She gave him a hug, kissed his cheek, and rumpled his hair. It felt a little like an affectionate mugging. Gnea hugged him too, and then both Valkyries were on then-winged horse. Halidarre reared and gave a whinny so realistic that Jack wondered if something wasn't going a little strange with its engrams.
Then Halidarre was away, into the sky, and Hagane, the malthi, went zipping and zooming after like a hummingbird. The rallying cries of the Praxians drifted back, sounding sad now, all alone in the emptiness.
In the GMU, Karen, with Jan Em's surprisingly capable help, was bending over readouts to tabulate what resources were left: there were very few.
Major Carpenter was standing by; with the TO&E all but obliterated, he was a rising star, an all-around fixer. Jack didn't quite like his can-do-even-if-it's-hard-on-the-lower-ranks-sir style, but at least the guy was trying to help pull things back together.
Admiral Hunter was starting to look pretty grizzled, like Jack himself. "I want you to take a team out and check on a possible Invid base for me," Rick told him.
"Sure thing, sir," Jack answered. "But I think we should go belowdecks and apply a welding torch to that Tesla first, and get a little more intel information out of him."
Then he realized Lisa was about to brief those assembled. Jack nodded understanding to Rick's hand signal, and took a seat to listen.
Another recon, Jack thought. Wish I had a flying horse.
"All right, there's no getting round it. We're-we're stuck here," Lisa was telling Vince and the Sterlings and the principal Sentinels.
We might be here for the rest of our lives, it occurred to Jack. He found himself stealing another look at Karen, but she was busy.
"But that's just for the moment," Lisa went on forcefully. They all seconded her, from varying places on the emotional spectrum: anger, growing misgivings, stoic determination, or, in Burak's case, a kind of starry-eyed disregard of reality.
We'd better get out of here, Jack Baker thought. 'Cause I'm not so sure how long we can last all thrown in together like this.
Lisa outlined new strategies, new possible solutions. After the group had broken-up, she drew Rick aside. "I'm afraid I'm not very good at dog-and-pony shows."
"You did fine."
They left the GMU, headed for their quarters at the palace. At least there was no shortage of living space, or food; a vacated Praxis provided plenty of those.
Halfway there, Lisa stopped and began pounding her fist on a stone wall. "We've got to get things moving again, before the Sentinels fall apart and everybody settles down to become subsistence farmers, or hunters. The Invid aren't going to leave us alone forever; you know that."
He put his arm around her waist and they went their way again. "Everybody's gonna realize that, Lisa, once they get a chance to think. Believe me."
"Rick, they must!"
She drew an uneven breath. "Listen, tell me: what were you thinking about when you were standing back there with Baker, during the briefing? You had a peculiar look on your face."
He clicked his tongue. "Unworthy, maybe, but I was thinking that at least we're together, and…"
She didn't let the hesitation go on long. "And what?"
"And if one of us had had to go with Farrago, I'd rather it would have been me. Because I couldn't have faced this or anything else without you."
Lights were coming on with the dusk, in the GMU and the palace.