Sevro eyes me like I’m the worlds’ biggest idiot and sips his coffee again.
“This chaos can be used to infiltrate Ilium. I want to accept Athena’s invitation. I want to meet with her agents at Kalyke, present the Helm of Ares, and use the ships she’s stockpiled to complete our mission and bring them back to unite with the Republic ships to finish this war.”
Dead silence.
“I hope the ships will be enough to give Gold a contest, but I do not know for certain. What I do know is Virginia and Victra are depending upon us for reinforcements. I see this as our last chance to matter in this fight. I will not make any of you come with me, but I believe I have togo.”
“Darrow,” Sevro says. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I was sent on a mission. It is not yet done,” I say.
“Athena’s invitation was not to you, Darrow,” Aurae says, a little troubled. “If you answer it without Sevro, I cannot promise she will give you the ships.”
“Why wouldn’t she?” Cassius asks.
Aurae looks to me to see if I’ll tell the truth.
“Twelve years ago, to secure Romulus’s help against Roque before the Battle of Ilium, I offered to give him the names of all the known Sonsof Ares on the Rim,” I say. “The Raa used this information and purged them all.”
“Purged?”
“They killed them,” Aurae says. “And many more.”
Cassius is stunned. He points between us. “And there’s no tension…or…heartfolly poison in his oats?”
“You of all people should know I believe a man can walk out of his own darkness, Cassius,” she says. “But I was a deepcell agent. I do not know the Daughters well enough to say they are all as forgiving as I am.”
“Athena gave youThe Path to the Vale,did she not?” I ask. She nods. “Then if you can get me to Athena, I will take my chances,” I say.
Aurae looks worried for me, but proud too in a way. “It really would be best if Sevro came. Sevro, you are the son of Ares. You have a responsibility to help us,” she says.
“Not going to lie, he’s a hell of a guerilla. We could use you out there, Barca,” Cassius says.
“No,” I say. “Sevro has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Every single time I’ve asked. Then even when I haven’t. He’s earned his trip home. With the Rim gone, he stands a good chance of making it to the surface back to his family.”
Sevro appreciates that. I see the change in his eyes as he imagines greeting his daughters and new child. His voice is friendly, but heavy. “Darrow, you’re sailing into a warzone with the only safe harbor being among people who’ve got every reason to put a bullet in your head…at best.”
I nod. “This is the path that is available to me. Your father left it for you. But we’re brothers, so in a way it’s my inheritance too.”
40
LYRIA
Departure
In front of themirror, I run a finger along the pink line of raw skin that circles my head just above my highest forehead wrinkle. “You popped my skull like a candy dispenser,” I say.
“I told you it would be maximally invasive,” Matteo calls back from the medical suite.
“Oh, the options I had. So grand.”
“Scars will fade, but your sarcasm’s back. That’s good. The first week out, the only effluence one could expect from your mouth was drool.”
He’s not wrong. My first week after the surgery, I gibbered like a drunk. My feet wouldn’t work till the second. I felt like I was operating a puppet body until the third. Only on the fourth did my body finally begin to feel like mine again. Most important, my memories are mine, safe, horrible, precious. But would I even know if they weren’t there?
If I was…what did Matteo call it…tabula rasa? A blank slate.
Matteo did not visit every day, and when he did the visits were not for long nor of much substance. But considering I’ve spent the last five weeks with only the company of shiny robots, his smile makes me feel grand when I exit the bathroom.
