Chapter 55
THE CELEBRATION was ongoing out in the gathering room. Watchers had told them it was happening in Zelos as well, where the news that the cannon had been destroyed had spread like the mist rolling down the Sentinel. The news that the Coalition troops were in chaos without communications, that Ordam had vanished, and even Sorkost was in hiding came close behind.
Soon enough, Drake would have to think of what the Coalition would do in retaliation when they regrouped, what Paledan would do when he returned. Likely immediately order another cannon, but installing and calibrating the things was no small task, and they had destroyed both the mounts along with the cannon, buying them some time to plan and prepare. So, for now, he let the ebullience of success cheer them all. He would go out and speak to them soon, congratulate them all on a job well done with few losses on their side, while allowing them all, himself especially, to grieve for the three Sentinels who had died and the several who had been injured in this effort.
But for now, he lingered here in his quarters with the five who had planned it, plus the three who made his inner circle complete.
His mother had offered to ease his new bruises and the headache, but they were so minor compared to Jakel’s damage, he told her to save her strength in case someone else should need it. And then he had given her a sideways look. “What happened up there, what you did, holding them at bay,” he began.
“That’s the value of complete surprise,” she had said lightly.
He wasn’t sure he believed that that was all it was. But that was also for a later time. Now that he would have that time.
“Nice little weapon, that obliterator,” Brander said to him now. “But you’d better take it.”
“Why?” Drake asked. “You’re the one who discovered its capabilities.”
“But you’re the one wise enough to have such a thing. I’d be out vanishing anybody who annoyed me.”
Drake laughed, although he questioned Brander’s assessment. Of both of them.
“Too bad we don’t have a charger for it,” Kye said.
“Or the power to supply a charger,” Drake said.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Brander said. “I might have a way to steal a bit from our overlords. I drew something up a couple of weeks ago, so when things settle I’ll fire up the holoprojector and show you.”
“The holochip!” Nyx’s exclamation was sharp with sudden memory, and, at his words, his twin instantly leapt to her feet and began to dig into her tunic pocket. She came out with a small holochip and handed it to Drake.
“We forgot,” she said.
“Because of—” Nyx began.
“Everything,” Lux finished.
Kye put a gentle hand on both their shoulders in understanding. They looked up at her and smiled. She was theirs now, they had solemnly told her after the pledging. And she had laughingly asked if that was welcome or warning. Their grins told her it was both.
“Explain?” Drake suggested.
“We found this—”
“In one of the rooms—”
“Underground. Well, really it—”
“Sort of fell out—”
“Of a man’s pocket—”
“And we grabbed it. He never—”
“Even noticed us—”
“And we left right away.”
Drake’s gaze narrowed. “You were in an underground room with a Coalition trooper?”
“No!” Lux said quickly.
“He was—”
“More of a . . .”
Drake lifted a brow at his little sister. “More of a what?”
“Officer,” she said reluctantly.
“On his way—”
“To the commander’s office.”
“Dear Eos,” their mother whispered. Drake looked up at her. “And I thought becoming the Raider was the biggest challenge you faced.”
“Not,” Drake said dryly, “by a long shot.”
Eirlys looked from the twins to Drake, and then Kye. She gave an exaggerated “Whew,” and wiped her brow dramatically to emphasize her relief at not being saddled with the responsibility for these two.
“Don’t get comfortable,” Drake said warningly. “We might be too busy to deal with these two for a while yet. Maybe a long while.”
“Are you ever going to look at it?” Nyx, back to his ever-practical self, asked.
Brander shoved off from the wall he’d been leaning against and grinning at the exchange. He picked up the single piece of equipment they dared use, a small holo device that ran off batteries and sent no signal beyond a few feet. The projection was iffy, cutting in and out, but the reader was functional. Brander turned it on, and by habit checked the battery level.
“Full enough for a while yet,” he said.
Drake nodded, glad no one would have to risk taking it into Zelos and recharging it for a while. Especially since it was usually he who did it, with the hidden, highly illegal charging dock behind the portrait of his mother which appeared from the outside to be fastened firmly to the wall above the bar. The wall that was one of two still standing, Dek had told him. It didn’t matter. That part of his life was over, and he wouldn’t miss it except for the relative safety it had provided his family.
The reader screen came to life and showed the contents of the chip: one holographic recording and a single file that appeared to be text-based. It bore the title Tactical Stratagems for Dealing With Overwhelming Force. That could be of interest, but it would be wisest to run the holograph first, while the battery was at its strongest. Even as he thought it, Brander hit the button to do just that.
An image appeared above the device. It was slightly misshapen, and given to the slight skips the worse-for-wear device was prone to, but it was clear enough to see and hear.
The man in the Coalition uniform of a general looked a bit stiff, as if he were not used to having to make such recordings. Then he spoke, the skips breaking his words into staccato bursts. But the meaning was clear, and Drake thought they all must have gasped.
The device spat out a burst of static and the image vanished. Stunned, Drake still stared at the spot where it had been. His heart was hammering in his chest.
“Holy Eos,” Brander whispered.
Drake looked up then. His head still ached slightly, but it was nothing compared to this. There was an even fiercer fire in his eyes, a new determination surging through him. Possibilities were exploding through his mind, and he knew this was the key they’d needed.
He surged to his feet, ignoring the slight wobble. Kye was beside him in an instant, her steady arm supporting him.
“Can you manage something to provide a bigger image?” he asked Brander.
As usual, his second did not ask why, just immediately went to the logistics. “How big?”
“Enough for all to see it in the gathering room.”
Brander drew back slightly, and he could see him thinking of the effects seeing this holograph would have. “I . . . think I can rig something, but—”
“It only has to last once through that holograph. If it blows up after that, it does not matter.”
Brander nodded and grabbed up the projector. He left his quarters, clearly headed for his workbench in the main room.
“It’s real,” Eirlys whispered.
Drake looked at his sister. He remembered Kye telling him of the day when she had brought up the tales of Trios, the stories he had always dismissed as myth. He felt Kye’s gaze, turned to meet it, and saw she was thinking of the same.
“I wish,” said a quiet voice behind him, “that your father had lived to see this day.”
He turned to look at his mother. “I wish it as well,” he said softly.
She nodded. “But now . . . you must become the Raider once more. And I,” she added with a glance at the twins that was so close to wary he almost laughed, “must convince those two to consider the possibility that we are related.”
“Good luck,” he said. And found he meant it.
She crossed to the twins, who eyed her nearly as warily as she was looking at them. Kye, who had given them space, now came and took his arm. “She will have a difficult time, persuading them to accept her.”
“Yes.”
“But you have?”
“Accepted, yes. Forgiven? Still working on that.”
“As am I.”
He gave her a sideways look. “I should tell you what she did up on the ridge.”
She lifted a brow at him. He wasn’t sure how to even describe what had happened, and before he could find the place to start, Brander reappeared.
“Got it,” he said.
“You’d best think of what you will say, then,” Kye said. And then kissed him, a kiss so full of promise it scrambled his thoughts and made him wonder if he could come up with a coherent sentence ever again.