mahi’. She saved Mahi’, but she didn’t survive.”

  K’aia couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but she wasn’t as shaken as the others. Sad, yes, but she had spent long hours considering the role of a bodyguard and whether she could fill it before agreeing to Bethany Anne and Michael’s request to protect the twins.

  Addix had made it clear in their first lesson that there weren’t many retired bodyguards to be found, outside of the fully enhanced. K’aia expected to lay down her life one day if that was the only way she could keep the twins safe.

  Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so eager to refuse the extra enhancement.

  K’aia embraced Alexis, her own grief pushed to the side for the moment. “I’m sorry you lost Addix. She was an aunt to you and Gabriel during a huge part of your lives.”

  Alexis returned the hug, uncaring of the pain hugging a Yollin caused. “She was your mentor and your friend. You two spent a lot of time together.” She paused to place a hand on Trey’s shoulder before taking a seat on K’aia’s bunk. “Are you okay?”

  Trey held his head in his hands. He looked at Alexis through his fingers. “I don’t know what to feel. I can’t believe Addix sacrificed herself. I also can’t imagine life without Mahi’. I’m grateful, but I wish it hadn’t been necessary.”

  K’aia smiled sadly. “That was her duty. One day I might have to do the same for one of you. That’s life.”

  “No, it isn’t,” Alexis argued. “Nobody has to die. Not when we have the technology to make everyone invulnerable.”

  Gabriel frowned. “It’s not that easy. You know what happens when it gets out that the tech exists. Riots amongst the people, and attacks we have to fend off by those who can afford to send their militaries after us. War. Mom keeps a tight grip on our technology for a reason.”

  Alexis glared at him. “I’m talking about K’aia getting fully enhanced so she doesn’t die protecting us,” she ground out. “I’m not asking. K’aia, either you get level-three enhancement, or we get a new bodyguard. I will not risk you.”

  K’aia knew Alexis spoke from a place of fear. “I’ll think about it. What about Addix? Did we miss her funeral?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “No. It’s in three weeks game-time. Mom instructed us to complete this objective chain in that time, and told us we’ll be placed into the next scenario when we get back from the funeral.”

  12

  Devon, The Hexagon, Penthouse Apartment, Roof Terrace

  Bethany Anne stepped back as the casket representing Addix was fired into Devon’s star. There was a brief flash as the BYPS allowed the casket passage, and then it was gone.

  Alexis slipped away from Bethany Anne and Gabriel, feeling the need for some quiet to work through the growing anger that had built up over the last three weeks.

  Trey thought about offering her his shoulder until he saw her eyes were glowing again. She was raging inside, and he knew there was nothing he could do to ease the pain of a lost relative.

  He glanced around and spotted his mother talking to a Baka he didn’t recognize. He drifted away from the attendees and walked over to the wall. “Mahi’, I wondered where you were when we got out of the Vid-docs.”

  Mahi’ turned and stared open-mouthed at him for a moment before speaking. “Tu’Reigd? Is that you?” She limped over and wrapped Trey in a tight hug. “I’m not cleared
for the vault since Tabitha upped the security. Even Bethany Anne and Michael had to wait for it to be disabled before they were able to visit.”

  She stood on her tiptoes and cupped Trey’s face in her hands. “Look how handsome you are, all grown. You’re the image of your father, but I always knew you would be.”

  Trey bent gratefully into his mother’s embrace, for once not embarrassed by the public display of affection. “It’s so good to see you, even though it’s for a sad occasion. All I’ve wanted to do since you wrote to me about Qu’Baka is hug you.”

  Mahi’ released him and stepped back, taking her weight on her good leg. “You came close to losing me, but we did not lose our people, and the Seven were unable to do more than take their frustration out on the planet. Addix’s sacrifice will be remembered forever.” Her expression was tight and sad. “She was a good friend, as well as a warrior of unimpeachable honor. This celebration of her life is apt.”

  Trey dropped his gaze to her leg. “Michael told me an Ooken took your leg. How are you doing with the prosthetic? You could have it regrown, no one would judge you for it. Except for Da’Mahin, but who listens to him, anyway?”

  Mahi’ smiled and shook her head fondly. “Always concerned about others. I’ll get used to my new leg, and it will serve to remind me always of Addix’s sacrifice.” Her smile grew wider as linked her arm through Trey’s and steered them both toward the wall, where the Baka Mahi’ had been talking to stood looking out over First City. “Besides, can you see Da’Mahin topping my lost leg? We’ll see who has the most gripping war story at the next family gathering. Come with me. There’s someone special I want you to meet.”

  Trey found that his curiosity was piqued by the unknown Baka. Golden fur was as rare among their people as truly red hair in humans. He was sure he would have noticed a Baka so large walking around the Enclave. By that reasoning, this must be a relative Mahi’ had found on Qu’Baka. “Is he your uncle? Bor’Dane?”

  Mahi’ shook her head, tears transforming her eyes into mirrors. “No, Bor’Dane is at the Enclave at the moment. We rescued many political prisoners when we freed our people.” She repressed a sob. “When our home was lost.”

  Trey couldn’t stand to see his mother hurting. “Devon is our home. We will build a new Citadel, a bigger one, with no access for Da’Mahin unless he asks really, really nicely.”

  Mahi’ offered Trey a smile for his efforts. “You are a good son.” She let go of Trey and put a hand on the stranger’s arm. “Fi’, look who’s here!”

  The mystery Baka abandoned his lookout to smile at Mahi’, then at Trey. “This must be… I’m not sure. Let me guess, Li’Orin?”

  Trey held out a hand, no clearer on who this relative was, but amused by the mistake. “Hi. Um, no. I’m Tu’Reigd. Good to meet you, Fi'... What is your name?”

  The Baka clasped Trey’s forearm in a strong grip. “Fi'Eireie.” He grinned at Trey’s response to his name. “Good to know you haven’t forgotten me. Hello, son.”

  Trey looked into tawny eyes identical to his own and it hit him. “Father? No. Freaking. Way. You’re alive?”

  Fi'Eireie patted himself down. “Last time I checked. What has your mother been feeding you? Hells, you’re taller than me! The last time I saw you, you barely reached my knee.”

  Alexis watched the reunion with mixed emotions. This was the reason Addix had given her life—so Trey’s family could be together.

  It didn’t hurt any less to know she would never see her Ixtali aunt again.

  Who could she blame? She needed someone to blame. Some focus for the anger she felt at the early theft of a person she loved. Not Mahi’, and definitely not Addix herself. The Ooken that had attacked was no more than a mindless creature under Kurtherian control. Where did the responsibility lie?

  Ultimately, Alexis knew it was with the Seven. She burned with the urge to take revenge, but what could she do? They weren’t ready for that fight.

  Gabriel dropped into the seat next to Alexis, his face as solemn as the cut of the white suit he wore. “I can feel you stewing from inside the apartment. Wanna talk?”

  Alexis pressed her lips together and wrapped her arms around her drawn-up legs. “No, I want to wipe the Seven from existence. It’s not difficult to understand Mom’s focus on making that day come around soonest.” Her face settled into a harsh grimace. “I’m sick of being stuck halfway between childhood and the rest of our lives. We need to prepare ourselves for facing the Seven.”

  K’aia joined them, working out the subject easily. “We have to get back into the Vid-docs and complete our enhancement.”

  Trey ran over. “You’ll never guess. That Baka, the one with Mahi’? He’s my father!” He waved down their congratulations. “You don’t understand. With my father around, he and Mahi’ control enough of the people to shut my uncles out. Our troubles as a people are over.”

  Alexis raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean for you?”

  Trey lifted a shoulder. “It means I’m free for the moment. I still have to rule, just not while my parents are here to do it. Right now, I want to get vengeance for Addix.”

  “We will,” Alexis assured him. “The minute we’re ready.”

  Gabriel had been thinking along the same lines. He glanced at their parents, seeing them in deep discussion with Eve and Ashur. “We’ll be there soon enough. All of us.”

  Epilogue

  Devon, The Hexagon, Vid-doc Vault

  The atmosphere was muted inside the vault as the Vid-docs were prepared to reinsert the team at the moment they had left the game to attend Addix’s funeral.

  K’aia had little to say beyond expressing her desire to get back into the program. The decision to take level-three enhancement had not been easy to come to.

  Alexis touched Gabriel’s mind. Whatever it takes, I want us to be ready to fight when we get back.

  We will be, Gabriel promised. Zenith Squad is where we’ll get those skills, and Belv'th is where we’re going to hone them.

  Trey resisted the urge to tell his parents he wanted to stay with them. He embraced Mahi' and Fi’Eireie, tears threatening his hard-won composure.

  Fi’Eireie took him by the shoulders, pride shining in his eyes. “I could not be more honored by the son you have been to your mother, or by the dedication you have to our people. I see wisdom despite your youth, and I see the marks of your courage on your body.”

  Trey nodded, finding it hard to say goodbye to the father he’d only just gotten to know. “Look after Mahi’ for me. Make sure Da’Mahin doesn’t give her any more trouble.”

  Mahi’ held Trey close, then released him and traced the path of the scar on his cheek with her thumb. “You are too young to have borne this already. You experienced every one of these injuries, it doesn’t matter that your scars were created by Eve. You are not obligated to complete this, Tu’Reigd. Your father and I are here to take care of the people.”

  Trey shook his head, resolved to his choice. “I’m going to finish. You are here for our people, and I have a higher calling to answer. My fight is with the Seven now.” He put a hand on his mother’s cheek. “This is what I have to do. It’s just a few months more. In your time, anyway.”

  Mahi' nodded solemnly. “I understand. Fight well, my son. We will be here waiting when you return.”

  Alexis was about to climb into her Vid-doc when Bethany Anne stopped her with a touch on her arm. “Mom?”

  “I want to tell you something before you leave. You too, Gabriel.” Bethany Anne took Alexis by the hand. “Let that anger go. There’s no gain in hating the Kurtherians.”

  Alexis looked at her mother in disbelief. “You can’t be serious? The Seven ruin everything!”

  “I’m deadly serious,” Bethany Anne told her in a firm tone. “It will destroy you if you hold onto it. Be angry, yes, but don’t let it fester and grow until that’s all you are.”

  Gabriel frowned. “I don’t get it. I can feel your emotions, Mom. You’re beyo
nd angry. Why shouldn’t we be angry too? Our aunt was killed in cold blood.”

  Bethany Anne gave them a small smile. “My babies. This is our life, and our enemies will take any chance they can to hurt us.” She turned as Michael joined them, not pausing in her lesson. “My mentor was killed just for knowing me. Your father has been through worse. At every turn since, I have had to protect myself and the people I care about from attacks. If I allowed my emotions to rule me, none of us would be here.”

  Michael nodded to confirm Bethany Anne’s words. “We have had lifetimes to learn the difference between righteous anger and the kind you are feeling right now. It is my hope that we have prepared you to recognize it too before you end up on a path you regret.”

  “You’re not the only ones with a grudge to settle,” Bethany Anne added. “Never forget what was taken, but do not allow your emotions to be your downfall.”

  Alexis exchanged a glance with her brother, knowing that it was her temper that put them at risk of failure. “I’ll do my best. It’s not easy to let go.”

  Gabriel nodded. “But we’ve got each other to make sure neither of us falls,” he told Bethany Anne.

  “We’re going to make a difference,” Alexis vowed. “We are going to face the Seven as a family.” She climbed into her Vid-doc, her anger transformed into a cold shard she stuffed down inside to save for when that moment came.

  Gabriel followed suit. He paused before lying down on the neural mat. “We’re going to focus on becoming the best we can be. You’re right, anger will get in the way. But it can also be a tool.”

  Alexis picked up as Gabriel lay back. “Be prepared for when we return, because we’re coming out ready to kick Kurtherian ass from one side of the universe to the other if that’s what it requires to make sure they can’t take anything from anyone ever again.”

  Bethany Anne glanced at Michael as the Vid-docs’ lids closed. “They’re determined to join this war.”

  Michael put his arm around Bethany Anne’s shoulders. “We raised them that way. We should have known the day would come when the Seven became their focus too.” He smiled at her. “I’m proud of them. They had the choice of any life they wanted, and they chose the fight for what’s right.”