Chapter Thirteen
In the days that followed, Roar checked in with Leda via video-chat on a system Petrus rigged to the ship and Leda’s new phone. His main focus was keeping Equinox from the Woede’s tentacled grasp and drawing it away from Earth, while Leda and Petrus fixed the cloaking program.
But three days of evasive maneuvers and long, sleepless nights had taken their toll. It didn’t help that Stein moped and kept trying to get the food replicator to create vodka, and that he threw a rampaging tantrum when it didn’t turn out right. Roar had reached his breaking point. So when Arne called Roar using Leda’s phone and asked if he and his friend Rika could come aboard Equinox, Roar was only too glad for the company. Roar watched the shuttle’s progress from Earth and performed the necessary procedures when they entered Equinox’s main shuttle bay. Arne had a good handle on Aurelis technology, which was a good thing, Roar supposed, considering Arne had been born off-world.
Roar greeted Arne and Rika in shuttle bay two. Rika seemed shaken by her surroundings, and really, what human wouldn’t be? Warm pride filled Roar as she scanned the bay with wide, curious eyes, taking in every angle.
Rika let out a breath and turned to face Arne. “So you weren’t kidding about all this alien stuff, then.”
“I’m afraid not.” Arne draped his arm around her shoulder. To Roar, he said, “Rika has a few tests she’d like to run on a sample of Leda’s blood.”
Warning lit a hot flame in Roar’s throat. “Tests?”
“My own curiosity gets the better of me at times,” Rika said. “I’ve been examining blood samples from you, Arne, and Leda. There is something decidedly different about her blood that I would like to continue studying, but the lab at Arne’s is too damaged and my equipment isn’t sophisticated enough.”
Roar frowned. “Does this have anything to do with Leda being the weapon?”
After a mysterious pause, Arne said, “It might.”
Holding up a notebook page with information Roar didn’t fully understand, Rika said, “This is the shape of your blood, Roar, as well as Arne’s.” She tapped a squashed octagonal figure with a flat, smooth surface. “And this is Leda’s.” Her finger hovered over a ten-sided shape with a multifaceted surface. Like a diamond held up to the sun. “She is like you, but there’s something about her that makes her blood different. I just want to make sure it isn’t something that will impede her, well, for lack of a better word, performance.”
The flame puffed out and Roar released his breath. It was a perfectly reasonable request, and reason to examine the samples further. And, he reminded himself, the woman had saved Leda’s life. His conscience wouldn’t let it rest, though. She could be lying. She could be working for the same people Charlie was working for. That thought made Roar want to hit something.
There’s only one way to find out if she’s with us or against us.
Roar masked his emotions. “Then I guess we’d better get you set up.”
He led them to the lab near sick bay, where cameras were hooked up and running, and showed Rika around. Arne agreed to stay with her, seeing as how every piece of equipment and the computers required an Aurelite to activate and use.
“Use the room’s comm system if you need anything.” Roar indicated the device.
“Thanks,” Arne said, and turned to Rika. The pair began some science-y banter he didn’t understand.
Roar had just stepped outside of the lab when his comm went off, informing him of an incoming call from Earth. With a grin, he ran to the bridge at top speed and hit the panel, accepting the call.
Leda’s face filled the main viewscreen, her eyes fiery and full of triumph. “We did it.”
Just as Roar had decided to abandon this part of the plan and leave Earth without Equinox’s cloak, there she was, saying exactly what he needed to hear. “You’re sure?”
She cracked a wide grin. “Petrus and I are getting the shuttle ready, and then we can test it out. But yeah, I’m sure. For some reason, fixing the cloak was easier than anything else I’ve attempted.”
Confusion made Roar pause a moment.
“Don’t worry about it,” Leda said through her smile.
“Okay. I’ll see you soon, then.”
“Can’t—”
Leda’s smiling face was erased when the proximity sensors kicked in. Roar swapped his comm for Equinox’s main camera system, and swore. The Woede—again. They were relentless.
The Woede had upped the number of attacks to over ten a day. Every time Roar thought he’d gotten away, they came at the ship again. They even found him in the gaseous atmosphere of Saturn and now, inside a crater on Ceres. Nowhere was safe, it seemed.
Stein rushed to the bridge and took his spot in tactical. “These guys just don’t get the message, do they?”
“Apparently not,” Roar said.
Equinox shuddered as the Woede weapon hacked through the shield. On screen, he watched the tentacle-like mass creep from a break in dimensions. A secondary arm rose from the first and prepared to breach Equinox’s hull.
Stein swore. “I can’t stop the sucker!”
Roar’s skin went cold, but then his training kicked in, tempering his emotions. Images of Leda flashed in his mind. His fingers trembled on the controls for a second, and adrenalin surged through him as he ran to the helm and took the ship off autopilot.
You can do this.
“Hang on!” Roar fired up the strathdrive and punched a hole through several dimensions. The drive created an instantaneous slingshot effect that forced the ship toward his emergency destination: the Earth’s moon.
As he navigated the slick, black space where strathium thrived, a familiar and uncomfortable weightless sensation crept into his veins. It took a fraction of a second for Equinox to travel from Ceres to the Earth’s moon. Roar established orbit and kept the drive ready, in case the Woede weapon had followed him.
A frantic scan of surrounding space revealed nothing but the usual debris cluttering Earth’s atmosphere, the ISS, and satellites. The shield held, and the program repaired the hack. Roar sank down in the captain’s chair, relieved that Equinox was safe for now.
But how long will it last this time?
He sat up when he realized they didn’t have to wait any longer. Petrus and Leda had finished the cloak program, and even if there were a few glitches, between the two of them, he felt certain they could figure it all out on the way home.
Home.
The word echoed in Roar’s mind like a distant dream finally come true. A long, calming breath later, all anxiety flowed away, drifting as far as the stars. Across the bridge, Stein’s breaths came heavy and loud, but with a hint of relief.
Sensors alerted Equinox to an incoming call. Gathering his wits, Roar hit the comm button and Petrus’s worried face filled the viewscreen. Beside him was Leda, all fire and vengeance.
“What happened?” Leda shouted, leaning forward so her face blocked out Petrus’s on the screen. “Are you guys all right?”
“The Woede took another crack at the shield, and they got through for a second, but I managed to tear Equinox away before they could do too much damage. And yeah, we’re all right,” Roar said, and Leda relaxed, letting Petrus back on screen.
“Why do you think they keep attacking the ship but not Earth?”
Roar lifted his shoulders. “I wish I knew.”
Stein snorted. “Probably because they’re assholes.”
“That might be the case.” Roar shot Stein a dark look. “Mainly, they’re focused on eliminating or enslaving any race they feel threatened by. Plus, they know about the Erlosser, and all ships with Aurelis energy signatures are targeted. Either way, I think it’s time we got away from here.”
Petrus signed: “I agree.”
Stein let out a whoop. “Oh, hell yes. I’m so ready to leave this place in my dust.”
“Pack your bags, Leda,” Roar said. “You’re leaving Earth.”
It took two days to gather the necessary supplies and decide once and for all who was coming and who would stay behind. Some of those decisions made themselves. Her grandmother and uncle insisted they tag along. Technically, they had every right to be on board Equinox. And he couldn’t really blame them for wanting to keep an eye on her.
After careful consideration, he let Nils bring his mother. But she had to stay in her cabin at all times, and Arne had promised to check on her regularly. For the first part of their journey, she’d be in stasis. Though he wasn’t happy about that part, Nils agreed, and she was brought up to Equinox yesterday morning and put to sleep in a stasis pod in her cabin.
Roar stood in Equinox’s main cargo bay, surrounded by crates, extra supplies, and boxes of tech Arne had shipped up from Æsir. Somehow Leda had managed to wrangle Petrus into flying her to Oslo in a shuttle, where she bought every kind of vegan food she could see. The bulk of the dry goods were stored here. Stein had taken the perishable items to the galley where Leda rigged a refrigeration system out of an old storage locker.
Roar smirked. That girl is too smart for her own good.
He watched her checking everything over for the thousandth time, a pang in his heart knowing he was taking her away from the only home she’d known. But there was no way around it. Leda had to come—she was the weapon.
“Almost ready to go?” Arne called from the walkway running over the cargo bay.
“Just making sure we have everything.”
Arne laughed. “I doubt there’s anything we forgot. Leda certainly brought a lot with her.”
Roar eyed the couch with memory foam cushions and some fancy ethical material covering it. He still had to get the couch onto the hydraulic lift and take it to her cabin—the cabin next to his.
“I brought everything I need,” Leda murmured, “for a long, long trip in space. Who knows what they eat on this thing?”
Arne’s laughter filled the bay. “I thought I explained it to you?”
Leda didn’t answer, too deep in thought as she went over her checklist.
Roar took the stairs two at a time up to where Arne stood, both of them looking down at Leda. Her hair hung in a loose and messy braid over one shoulder and when she paused, contemplating the screen on one of the small hand-held comm devices Roar had given her, she nibbled on the tip of her tongue, oblivious to the others in the cargo bay.
“So,” Roar said, turning to Arne, “did Rika find anything yet?”
“Mm, apparently she did, but I’m not sure what. She wanted to wait until we were underway, then gather everyone together to break the news.”
Roar might not know Leda all that well, but he doubted she wanted her personal life aired in front of a bunch of virtual strangers. He wasn’t even going to address the fact that Arne had invited Rika on what was probably a one-way-trip away from Earth, and no human had ever set foot on Aurelis. “Is that a good idea?”
Arne sighed, strain showing in his eyes. “I know what you’re going to say, and, although I agree with you that it’s a bold move bringing Rika with me, she’s the brightest doctor I know, and we don’t have one on board, unless you’re familiar with complicated medical procedures.”
“What about you? The way you handled Leda when—” He didn’t like to remember her that way. Helpless.
“I know the basics. But if something like that happens again, we need someone who has a much broader medical background. There’s no sense in losing someone when it isn’t necessary.”
In that, Roar thought, Arne was a true Aurelite, even if he had never set foot on the planet. “Fine, she can come, but any developments concerning Leda, Rika has to tell Leda first. It’s only fair.”
“Even if she’s underage?”
“According to Earth laws, she is. But on Aurelis, you’re an adult at the age of fourteen. Maybe being better informed of every possible choice and angle, without repercussions on the choices made, helps matters. Don’t you agree?”
Arne raised his hands up near his shoulders and shrugged. “Earth versus Aurelis politics isn’t my forte. Give me a couple of days in my shop, though, and I’ll blow your mind.”
Roar didn’t doubt it. “All right, she can come. Is she all packed and ready to go?”
“She’s in my cabin, waiting to get underway.”
“Sharing?”
Wearing a wide grin and sporting a blush, Arne motioned to the door at the end of the walkway, and Roar led the way, wondering if it was a good idea for Aurelites and humans to mingle more than they should. On the other side of the door Roar stopped cold. Sweat beaded on the back of his neck, dipping down into his shirt. His thoughts sounded like the words and ideals of Elder Bynroth, a staunch xenophobe who had rallied against the idea of making contact with other worlds near Aurelis, and especially the exchange of knowledge and technology.
Arne placed a hand on Roar’s shoulder. “Something wrong?”
“No. Just realized I forgot something.” Like my own opinions and values.
“I should check on my mother before we leave. Is there anything you need done prior to departure?”
Still shaken by his thoughts, Roar declined the offer. “We have a system—Petrus, Oline, Stein, and me. The transition will go much quicker if we stick to it.”
“Well, let me know if you need a hand with anything. I’ll be in my cabin.”
Roar watched Arne until he disappeared around the corridor’s bend, then he went back to the walkway to watch Leda. Since they’d aired the truth out in the open, she seemed calmer about the whole situation. In her shoes, he wondered if he’d display the same silent strength. No one seemed to know how the weapon would work. Did they just have to show up and something would happen? And what would that something be?
The thought of harm coming to Leda brought a savage protectiveness to the surface. In truth, Leda was stronger than he had ever been, but faced with the threat of death, people often acted in strange ways, unlike themselves. He didn’t doubt for a second that Leda was capable of taking care of herself, but that didn’t mean he relished the idea of something irreversible happening to her.
He had to be careful. It was one thing to be ready to sacrifice himself to save his people. He’d been born for that purpose, taught nothing else. But Leda? She made him want something for himself.
I am in way over my head.
If the Elders were here now, they’d tell him to back off immediately, before he got in so deep that he hesitated to fulfil his mission, all so he could have one more moment with Leda.
“Hey, Mr. Glum!” Leda’s voice echoed in the cargo hold.
Roar saw her smiling up at him, a dark brow arched, her skin shimmering under the lights. “What’s up?”
“You just looked so sullen for a second there.” As she spoke, she abandoned her checklists and made her way to a spiral staircase leading up to the walkway he stood on, avoiding the lift used for heavy items, the one Stein said Leda was most likely to use to get up and down in the cargo bay.
Roar smiled. He’d told Stein that Leda wouldn’t touch the lift, and here she was, climbing the steps, proving everyone wrong. Proving she could do whatever they could, crutches be damned. She was stronger than anyone he knew, and it made him fiercely proud of her.
Leda reached his side, her breaths heavy and a light sheen on her skin, a healthy glow in her cheeks. “Anything you want to talk about?”
He shook his head. “Nope.” Because he didn’t want to talk at all when he was with her. He wanted to hold her. Kiss her. Run away with her. “You seem to be getting along just fine.”
She put her hands on her hips, for the moment holding her weight without her crutches. “Compliments, I see. Distracting me again?”
“Maybe.” He smiled. If she only knew the half of it. He was dying to kiss her, but if he did, he’d never stop.
“Well, I guess I’ll let you off with a warning this time.” Her grin faded, the laughter dimmed in her eyes. “Do you think my mom will be all right on Earth on her own?”
A sore subject, one they’d gone over more than once since Leda had repaired the cloak. “We invited her, but she never replied.”
“I know. I just wish I could’ve seen her one last time.”
At least she understands she might never come back here.
“Somehow I doubt she’d be thrilled if we locked onto her energy signature and brought her here against her will.”
“Yeah, she’d go ballistic.” Leda laughed, then stepped forward and hugged him. “What did I get myself into?”
Roar hugged her back and only by the grace of the Elders and every ounce of his training did he stop himself from burying his face in her hair.
After a moment, she pulled back and said, “You okay?”
“We just…should be careful.”
“Oh.” She looked away.
“That came out wrong.”
“No,” she said. “I agree. We need to be careful. I should wash up. I’m all sweaty.”
“I like you sweaty.”
She tapped his arm but smiled. “That’s gross. Show me how the showers work?”
The thought of her in the shower heated his blood and made his mouth go dry. “Uh, sure.”
Halfway to their quarters, the comm device in his pocket buzzed, and a tremor jolted through Equinox’s interior, knocking Leda against his chest. She wrapped her hands around his bicep and he reached for his comm with his spare hand. In Aurelite, so he wouldn’t worry Leda unnecessarily, he asked whoever was on the bridge to report to him.
Leda’s grip tightened on his arm. “What was that?”
“I’m not sure.” He didn’t bother making excuses. Despite having more respect for Leda than to lie to her, he didn’t like to speculate. “But we should probably get to the bridge.”
“Yeah,” Oline’s voice came over the comm. “Like, five minutes ago. There’s something you need to deal with.”
Roar avoided Leda’s gaze. “What is it?”
“You’ll never, ever guess.”