Page 43 of The Garnet Daughter (The Viridian Priestess #3)
Chapter
Thirty
“How long will it take for him to get back?” I ask, leaning against one of the cockpit chairs for support.
“I sent it as a distress.” He glances over his shoulder at me, his expression softening slightly. “I want to move the ship close to the fleet, but I need clearance.”
We are closer to the outskirts of the city in the safe house hangar, and there is no reason to stay here now.
“Will you tell him what happened to Commander Wesley? He will wonder why he has not returned with us.”
“He knows. I sent him an update while the first set of drones mapped the terrain.” He gives me a sheepish look.
“August. August, come in,” 99’s voice cuts through, a mix of surprise and concern.
“We need to speak with you in person. It’s urgent,” August says and peels off the stolen Viathan armor, down to his breeches and under tunic.
“Calliape?” 99 asks.
I’m almost certain the inquiry is coming from Ferren through their tether.
“She is here. We can fold to you.” He leans over the comms speaker and then opens a locker near his command station to dress, slapping another comm on his forearm. “I can’t walk around here in that,” he explains to me, his chin jutting toward the heap of stolen armor on the floor.
“Our location is the First Son ship’s crash site. I hope you bring better news than we do,” 99 informs us.
My expression must give away my worry because August crosses the cockpit and pulls me into his chest with his strong palm at the nape of my neck. I surrender to his embrace, letting it fully cover me, and sigh deeply, the familiar smell of his own clothes calming me.
We have not had a moment to speak since Omnesis’s temple of the truths it told me in the language of the gods.
The horrifying knowledge of First Son’s plans that I have to share with him, with all three of them.
But right now, it is most important that we prepare for the larger, more threatening force coming our way.
August pulls away slightly but doesn’t speak, only gives me a questioning look. I nod in response, then lean into his chest again to picture our destination without distraction.
A mechanical chime blares in ambient rhythm the moment we arrive.
With it, the overwhelming sound of chaos as commanders run past us, toward the crashed First Son ship.
The darkness of the conjunction makes it impossible to view the massive ship fully.
The Viathans shine unnatural lighting on the areas they work, but it also casts dark shadows where it does not reach on the hard edges of the ship.
99 stands with another commander, viewing something on a data pad and barking orders to the soldiers around him between glances at the tablet.
“Come.” August takes my hand and weaves us through the frantic scene we folded into.
Immediately, 99 is walking toward us, striding without any worry of the people running past.
“August!” He wraps an armored forearm around to August’s back and slaps it in the Viathan style of embrace then awkwardly pats me on the shoulder. “Happy you both have returned.”
I smile shyly and greet him.
“You have been missed as well,” August says in his way that often makes heartwarming statements seem casual.
“Commander Sharpe,” 99 calls out to the commander he spoke with as we arrived and then gestures for us to follow as he walks toward the vessel. “August, I’d like you to take a look at this. Not long ago, a blip showed up on our sensors, then the chiming started.”
Lights connected to the tallest points of the building-high ship flash in ambient unison with the tolling alarm.
“Beacon?” August says, hunching over the data pad held out to him.
“Among many theories. We scanned for any survivors inside, but nothing came up,” 99 continues, his hands resting on his hips as he watches the group of commanders near what appears to be the entrance to the First Son ship.
“No signs of life?” August looks shocked. “That seems impossible.”
“You can’t get inside?” I ask.
99 shakes his head. “We have yet to breach the door. We need to disarm it.”
The commanders at the entry have weapons drawn, and for a brief moment, a reflection of green glows from the center they are surrounding. Ferren stands among them, her hand held out and splayed as vibrant tendrils test the seams and hinges around the frame.
August glances at me, expression flicking briefly to concern when he sees the worry likely written all over my face.
He may think the cause for that worry is assuming Ferren will be cross with me for sneaking away to the birthlands, but in truth, he has no idea the tremor that will ripple through our group when I tell her the truth of what I’ve done.
It was the right choice not to tell him.
Knowing he has feelings for me, he may have tried to take my side and alienated himself needlessly.
I have to do this on my own. I can’t have him losing loved ones because of my mistake.
99 watches Ferren from where we stand, and from the way she glances up at us, I can tell he is updating her that we have arrived through their tether.
“We saw similar ships in the birthlands, allies of First Son, the reason for our return,” August informs.
99’s attention snaps to him. “You saw their fleet?”
“At least twice your estimation including their allies. We saw Viathan ships as well.” August grits out the words like they are painful to tell his friend.
“Help us disarm this one and then you both will tell me exactly what you saw,” he commands, standing terrifyingly straight.
“You know we will,” August confirms, not only understanding the sudden change in tone but absorbing it, not taking the command personally.
I nod and avert my eyes, but when I do, they meet Ferren’s.
She steps out of the ring of commanders who work on the door, closing the distance between us.
My mouth goes dry and I am not able to break eye contact, her expression unreadable until she gets close enough for me to see the thin line between her brows is creased.
Before I can say hello, she pulls me into a stiff hug, her palms holding onto my biceps as if we were polite strangers.
I rest my chin on her shoulder and feel her relax slightly. “Hi, Ferren.”
She pulls away and smiles at me flatly. She is angry I left without telling her, that I schemed with 99 behind her back, even if it was to protect her. That sentiment seems so far away now that I have seen First Son’s fleet in all its horror and heard the truth of his desires from Omnesis.
There is sadness behind her eyes as she watches me and keeps the joy of our reunion at bay, even as August, who is less at fault, hugs her.
“You are both safe. That is what matters.” She glances at 99 as if the statement made aloud was for us and also to answer his question through their tether.
It’s cold and awkward between us, but our safety is not all that matters, not when I can feel my heart breaking and know that hers already has because of me.
August takes the data pad and immediately attaches it near the door seam of the ship. The other commanders make themselves scarce as we follow, 99 giving them orders to stay close.
“My light couldn’t find a way in. Even if it did, I don’t know what I could do,” Ferren admits, avoiding my eyeline completely.
“I might.” August taps away on the screen as if searching for something in the mess of shapes and letters. “If I can get into the ship’s system, I can bring up the interior controls.”
I stand closer to the ship as he works. The side is icy even from a distance, and the ringing alarm makes the metal seem to hum in echo.
Somewhat drawn to the strange pitch, I lean in, the sound distorted the closer my ear gets to the surface.
Once the skin on my lobe makes contact with the chilly metal, I can sense more than the alarm.
A continuous whisper sizzles within, more than one sound in more than one direction hissing nonsensically.
“Can it be opened from the inside?” I ask as they watch August with intense, hopeful eyes.
They all turn to glance at me, making an array of expressions and helmet tilts when they see the side of my face pressed against the surface of the ship so I can listen.
“It can,” 99 states firmly.
August sighs as if he knows my next words.
“I could fold to the other side of the door and open it.”
“You would have to take a communicator in, so we can instruct you on the interior control panel, or take August in with you,” 99 muses, and Ferren shoots him a narrow-eyed look.
“Yeah, I don’t love it either,” August mutters to Ferren as he goes back to tapping on his screen. “And there is likely a comm blocker. She wouldn’t be able to talk to us. Data pad wouldn’t work for me either.”
“I will go with her.” Ferren’s voice is tense. “You can fold us inside and 99 can tell us how to open it through our tether.” She looks at each of us, trying to sound convincing.
“Alright.” I nod because it’s not a terrible idea. “Will that work, August?”
He inhales deeply and glances at 99, who nods his approval in return.
“You don’t have to love it.” Ferren smiles at August, and for a minute, I forget how things are between us, falling right back into using our gifts together.
“By the three worlds . . .” August shakes his head, coming to terms. “Yes, yes! It will work, alright?”
I feel a wave of affection mixed with something else, knowing that I can help in this way and find myself smiling.
But then Ferren turns to me and that smile fades, not because I am not willing to do this with her, but because she does not have one herself.
She stands closer to me as if it is her duty, as she is the only one who can communicate with the outside.
I was too quick to assume it meant anything more when she volunteered.
99 hands her a small weapon, which she wordlessly takes, holding it to her side unnaturally.