Flight (12 page)

"What is it?"

He takes the small silver disk from me and opens it up. I have to use my night vision to see the little convex glass inside and then I smile. "It's true north, Juncs. It's true north, that's what. It doesn't work here, no consistent magnetic field, right? But on Earth, it'll point ya in the right direction, OK?"

I take the little silver compass back and watch it spin relentlessly. I can relate to the pointer because that's how I feel. Spinning and spinning and never coming to a stop, no matter how hard I try.

"On Earth–" He stops again.

"Oh fuck, Tier, please just say it."

"Yer gonna find more truth than ya ever wanted. The clones, Junco, it's out of control. Yer gonna see people ya thought were dead."

My heart almost stops. "Who?"

He shrugs. "Aren for sure."

"Yeah, I already know that part."

He sighs. "Lucan is up on the flyer terrace waitin'. He says he has a gift for ya." He gets up and pulls me with him and then walks me over to the stairs. "I wish I could spend the night with ya, Juncs. But I can't. I promise though, I promise that we'll have time for that later, OK?"

My breathing becomes erratic but I turn away and begin to climb the stairs. When I get to the top I look back, but he's already gone inside. Lucan is sitting on the short wall on the other side of the building, probably to stay out of Kadian's spyglass. I walk over and pull myself together, trying desperately to stop the spinning.

Lucan stands. "You're scared?"

I let out a little laugh and it makes my head hurt more. "No, Lucan. You're scared. I'm sad."

He holds out a notebook. "Esta said to give you this. We're not having the send-off I promised the media tomorrow. In fact, you'll be leaving in a few hours so when we're done here, let the team know."

I nod.

Then he takes what's left of my disfigured hand and holds up my index finger. "I have a gift for you." He looks down at me and smiles so big it's contagious. I sniff and wipe my other hand across my face. "It's a little pinprick now, Junco." And then he pricks the tip of my index finger with a small device. It bleeds for a fraction and then it's over.

"That was it?" I laugh.

He smiles again. "You are the only person who has this gift. I made it specially for you."

"What is it?"

"It's a summons. If you rub your thumb and index finger together, I will appear. No matter where you are in the universe, I will be there." I look down at the hidden power my fingertip contains and blink. "Of course, if you're far away, like on Earth for example, and you summon me, it will take me" – he stops to calculate the time – "exactly eighteen minutes and twenty-three seconds to get there." He stops, proud of himself, and I laugh up at him. "But I will come if you really need me. So when you find yourself in trouble, in that last moment, Junco, when you truly have no more options. Use the summons and call for me by rubbing your fingers together."

"Wow. So, the next time I want orange juice in the middle of the night I can just snap my fingers and you'll deliver it to me? That is some fucking gift!"

"Yes, funny, funny. It's for a single emergency. But use it if you feel threatened, Junco. Please. If it's not the right moment, not essential that I come, then I won't appear. But I'd rather it be a false alarm than not have you come back home, so don't guess. Just try it if you think you need me. And–"

He stops for too long and I have to prod him to go on with a wave of my hand.

"If you get other offers, on Earth? Just know that we love you here. We do. And if you think you might want to take one, then please call for me on your com so I can find a way to give you whatever it is you need."

"Lucan, I'm not gonna take that job offer from that Subjack guy, OK?"

He nods and looks away from me, like he can't look me in the face. "I never properly expressed my thanks for what you did, so before you leave I'd like for you to know how much I appreciate your sacrifice."

"What're you talking about?"

His small laugh makes me smile. Some things about Lucan seem so out of place and these little human-like gestures always surprise me. In a good way.

"You saved Tier, Junco. I cannot put into words how relieved I am." His eyes close as he turns away again. "You did what I could not. I owe you." When he looks back at me his expression is very serious. "I owe you, do you understand?"

I shake my head. "No, not really."

"I owe you. And this gift can't even come close. Whatever you need, you will just ask. Understand?"

"OK."

"I'll see you off in a little bit. Make sure to pack things to keep you occupied on the trip. It takes about two and half weeks."

I reach over and give him a hug. "Thank you for the gift. If I need you I'll use it."

He smiles and then he is gone.

I go back inside and repeat Lucan's announcement but the team doesn't pay much attention to me. Tier is not around and I find Isten sitting on the window seat in our dark bedroom. By the time I change into my shorts and tank top he's in bed with the covers open so I can climb in. His wings wrap me up and I lay my head on his chest and count.

Chapter Ten

Ryse was right to be impressed with our transportation, it's fabulous even though I don't have anything to compare it to. All four teams bunk in the same room on the ship and we are stacked four high with barely enough room to move around inside the cocoon-like berths. They are molded against the side of the bulkhead and have a little curtain that covers the open side, so at least there's that.

I'm fascinated at everything at first. The clanking sound my boots make on the grated decks, the hum of the ventilation system, the on-ship light-G fields, the stick pads that keep my feet on the deck in the free-G areas, and of course, the portholes that let me stargaze as we move through the system towards Earth. Every time I even think the word I get butterflies, that's how excited I am.

Tier and I settle into our new normal, which is pretty much limited to eating our meals together. Isten, Arel, and I spend a lot of time going over field scenarios, while Rikan, Mish, and Braun do the same. Ashur, of all people, spends most evenings with me looking at Esta's translations in the notebook Lucan passed to me during our final meeting. If I figured one of them would be interested that that crap, I might have picked Ryse. But Ryse almost never surfaces from the cockpit.

I practice with the new armor. Isten has to help me put it on and take it off because the shirt and wing seams are very complicated. It really stifles my movements too. I spend the first week training pretty hard in it, making sure I can do some moves that I rely on in close combat. But the fucking gravity is so variable across the training space that this is almost pointless and finally I give it up. Whatever time I get to adjust to it in the Northern Territories before the real action begins will just have to be good enough.

The wing protection is a light-weight, spray-on, slick silver polymer that I won't be able to check out until we're ready for jump. Once applied it helps protect the feathers from burns, like a fire-retardant, and it takes thirty days for the bonds to break and flake off. In the interest of making sure we're all equipped to the same standard on drop, they can't let me give it a try or mine will be substantially degraded by the time we're engaged.

Two weeks into the journey Isten finds me reading Esta's translations of the Fledge church doorway in the forward observation bunk. There's barely enough room in here for one person let alone two, but he forces himself in and pushes me against the bulkhead.

"Junco, I've been patient with you, but that's enough. Stop reading that shit." I don't even look up. We've had this conversation at least once a day since we left Amelia. He turns on his side and leans down into my face. "What can you possibly find in there that is so interesting?"

Now I do turn, but I'm annoyed with his pestering and he knows it. "Isten, this shit is actually describing the creation of man. It's pretty important."

He laughs and I feel it from the inside as well as hear it from the outside. "It's bullshit, Junco. None of that is true. Don't waste your time."

"Then why is Lucan's name in here, huh?"

He shakes his head at me. "It's not Lucan's name, Juncs. It's a derivative. He doesn't own that name, and he might be old, but he's not that fucking old."

"How do you know? Ash says–"

"Ash is just trying to make you notice him again and avoid that stupid Lili girl at the same time. Why they let her come along I'll never understand."

"She's on Monk's team, what should they have done, left her on Amelia? Hey, Lili – you can be part of our team, but guess what? We're going on an important mission now and you have to stay home?"

Isten exhales. "I would have made both of you stay home if it were up to me."

I can't even bring myself to waste the breath it would cost to answer that, so I turn back to the notebook. "Look, here's the cuneiform image, right?" I point to a glyph that represents light and I feel Isten notice it in his head, then continue. "And this is Lucan's glyph right next to it. It says Lucan, not some derivative, Isten. It's spelled out clear as day."

He shrugs. "So what?"

"So he was there."

"So what?"

"He played a part in the creation of men and the avian too. That doesn't interest you?"

"No, it really doesn't. Lucan is not God, Junco. He's a raging asshole most of the time, just because he likes you and treats you special doesn't make him a nice guy. Or God, for fuck's sake."

"No, he's definitely not God. That much I know." I feel Isten's interest perk up a bit, so I stay silent and make him say what's on his mind. It takes a few minutes of silence, but in the end he does.

"So who is he?"

I smile in victory. "See, you do want to know!"

"Say it, Juncs, or I'll never pretend to be interested in your hobbies again."

I hold down my smile and look up at him. "He's the Fallen Archer, Isten. It's him. Not that girl on the post hanging in the Fledge Church."

"Bahhhhhh – I'm out of here." And he is. He rolls over and jumps down from the bunk and walks away. I sit there laughing, feeling for his emotions as his boots clank down the deck. He's laughing too. He thinks I'm an idiot.

I don't think you're an idiot, Junco.
His thoughts come back at me like we're in the same room and I jump a little.
I think you're bored.

You can read my thoughts?

And you can read mine. Welcome to the perfection that is twine.

Do you always know what I'm thinking?

Yeah, so stop fucking fantasizing about Tier's babies.

I choke down a gasp and jump down to chase after him. I catch him just as he walks into the mess and pull him back out. "Isten, come here now."

He smiles and shakes his head at me. "Hand over the notebook first. I'm taking it away and you're not getting it back."

I give it over. "You don't say a word, you got it?"

He leans down and kisses me on the cheek, then swats my head with the rolled-up notebook and walks off in the opposite direction calling back to me, "I'm gonna fling this out the airlock, Junco. Not fucking kidding."

"What's that all about?"

I pivot into Tier as my breath huffs out and blows hair above my eyes. "Nothing, ready for lunch?" He smiles and guides me to the machines with a hand on my back.

I spend the rest of the day experimenting on how far away from Isten I have to be to block my thoughts from him. I locate him, then walk until I run out of deck and call his name in my head.

He answers every fucking time.

Probably everyone on the
She's All Mine
is thinking there's no privacy but they might as well have their own top-floor suite in an Earth hotel compared to what I'm dealing with. I push Tier so far out of my mind I barely want to eat with him at dinner. By the time I'm ready for sleep I'm a worried mess. The last thing I need is Isten shooting his mouth off about my private thoughts.

Chapter Eleven

The suborbital shudders as we enter the North American airstream and I sink down into my seat as the gravity comes back. I look across the table at my dad, but he's absorbed in the day's work on the screen in front of him. I unbuckle myself, check to see if he'll stop me, and when he doesn't I get up and walk over to my bags across the ship.

It's a private military transport but we use it when we go on our birthday week trips, just in case we have to leave on some emergency. I unzip the garment bag that hangs on the hook near the bathroom and take out my crisp cadet uniform.

I don't know if anyone else is excited about the first day of cadet school, but I certainly am. My smile is big and when I look back over at my dad, he's smiling right along with me.