Page 20 of Rebels Rising (The Intergalactic Union #3)

Artemis

R eece and I jumped to our feet at the same time and raced into the hallway after Addy. She led the way, surprisingly fast for her small size and I knew she was experiencing the same enhanced abilities as Reece, but I was far too focused on getting to Bromm to ruminate over those developments.

The infirmary was packed with the old teams when we arrived. I had to shove my way through between Xander and Dorian to get inside. Henrik was leaning over Bromm who was sitting up on the cot, his legs swung over the side. Cadmus was already there, a hand resting on his shoulder while Urman and Foryk rounded out the group off to the side.

Bromm’s grin when he saw me was weak, the happiness undercut by the exhaustion lining his eyes, but I grinned back anyway. Seeing him sitting up on his own after almost dying in my arms was the best feeling in the world.

‘Hey, love,’ he said, his voice croaky from misuse and the trauma from the intubation.

‘Welcome back,’ I told him.

‘I would say it’s good to be back, but I feel like shit and I come bearing not-so-great news.’

The smile immediately dropped from my face as my mask fell into place. ‘Tell me.’

‘He should be resting…’ Henrik tried to argue, but Bromm waved him away.

‘No. I should be helping.’ He looked me in the eyes. ‘Remember the task you gave me in the web?’

I nodded, apprehension steadily rising. ‘Of course.’

‘Well, I found an anomaly.’

I inhaled sharply. ‘Who?’

‘One of the scientist.’

‘What’s going on?’ Addy cut in, her tone hard and demanding.

‘We have a stowaway on the ship,’ I informed the room.

The room devolved into silence for a beat, and then pandemonium erupted. Voices shouted over other voices, fighting to be heard. Questions were lobbed at both me and Bromm.

I ignored everyone in favour of meeting Bromm on his cot, leaning in close to get the information needed to weed out the spy.

‘Who?’ I asked.

‘I couldn’t find a name. There’s no record of him anywhere. It’s like he’s been completely wiped from existence, but I’ll recognise him when I see him.’

I pursed my lips. It was probably my fault he was untraceable. After I’d let slip that I’d done my research on Demari it came as no surprise.

‘I’d bet my ass that The Program’s employees no longer exist in any database, not after they’d discovered how easy it was for me to run a background check.’

He smiled at me, a wicked glint in his eyes. ‘Did you spook them, my love?’ I mirrored his smirk. ‘Probably.’

‘What are you two whispering about?’ Cadmus asked as he moved in closer, tilting his head down to our level.

‘We were just discussing how our woman is a badass that scared the shit out of the enemy,’ Bromm said smugly.

‘Damn straight,’ Cadmus grinned, wide and toothy.

Reece sidled up to us, filling in the open space between me and Cadmus and effectively cutting off Bromm from the rest of the room.

‘I can hear you from across the room,’ he admitted, his features slack with surprise.

‘Me too,’ Addy popped her head through a gap between our arms, joining the huddle.

Xander cleared his throat as he suddenly peered above all our heads, looming over us with a single thick eyebrow lifted to display how unimpressed he was. I matched his expression. They were the ones who had started that chaos. What did he expect me to do, sit back and watch?

‘Care to share with the class?’ he deadpanned.

‘I don’t know. Are you all going to shut up and let Bromm speak?’ I bit back.

‘Um… can I get back to my patient, please?’ Henrik asked from where he’d been inadvertently shoved outside of the huddle.

The crowd immediately dispersed, though Cadmus and I remained by Bromm’s side while Henrik took back his spot. He didn’t bother asking us to move. He knew it would be pointless. ‘Is this really necessary?’ Bromm whined. ‘I swear I’m fine.’

‘And I’m glad you are,’ Henrik said with a patient smile that reached his eyes. ‘But this isn’t just about you. Cadmus is experiencing the same symptoms as you were before you collapsed. I need to keep track of your vitals and any other emerging symptoms and such so I know what to do if and when it happens to anyone else.’

Bromm looked slightly cowed, but not enough to stop squirming. Instead, he held his hand back out for Henrik to replace to observations device back on his finger.

‘It’s giving main character energy,’ Cadmus leaned in close to whisper in my ear. I cracked a small smile at the joke and jabbed him gently in the ribs with my elbow, but I was too relieved that Bromm was awake and well to allow any other emotions through right now.

I glanced around the room one more time, taking in each and every person that had shown up for Bromm and realised someone was missing. ‘Hey, Addy. Did you tell Foryk that Bromm woke up?’

She bit her lip, eyes darting toward Xander as if seeking permission before levelling her gaze on me one more time. ‘No. I couldn’t find him.’

Somehow, I didn’t believe her.

‘What’s going on?’ I asked her, capturing her eyes with mine and refusing to let her look away again.

‘Nothing,’ she practically squeaked, and that was confirmation enough.

‘I’ll only ask one more time before I find another way to figure it out,’ I warned.

She sighed in defeat, glancing at me as if I were going to be angry with what she had to say. I didn’t know how that could even be a possibility since Foryk and I had never been close, but when her gaze darted towards Bromm I suddenly understood her concerns. She thought whatever information she had would trigger my protective instincts over Bromm.

‘Foryk’s been… um… making new friends.’

I blinked, confused. ‘Sorry?’

Her eyes flickered in Bromm’s direction again, and I glanced at him to ensure he was okay. He looked mildly curious, but beyond that he seemed fine.

‘He’s his own man, Addy,’ he told her, though she remained unconvinced. ‘He doesn’t need to stick to me like glue. That’s never been our relationship.’

Even I frowned at him in disbelief. Those two were stuck to each other like they’d been grafted together.

‘Oh, stop. We’re close, but he’s always been able to leave to find new people. He’s not exactly a social butterfly, so I don’t know what you’re so worried about. He’s probably just found a fuck buddy. Or two. The man does enjoy sharing.’

‘That’s a little too much information for me,’ Xander said, backing away to lean against the opposite wall and pretend he wasn’t listening.

We watched on in silence as Henrik continued checking over Bromm, but a cheer went up when he was finally deemed healthy. Henrik gave him specific instructions to rest and take it easy just in case, but already he was looking much better. Colour had come back into his skin and his beard was more active than it had been in days. He hopped off the bed with more energy than any of us expected after being in a coma, immediately scooping me into a bear hug.

‘Hello, love.’

I fisted the back of his jumpsuit, clinging to him like he was about to disappear at any moment. I didn’t want to think about how close I’d come to losing him. It just wasn’t a possibility. He was stuck with me forever now. He wasn’t allowed to leave.

‘I love you,’ I whispered into his ear, low enough that no one else in the room could hear except him.

‘I love you too, baby.’

Long, muscular arms wrapped around us both, jolting us from our little bubble. Cadmus rested his chin on me head and splayed his hand on top of Bromm’s. ‘I know you guys aren’t leaving me out,’ he said cheekily.

I pushed him off of me but didn’t object when he kept the contact between us through his hand on the small of my back. My own hand entangled with Bromm’s and I pulled them towards the door.

‘I should get back to the cockpit. I left Baldr and Dave Junior with Eloria, so I should probably go rescue her.’

Henrik choked on a laugh. ‘Oh, that poor woman. Go.’

I heard Xander mutter behind us as he followed us out. ‘Poor Julius .’

My amusement dimmed at the thought of leaving quiet, jumpy weapons master to deal with that without any backup, but I decided to give him a little more credit. He had joined the military and climbed the ranks enough to be sitting where he was today, and he’d had enough courage to fight for what he believed in rather than blindly following orders. He may have been a little uneasy around us cyborg’s and Dave Junior must have been terrifying for others in general and he was still here.

‘I need to send a message to Foryk,’ Bromm said as we wound our way to the upper decks. ‘I don’t want to interrupt him if he’s… occupied, but he should know I’m okay.’

Cadmus handed over a holo-tab. ‘Here. I kept it safe for you.’

Bromm took it with a grateful smile, quickly tapping out a message to Foryk and then sliding it into his pocket. He wasn’t wearing a utility belt with the holo-tab pouch. There was no immediate response which had the men sharing knowing smirks. I wasn’t sure what the big deal was. So he was likely getting laid. Good for him. Move on, boys.

I was shaking my head when the door to the cockpit slid open, and the scene that greeted me was not what I had been expecting. Not in a bad way, though, which was a pleasant surprise. Dave Junior was curled up asleep at Eloria’s feet while Baldr sat on her lap. Julius was as far from them all as possible but seemed to be more relaxed than he had been in previous similar situations. What had the smile stretching across my face was Libby in holographic form above them all, singing a song with Eloria while Baldr watched with rapt attention.

I froze just inside the doorway, the others bumping into me as they were forced to halt as well. Their singing was beautiful. I’d heard Libby sing before, and I’d sung with her. We’d been professionally trained by The Program as part of our espionage training, but this was the first time I’d heard Eloria sing. I should have realised after I’d heard her laugh that she would be incredible. Her voice was sweet, airy, and light, almost delicate as she blended the notes with Libby’s. Their voices wove together to create something truly incredible to witness, and I was shocked when tears sprang to my eyes.

They finished their song, Baldr now sleepily leaning back against Eloria as she cuddled him. The sight took me aback so much that I considered leaving, but Libby finally caught sight of me in the doorway and beckoned me in with a smile.

‘Wow,’ was all I managed to say.

‘Ellie was just teaching me a lullaby her mama used to sing for her as a kid,’ she informed me, and I nodded mutely in response.

‘She’s got an incredible voice,’ Eloria complimented.

‘Not as good as yours,’ she replied. The soft way they spoke to one another proved that I’d missed something in my absence. Something was developing here, and I was so here for it. I knew that Libby had the other women back on the Forbidden Planet, but it was nice to see her making friends.

Or maybe it was more than that.

‘How is everyone, Libs?’ I asked, my train of thought reminding me of Francesca and the others.

‘They’re great. They’re excited to see their kids again, but most of them understand that it will take some time before they’re reunited. I was just brainstorming with Ellie how to let them see their kids. We’ll need some sort of schedule at least.’

‘Sounds like you two have been busy,’ I observed.

Bromm’s arms brushed mine and I remembered his news about the stowaway. Possible connections started trying to piece together in my mind at a rapid-fire pace, a dim light bulb flickering hopefully to life as I look at Libby.

‘Hey, Libs. Can you described your contact from The Program? You never really talk about him.’

‘Oh, um… I didn’t really think it was necessary. I don’t know what happened to him. For all I know, he died when you destroyed their facility.’

The sadness in her tone caught me off guard, but if I was correct then we needed confirmation. ‘I’m sorry, Libs, but bear with me. Can you just describe him?’

She frowned. ‘Do you think he could be alive?’

‘It’s more than possible,’ I admitted.

‘Okay, well… He had dirty blonde hair and dark blue, almost grey eyes. He was kinda skinny and about our height. Oh, and he had a scar bisecting his right eyebrow in a sort of wiggly C shape.’

‘Holy shit,’ Bromm muttered beside me.

‘What?’ Libby asked him, catching his words.

‘Is it him?’ I asked him.

‘It might be. We’d have to bring him in for Libby to identify, but I think that’s our guy.’

‘The stowaway?’ Xander asked, catching on. ‘So he’s not a danger to us? He’s on our side?’

‘Wait, hold up,’ Libby called. ‘What’s going on?’

‘What was his name, Libs?’ I asked her. I had never figured out the nature of their relationship, but I knew that she had developed some sort of relationship with him. She cared about his wellbeing, even if only vaguely. I sensed it was more than that, though.

‘Cameron. Doctor Bryce Cameron. All the other scientists just called him Doctor B.’

‘Bromm, can you identify the guy you saw and bring him in?’

‘Can do, Captain,’ he gave me a two-fingered salute.

‘Do you know where to look?’

‘Actually, I do. I was watching the surveillance cameras to keep myself occupied, I’ve caught him in the cafeteria as one of the volunteers a few times now.’

‘Why there?’ Cadmus mused out loud.

‘If he’s one of the scientists from The Program, he’ll most likely want to be monitoring them,’ I deduced.

‘But why? That would mean he’s a spy rather than a turncoat, but why would he help you and Libby if he was still loyal to The Program?’ Xander asked, his expression pinched in concern.

‘He’s no longer loyal to The Program,’ Libby stated matter-of-factly.

‘How do you know that, Libs?’ I asked her suspiciously.

‘Because…’ she took a deep breath and levelled me with a guilty but determined look. ‘Because he’d Baldr’s biological father.’