SABIRA AND THE others descended the ramp extending from the shuttle’s rear airlock. Lieutenant Djeli had given her wordless command to collapse their helmets back into their jumpsuit collars. The air was tinged with the scents of oils and electrical discharge. Four similar shuttles were parked in the hangar, each at their own airlock. Maintenance crews of lems and orange-and-yellow uniformed humans hurried out of the operations center and attended to the shuttle and pilots.
Commander Tauro Arkrider and another four marines awaited them in the Safehold’s shuttle hangar. Dark patches drooped beneath his deep-set eyes. Gray stubble bristled along his jawline.
The lieutenant greeted her commander with a sharp salute. “—Our last two primeros, present and accounted for, sir. Straight from medbay.”
Commander Arkrider returned her salute. “—Good work, Lieutenant. Why don’t you and your marines get some rest? I’ve got it from here.” Djeli and the three marines saluted the commander and headed off across the hangar. Arkrider turned his attention to the new arrivals.
“—Welcome aboard the Safehold. Spear, it’s good to see you standing on your own two feet. Rest assured, any further medical attention you need, you’ll get it. I’ll take you to the others, and you two can get settled in.” He eyed Sabira quickly, but intently. “Afterwards, we’ll have plenty of time to resume our conversation.”
Except now he held the threat of a lifetime stuck on a prison moon over the heads of everyone she loved. What would happen if he didn’t like what she had to say about what’s inside Godsfall, no matter how truthful she was?
Arkrider and his marines led them down long, nondescript corridors. Without saying so, he kept the pace slow enough that Spear wouldn’t be embarrassed about not keeping up. In the corridors, Sabira noticed the unique pitch and rhythm of the Safehold’s background noise. So far, her theory held true. Every ship had its own signature ambience of droning, chugging soundscapes.
They stopped at a wide metal door that opened on Arkrider’s approach, revealing a circular lift with transparent walls. Once inside, they ascended slowly, the metal walls of the elevator shaft giving way to a dense layer of pipes and conduits, followed by rich brown dirt, to green grass, to a wide open space.
A green field spread out in every direction. Habitat domes circled the lift in about a twenty-meter radius. Farther out, gentle knolls and brightly colored trees obscured the horizon. Above it all stretched a pale blue sky. The clear lift door slid open, letting in a soft musk of soil and botanicals.
Emissary Gabriel Mbala strode toward them across the grass. Beside him walked a tall, lithe woman in a similar uniform of dark purples and blues. Her coppery features were long and fine, and her straight, sternum-length hair transitioned through a spectrum of colors, depending on how it caught the light.
“Commander Arkrider, thank you for escorting them safely.” Even in this open space, Gabriel’s voice carried a full, booming authority. “Sabira, Spear, welcome. I’d like to introduce you both to Emissary Persia Moradi va Babylonia. Persia was sent to us from the First Embassy. She’s overseeing all aspects of your integration into the Constellation . . . and she’s an old friend. Persia, this is Sabira Stargazer va Nahgohn-Za and her blood-grandfather Spear . . .”
“Spear Stargazer,” her grandfather said.
Sabira raised an eyebrow at that. It was the first time he’d ever used a surname, and he’d taken hers.
“Welcome to your place of sanctuary aboard the Safehold, your new home in the Constellation of Aligned Star Systems.” Emissary Persia spoke Khvaziz with an accent similar to Gabriel and Tavia’s. She placed her hand over her heart and bowed to them both. She wore a band of golden threads that looped and knotted around her brow and hair.
No one wore the form-fitting quarantine bubbles around them any longer. Meeting someone for the first time not encased in a bubble, armor, or both was a welcome change. It wasn’t until then that Sabira realized what a standoffish effect the bubbles had engendered.
“Gabriel has told me so much about you both, and your journey here.” Even as Persia spoke the normal pleasantries, her big brown eyes seemed to draw them both in for closer evaluation.
Godsdamn, do they pass a beauty trial to become an Emissary?
Playa’s fierce exclamation broke Sabira from her thoughts. “I am not living with this MURDERER!”
Playa strode toward them from the ring of domes. Coraz kept pace beside her, saying something Sabira couldn’t hear. Playa tried pushing ahn away, but Coraz stayed close and calm.
“We have enough killers! NO!” Playa shouted.
Back near the domes, Dawn cried into Derev’s thick shoulder. Ed was running toward them, with Aquila and the eeshl hurrying after.
Realizing she could redirect some of that anger toward herself, Sabira tried to come between Playa and Spear. A streak of purple blew past her in a gust of wind. A blink of an eye later, Gabriel stood in front of Playa. She slapped Gabriel’s wide chest, sobbing now instead of screaming.
Sabira could barely see her grandfather between the marines flanking him. But she could see Arkrider, and he saw her. He rested his right hand near, but not on, the stun gun at his hip.
Swift as a breeze, Persia suddenly stood before Arkrider. “I think it best we find other accommodations for our guest, don’t you think, Commander?”
“—My orders are to keep all the asylum seekers together, Emissary.”
“Your orders are to keep them safe and peaceful. And I’m informing you how best to accomplish that objective.”
The muscles of Commander Arkrider’s jaw corded tight, but then he asked the marines to take Spear back to the circular lift. “—We’ll find some temporary arrangements for our guest while you Emissaries sort out the particulars.”
Grandfather Spear caught Sabira’s eye before they led him away. In that glance, Sabira felt as if they had a full conversation. They were soldiers with no army. They were called murderers, killers, and rightfully so.
They shared wounds between them that may never heal, but they shared blood, too. They even shared a name now.
They were family.