Winter Dread, page 5
Okay, I will just make sure I reiterate that to them all.
I don’t understand.
Then I saw it. He was also broadcasting out to the whole guild.
You’re as sly as Hiroto when it comes to things. I am sorry I don’t know you as yet, but you’re more than capable of leading—and doing things, it seems.
I was a leader for my people too. I am just a much older generation than Tyto and Xirob.
Now that was interesting. I wanted time to get to know him more.
As do I you, Kyle.
5
The room talked in their groups. Miquel and Imehia moved closer towards me. “I would like to talk some more about our family, if you do not mind,” Miquel said. “Just us?”
“You think this is information I can’t be without before I go into see Melody?”
“Yes, I do. You need to know who Ohara was and possibly is in the scheme of things. I trust you, but I am unsure if I trust my sister.”
“You’re saying she’s not to be trusted, or that you’re not sure who she is anymore? What about Xirob?”
“I am unsure as to who she is. I do not know what to think about Xirob. Nor if Borix would have been happy to follow them in this way.”
“I think there’s somewhere we may go to talk. Tyto, would you and Jai come with us? I think we need to hear this as a team.”
“Of course. We will come with you. I think there’s a private room at the back of here where we can go.”
“Lead the way.” I glanced to the room. “Gather our resources, start to rebuild; we have a long way to go.”
The room erupted with, “Yes, sir” and then also a few laughs and giggles.
I tried not to return the laugh. We were, after all, just getting used to our form of military command.
Tyto opened the door at the back and we went inside to the privacy of the room.
“It is secure,” Jai said.
But I was missing something and looked back into the meeting. There he was. I waved and got his attention. “Hiroto, with us.”
When he came over, he looked shy.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I didn’t think you wanted me in here.”
“Where I am, you are,” I said. “We’re the team. You don’t leave my side, unless I express it. You know a little bit of privacy would go a long way sometimes, though.”
“Of course, I can do that. I know you will need some of your own time. Especially with Shion, it will be great to not, actually . . . well, you know.”
I laughed and led him into the room.
The room was a couple of chairs short. That was okay. I sat on the end of the small desk and looked to both Imehia and Miquel. “Please, what would you like to tell us about your sister?”
“Apart from her prowess as a warrior? Which is something I think you would have guessed from the fact she is leading the war effort.”
“Yes.” I nodded. Asht, would you bring those images up again? “I gathered that at least, she must be pretty amazing to be doing that.”
“Yes, she is amazing, as you put it. She is very calculated and good at what she does. To the extent I would put her above many of the others in charge of planets, and beyond.”
“You’re basically telling me she’s not to be trusted.”
“Not only is she not trusted, but she will have spies everywhere. We need to be careful at least till we gauge what she’s doing. I do not know how she will feel with us joining her there.”
“I know she will want us there,” I said. “She wants the best, and if I take her the best, then that is more than she should be happy for.”
“Maybe not,” Miquel said. “We will see.”
“Why did Xirob fall out with her?” I asked, really curious.
“Because,” Imehia squeezed her hands together, not able to meet my eyes, “she got one of his closest friends killed.”
That made sense, but it also didn’t. He was on the front line fighting with her? I shook my head. “You knew them?”
Imehia looked at me. “Yes, at the time we were dating.”
Their scars were deep, and I felt for their whole family dynamics. They were such powerful people. “I’m sorry, I . . . I didn’t know, I . . .”
“You didn’t know,” Hiroto said, “because he didn’t want any of those feelings being crossed to you and to anyone you might have fallen for. He wanted your feelings for Shion and his for her sister to be as separate as they could be.”
I did understand that. I had felt weird with Shion, knowing he was watching and possibly feeling some of what I did as we explored our early relationship.
“We were all in the same mind,” Hiroto said. “We’re not going to get over those feelings and being together, at least not for a long time. It will, of course, always be a part of us, as well. Something we can remember with fondness and with pain.”
I nodded. “I know.”
I pushed through those emotions he was evoking right now. Though I think the others in the room could see it on my face as his words carried meanings while I waited for their demeanour to change too. Which it did. I smiled then at them all. And looked at Jai.
“We have a lot going on. If we need Ohara on our side, it’s pretty easy to do so. I can get through to most people just being me. Whether it is a natural part of my charm or charisma, which isn’t that high.” I looked to my sheet and sighed. It really wasn’t that high.
“Just don’t underestimate her, that’s all I can say as my warning,” Miquel added.
“I won’t,” I replied. “I promise you.”
“Then we’re agreed,” Tyto said. “We will all be very wary of her.”
“I do not want to go anywhere near her,” Hiroto said. “That’s not something I wanted to do anyway after feeling the emotions from Xirob in the first place.”
I nodded at him. I remembered this myself. “Whatever the issues are with her, we will be okay. We will get to the bottom of it, and maybe we can build a few bridges with it as well. I do know he regretted all the time apart he had from you.” I looked to Miquel then, and I added, “Especially you, you were his younger brother, and he wanted to be with you guys more than anything else. To help and train and teach you.”
“He never said anything like that to us here,” Miquel said.
“No, I know he didn’t,” I said, seeing nothing but that younger brother who wanted praise for trying his best. “Because you were all so very proud of who you are. Where your family has come from and where you were going.”
“As Eekan,” Imehia said, “we are special without being known to everyone for being that special.”
“I think anyone who came to know of what you were would understand,” Hiroto said for her.
“You think others could see our stats, no. Only a very rare few would be able to do that.”
“I didn’t know it was a skill,” I said.
“There are probably some skills you don’t know you have because they were deemed basic by the system and by me,” Hiroto said.
“Really?” I asked him.
“Do you really want to see what a full stat sheet looks like?” Hiroto asked, and I could only nod even though I also didn’t want to know.
With a flick of his wrist, he brought up his own sheet for us all to see. He wasn’t ashamed of it, or of who he was.
Then he started to flick through all of the stats that were on the page. There were literally pages and pages of them, from the real basics of food digestion to breathing to all body functions and beyond.
I motioned for him to stop, and he did. “I can see how boring that would be to look through. I guess I can see it if needed for something basic though, or if there was something in my code that was flawed.”
Hiroto nodded, and his sheet vanished back.
“At least you now know it’s there. There were a lot of things I did and never asked you. I am sorry for making decisions like that for you.”
“Don’t be,” I said. “I would have probably been very overwhelmed with it if you hadn’t.”
“We’re ready to see Melody again,” Jai said and coughed. “As much as I am wary of the outcome of their decision, I am also pretty hopeful.”
“I am too,” I said, then to Miquel and Imehia I added. “If there’s anything you think you need to keep me posted on above anything else, especially if you think later on that Ohara is doing something underhanded. Then do not hesitate to come and look for me, or Hiroto.”
They nodded, and I followed the others back to the other room.
It was good to see everyone before we faced the future. I followed Tyto back to our guest room. There was also something about his shoulders as he approached.
I reached out and placed a hand on his back, “Are you okay?”
He turned to me and Hiroto. “No. This is the biggest thing I have ever been a part of, and I wanted to be here. But I’m so nervous of the decision they’re going to make. I just don’t know what to do or to think.”
“We will get through this,” I said. “No matter their decision.”
Hiroto leaned towards the door and placed his hand to it to then walk through, where we followed.
Melody stood once more and motioned for us to be back in our seats. I didn’t want to sit this time, and I stood before them to ask. “What are your thoughts so far?” I asked.
“We are uncertain, and that’s something I am not happy about,” she replied honestly, her cursory glances pointing out to me the women that were undecided.
“You also want to watch this memory I have, of what I’ve seen?” I asked.
“Yes, we would like to see that, as well,” Beth said.
“Okay,” I replied and sucked in a breath. Asht, if you would.
I was then once watching that same scene once more, becoming a little more detached from seeing it. Though when it swept around for another pass of the front line I said, “Stop.”
Asht stopped the view, and I stepped forward to see it closer. This was the largest mech on the battlefield, and I was drawn to it.
I saw Melody move out of her seat too, and she came in beside me. “That one mech is something else. You are drawn to it because of its power, and because of the person inside it.”
“I am, because she’s the one person I am going to have to impress more than any others.”
“She’s their leader, but more—I sense that from you.”
“Yes, she is the sister to the denti I once possessed.”
“The Veti family line is strong. I do think there’s much to learn from that in itself.”
“Yes, there is. They’re not only dedicated—they are loyal.”
“Just like you are, Kyle. Thank you for showing me this, and for the grace after I killed you once more.”
“Me and Sol,” I said.
She dipped her head to me. “A sacrifice he knew I would take if I deemed it.”
It didn’t make me feel better, but I quelled that anger. I considered her, and then the women around the room. Their faces were different. They seemed much calmer today. So I asked, “What are your thoughts on my question?” I looked to the woman who had been the most outspoken the other day. “Especially I’d like to hear yours.”
She seemed to flush for just a brief moment. “I would like to speak to them.” She gathered herself and stood. “I am Sierra. We were all very concerned about your words, after the initial shock of what you were asking of us had settled and after seeing how sincere you were in basically pledging yourself to us and to Melody. We went away, and we thought long and hard about things for our specific bases, for the people we all care for and have been with all our lives.” She glanced to the other women, who I noticed all agreed with her. “But, on a deep personal level as well. Do you have any idea how old I am?”
I really didn’t want to answer that at all.
But the way she looked at me, I had no idea, not a clue at all. To look at her she was unique in her own way. Medium build, long, wavy, greying hair that flowed down her shoulders seamlessly to where I couldn’t see at all.
Have you any ideas? I asked inside my mind.
But there was no answer. I guess I was on my own for this. I thought back to how old Xirob was, to how they aged, how they grew up. How long it took them to learn their traits.
I still didn’t really want to hazard a guess. But the numbers formed in my mind.
“You’re older than everyone in this room, that’s for sure. You were young when the denti were first enslaved, and you’ve grown up here, been a large part of the process in protecting the girls and the women here.” She nodded, at least at this, and I smiled at her. “You are the hardest on everyone because you have the most to lose, because you are revered by everyone in this room for being there with them from the start of their journey, and because you do not want to let them down. This decision is weighing on you more than it would on everyone else.”
“You seem to understand most of what people think and feel, and yet that’s not something most of your kind have ever shown before.” She said eyeing me carefully.
“No, I am more than most of my kind. I am here because I believe you’re not only worth saving. You’re also going to be one of the reasons why we’re all saved.”
“You really think you could do this as a species without us?” Melody asked.
“It would be much harder without you. But we would accomplish what we set out to do, and we would still win.”
“You’re sure?”
I looked to Melody, and I nodded at her. “Yes, we would still win this. But there would be many losses.”
“But you are prepared for that?” Sierra asked, and when I looked back, she held my gaze with her steady eyes.
I lowered my head. “We would do what we needed to, no matter the cost to us.”
“Then from my base, and my women, we are willing to pledge ourselves to help you,” Sierra said. “There are a few who do not wish to do so. You would be okay with that, right?”
YOU ARE MASTER AT TALKING PEOPLE AROUND
SPACE POLITICS - RANK 17 ACHIEVED
I tried not to smile at her words. They were music to my ears. The hardest one in the room that I thought I would have to fight with, and she was giving me the go ahead right now before any of the others.
There were several coughs and as I looked around the room, there were several others who stood up with her, and I heard them say, “We all agree with Sierra. She has been the voice of reason for many of us over the years.”
“You’re okay with all of this?” I looked back at Melody.
“I am, and you have more. You have my respect, for taking this as well as you have. Some wouldn’t have done as well at all.”
“Because you killed me twice?” I asked.
“The choices we make define us. Which is why we strive as people to make the right one for all of us.”
“I understand, thank you. Maybe you have some thoughts on where the ones who don’t want to stay can go?”
“I think there’re some proposals already coming in so we can work through the changes we need on the other planets.”
I remembered some information from Tyto earlier, but it wasn’t clear how many. Had we made a mistake? I swallowed and asked, “How many do you have, and are they still under Arndale’s guard?”
“No,” Melody said. “They were under our guard. There are seven other ladies here that manage a planet; the others are their seconds-in-command.”
I coughed. “A planet, like a whole planet?”
“Yes. They are spread out a little, but they are a huge part of us.”
“I had no idea you were that big, that you were so many . . .”
“We supply all the denti/human respawns. You have no clue as to how many you are either, do you?”
I had to wonder then. To think on how many we could be out here, how many were they supplying for respawns, how actually barbaric this was . . . “Hiroto,” I said. “How many do we think there are?”
“We have access to Arndale’s main computer system now. Denn’s looking at it now. I can also pull in any of the best minds that we have to crack the rest of the coding. We thought we’d be able to track every single denti/human once we have. Because Arndale did.”
“And they made sure everyone knew it.” I sighed.
“You’re hoping for a map like you can call up for all your nanites?” Hiroto asked.
“Yes, actually, I am.”
“That would be fucking dangerous if they know exactly where all the bigger players are. They’re easy targets.”
I could only agree with him. “We’d have to be very careful with it. Once we had the information, we’d need to lock it down as soon as possible.”
He nodded at me, understanding.
6
There were many times through the next few days that I felt more than overwhelmed, but looking at Hiroto as he keyed in commands with myself and Tyto standing over him, I finally felt like we were really getting somewhere.
I waited for news of the Sitha ships arriving with Yun, and no sooner had I heard it, the meeting I was currently in with Hiroto and Tyto and Melody faded as I listened in to the comms chatter. Then it stopped. “He’s here,” I said to them. “Please excuse me.”
Tyto smiled. “Be good to see him,” he said.
I wanted to rush off, but knowing I’d just look a little foolish, I managed to hold off. “I would like to accompany you to the landing zone,” Melody said.
“Hiroto?” I asked, already knowing his answer.
“I’ll stay. I really am close to breaking this.”
Melody dipped her head. “We’ll meet you for dinner in my quarters.”
Hiroto almost seemed shocked when he looked at me, but he smiled at her. “It would be my honour, of course.”
We walked away from the meeting room going our separate ways, and I felt the mental touch of Yun. We are just landing. I presume you are on your way?
Yes, I replied.
Once we were off a small transport cart and almost there, my footsteps sped up and Tyto was the one to reach for me. “You don’t have to run to him.”
