“The Twilight Helm,” Quicksilver declares.
“Never one for understatement, is he,” I say to Matteo.
“Well, this name’s very literal,” Quick says. “Put on the helmet and say, ‘I am Ares.’ ” I hesitate. It seems wrong. Like I’ve stolen a legacy. “Go on. It’s charged.”
“Not yet,” I say. “If Athena thinks I should, I will. But not yet.”
“I understand. I miss Fitchner too.” He looks a little disappointed. “Well then. I guess this is farewell. I don’t know what there is left to say.”
“You could say you changed your mind. That you think it’s not too late for our Republic,” I reply.
“If only I agreed.” He sticks out his hand. I take it gently in mine. His eyes drift to his ring on my pinky. He struggles to let go, but eventually he does. “It is in your hands now. You know what I think. But I’m an old coward. Prove me wrong.”
“I will. If you prove me right.”
Rolling his eyes, Quicksilver turns, squeezes Matteo’s shoulder, and walks away without looking back. Matteo watches after him before looking up at me. “I’m sorry I could not do more to help. It’s not that I don’t agree with you, but Regulus and this station…well…I can do more here, perhaps, in the end.”
I set a hand on his chest, over his heart.
“You’ve always been strong because you are gentle,” I say. “Thank you for everything.”
He folds both of his hands over mine. “It is a noble thing to keep the beasts from the door. Whatever people say, they could not say it if you didn’t.” He goes to his tiptoes, but still I have to bend for him to kiss my cheeks. “For Pax. For Virginia.” He kisses my forehead. “For you.” He kisses my nose and smirks. “For Sevro.”
“Sevro?”
“Well, he’d bite me.”
His eyes dance toward the hangar entrance. A mound of heavy weaponry wobbles toward us. Underneath it is Sevro. His long hair is gone. The sides of his head gleam from a fresh shave. He’s kept only a short spine of hair down the center of his head. His warhawk is back. His face is terrible and focused.
“There’s already weapons on the ship,” I note as he trudges past.
He doesn’t say anything and just goes up the ramp and into the ship. After a final embrace with Matteo, I follow with the helmet and seal the hatch. I find Sevro dumping his gear in front of a floor rack stocked with six new gravBikes. “Your da’s. Catch.”
I toss him the helmet and he lets it hit the floor with athunk.
Right.
“You see the new pulseArmor?” I ask, trying to get him excited aboutanything. It’s already loaded in newly installed wall racks. I whistle as I approach it. “Slimmer than the models we used to fall on Mercury. These are built for speed. Double-joined couter, reinforced breastplate, nano-helm, adaptive camouflage skin, and he tripled the generator output capacity.” I lick the shoulder of one to test the flavor. “Polyenne fiber woven in. Godkiller’s right.”
I turn to see him still sorting his gear.
“So, you’re coming then,” I say. “And you got your warhawk back. Why the change of heart?”
He doesn’t look up. “Can’t go back yet.”
He sounds fatalistic, scary. “Sevro—”
“Drop it. I’m here. Let’s fly.”
I pick up the helmet from the floor. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re coming.” He says nothing. I let him alone, and head for the cockpit as theArchimedeslifts off to leave Quicksilver’s new world behind.
42
LYRIA
Rat in the Machine
TheArchimedesis thequietest ship I’ve ever traveled on. So quiet I fear the growling in my stomach can be heard as I crawl through the access tunnel from my sad little hiding place in the auxiliary reactor into the machine shop. MRE wrappers and drained water bladders, now filled with my shit and piss, trail behind me on a cord connected to my ankle. I draw them out after me and refit the access grate. I pause in the dim shop, straining to hear beyond the purr of the engines.
