“I’m worried about X,” he snapped.
Magnolia recoiled. “Me too, but come on, it’s X.”
“Nobody lives forever.”
Grabbing a crate, Michael walked past the exterior launch-bay doors, leaving Magnolia and Rodger behind.
Inside, eager faces had crowded around the cracked portholes for their first view of the outside world. He was delighted at having saved them, but there was still a lot to do to keep them alive—and, for that matter, to keep his people and the Cazadores alive.
Behind the expectant faces, Timothy’s hologram glowed inside the launch bay. The AI was working to keep the new arrivals calm and informed. Soon, they would all be given immune-system booster shots, and until they were cleared, they would remain inside the airship.
Shouting pulled Michael away from the view.
“What the hell did you do to my ship!” yelled Samson.
The husky chief engineer strode around a grove of palm trees, a handkerchief pressed to his forehead. Overdramatic as ever, Samson was a welcome sight, and Michael couldn’t help feeling a glimmer of relief.
“Nothing we can’t fix,” he said. “Your new shields saved our asses from a lot of lightning strikes.”
“You’re welcome,” Samson said.
“Didn’t stop the Sirens, though,” Rodger said.
He hauled another crate away from the Sea Wolf, which was still attached to the belly of Discovery.
“Well, I didn’t design them to stop Sirens,” Samson said. “I imagine it’s quite the story how they made it on board, and also how you made it on board.”
“A story you won’t believe,” Rodger said.
Magnolia shook her head.
“Good to see you kids back home,” Samson said with a rare smile. “You did a fine job out there considering the circumstances.”
“Thank you,” Michael said. He looked around them, then said softly, “Do you know how X is?”
Samson tensed, his smile vanishing.
“Well?” Magnolia said.
“Sorry. I can’t say.” Samson looked to Rodger. “I’ll need your help soon.”
Rodger gave a haphazard salute. “At your service, sir.”
“I better go see how bad things are,” Samson said. He hurried off toward the stern, where Alfred and his mechanics and engineers had gathered under the thrusters.
Michael’s gut clenched as he walked, the worries getting the best of him again. He had a really bad feeling about X. Nothing short of being on his deathbed would keep him from coming up on the rooftop.
“Make way!” someone yelled.
Michael stacked his crate and turned to see the medical crew carry several stretchers past the growing crowd on the rooftop. The civilians watching craned their necks to see who was being carried out. Edgar lay on one stretcher, looking up at the sky. Arlo was on another. He sat up, one hand on his belly, the other waving at the crowd—the hero home from the war.
The shit-eating grin on his face seemed to ruffle Magnolia. “Cocky little bastard,” she said.
Rodger laughed. “He’s going to need some new teeth.”
“Maybe you can make him some wooden ones,” Magnolia said.
“Yeah,” Rodger said, serious for the moment. “I bet I could.”
“Hey, Silver Fox, you got that flask?” Arlo called out.
The greenhorn divers all gathered around to watch. Several of them chanted “Thunder.”
Arlo waved like a celebrity, but Michael didn’t care. They all needed something to take the edge off.
“Make way!” yelled one of the medical workers.
The crowd parted. Dr. Huff walked alongside the third stretcher, which bore the militia soldier injured by the Siren that had sneaked aboard the ship. The only militia soldier to survive, he was lucky to be alive.
The crowd clapped as the injured were trundled away.
Michael wanted to ask Dr. Huff about X, but when they made eye contact, Huff picked up his pace, clearly not interested in a conversation.
The divers went back for more supply crates.
“Has anyone seen Sofia?” Magnolia asked.
Rodger jerked his chin toward the railing. Sofia stood there, away from everyone else, looking out over the water.
“I should go check on her for a moment,” Magnolia said.
Michael nodded and set down another crate.
“You think Sofia’s going to be okay?” Rodger asked.
“Eventually,” Michael replied. “I’m honestly a bit more concerned about Eevi right now. She seems to be getting worse.”
“Not to be a selfish prick, but when everyone thought I was dead, did…” Rodger’s words trailed off, and he blushed.
“Don’t worry, Rodgeman, Magnolia was pretty damn upset when el Pulpo skewered you,” Michael said.
“Not to compare, or anything.”
“She sure has taken a liking to you since then. Maybe now you’ll finally have some downtime to get to know each other better.”
Rodger pushed his glasses up on his nose. “I sure hope so. I’ve got a bad case of…”
Magnolia waved from the railing.
“Come on,” Michael said.
Rodger followed him under the airship, through the maze of lowered turbofans that the engineers and mechanics were already assessing for damage.
Before Michael even got to the railing, he saw the smoke rising over the water. He ran the rest of the way to Magnolia and Sofia.
The Cazador warship Renegade was having engine problems. It had stalled beyond the oil rig topped by the decommissioned Hive.
Smoke billowed away from the warship, and three tugboats had latched on to help push it back to the large rig the Cazadores used for ship repairs.
“I guess Colonel Moreto isn’t going anywhere for a while,” Michael said.
“It could be a trap,” Magnolia said.
“What do you mean?”
“What if she staged the ship to look disabled, when really it’s fully operational and can take out the capitol tower? I mean, her orders are to take the ship to the other fuel outpost, right? So maybe she’s buying herself time and really plans on taking us out.”
Sofia finally looked away from the rail. “With Rhino gone and Vargas dead, I could see her and Forge planning something like that,” she said. “To finish the job that Vargas failed on.”
The pieces of the puzzle locked into place in Michael’s mind, and he finally realized what Les meant by “stay vigilant.” Their king needed defending while he recovered from his injuries.
“Screw it,” Michael said. “I’m going to see X.”
Magnolia reached out to stop him, saying, “Les ordered us not to, Tin.”
“I know what he said, but I have to know if X is okay,” Michael said. “We can’t lose him now. We need him more than ever.”
Magnolia looked back out over the water. “I have a bad feeling Colonel Moreto is hoping that’s exactly what happens,” she said. “Rodge, get the laser rifles from the armory. We might need them.”
EIGHT
X awoke on the deck of Elysium, surrounded by dozens of Cazador warriors, all clanking their sharpened teeth while tapping their spear butts on the deck in unison. Blood smeared their tattooed skin, and several had someone else’s skin draped over their own.
At first, he thought the skinwalkers were real, that Horn had finally come with his warriors to claim the throne of the Vanguard Islands. But then X saw the other onlookers.
Standing on the platform outside the command center were ghosts from his past. Hell Diver Aaron Everhart gripped the rusted railing and looked down with the same hardened gaze that X remembered from their days of diving.