“Rebel…”
The red-eyed Titan moves aside as a glittery black unit joins him. “How do you know where our CyberGuard brothers are?”
“Only some of them,” I admit. “We’re Rebels, descended from Omega Force, of the resistance, of Titan staff. We had a whole network until months ago.” My shivering finally fades, and I lie on the hard floor in the heat, thanking the stars that Evo heard my call. “Then everyone started disappearing. We think CSP got someone to talk. We tried to reach out to those left and got ourselves too far out of the system, trying to outrun a patrol squadron that somehow knew our location. Solcrue cut off ourlast supply line. They didn’t find us, but they gave us a death sentence, anyway. I have to get back to them as soon as possible with any aid you can spare.”
The Titan called Rebel sighs. “We don’t have much either. We just survived a battle with Solcrue and took on several hundred humans. But we can spare some fuel, water, food, and medicine.”
“We need to confirm with Commander Savage first,” the glittery Titan counters.
“Chasm,” Evo gets up. “Contact Rebel Leader Toriszi. He has the portal. We can jump many small ships with supplies.”
“We are locked down until the storm passes. The electromagnetic disruptions should end at that time.” Chasm gives Evo a serious look. “Care for your patient. I will discuss this with Toriszi and Savage.”
Rebel’s face fills the screen again. “When her vitals meet these benchmarks, give her the synthetic booster from the kit. I only had time to make a few while we worked on Armor. There should be one in that ship.”
Evo memorizes the screen Rebel flashes at him, then he digs around in the kit and lifts an injection gun.
“That’s it. Just get fluids in her and warm her up, slowly. I’ve got to go help the other females now.”
“Thank you, Brother.”
Rebel studies him closely. “How are you operating?”
“Within parameters,” Evo replies.
“Let me know if anything changes.”
“Understood.”
The screen darkens, and Evo looks down at me. “How are you feeling?”
Feeling?I never thought I’d be this close to a Titan. Ever. The more unsettling part is my growing attraction to him. He isa cautious Titan, lessorderly,more observant, and concerned with how I feel, not just how I amoperating.
He fidgets like he isn’t sure what to do with himself. Evo checks the injector, my vitals, stares off into the distance, then does it again.
My stomach burns with only a small amount of water to dilute the acid. I lethargically curl onto my side and savor more of the gloriously hot air. I get close enough, my skin starts to turn red.
“Aera.” Evo rests a gloved hand on my shoulder and gently guides me back. “You will damage yourself further.”
I don’t know why, but I start crying even though I don’t have enough moisture to form tears. I’m exhausted, relieved, in pounding pain, and fearing what is happening back on my mothership.
“Take it easy. You made it to us. You are safe. We will help, even if only I can go and take what we have.”
My body is so very heavy. Thoughts and fears buzz in my mind as I bask in comforts my people don’t have. “We are a fraction of what we used to be. My friends gave up the last of their food and fuel so I could come here. If the other Titans do not agree to help...”
“They will agree.” Evo is confident. “It is a matter of how and when and with what.”
“Promise?”
Evo crouches beside me, frees blood-soaked hair from my face, finds a cloth in the medical kit, and cleans my head with a bit of water. “It is one of our most basic programs. It runs before any other. Humans are our priority. But we have many humans already under our care. We are not nearly enough Titans for nine hundred more civilians.”
There’s something hiding in the eyes of this Titan, an emotion I didn’t think machines could have. “You used to protect thousands with a simple squad.”
He nods and checks my biometrics. “Many things have changed since then. We have few ships left, fewer medics, more injured and sick and broken. Solcrue have enslaved many of us, put us in work camps, as you are aware. They have hacked us, disassembled us, and decommissioned many thousands of my Brothers.”
“Then why do I get the sense you’re hiding from something?”
Evo checks my vitals again, readies the injector, and apologizes to me. When he presses the tip to my shoulder, the pinch carries a heavy wave through my body. “I am sorry, Aera. I am not the guardian angel you hoped you’d find. We are fractured and broken. All we have left is our loyalty to humanity and our will to fight.”
