“Besides,” the Kaizen continued, “they passed your Trials. They can handle themselves. And they already know how to work together. You’d be a fucking idiot to waste this opportunity.”
Gemma jolted. She got away with speaking to Rami like that? As game master and director of Zion, he ran this place. He was her superior.
Rami tapped his fingers against the table, contemplating her advice. “Fine. But they’ll still wear and carry the same level of gear as our soldiers. We won’t get the intelligence we need if they don’t come back.” He glared at the Kaizen.
She held up her hands and sat back in her chair, her fight won.
“Where are we going?” Hawk asked.
Rami slipped his hand in between the holograms, sliding them around until he grabbed hold of the planet. He rotated it with just his fingertips then zeroed in on a small portion of the globe.
“This is Reva,” Rami said before pointing to different locations. “This is Zion, where you are right now. Over here is Perileos. Down here is where we believe a hidden Dissent outpost is stationed. That is where you’re headed. Our agents inside Perileos believe the intelligence we’re looking for is at this spot—documents, a datacard, notes passed between Dissent members. We aren’t exactly sure what it is, but the amount of chatter about these coordinates is too great to be considered coincidence.”
“That’s alongway from here,” Imara complained. “Don’t you have any vehicles or something we can take?”
“Not if you don’t want to alert the whole outpost that you’re coming,” the Kaizen replied.
“How do we get there?” Hawk asked.
Rami zoomed in on the optic of Reva. “Well, you can’t go straight down. This area here is an impassable desert with no shade or protection from the elements. But if you go this way”—he drew aCwith his finger through the more mountainous area of Reva’s surface—“your chances of survival skyrocket, despite the extra day or two of travel time it adds. You may even get the chance to pass some alien ruins, though I wouldn’t hang around long to sightsee. And be careful not to touch anything.”
“What protection do we have against the predators we hunt?” Christian asked.
“Weapons,” the Kaizen quipped. “Avoid them, and don’t be fucking stupid.”
Christian glared at her. His ears turned red, his nostrils flaring. Gemma squeezed his knee to keep him from losing control.
“That’s not helpful, Phoebe,” Rami scolded. “Your uniforms, too, are highly sophisticated and work like armor against most of the creatures on Reva’s surface. You’ll be safe.”
“How long do we have before the shuttle to Oranos arrives?” Gemma asked.
“About thirteen days. I recommend you get back here in ten.”
Ten days?They had to make that entire trip in a week and a half? This was Reva, not some oasis.
“Sounds good to me.” Colton shrugged. “When do we leave?”
The armory within Zion was bigger than Gemma could’ve imagined. There were weapons even Hawk and Christian hadn’t heard of. Luckily, there’d been a specialist nearby to demonstrate how they worked. Both guys were way too gleeful as they hung on the specialist’s every word, playing with the munitions like toys, while Colton, Imara, and Gemma started packing their backsacks.
Gemma filled hers to the brim with medical supplies—dressings, antibiotics, spidersilk tape, medications. The weight bore down on her shoulders, but she had to be prepared.
Don’t get caught with your hands tied, Nadine would say. Their mother had instilled in them from a young age that it was better to be ready for anything.
Gemma frowned, a stabbing pain in her chest. What would she say when she saw Nadine again? Could Gemma tell her all she’d done? Would Nadine be angry with her?
Gemma squeezed her eyes closed. Now was not the time to think about facing her sister. If she didn’t uncover the Dissent operative’s plans for Zion, Gemma would never even get a chance to go to Oranos.
Wait until after your charges are dropped before you start worrying about Nadine.
Once the five of them gathered all the weapons, munitions, and supplies they could carry, each was provided enough food rations to last ten days—all in pellet form, which would’ve made Gemma’s stomach roll if she hadn’t eaten worse in Perileos.
They were also gifted special suits tailored for the harsh planetary surface of Reva. The helmets not only protected them from sandstorms and hard falls but also boasted auto-tinting visors to shield their eyes from the sun’s harsh rays, and their basaltweave vests acted as a built-in safety net to protect them from bullets or claws.
But most impressive was the suits’ interior technology. Beneath the sleek black exterior lay a network of micro-channels that functioned as a self-sustaining hydration system, capturing and recycling sweat, urine, and tears back into their bodies.
Fortunately, they didn’t need to directly drink the filtered hydration; it was absorbed through their skin. How, Gemma didn’t know, but she trusted it worked. The Systems’ scientists had developed many extraordinary technologies in the centuries since they’d left the Milky Way.
After a few more instructions, they were told to retire to bed. They would leave when the sun had set, and the planet was at its coolest temperature. Resting midday while they traveled, per Zion’s planetary experts, was optimal. With the shelters they’d been given, they’d find it difficult—but not impossible—to withstand the heat. Their gear would be stored and ready for them when it was time to leave.
