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“You will come back to me,” Jace repeated.

The others in the room tried not to notice the intensity in Jace’s voice. Amana and his father looked away as if they couldn’t even hear.

“I will. I promise,” Khoth said.

Finally, Jace nodded. “Give the Khul Hell with me, Khoth. Make them regret that they ever set foot here.”

That went without saying.

“I will see you upstairs. I’m not leaving your side,” Jace said, meaning as a mech, he supposed.

Another nod. His throat felt so tight that every word felt too big to push out. Even as Khoth knew he should just bow and go, he didn’t. Instead, he leaned down and kissed Jace. It was a hard, desperate kiss that Khoth wanted to leave marks. When he pulled back, he looked deeply into Jace’s eyes.

“I will return to you, Jace.”

He caressed Jace’s face before standing. Then he bowed and turned on his heel to join the others in the hallway. He caught sight of his father’s lifted eyebrows, but there was also a faint smile on his father’s lips. Amana was beaming as if she couldn’t have been happier for him. Typhon appeared completely neutral, which could have meant everything and nothing.

“I was so hoping you would do that,” Dr. Hayter said with a rather romantic sigh.

“You knew of my feelings for the Pilot?” Khoth asked tightly as they all piled into the elevator.

“Everyone knows,” Davies answered. “Except for maybe Bob in Engineering--”

“Oh, no, Bob knows, too,” Dr. Hayter said.

Typhon said nothing. But Khoth was certain he had known as well. Was his and Jace’s attempts at hiding their relationship working at all? Evidently, not. But that didn’t mean they shouldn’t be circumspect to keep morale high. Though both Dr. Hayter and Davies appeared happy about his and Jace’s display.

Davies jostled his arm playfully as the elevator rose. “Don’t look like you’re sucking on a lemon. Your home planet is being attacked. Jace looks like death warmed over. Kissing him was a good idea.”

Khoth gave a brief nod.

“The Pilot did perk up very nicely after that!” Dr. Hayter sighed happily again.

“I’m having my security forces leave by the gate,” Typhon said, studiously ignoring their discussion.

“Good. What do we do about the infected?” Davies asked.

“There is no way to save them,” Khoth answered, the glow of kissing Jace draining away almost entirely. “They must be killed, tagged as contaminated and their bodies destroyed.”

Silence fell in the elevator car.

“More than that may have to be done,” Typhon murmured.

Khoth stiffened. He realized as soon as Typhon said it, he was right. “You are thinking about Staulis?”

Typhon gave a brief nod.

“Staulis?” Davies asked.

But Khoth didn’t give a chance to answer as the lift doors opened and the four of them raced out and down the short hallway to the stairs up to the landing pad. They barreled up the stairs and when they got to the top they found a shadow covering them.

“I wonder what Jace’s mech will look like--oh!” Dr. Hayter gasped.

They didn’t have to look hard for the mech. All of them staggered to a halt as they saw the mech. It loomed above them, thirty-feet tall with two massive legs standing on either side of the canceaux that had brought them to the compound. A tank-like body topped the legs. There was a massive laser sitting atop the body while two “arms” had guns as well as sharp blades on the undersides so that they could fire and slice.

On their comms came the greeting, Hang onto my legs, guys. I can fly us there.

Getting over their shock, they hustled towards the giant mech. There were rungs on the back of the metal legs that allowed them all to crawl up: two on one leg, and two on the other. Khoth could see two exhausts on the back of the mech’s body, aimed away from them so they would not be fried when it took off.