The clang of the collision echoed out over the stunned audience even as Vor held up his other hand to keep his soldiers from interfering. Everyone—Nethren, Medean, and Aethari—went still to gape at the shield that had once been an arm, including Rallorival, who lowered his sword and gaped. As Vor lowered his shield, it morphed with gleaming liquidity back into his forearm, exactly as it had been.
“Sweet convergence,” Liria murmured.
“What the fuck was that?” General Caden pointed at Vor. “Nethren can't transform. Can they? That looked like convergence!”
Internally, Vor was just as astounded, but he kept a calm expression on his face when he answered the general. “There is much you don't know about us.” He lifted the vidco and found Greis gaping at him as well. “Lower the ward.”
“Yes, Commander.” Greis nodded rapidly from the vidco screen and hit the button to reestablish the ward.
A shimmering wall fell between the two armies, and Vor clenched his teeth to keep a sigh of relief from escaping. The general didn't bother to hide his relief; his large body bending forward with it. He even nodded at Vor in what appeared to be gratitude. They both knew that Rallorival's attack could have started a battle that neither wanted.
Vor returned the general's nod and then motioned his soldiers into the fortress. They were gaping at him too, but they recovered quicker than the Medeans and Aethari. The Nethren ushered their freed comrades into the courtyard. Vor came inlast, and then the gates shut behind them. As soon as they were closed, his soldiers turned toward him. Even the soldiers on the wall were staring down at him.
Vor did not know what to say, and yet, he opened his mouth, and words came forth, drawn from somewhere deep and resonating with that depth. “Now, you see why she's integral to our mission!” Vor lifted his metal hand. “This was a gift from our guest. Lena Drask is our path to our true potential. She is our guide to the surface and all it can offer us. We must stand our ground and protect her at all costs!”
“Commander, what is it? What did she give you?” Corporal Keen, one of the soldiers who had attended him for the prisoner exchange, asked.
“I don't know yet, Corporal. I am as astounded and excited as all of you are. All I know is that I couldn't do that before I met her. When I'm near Lena Drask, I can feel the Tech in me tuning itself.”
“Tuning itself?” someone asked.
“Aligning. I don't know how else to explain it. You will understand when you meet her. Now that her power has revealed itself, I will make sure that each of you has an opportunity to be touched by it. This is no ordinary mission, soldiers. We are here to change our future for the better. The surface will be ours again!”
The Nethren cheered.
“Now, let's welcome back our comrades!” Commander Vor smiled, a wonderfully warm feeling coming over him as Nethren swarmed the freed soldiers to slap their backs, shake their hands, and even embrace them. Such a show of affectionwould never have happened a week ago, and yet now it felt normal.
“Thank you, Commander,” one of the freed men said. “We expected to die. I can hardly believe I'm back.”
“Every soldier is important to me.” Vor clapped the man's shoulder. “Go refresh yourself and then report to the command room for debriefing.”
“Yes, sir!”
As the soldiers went inside, Vor looked up at his window again. Lena was still there, sitting on the sill with the glass pane lifted. She had to have heard everything, and Vor worried about her reaction. Lena's gaze was on the returned soldiers, but then it shifted to him. He lifted a hand to her.
She slipped off the sill and shut the window.
“Tech help me,” Vor muttered and headed inside.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Evellor
The exchange had been made. It hadn't gone smoothly, but Mal was safe. He was alive, and that was more than Evellor could have hoped for.
Which fucked with his head.
He, an Aethari, had just had sex with a Nethren prisoner and then had the nerve to be relieved when that prisoner was released. What was wrong with him?
But Mal had seemed like any other man. He had metal flesh, but that was the only difference between him and a Medean. They'd all come from the surface originally. Their ancestors had both been Medeans. Their races were cousins. And their bites were fatal to each other.
“Ugh! What have I done?” Evellor looked down at the personal vidco in his hand. What he'd done was traitorous. He had slipped his enemy a personal vidco linked to his. Would Mal vid him? “You're a fool.” Evellor shoved the vidco in his pocket and turned to leave his tent.
A chiming stopped him.
“Oh, fuck me,” Evellor whispered as he pulled the vidco out.
It could be anyone. Many people had Evellor's vid number. He lifted the vidco to face the screen, steeled himself, and pressed the answer button.
