hatch in the tunnel we were using, and we exited the tube system into the dark spaces within the transit network. Our current refuge is a small, cramped space that constantly vibrates and shudders as locals whiz by us, one after another, all moving too fast to register our makeshift camp. We are a tangle of limbs and backpacks, but we are temporarily secure.
I am thinking, accompanied by the symphony of whirs and whooshes all around us, my mind humming as fast as any transport tube. I find myself tapping one finger against my knee, the tempo varying, then repeating. I do not know this pattern’s origin, but I feel it rising to the surface of my mind.
Tap.
Tap, tap.
Tap.
Tyler is the one to break the silence. He is huddled in the corner with his sister pressed against him, his knees lifted to protect his crotch. I should ask to examine his most recent injury, but I calculate that the probability of a refusal, followed by a sarcastic response from Finian, is almost one hundred percent.
Tyler still looks a little dazed as he speaks.
“Kal,” he says. “We have a lot of problems on the boil already without this kind of surprise cropping up.”
“My sister prides herself on appearing when least needed,” our Tank says. His face is still daubed with his own blood, and that of the Unbroken.
“Well, where’d she come from?” Scarlett asks.
“I know not,” Kal replies. “I have not seen Saedii since before I left for the academy. She was unaware I had even joined Aurora Legion.”
“She mentioned those Unbroken we fought back in the bar on the World Ship,” Tyler says. “I’m guessing they passed on word to her about you?”
Kal inclines his head. “I did tell you I started that fight as a diversion.”
“Because I used your name,” he says.
Kal nods, brooding. “Perhaps I should have silenced them permanently… .”
My finger taps away at my knee again, the movement involuntary. My hand seems to shift of its own accord, and begins tapping the rhythm out against my left forearm instead.
Ah.
I realize I am mimicking the rhythm of Admiral Adams’s finger during the broadcast in which he condemned us. I have watched the footage fourteen times now. I have not tried to shake the compulsion to do so. It is my experience that when my mind seizes on something seemingly insignificant, usually it is solving a problem I have not yet identified.
It is a hallmark of the highly intelligent.
Tap, tap, tap.
Tap, tap.
Tap.
We condemn, in strongest possible terms, the actions of Aurora Legion Squad 312 at Sagan Station… .
Aurora lays one gentle hand on Kal’s arm. “Tell us about your sister,” she suggests, oblivious to my internal problem solving.
Kal swallows, dropping his gaze to Aurora’s fingers. They are stained with her own blood, red alongside his purple, dried and flaking around her nails.
“Our father was a warrior of the Warbreed Cabal,” he says. “But our mother was a Waywalker. They are the most spiritual of my people. They study the mysteries of the Fold, and the self. My father taught us to kill. But my mother tried to teach us the waste found in death.” He is quiet for a moment, and I see Aurora’s hand squeeze his. “I took her lessons to heart. Saedii did not.”
I consider the difference between my own parents. My mother was the more practical. My father was warmer. I wonder what he would think of the person I have become. I am very different now from the little girl I used to be.
It is an uncomfortable question, and one I have not considered in years.
I push it away.
Tap.
Tap, tap, tap.
Kal continues. “Saedii and I grew up together, but we grew ever apart. After our father died during the battle at Orion, I joined Aurora Academy to help bridge the gap between our two peoples. My sister joined the Starslayer to tear it wider. In these choices, you find all you need to understand us.”
“You … ,” Scarlett begins. “You … lost your dad at Orion, too?”
Kal slowly nods. I see the Jones twins exchange a glance—obviously remembering their own father, who perished in that same infamous battle. Scarlett’s gaze softens as she looks at the Syldrathi boy.
“I’m sorry, Kal,” she murmurs. “You never said …”
Kal’s normally perfect posture slumps very slightly. Aurora squeezes his hand again. For a moment, our Tank’s eyes are clouded, his expression pained. But despite this revelation—that three of our squad members lost their fathers in the same bitter