To keep the system working as it was designed to work, the rule of law had to be respected.
Les rapped the hatch with his fist, and Lauren Sloan, the recently promoted sergeant of the militia, opened it, her lazy eye moving from Les to Katherine to Phyl.
“Wait out here,” she grumbled, clearly unimpressed with Les’ new rank as lieutenant of Deliverance.
Les smiled at his wife and bent down slightly to wrap his tall daughter in a hug.
“Is Trey really coming home with us?” Phyl asked, looking up with her hazel eyes.
“He sure is.”
Katherine returned the smile with one of her contagious grins and put her arms around Les and Phyl. They were still huddled together when Trey finally emerged. Two months shy of his eighteenth birthday, and the boy was the thinnest Les had ever seen him—even thinner than Phyl.
“Hi,” Trey said, his voice timid.
“My baby,” Katherine said, pulling away from Les to hug her son.
“Trey, you look really—” Phyl said, but Sloan interrupted her.
“Sign here, and you can be on your way, kid,” she said, handing Trey a clipboard. He let go of his mother long enough to sign his name to the page.
And just like that, Trey Mitchells was a free…
Man. Your boy is a man, Les thought. He exchanged a nod with Sloan. He respected her for helping them take down Captain Jordan, and she had treated Trey with dignity. It wasn’t her fault the rations for prisoners were barely enough to survive on.
“Congratulations again on your promotion,” he said.
She shrugged. “Just means more work for me.” She gave a mirthless grin. “Congratulations on your promotion as well, LT.”
“Thanks,” Les replied.
Her lazy eye stopped on Trey. “Stay out of trouble, kid,” she said.
“I plan to, Sergeant.”
Les put his hand on his son’s back and herded his family away from the brig on the Hive, anxious to get them all together around the small table in their quarters.
Although he worked on Deliverance now, he, like many of the other Hell Divers and officers, had opted to remain living on the Hive. Something about deserting the airship had felt wrong, and when given the opportunity for a new cabin on Deliverance, he had politely declined.
A smile broke across his face at the sight of fresh paint on the bulkheads. Trey grinned, too, seeing the fresh artwork covering the metal with images of the Old World: fluffy clouds, exotic animals, and cities.
“How are you feeling?” Katherine asked Trey.
His smile broadened. “I’m just glad to be out of that hellhole and back with my family.”
They arrived at their home a few minutes later, where a meal of guinea pig stew, fresh bread, and warm potatoes waited. They even had a healthy spread of butter.
Les hadn’t eaten butter for as long as he could remember.
“I bet you’re hungry,” Phyl said. “You look like a beanpole.”
“Takes one to know one,” Trey replied. He brushed his long hair out of his face and pulled out the familiar creaky wooden chair he had always sat on for meals.
“We need to get you a haircut and a bath,” Katherine said.
“I’ll eat, bathe, and then I’m off. I want to see Commander Everhart,” Trey said.
Les took a seat at the head of the table, studying his son in the glow of the single bulb dangling from the overhead. The friendship between the two young men went way back but Les found it odd his son would want to see Michael right after leaving the brig, unless…
“For what?” Les asked.
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I’m going to do with my life,” Trey said. He looked over at his mother, who had stopped scooping stew into bowls.
She looked just as nervous as Les felt about whatever this was that Trey had decided behind bars. He was hoping his son would reapply to engineering school or come to work on the bridge with him, but his gut told him Trey wasn’t interested in either of those opportunities.
“I’ll tell you after we eat,” Trey said, licking his lips. “I’m starving.”
Katherine finished pouring the stew and distributed the bowls one by one. They bowed their heads together and held hands just as humans had done centuries earlier.
“I’m thankful today to have my son Trey back home, and our entire family together once again,” Les said. “Today, I pray to whatever God might be out there, to keep the Hive and Deliverance in the sky long enough for Xavier and Magnolia to find us a new home.”
He let go of Trey’s and Phyl’s hands and waited for Trey to tell them of his decision, but the boy was busy shoveling food into his mouth.
“Mom,” he said with his mouth full of stew, “this is so-o-o-o-o good.”
“We were lucky to get a guinea pig. First time we’ve had meat in months.”
Phyl took a bite of bread, but she still hadn’t touched her stew.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Katherine asked.
“I don’t feel so good.” Phyl looked up at her brother.
“Your stomach feels sick?” Les asked.
Phyl shook her head and put her hand on her chest. “It’s my heart. It hurts. I missed Trey really bad, and now I’m worried he’s going to leave us again.”
Trey laid his hand on Phyl’s. “I’m not going to leave you guys again. I promise.”
“But you told me you want to be a Hell Diver,” Phyl said. “And Hell Divers die.”
Les suddenly felt his own heart grow heavy. “Is this true, son?”
“Yes.” Trey laid his fork, with a skewered new potato, down on the table. “I’ve decided it’s the best way to give back to the ship and my family. We’ll get more rations, and—”
“I’m the XO now, Trey,” Les said, cutting him off. “You don’t have to risk your life.”
Trey’s lip quivered. “We can’t afford to lose you, Dad. And I know for a fact you’ll keep diving despite your new title. I heard Sloan talking about it.”
Les couldn’t dispute that. He had agreed to remain a Hell Diver when he accepted the position of XO.
“It’s time for me to be a man,” Trey said. “It’s time for me to take your place as a Hell Diver.”
Katherine looked across the table at Les, her eyes pleading with him to talk some sense into the boy.
But his son was no longer a child. He had helped overthrow Jordan, had served his time in the brig, and was now free to do what he wanted.
Les wiped the corner of his mouth and put his handkerchief on the table. Today was supposed to be a joyful reunion and a wonderful meal with his family, but he had lost his appetite. After finally getting his son back, the thought of him diving into the apocalypse made him feel sick.
Katrina DaVita was starting to feel at home on the bridge of Deliverance. All around her, officers worked at their stations in the circular space, monitoring the skies for storms, watching the life-support systems on the ship, and communicating with the crew of the Hive.
Technically, she was the captain of both ships, but she had chosen to lead from this control room. For the first few weeks, she had tried to work on the clean white bridge of the Hive. It was larger and comfortably familiar, but that familiarity was the problem.
Memories of her former lover, Captain Leon Jordan, made working there too painful. If she was going to focus on saving the human race and leaving a positive legacy as captain, she needed to do it aboard Deliverance. The Hive would always be her home, but she needed a fresh start.