Allegiance

FOURTEEN

Moonlight made a soft carpet of the whitecaps below. The view reminded X of the moving snowdrifts in Hades. Trekking through those wastes seemed like a lifetime ago.

At his feet, Miles lay happily chomping on a pig bone. The crunching suddenly stopped at the sound of a distant high-pitched whistle. The dog looked up, with the bone still between its forepaws.

“The time has come to see if the Octopus Lords accept our sacrifice,” Rhino said.

He wore his armor tonight, covering the healing gashes he had gotten in the Sky Arena and on the deck of Elysium. X, too, had a bandage covering a recent injury, from the Siren he fought on Elysium.

The two warriors stood on the roof platform of the capitol oil rig. Not far from the piers, a fishing vessel prowled the waters. In the bow, visible in the full moonlight, stood Carmela, parrot on her shoulder, whistle in her mouth.

X didn’t have to wait long to see the summons answered. And while he was too far up to see the octopus’s warty mantle, he could make out the dark tentacles writhing through the chop. They reached up toward the boat like the arms of a child begging for a treat.

“Looks like the Cazadores have been forgiven,” X said. “Let’s hope the goodwill extends to us as well.”

“If only the Octopus Lords knew the truth,” Rhino said. The unfinished words told X there was deep resentment there, but he still could not bring himself to kill Ada.

More whistling floated over the water, and two men on the boat deck pushed the corpses of Warthog and Javier into the water. The tentacles wrapped greedily around the bodies and pulled them beneath the surface.

A horn followed, and the onlookers began to chant.

X turned away, unable to stomach any more Cazador rites today. Miles got up and trotted after him, away from the platform’s edge, while Rhino remained behind for a few moments.

Finally, he followed X around the pool and gardens, to the stairs, which they climbed to the airship’s roof—the highest point in the Vanguard Islands. Flickering lamplight illuminated the canopy of tropical trees growing on the airship.

They strolled past the Sky Arena. The bloodstained dirt was a painful reminder of where he was heading and why.

X steeled himself as he approached a group of sky people who had gathered on the other side of the forest. Ton and Victor stood guard, their spears resting on their shoulders, eyes scanning for threats.

He wondered how they felt about what was happening here. The two men had seen more suffering than anyone should have to see, which was no doubt part of the reason they were so happy to be living as free men at the Vanguard Islands.

X walked past them, toward people holding candles and huddling around two fresh graves. Both were dug in the same area they had buried Captain DaVita and their other fallen friends.

Tonight, they were here to honor two more sky people who had lost their lives. DJ and his son Rhett had been laid to rest. Widow and mother Mallory clutched her remaining child, Keith, in front of her.

X walked past the row of buried officers: Katrina, Bronson, Dave. With them were the Hell Divers and civilians who had lost their lives in the battle for the oil rigs.

Seeing Katrina’s grave made X wonder again what she would have thought of his leadership.

Was Ada right? Would Katrina really have sanctioned killing all the Cazador soldiers after the battle? X couldn’t bring himself to believe that.

He nodded at familiar faces as he moved through the small crowd. While he knew everyone here to some degree, he wasn’t really close with anyone besides Bernie and Cole Mintel, Rodger’s parents. His family and most of his dearest friends were either dead or off risking their lives on Discovery. For a moment, dread curdled in his gut—the same dread he had felt seeing the airship pull away yesterday.

Miles brushed up against his leg as if to say, Don’t forget about me.

X bent down and said, “You’re my best friend of all, boy.”

Cole Mintel opened a box and pulled out two newly carved wood plaques. “Rodger made these before he left,” he said. He handed them to Mallory.

“Left?” X said softly. He looked around, not seeing Rodger in the crowd.

Mallory took them in a shaky hand.

“Here, sweetheart,” Bernie said, and helped Mallory lay the plaques on the graves.

X watched the ceremony silently from the shadows. Mallory sobbed while her son just stared at the grave. Friends took their turns approaching. Some threw flower petals onto the dirt.

Les’s wife, Katherine, walked by with their daughter, Phyl, in tow. They both scattered flower petals and then moved on to Trey’s grave to do the same.

Seeing two mothers who had lost their sons ratcheted up the feeling of guilt, never far from the surface. The darkness was worse even than it had been in the wastes—a crushing, debilitating feeling that made X want to step over to the rail and jump off.

Everyone thinks you’re some badass warrior, X thought, but they don’t know.

Taking a few breaths to fortify himself, he walked over to Mallory and Keith to pay his respects.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” X said. “If there is anything you need, please let me know.”

She turned toward him, rage in her eyes.

He understood the glare, but he wasn’t prepared for the slap across the face. The sting didn’t bother him; he was used to pain. What hurt more were the words that followed.

“My son died because of you,” she growled. “He died in that filthy arena with those barbarians all because you decided to reopen it and give that murdering demon a chance at freedom. Now my husband and my son are dead.”

Rhino stepped forward, but his towering presence didn’t deter the woman one bit.

“And you!” she shouted at the Cazador general. “You promised you would kill Javier. Instead, you let him kill my boy.”

“I’m truly sorry,” Rhino said.

“You both disgust me,” Mallory shot back. She wiped a tear from her eye and looked again at X. “I knew Janga, and I believed her prophecy about a man leading us to a new home on the sea. You may have been that man, but this…” She waved her hand outward, encompassing the rooftop and the surrounding sea. “This is not the home that we deserve.” Mallory poked X in the chest with her finger. “And you are not the leader we all deserve. A real leader would have killed all these animals and never given them the chance to kill my husband and son.”

Mallory looked Rhino up and down. Then she spat in the dirt between his sandals.

Rhino did not say a word, though his muscles flexed for an instant.

“X saved us all,” said Cole. “It’s not his fault what happened in the arena.”

“Saved me just yesterday,” came a voice.

X looked for it and saw Ted Maturo, his silver hair seeming to glow in the moonlight. He nodded at X, and X nodded back. Maybe the young man had actually learned something from his dumb stunt.

“The Cazadores should not be allowed to have weapons,” said a farmer.

“Yeah, and the warriors should be banished at the very least,” a woman added. X was surprised to turn and see that Katherine had spoken the words.

“Listen, everyone, we’re here to pay our respects tonight,” X said. “Not debate the peace treaty we have with our…”

He stopped short of saying “friends,” even though the man next to him was indeed his friend.

“Allies,” X finished. “This is no different from how things were in the Old World, when enemies became allies after fighting each other for years.”

“This is not the Old World,” said a mechanic. “Allies don’t bash each other’s heads in like they did to my friend DJ.”

“Your peace treaty is as dangerous as diving through the storms,” said a familiar gruff voice.

X turned to see that it was Marv from the Wingman, the bar where X had spent far too many hours drinking far too much shine. Marv had lost an eye in the battle for the islands, and the one he had left was pinned on X.

“Eventually, every diver ends up dead,” Marv said. “And eventually, this treaty will fail and the Cazadores will slaughter us all.”

“X survived all the dives, and he won’t fail us,” Cole argued, his voice louder now. “We have to trust him.”

Mallory shook her head and walked away. Her son looked over his shoulder, his glassy gaze locked on X. The rest of the group dispersed, but X couldn’t bring himself to meet their eyes. He deserved this shame.

Mallory was right. Her son’s death was indeed his fault. If he had never reopened the Sky Arena, the boy would still be alive.

“She’s wrong,” Rhino said as if reading X’s thoughts. “Rhett’s death wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I should have killed Javier faster, before the kid could jump in.”

“Doesn’t change anything.” X bent down and patted Miles on the head. The dog had brought his bone with him and was chewing it once more.

The last of the people who had come to the graveside vanished around the trees. Only Ton and Victor stayed behind to guard the area. X felt better with them there.

He looked up at the sky. “Leave me,” he said to Rhino.

“King Xavier, I—”

“I said leave me,” X said. “I am fine on my own.”

Rhino didn’t seem convinced.

“Go to bed. Or, if you’re not tired, go put together that team I told you we need.”

When Rhino didn’t respond, X’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me you can’t find anyone you can trust,” he said. “The Barracudas followed you into battle, and I know you’ve got plenty of others who would, too.”

“They are all dead,” Rhino said coldly. “Or they have turned on me because I now serve you.”

“I’m sorry,” X said, not knowing what else to say.

“I do not regret anything, and there may still be hope,” Rhino said. “I just need time to go visit an old friend who might be able to help.”

“Take as much time as you need. Until then, I’ve got these.” X gripped his sword in one hand and cinched up his belt of weapons with the other. A blaster was holstered at his thigh, a pistol on his waist, and a hatchet hung from the back of his belt. The weight made his shorts sag.

“Good night, King Xavier,” Rhino said.

When Rhino was out of sight, X whistled to Miles. The dog picked up the bone and trotted after him. They returned to the graves, and X knelt beside Katrina’s plot. He put a hand on the mound and bowed his head.

“What would you do with Ada if you were in my shoes?” he whispered.

He kept his hand there, trying to imagine her voice and what she would say to him. All he knew for sure was that she wouldn’t kill Ada as Rhino had recommended.

But he was less sure about how Katrina would handle the Cazadores. Perhaps Ada was right. Perhaps Katrina would have killed all the soldiers or, at the very least, banished them.

“King Xavier,” said a voice.

X rose to his feet, his hand instinctively going for his sword. He relaxed when he saw Ted step out of the shadows. He held a silver flask in his hand and held it out.

“Thought I’d thank you for saving my hide,” he said.

“You’re welcome, but my days of shine are over.”

Ted shrugged and brought the flask to his lips, then hesitated. He frowned and put it away.

“I’m sorry for what I did, and I hope someday I will have the opportunity to train again with the Hell Divers,” he said ruefully. “Seriously, sir, I know how stupid that was. It put everyone at risk.”

“You’re damn right it did,” X replied. “Kid, we’re all stupid at times. You were lucky, like I’ve been many times in my life.”

“Lucky you were there… I just hope you will someday forgive me and give me the chance to serve again.”

A female voice rang out before X could respond. He turned from Katrina’s grave, half expecting to see her ghost. Instead, he spotted Lieutenant Sloan running across the rooftop. Rhino was right behind her.

“Sir,” she said, stopping to pant. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“It’s Discovery, sir…” She took another breath and added, “We received a transmission.”

“And?”

“They ran into trouble at the fueling station.”

“What kind of trouble?” X asked.

Sloan finally caught her breath. “When Star Grazer reached the shore, they discovered the fuel outpost had been damaged,” she said. “Discovery descended to take a look and found it was destroyed.”

“Shit,” Rhino said. “They won’t have enough fuel to get to the city and back.”

“No, they did manage to get some,” Sloan said. “Discovery helped haul two tanker trucks inland to fuel up, but they were attacked by giant snakes.”

“Is everyone okay?” X asked.

“I think so. Apparently, Rodger helped kill the things. I didn’t get much more after that; the line cut out.”

“Rodger?” X said, then growled with realization. When Cole said his son had “left,” he meant he had gone on the mission.

“Reckless idiot,” X muttered. He looked to Ted. “See, stupid people doing stupid shit.”

“Glad I’m not the only one,” Ted replied.

X sighed, shaking his head. “Lieutenant, I’ll meet you in the command center in five. Rhino, you’d better inform the other Cazador officers on Elysium about the transmission,” he said. “Report back here tomorrow morning.”

Rhino lingered after Sloan and Ted left.

“Did you hear me?” X asked.

“Yes, King Xavier, but there is something I want you to know.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ve served many men in my life, but unlike most of them, you have the heart and the mind of a good man. You are the leader your people deserve, the leader we all deserve. And I know you will make the right decision about Ada.”

He stepped so close, X could smell his breath.

“But if you don’t, it will be the end of your people and mine.” He clapped X on the shoulder and then turned, twirling his spear once before tucking it under his arm.

If X didn’t know better, Rhino had just followed up a compliment with a veiled threat.

“Prepare to intercept Cricket,” Timothy said.

Several hours after the ambush at the fuel station, Discovery’s crew was finally retrieving the drone from the tower of the destroyed outpost. Les had just finished the detox procedures to ensure he hadn’t brought any dangerous chemicals or microorganisms back from the surface, and he was now back on the bridge of the airship.

An acid rainstorm had moved into the area, and it was coming down in sheets so thick he could hardly see the dark silhouette of the tower in the distance. But he could see the beam from the robot flying toward the airship with the new thrusters Michael had installed.

Sitting bolt upright in the captain’s chair, Les waited anxiously for the robot and for a chance to talk to General Santiago about the monsters they had encountered.

“Sir, I got through to Lieutenant Sloan and informed her of what happened,” Layla said. “Unfortunately, this new storm is playing havoc with outgoing transmissions.”

“Keep trying,” Les said. “I want to talk to X.”

“Will do, sir.”

“Cricket is preparing to dock,” Timothy said. “Alfred and his techs are on standby.”

“Good. How’s the radar looking, Ensign Corey?”

“This storm doesn’t seem to be getting worse, but I’ve got my eye on another front moving in,” Eevi replied.

“Keep me updated.”

She nodded, and Les checked the main monitor, which gave a view of the central tower. He had plenty of questions about this outpost—not only what had happened to the crew, but why the hell Santiago had never warned the Hell Divers about the snakes.

The hull rattled from a nearby peal of thunder.

Les took them off autopilot and manually kept the ship steady while it received Cricket. He watched the robot on his screen, and when it was safely inside, he put the ship back on auto.

Les, Magnolia, Rodger, and Michael had gone through detox along with General Santiago, a lieutenant named Alejo, and a third soldier named Ruiz. And now that they had the drone, and Timothy had dropped the damaged Cazador troop transport and the remaining fuel tanker back onto the deck of Star Grazer, the hard part was over.

Les still wasn’t sure they had taken on enough fuel for the journey back to the Vanguard Islands. If not, the trip had been a waste of lives and equipment. The Cazadores had suffered ten casualties from a team of sixteen and lost one of their tankers.

The mission had also cost Discovery. On his screen, he pulled up the damage assessment from the storm and the battle. They had damage across multiple sectors of the ship, from both lightning and random shots out of a flailing machine gun when they lowered toward the surface. But the ship was still operational, and Les was just happy they hadn’t lost any divers.

“Timothy, transfer the data from Cricket to the briefing room,” Les said. “Layla, you have the bridge.”

He caught up with the divers outside the launch-bay doors. Some were watching through the windows as the drone went through detox. Alfred and three technicians, all in hazard suits, sprayed the robot with chemicals.

Rodger and Magnolia sat farther down the passage, leaning against a bulkhead and talking quietly. Seeing Les, they both stood.

“Captain on deck,” Magnolia said.

Michael, Edgar, Sofia, Arlo, and Alexander all turned away from watching the robot’s cleaning ritual.

“Where are the Cazadores?” Les asked.

“Our militia team is with them in the med bay,” Michael said. “Ruiz got hurt.”

Les ordered Timothy to have the Cazadores escorted to the briefing room. Then he told the divers to follow him. When they got there, Timothy was already inside. His hologram cast a glow over the long table and dozen chairs.

Three militia soldiers showed up a moment later with General Santiago and Lieutenant Alejo. Les had never seen the old soldier without a helmet. He had pale skin, a thick head of brown hair the color of his short beard, and only one ear.

“Captain Mitchells,” Santiago said in his thick accent. “How are you?”

“Bien,” Les said, using Spanish as a sign of respect. “¿Cómo está usted?”

The general’s reply made no sense to Les, so Lieutenant Alejo took over. “Captain Mitchells, General Santiago says he is grateful for your support.”

Alejo spoke nearly perfect English, which told Les he was like Rhino, a survivor whom el Pulpo had captured from a bunker or shelter and enslaved.

“I’m glad you speak English,” Les said. “Maybe you can explain to me and to my divers what the hell those snakes were.”

The divers all remained standing behind their chairs.

Alejo and Santiago both looked around at the unsmiling faces that far outnumbered them. And while the general couldn’t understand Les, he couldn’t miss his angered tone. But Les didn’t care. He was sick of these people keeping secrets that endangered lives.

“Well?” he asked.

“We call them the oil serpents,” Alejo said. “They live in the old pipeline here, but they rarely venture this far.”

“And you didn’t think to warn us about them?” Michael said, stepping up beside Les.

Alejo glanced at the diver as if sizing him up. “Like I said, they don’t usually venture to the outpost. I guarantee, whatever caused that damage and killed our crew was something else.”

Les searched the man’s face for a lie but saw none. “We’re going to find out,” he said.

Alejo translated to Santiago, who nodded.

“Have a seat,” Les said, gesturing toward the chairs. “Timothy, pull up the footage.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

The divers and Cazadores sat, and the AI walked around the table, massaging his neatly trimmed beard while they waited for the first footage from Cricket. Les hadn’t even asked Timothy what he had discovered, but he hoped it was enough to solve the mystery of whatever happened to the facility and its crew.

The footage transferred to the main screen, and everyone scooted their chairs so they could see. Timothy walked up to the wall-mounted monitor.

“Cricket was able to access the tower directly, through a broken hatch on the east side,” he said. “What you are seeing is from directly after the drone entered.”

The robot’s new cameras had switched to night vision. Its hover nodes allowed it to fly through the open room, and the multiple cameras provided a nearly panoramic view of the space on multiple smaller screens.

“Looks like a living space,” Michael said. He pointed at the bottom-right box on the monitor and told Timothy to pause the frame. Sure enough, there were several bunks, and a bank of radio equipment in the corner.

“How many men did you have posted here?” Les asked.

“Probably twelve,” Alejo said. “Maybe a bit more, but I don’t have the information on me at the moment.”

Cricket continued into another room, whose floor was covered with puddled water. Les had hoped they might find a survivor somewhere, until he saw the broken hatch. Anyone inside here was dead.

The robot hovered into a common area that looked like a mess hall. Cans of food and drinking glasses were scattered across the surface. A plate seemed to be moving in place.

“Zoom in on that table,” Les said.

The camera captured an image that made his stomach churn. Hundreds of red maggot-looking larvae were eating whatever rotting food was on the plate.

Cricket pushed onward, but there were no bodies. The divers were getting visibly anxious.

“Where are the corpses?” Michael asked.

“Would you like me to fast-forward?” Timothy said.

Les held up a hand. “No, I want to see everything you found.”

“Very well, sir.”

Cricket hovered through a storage room that had been ransacked and was now overrun with more of the red insect larvae as well as some wiry bluish worms. It went on into more sleeping quarters.

Hatches sealed off the glass windows in the next room, which seemed to be some sort of command center. Several chairs faced a display of computer equipment.

On the floor, a mug had fallen and shattered. The drone turned and moved through a passage where Les saw the first signs of a struggle.

He had expected to see the holes from laser bolts but instead found long scratch marks and spattered gore along the walls.

“This is where Cricket found the crew,” Timothy said.

The robot buzzed around a corner, passing over a steel door that had been battered down. A bathroom came on-screen, with showers on the far wall, toilets, and sinks.

“I don’t see anyone,” Michael said.

Cricket shined a light on the ceiling over the showers and then on a wall around another corner. Several corpses were plastered to the tiles.

“Sirens,” Les whispered.

Alejo shook his head. “No,” he gulped.

“Sirens didn’t do this,” said the AI. “Actually, there is no evidence of their being here at all.”

The beam raked over what looked like dried skin manually stretched over human bones.

“Holy Siren shit,” Magnolia breathed, cupping her hand over her mouth. “Is that what I think it is?”

Les swallowed hard at the ghastly images.

Several human eyeballs, noses, and lips had been stitched onto a skin blanket that was then stretched over a frame of limb bones. It looked a bit like a worn and wrinkled map.

“Defectors,” Les said.

“I don’t think the machines did this, either,” Timothy said.

Cricket hovered into another room, whose hatch had also been broken off. The light hit a balcony and two more displays of skin stretched over human bones. Unlike the earlier remains, these sculptures were hardly recognizable after exposure to the elements.

The remains reminded Les of a scarecrow in a book he had read as a kid.

Then it dawned on him. These weren’t sculptures.

They were a warning.

He glanced to the two Cazador officers to see their reaction.

To his surprise, General Santiago seemed uncharacteristically agitated, as if he had seen something like this before. He turned to Alejo and said something in a hushed voice.

“All right,” Les said. “Shut the footage off, Timothy.”

The screen went dark.

Les put his hands on the table and looked at the two Cazadores in turn.

“Before you return to your ship, one of you is going to tell me what the hell did that to your comrades. No more secrets.”

Alejo translated to Santiago, who began speaking fast.

Les looked to Alejo, waiting.

Santiago spoke faster, growing more agitated.

“Well?” Rodger said. “Someone going to tell us what turned those people into human scarecrows?”

“So, I’m not the only one,” Les said.

“Scarecrows are supposed to warn birds away, right?” Magnolia said.

The general looked at Les, raised a hand, and then pointed at his chest.

“What’s he saying, damn it?” Les asked.

Alejo didn’t seem to want to explain.

“What did that?” Les said. “Spit it out!”

The lieutenant hesitated for another moment before saying, “We did.”