In a few hours, the crew would board it for the flight to the only known location of human survivors outside the Vanguard Islands.
Michael crossed the little forest, tossing his orange rind into the compost bin. He spotted Layla at the far edge, carrying a basket brimming with tangerines.
“Morning,” she said with that smile that always made him feel a little weak in the knees.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
She plucked another tangerine off a branch. “Because you need your sleep for the mission.”
Layla gave him the elevator eye treatment, up and down.
“Wow,” she said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in an unwrinkled suit. Guess I’ve gotten pretty good at the laundry. Farming too, but I do miss diving.”
“I’m glad you’re retired.”
“Not quite,” she said. “There’s something I need to tell you, Michael.”
He waited for it, heart skipping a beat for the second time this morning.
“I’m coming with you,” she said, setting down the basket of fruit. “I won’t be diving, but I’m taking Ada’s spot on the bridge. Les asked me, and X agreed—well, technically, he said he agrees if you agree.”
Michael massaged his forehead. In truth, he wasn’t all that upset. The bridge on the airship was probably the safest place she could be.
“Okay,” he said.
“You’re not mad?”
“Not at all.” Michael walked over and put his hand on her stomach. “I’m glad you and Bray are coming along. After what happened with the Lion, the ship might be safer than the islands.”
“Good, because I was coming regardless.”
“I have no doubt about that.”
“There’s something else,” she said.
“I’m listening.”
She reached up and gave his ponytail a flick. “I think it’s maybe time to cut this off.”
“No longer listening.”
A grin broke across her dimpled cheeks. Something over his shoulder caught her eye.
“Hey, Commander! When you finish picking fruit, we got some guns to check!”
It was Arlo yelling. The young rookie diver was really starting to get on Michael’s nerves.
“Kid is way too excited about those guns,” he said.
Layla chuckled. “Like most boys. Better get over there. I’ll see you at the launch.”
Michael kissed her and went over to the edge of the rooftop, where the new Hell Divers were starting to assemble. Veterans Magnolia, Alexander, and Edgar were already there with Cricket, who hovered above them, monitoring the deployment of weapons.
Ton and Victor stood in their militia uniforms, guarding the weapons crate. Michael had a lot of respect for those two. Not only had they fought to take the Vanguard Islands, but they were also some of the hardest-working people around.
“Hey, Victor,” Michael said, raising a hand. “How you doing, Ton?”
“We are good, Commander,” Victor replied in near-perfect English. He gave a broken-toothed smile, and Ton made a noise with what was left of his tongue, and grinned.
Arlo was smiling, too, looking as excited as a kid at the candy-jam shack on the Hive.
“Attention!” Magnolia shouted. “Commander on deck.”
“Good morning,” Michael said.
She flicked a swatch of newly red hair out of her eyes.
The divers all straightened, and Michael took a long look at the dozen-plus rookies. Only two of them would join Team Raptor, and it was a tough decision. They had already weeded one out—Ted was currently hosing down a deck strewn with fish guts.
He scanned the first six quickly. None of them had stood out to him on the training mission.
His eyes stopped on Lena. She looked eager, and she was talented in the sky, but she was shy and nervous. He had no idea how she would do on the perilous poisoned surface.
Next were Hector and Alberto. The lean, muscular young men, both covered in tattoos, were trained fighters and had served on several missions to the wastes. But they weren’t great with the gear yet, and both had missed the boat landing on their training run in the darkness—partly due to not reading their HUDs properly.
No, they needed more training on equipment and in the air before they could be trusted on a mission this important.
Michael and Magnolia had met after the last training dive to discuss the greenhorns, focusing not just on the best divers, but on those who seemed mentally and emotionally fit in a combat situation. And as much as Michael didn’t want to admit it, the cocky kid with long curly locks and a handsome grin was the best man for the job.
“Arlo,” Michael said. “Welcome to Team Raptor.”
“Hell yes!” Arlo said, throwing up a fist in victory. “I fucking knew it!”
Several other divers slapped him on the back as he lugged his gear over to the veterans. Edgar gave Arlo a nod, and Alexander did, as well.
“Do I get to pick my gun now?” Arlo asked.
Michael shook his head.
“What about a nickname? I get one of those, right?”
“I thought your nickname is Thunder,” Michael said.
“Yeah, but that’s boring. I want something new. Something worthy of—”
“So earn it,” Sofia said.
Arlo frowned. “Hey, can’t be too eager, though, right?”
“Eager beavers end up dead divers,” Magnolia said.
Arlo’s smile vanished, and he dropped his duffel on the dirt. “I ain’t planning on dying, Katib. In fact, I plan on diving more times than King Xavier.”
This got a laugh all around.
“You ain’t even making it into that launch bay if you call me Katib again,” Magnolia said.
Arlo stiffened like a board and threw up a salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Don’t make me regret picking you,” Michael said.
The kid was, without a doubt, the best of the new boots, but he was also the cockiest. Though he wasn’t the first diver with an outsized ego. X, Magnolia, and many others had been unbearable assholes at one point or another in their careers.
And there was nothing like diving to the toxic, mutant-infested surface to humble someone. If Michael had to guess, Arlo “Thunder” Wand would be an entirely new man if he made it back alive from the mission.
Magnolia scanned the new divers one by one, then went back through the line before making her decision.
“Sofia,” she said. “Welcome to the mission.”
Sofia stepped out with her duffel, showing zero emotion. She wasn’t the best rookie in the sky, but she had already proved she could fight once she got to the surface, which made her the right fit for this mission.
“All right, the rest of you will stay behind and will spend your time here on the capitol rig, training and keeping the peace,” Michael said. “For now, everyone pitches in and helps us get ready to lift off at o-nine-hundred hours.”
He activated his wrist computer and ordered Timothy to lower the airship. Cricket chirped, holding out both arms to back the divers away from the landing zone.
Discovery set down in the clearing between the Sky Arena and the tropical forest.
Michael watched the legs extend and press down into the dirt. The shields that Samson had installed gave the ship’s exterior a scabby look, a bit like the outside of an old-world hand grenade. Discovery had saved his people from an uncertain fate, and now she was heading back out to keep his people and their new allies safe.
As always, the bustle of mission prep gave him a little buzz of adrenaline. He had listened to the transmission from Rio de Janeiro a dozen times now, and the sooner they got Discovery into the air, the better their chances of saving what survivors remained.