“I recognize them.”
“I count six braves so far,”Cassius reports.
“There will be more,” I warn. “Do not engage. You heard Sevro. We’re standing by for instructions from Athena.”
“I have the element of surprise. I could take them.”
“No. Those aren’t the Belt pirates you’re used to. I trained those braves. They were frontliners on Earth and Mars. And if they’re part of a larger war party, letting them know we’re here is the last thing we want to do.”
“Registers…”The word sticks in his throat as another column of captives appears a hundred paces behind the first. I curse.
The new column comprises entirely Pink and Violet children. Not one could be older than fourteen. They are the picture of misery. By the looks on their terrified faces, they know what awaits them. They remember their state propaganda—tales of pale Rising butchers and their satyr-like appetites for young flesh—and so does noble Cassius. His biometrics reflect the anxiety in his voice.
“Darrow, are you seeing this?”
“I am, but—”
“I can’t just let this happen.”
“Cassius, listen to me. We cannot leave the omega torch, or compromise this location. They cannot know we are here. We need our rendezvous instructions. Do not engage. Report to the perfumery. Remember why we are here. We are so close.” I feel Diomedes’s eyes on me. It’s tempting to intervene just to impress upon him that we are not enemies, but the risk is too great. Aurae and Sevro have been listening to our communication in silence. Aurae finally weighs in.
“Listen to him, Cassius. When we reach Athena, we can save all of them. Think of the greater good.”
“That’s Darrow’s job,”he says.
“Cassius. You will die. You cannot take twelve of them on your own,” I say. “Stand down.”
“They have children,”he says, and his armor shifts from reptile mode to lupine as it powers for combat.“I’m sorry.”
He wasn’t trying to call my bluff, but I crack like an egg. “Bloodydamn Bellona,” I mutter. “I have your location. Track them to their ship. Wait for my support. We can jam their coms with our suits, then take them together.”
I hear the smile in Cassius’s voice.“Registers, Howler One. Do hurry. If they get to their ship before you get here, we’ll never catch up. I’ll have no choice but to take all the glory.”
“Howler Two, you’re closer. Support him in case I can’t get there in time.” Sevro does not reply. His com is on. I know he heard me. “Howler Two?”
“Negative. I’m on mission.”
“Sevro…”
“You’re telling me to abandon our only contact to Athena? Alone? Here? With Obsidians about? Naw. Bellona wants to spend his life for Moonies. Let him. I’m here for my kids. Maybe think about your own for once.”
Sevro has never wounded me more than he does with those words. I’m struck silent. I see Diomedes watching me. My pain must be written all over my face because for the first time his eyes have softened. “I have no boots. I will slow you down,” Diomedes says. “Go.” I hesitate. “I will meet the others at the perfumery. I know it. You have my parole.Go.”
He’s definitely lying, but I’ve planted the seed that needed planting. Even if he leaves our company, we will have earned his honor, and the worry about a hidden hand will keep his interest.
I storm out of the sanctum, calling Lyria as I race through the Raa family home. She replies from the cockpit of theArchimedesfar to the north. “Truffle? Do you read me? You said you can fly. Time to prove it. Bring theArchimedesto Sungrave. Fly low. Pick up Aurae and Sevro, then lend fire support when able. We’re going to need it.”
54
DARROW
Pella! Pella! Pella!
“Howler One, we’re running outof time,”Cassius says. He’s followed the Obsidians outside Sungrave. They are almost to their ship with their captives. I beg him to hold on. He can’t much longer. I run faster. My gravBoots pound the stone steps of the Spine. Boom boom boom ten stairs at a time. Slag it, I start to fly in a dizzying spiral upward. Dangerous gaining such speed indoors.
Cassius’s helmet feed streams into mine taking up a corner of my HUD. He watches his quarry from a high-altitude entrance into the city. Below his position, the Obsidians lead their new slaves out from a massive gate flanked by stone caryatids toward a transport ship. The ship is parked in the center of an amphitheater-like depression in the mountain.
“They’re loading them up. If they get airborne, that ship will outpace our boots. I have to slow them down.”
