Traitor Page 25

  He stalked forward, but his eyes were fixed on Rayne. Partly to be sure she didn’t fall with her arm still in a sling, partly because the ambient light made her skin glow like honey.

  She turned, smiling up at him.

  He realized how close he was, too close to be professional. He turned away quickly, busying himself with the picnic basket. He laid out the blanket on the ground and proceeded to unpack the food.

  Rayne sat down and watched him. A desperate itch started to tickle in his brain, but the demons did not appear. “You’re doing much better,” she noted.

  He nodded his head once, refusing to look at her.

  “I’m glad.” She edged closer, reaching a hand out to touch his arm.

  He met her eyes uncertainly.

  “This has been an… interesting experience,” she said. “I’m glad though. I’m happy I could be here. Happy you could be here.” She wrapped her arm around his, leaning into him. “Happier still that everything worked out.”

  He watched her warily.

  Her arm was warm, already easing the uncertain feeling that plagued him.

  “Why did you stay all those years?” he asked. “I was horrible.”

  She hugged his arm tighter. “I told you,” she said softly, “I love you.”

  His mind whirred, pain shooting through his head: He didn’t remember her saying that at all. He had hoped to hear those words from her for so long. He had done nothing, could do nothing, but hurt her.

  “Your arm…” he said.

  “It’s fine, I told you.”

  “No, I….” How could he say it?

  “It’s not your fault. A freak electrical discharge. But Hoepe says I’m going to make a full recovery.”

  Yes, that’s what it was, a freak discharge.

  She leaned over and kissed him. The warmth on his lips erased the last of his uncertain feeling. He pushed her down onto the blanket, the food disappearing, careful of her arm.

  When he pulled back for air, she was smiling up at him. Her face was flushed, beautiful, and her hair slightly askew. He knew he would never deserve her.

  “Gal? What’s wrong? Your face is worried.”

  He realized he had drifted off, just for a second. It hadn’t been an electrical discharge.

  “Rayne, I….” He should tell her. Tell her everything, but she would never understand.

  She half-sat, propping herself up on her good elbow. “It’s okay, Gal. We’re a long way from Etar.”

  He nodded, but it didn’t ease the guilt that gnawed.

  “Remember Yates?” she asked, teasing. “It was so beautiful there, romantic. I’ve never told you, but I think about that night all the time.”

  “Me too,” he sighed honestly.

  She gasped slightly, and he followed her gaze. There, on the yambucta tree from Irideon, bloomed a bioluminescent flower from Yates. A horticultural impossibility.

  A wave of irritation flooded through him.

  Rayne turned to him, melting him with her big brown eyes. “I’m glad you’re doing better. I’m glad you’ve come back to me. I’m even glad we rescued all those Augments. They’re not so bad, the Army is just afraid, that’s why they said all those things.”

  He smiled. Maybe she would understand after all.

  She reached for a slice of bread and cheese casually. “And we never had to use your failsafe program on them.”

  His smile dropped. What failsafe program? He looked around for Aaron, hoping for someone to ask, but the apparition was nowhere near.

  Suddenly, Rayne pulled away. “Did you see that?”

  He hadn’t seen a thing.

  “Hold on,” she said, rising to her feet and pushing him back down, her expression a mix of excitement and curiosity. “I want to go see.”

  She disappeared into the forest before he had a chance to stop her.

  * * *

  Grant put a hand up, quickly motioning to those behind him. The Augments moved efficiently, silently. It had taken no more than forty-five minutes for them to assemble. Only Sarrin was missing, but it didn’t matter — so far they had encountered no resistance.

  They were in the basement, ready to breach the staircase to the secret level.

  Thomas went in first, then Rami.

  Grant hung back, he had agreed with Hoepe he would do more commanding than fighting. Besides his head still throbbed enough to make him dizzy, or maybe it was the dehydration and muscle atrophy.

  At least he didn’t have to worry about the mind-control device taking him over.

  Rami signalled the all clear, and Grant waved the rest in. They made a bit of noise on the stairs, Grant flinching at every soft clunk, but still there wasn’t any resistance.

  They broke into the antechamber, subduing the two guards without a single shot fired. Grant stepped to a nearby console, bypassing a simple lock and opening the heavily fortified door.

  As the others went through to the cell blocks, Grant searched the console’s archives. He found what he was looking for as they started bringing out the first of the Augments: three planets were listed as having other facilities — Junk, Porter, and Jade, confirming the rumours he’d heard on Junk.

  Captive Augments ran past on their own feet. As quickly as they’d come in, and half as quietly, they ran up the stairs. As Grant cleared the last step, taking up the very rear, a strange feeling settled on him: it was easy. It had been too easy.

  TWENTY-ONE

  A COOL MIST BRUSHED HER face as Sarrin rounded a corner. There had been a rushing noise growing louder the further she went into the valley, and finally a waterfall came into view. It crashed down from above, pooling on the rocks below and feeding the lazy river that stretched beyond. Water droplets played in the light, glistening with a full spectrum of colour.

  The mist felt nice on her skin, cooling and refreshing. She breathed deep, letting it fill and cleanse her lungs. She had spent too much of her life breathing the still, recycled air, she decided. This was far better.

  Gingerly, she probed the water with her toes, a perfect semi-circular wave rippling across the water. It was cold. She put both feet in, standing in the slow moving water, and then sitting, letting it wash the last of her demons away.

  Peace, for the first time in a very long time.

  She closed her eyes. A vision appeared behind her dark lids: Amy smiled through their connection. “I’m alright, Sarrin.”

  “Are you sure?” Sarrin said aloud.

  “Yes.” She laughed. “I know everything you did to help me. But I’m okay, I promise. I’m doing everything I can to help you here.”

  Sarrin blew out a breath, heavy with relief. “Will everything be okay?”

  “Yes,” Amy said with confidence, grinning infectiously. “I know it will, Sarrin. I promise.”

  There had been only one promise Amy had never kept, and that was her promise that they would see each other again. But it seemed they were seeing each other now.

  The creak of crunching twigs and shifting branches sounded behind her, and Sarrin tore her eyes open to look. A figure emerged from the woods, brushing leaves from his clothes.

  Halud.

  She gasped.

  Her brother smiled, holding his arms out.

  Instantly she was on her feet, running, throwing herself at him. “I thought I would never see you again,” she mumbled against his chest, pressing herself into the fold of his arm like she had as a child.

  He wrapped his arms around her, chuckling a little. “It’s okay. I’m right here.”

  “I thought I would never get a chance to tell you,” she said.

  “Tell me what?”

  The words tumbled out. “How much I love you. How much it means that you came for me.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I will always come for you, Sarrin, you know that.”

  She nodded, her head still pressed against him, letting his warmth envelop her.

  He held her even closer, forgiving her for everything b
efore.

  But. Something shifted, a weight clunking down in the depths of her gut. “Wait.” She pushed back suddenly, extracting her arms and folding them tight to herself. “I don’t understand.”

  The part of her brain that never slept started to sound warning bells, the dark clouds roiling over the edge of her vision as the monster came to attention. “I thought you were taken, or dead.”

  “I managed to escape from the warship,” he said, “and came on board when they attacked. Everything happened so fast, I didn’t have a chance to find you until now.”

  The warning abated slightly. She took a long look at her brother, checking his features against her perfect memory. But there was no difference, right down to the scar on his left cheek from when he fell as they left Selousa.

  But. “How can I speak to you now? So freely, when it’s always seemed too much before.”

  He smiled at her, but there was something wrong, something that made her heart pound heavily.

  Another person crashed through the bush and emerged: Kieran.

  “Hey, Halud!” he shouted, letting his accent roll out thick and heavy, the way it was when they were totally alone and he trusted her with the knowledge of who he really was.

  Halud reached out and shook his hand.

  Kieran rested a hand on her shoulder, his green eyes lighting up. “Isn’t it great? I found him in the shuttle bay.”

  She looked between the two, bewildered.

  “Sarrin,” said Kieran, “this is good. The fish is over. We’ll start a normal life, here, out in the open.”

  It was everything she had ever hoped for. It would be so easy to believe it all. But warning bells sounded, her heart racing, beneath the surface.

  Kieran reached out, taking her face gently in his hands until his brilliant green eyes were level with hers. Slowly, he leaned forward, as Sarrin stood, too frozen to move. The feel of his lips on hers was soft and sweet.

  And nothing at all like Kieran.

  He smiled as they pulled apart, but Sarrin frowned. “I’ve wanted to do that a long time,” he drawled.

  She pushed away.

  Halud wasn’t there, he couldn’t be, even though he was standing in front of her. She wanted him to be alive, but he just as easily could be dead. At the very least, he was being held hundreds of thousands of lightyears away.

  And Kieran… she didn’t even want to think about that.

  Her feet pushed against the dirt. The monster pushed her forwards, told her it was right to run, to save herself, and for the first time, she agreed. She sprinted, moving faster and faster, as fast as she’d ever gone, away from the idyllic scene. The demons at least could be trusted.

  * * *

  Hoepe looked up from the data tablet in his hands, hearing footsteps in the corridor. Leove paused at the door to the medical centre, leaning against it. He stared at Hoepe, his long face contorting into an unknown expression. His gaze stayed long enough that Hoepe began to feel unsettled.

  “Do you know where the others went?” Leove asked finally. “I was stocking the ship’s infirmary. Isuma went to get food a few hours ago and never came back. And I didn’t see anyone on my way over.”

  Hoepe frowned — Leove had been there when they discovered the underground bunker and Grant laid his plan to rescue the Augments. “Isuma?”

  Leove’s face set in defiance.

  “I thought you were done with her?”

  Leove’s expression moved to shock. “Why would I be done with her?”

  “You said….”

  He shook his head coldly. “Isuma is important to me. I’m sorry you can’t see that. I don’t know what you think I said.”

  “You said, ‘Brothers are more important than anything.’ You didn’t need anything else. Isn’t that true? We are brothers.”

  “Yes, we are brothers.” Leove stood rigid, his face contorted into yet another expression that was foreign to Hoepe. “But it’s not everything. We all need people, many people to make up who we are.”

  Hoepe frowned again. They were brothers, weren’t they? Bonds by blood that could not be broken. And they were twins, literally a perfect mirror. “I don’t understand, you said….”

  “I’m in love with Isuma. That’s not going to change. But you’re my brother, and I love you too.”

  Hoepe felt his chest constrict. An itch started behind his eye. “Love?”

  “I’m worried. Do you know where she is? Or anyone?”

  Hoepe frowned again. “I don’t understand, you were here when we rescued the others. We examined them and sent them for rest.”

  “Rescue?”

  “Yes, don’t you remember?”

  “I haven’t examined anyone today.”

  “You were there. I’m sure of it.”

  “Forget it, Hoepe. I’m going to go find her.”

  * * *

  Rayne crept through the trees, her years of tactical training taking over as she searched the forest. She had seen something out here, a glimpse too tauntingly familiar, but the trail had run cold. Whatever she followed left no trace, if there was anything at all. Hard as she looked, her eyes met only the dense forest of trees and scraggly underbrush.

  “Good job, Rayne,” said a familiar voice behind her.

  She spun quickly, not believing her ears.

  But there he sat, casually on a boulder, looking neat and pressed as ever. His short grey hair stood out on his dark skin, and his impeccable slate-grey uniform buttoned all the way to the top, looking so tight it could choke him. The uniform carried four solid lines of gold piping, and the left breast was heavy with medals — the ones he wore for everyday use anyway.

  “Daddy?”

  He smiled. “Hello, Raynie.”

  She stood, dumbfounded.

  “You should always salute a senior officer, Rayne.”

  Quickly, she tapped her five fingers to her chest and stood at attention. Her heart beat fast in her chest.

  “At ease,” he said, chuckling warmly. He stood, away invisible stains in one crisp, clean movement. “I was worried about you, Rayne. I didn’t know where you had gone.”

  Too excited, she ran, throwing her arms around him. “I missed you, Daddy.”

  He patted her back, and when their embrace ended, he straightened her uniform. She tucked her hair behind her ear — how dishevelled she must look with her uniform casually closed, hair flying out of place. But the general didn’t say anything, merely helped her present herself.

  “Oh, Daddy. I was so scared.” She wiped her nose, tears had started to collect in her eyes. “I did things I’m not proud of.”

  He nodded patiently.

  She took a deep breath. “I did things against the Gods.”

  He cupped her chin in his hand. “It’s okay, Raynie, sometimes all we can do is stay alive. The Gods understand this more than anyone. Remember, ‘All life is a struggle.’”

  She nodded, continuing the litany: “But Faith will show us the Path, and Knowledge will tell us the Path. With Fortitude, we will stay the Path. And with Prudence, we will see the Path. And Strength will keep the Path clear.”

  “That’s right, Rayne.” He held his finger up as though he was giving a lesson. “Let us pray now.”

  She followed as he touched his hand to his chest and then his forehead. With a wink, he tossed his prayed to the sky and brought his hand back to his heart.

  Rayne closed her eyes, imagining sitting safely in the main building on Etar, surrounded by the general and Gal, before throwing her own prayer to the sky and the stars beyond. She stared heavenward, as though she could see it floating away, disappearing into the stratosphere, and being collected by some giant fist.

  “I don’t understand,” she said.

  He pressed a finger to her lips. “I managed to track your ship. I’m glad I could find you.”

  She smiled. “Me too.”

  “Rayne,” he said, “None of this was your fault. I never say it enough, but I love you, my Swe
et Raynie.”

  She couldn’t help the tears that leaked from her eyes, try as she might to hide the thing her father had always said was a weakness. She didn’t realize how much she had ached to hear his love, or how much she missed the nickname of her childhood.

  Instead of scowling at the tears, he smiled, his own eyes misting. He wiped the streaks from her face gently. “This is a UEC base,” he said. “I need someone to take charge. I see big changes coming. Your Augment friends will need a place to stay.”

  “Oh, Daddy,” she said, reminded, “The Augments are nothing like we thought. They don’t want to fight, they just want to be normal, like us.”

  He nodded, “I know, Sweet Raynie. I’ve seen them. That’s why we need this base.”

  “There might more though, Daddy. We have to help them, the Gods would want that, I think.”

  Again, he nodded patiently. “And you will help them. The Speakers have told me this planet will become their new home, a safe place. They have asked that you lead the way, having seen your bravery these last weeks.”

  “Really?” A mission from the Speakers, for her.

  “Yes.”

  “What about Gal?”

  “There is a place for him here too. And he will receive a full pardon. What a nice, young man for you, Rayne.”

  “I love him, Daddy.”

  “I know, sweetheart. And I love you.”

  He hugged her tight, and she sighed against his chest. All life was a struggle but for those who persevered in their service to the Gods, life could become truly miraculous. The struggle was over, the running and the fighting and the fear was over. The Augments were safe. Gal was safe. And her father was with her.

  * * *

  Kieran crouched behind a tree. She was still as beautiful as he remembered. Younger though, her hair long, floating gently in the breeze, lighting up like golden ribbon as the light caught it.

  She giggled. “Hide and seek. Where are you, Kieran?”

  He winced, hearing her call his name, his heart leaping about wildly. He pressed himself tighter against the tree.

  It wasn’t Lauren, not really. But, God, did it ever look like her.