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Exton jolted awake suddenly, as his body jostled around with the turbulence. He reached out in front of him as he blinked open his eyes, surprised to find there was no control console in front of him.
“You okay?” Emery’s voice was stark against the quietness filling the rest of the ship. He glanced over at his sister, watching her for a long moment as she sat calmly in the copilot’s seat.
“Yeah,” he murmured, rubbing his eyes.
“We’re passing through the last little bit of a storm.”
“Where are we?” He glanced outside the window. All he could see from the ship was a grim, gray line of clouds, fighting the sea every inch of the horizon.
“I was just about to wake you up,” Emery told him. “We have about ten minutes until we arrive in New Hope airspace, and twelve from the rendezvous point.”
He nodded, taking in the ship’s readings. He was surprised to see he had slept as long as he had. He was confident that Emery, along with the five other crew members, would cover for him, and he had been exhausted. The weariness of the battle at Chaya and its aftermath had settled into him and finally lulled him into an uneasy sleep.
Despite everything working in his favor, he still had trouble convincing himself to rest. Exton had been waiting for the moment he could act, and he was energized at the thought.
He sat up in his chair. Excitement at seeing Aerie again, even knowing she wouldn’t remember him, gave him the power to fight off his fatigue.
He glanced over at his sister, who was calmly piloting the ship, as they prepared to attack.
“You didn’t have to come, you know.”
Emery flinched; Exton knew his remark caught Emery off guard, but not enough that she’d let it slide. “I didn’t want to stay on the Perdition. You always get to have all the fun,” she replied.
“I know you worry.”
“I also happen to be your best pilot.” Emery’s hands tightened around the controls as she shot him a sneer.
Exton knew she had a point, but he was certain that wasn’t the reason she had shown up aboard his favorite ship, the one in which he met Aerie for the first time.
“Still,” he said, “you have to watch yourself with the baby, don’t you?”
“As I’ve told you before, you can’t use my baby to get rid of me.”
“I’ll have to find some other excuse then.”
She glared at him, briefly, before turning her attention back to the screen in front of her. “I’ll keep finding ways around them, Exton, and you’re lucky I do. I’m the one who managed to get in contact with Aerie through the Ecclesia, didn’t I?”
“You have a point,” Exton said. “By the way, who did you get to go behind my back to do it? Was it Dennis or Don? I know they know pretty much all the remnant leaders.”
“It wasn’t either of them, actually, nor any of the others. Tyler contacted Meredith.”
Recalling the relentless cheerfulness of Tyler’s sister, Exton scowled. “She’s already in enough danger, especially because of what happened when we took back the Perdition. You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have returned Aerie in the first place,” Emery shot back. “You should’ve threatened St. Cloud with a nuke to New Hope or something like that.”
“He knows who we are, Emery. He would still have plenty to hold against us.”
“If you’re worried about the people who trade with us or the people who get stuff from the black markets—”
“That’s only part of it, but what I meant was more along the line of what he knows about our family and the Ecclesia. St. Cloud’s smart, and he’s known our family for a long time.”
“I know that. He’s probably watching for you at this point.”
Exton smiled at her. Despite his teasing, he was glad to have her by his side. “Roger that.”
Exton looked down as they headed in toward the lands of their childhood home. He could see the rolling hills just beyond New Hope, where he and his father started construction of the Perdition together. It was tempting to slide back into the memories of his childhood. But the moment passed, and the horizon shifted. The New Hope Military Academy, the shining bright spot among the ruins of New York from which New Hope was born, came into view.
“I miss our home,” Exton admitted quietly, more to himself than anyone else.
“I know. I do, too.” Emery gave him a sad smile. “You know, I was wondering something.”
Exton sighed. He knew an inquisition in the making when he heard it from his sister.
“I know Merra’s convincing, but you don’t do anything you don’t want to do, unless you feel you have to.” She glanced over at him. “Was there another reason you decided war was the best response to the URS?”
“I started changing my mind once Merra told me that Gerard was the one who was promoted to St. Cloud’s old position as chief military strategist,” he said quietly.
“Gerard?” Emery balked. “He’s been promoted?” she asked, her voice incredulous.
“Yes,” Exton said quietly. “I felt the same way.”
Emery closed her eyes briefly. “Do you think Osgood is intentionally doing this to us?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him, if we were better acquainted. So far, St. Cloud seems to be the one who is calling the shots when it comes to us.” Exton thought of Osgood, the man who had ordered his father’s execution and the man who was behind the URS’s many woes. His fingers dug into his palms as he clenched his fists. “But St. Cloud hated dealing with Gerard when we were in class together, and he made no secret of it.”
“I know Meredith’s been watching him,” Emery said. “It’s been close to seven years since everything happened. Do you think we’ll have to ... ?”
“I don’t know,” Exton replied glumly. He didn’t want to think about it, especially after Meredith’s role in helping Aerie. “I know we promised Meredith we would do everything we could, though. And now that Gerard has been promoted, going on the offensive seemed like a good way to draw him out.”
Before either of them could speculate further, a beeping noise sounded out from the control console. Emery frowned. “Something’s wrong.”
There was something in her tone which made Exton pause. “What is it?”
“The military academy. It seems to be in the middle of a battle already.”
Exton turned to face Thora, who had arrived with Emery as part of a new attack crew. “What does the data show?”
“Two ships are attacking the base,” Thora said as she studied the incoming figures. “Two URS fighter-class. It looks like there’s another one about to launch, but it’s a cargo carrier.”
The feeling that something was off came rushing at him once more. Before, when he attacked the Memory Tree, he felt the force of Osgood’s attack was too strong. This time, it was the timing. The timing was off.
“See if you can link up to the attacking fighters’ comms,” he ordered. “Maybe we can help them.”
“Exton, we need to get Aerie first. If anything, this is the perfect distraction. We can slip in, slip out, and no one will be the wiser.”
“The Ecclesia said they were going to get Aerie to us,” Exton reminded her. “I need to know the specs.”
“I guess it is true they haven’t contacted Tyler,” Emery said. “They were supposed to call him when they had her.”
Exton turned to his other side, where another one of his aids stood at the ready. “Sir. What’s your name?”
The man turned and eyed him. “I know it’s been awhile, Captain, but I’m Phil.”
“Sorry,” Exton muttered. There were over a thousand workers on the Perdition and several more thousand people down at Petra. He couldn’t remember them all, and he had no idea why people expected him to. “Phil, get me the Perdition. See if Jared or Tyler is at the helm. Thora, can you link up the comms to the fighters?”
“Rerouting comm signals,” Thora replied with a press of a button. “We’ll know in a moment.”
“Perdition on the comm, sir,” Phil replied.
“Tyler, can you hear me?” Exton called. “What’s going on at the military academy?”
“The Ecclesia have staged an attack,” Tyler responded. “I was just about to call you.”
“Did you hear anything?”
“Meredith said Aerie’s been picked up, but she wasn’t delivered to the team. Our contacts in New Hope had a way to slip her out to the old building site.”
Exton felt his heart stop. “She didn’t make it?”
“Not to the team. One of them saw her taken into another ship, with two other people.”
“Can you hack the surveillance feed?” Exton asked.
Before Tyler could answer, a new alarm went off.
“Cargo ship approaching, with locked targets,” Emery called. “Buckle up, it’s time for evasive maneuvers.”
Two blazes of fire streamed through the sky toward them. The missiles barely passed them, as Emery rolled the ship to the side. Exton hurried to strap himself in, certain that the missiles had only missed by the slimmest of chances.
Either that, or I’ve just witnessed another miracle.
“Exton, are you there?” Tyler’s voice came in over the comm once more.
“What is it?”
“We have two more fighters launching behind the approaching ship,” Emery said. “Sensors on alert, shields up to maximum power.”
“We have a bit of a problem,” Tyler said.
“What is it?”
“St. Cloud is on the line here. He says he wants to talk to you.”
“St. Cloud?” Exton snarled. “Put him on.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure I’ll regret this, but I want to know how he managed to get through our jamming signals.”
“Can’t argue with you there,” Tyler muttered. “At this rate, I’m going to have to go back to school and learn some more tricks myself.”
“Just put him on.”
“Rerouting now.”
St. Cloud’s voice came over the line a second later. “Exton, I didn’t think I would get the chance to make your acquaintance again so soon.”
“Worried for the bump on my head, were you?” Exton gritted his teeth. “You already knew you would have to hit harder if you wanted to stop me.”
“I happen to know how sturdy your head is,” the general bit back. “You’re lucky I didn’t straight up kill you.”
“You’re lucky Aerie was there to protect you,” Exton said, his voice rising in anger. “I could have just killed you there and taken care of it.”
“This is a very lovely chat,” St. Cloud said, “but I have a more pressing issue I want to discuss. If you think you’re really going to be able to attack the entire New Hope Military Base with just your shuttle, then perhaps you should be more worried about it.”
Exton struggled not to yell any amount of obscenities in response. He wasn’t about to admit that they were there to pick up Aerie.
“If you’re here for Aerie,” St. Cloud said, “you just missed her. She’s on the cargo ship with my other daughter.”
Exton’s rage turned into bewilderment. “Why are you telling me this?” he yelled. “What makes you think I believe you, after everything you’ve done to me and my family? And what makes you think I’m here for Aerie to begin with?”
“You should recall I know you better than even you know yourself. I trained you to be who you are, Exton, as a fighter and as a leader.”
Exton felt a rush of rage that nearly blinded him. “You’re wrong,” he said, thinking of nothing else he could say to derail him.
“We’ll have to revisit the argument later. For now, I’d rather you didn’t blow up the cargo transport ship,” St. Cloud said. “And I thought I’d give you the proper incentive to avoid doing just that.”
“Why should I believe you?” Exton yelled again.
“You can’t,” St. Cloud replied easily enough. “But are you willing to bet your rage on Aerie’s life?” With that, the image of his enemy faded away.
Emery reached over and took his arm, offering her support as she signaled to him to calm down. It was a small comfort, one that didn’t go far as Exton watched the cargo ship cruise by, heading off into the cloudy horizon.
“Follow that ship,” he muttered to Emery. “If Aerie’s on it, we’ll get her.”
“What if St. Cloud is lying?” Emery asked.
“Aerie’s still supposed to be transferred to the old site,” Exton said. “The Ecclesia can keep her there safely until we get back.”
“Captain,” Phil called. “There are two new fighters coming at us.”
“Prepare to engage,” Exton said. “If we’re able to take them out while we’re here, all the better. That’ll save our allies and our people from some attacks, at least.”
“Sir,” Thora said. “The new pair of fighters are fighting with the others. Should we move to assist?”
Exton grimaced as one fighter jet exploded. “Not yet,” he said. “We can’t be sure we won’t hit one of our guys. Thora, were you able to find a way to open the comms?”
“No, Captain,” Thora called. She brushed her long hair out of her face. “Still working on getting an open line. There’s more interference as we move away from the base.”
Static came over the monitor as Thora tried to reach out to the different fighters. Exton looked off into the distance as the cargo ship disappeared into the cloudy horizon.
We have to hurry.
“Emery,” he called, “can you—”
Boom!
Beside them, another fighter burst into a ball of flames, before the burning twisted metal fell out of the sky.
“No survivors from that one,” Phil murmured. “A direct hit.”
Exton watched as the two remaining ships, instead of fighting with each other or heading back to the base, took off in the direction of the cargo ship. He gripped the console controls, wondering if they would attack Aerie’s ship before he could get to them.
But when the fighters flanked the cargo ship, taking on a protective role a moment later, Exton felt a mix of suspicion and relief.
“They must not be from the Ecclesia,” Emery said.
“No, not likely. Our team members were the ones they blew up,” Phil concluded. “Tyler was able to hack the feeds. Those fighters aren’t on our side.”
“What are they doing?” Exton asked. “Why aren’t they attacking the cargo ship? Even if they’re not our allies, why are they protecting Aerie? She’s an enemy of the URS now.”
“It’s entirely possible they are working with the Ecclesia, even if they aren’t members,” Emery said, uncertainty still overshadowing the hope in her voice. “We do harbor our share of dissenters, and they don’t seem to be concerned with us. Should we follow them?”
“Captain,” Thora called. “The cloud cover is getting thicker the further away from New Hope we get. We’re having trouble with our comms. If we do follow them into the thick cloud covering, we might not be able to reach the Perdition.”
Exton grimaced. He hated to shut out Tyler and the rest of his allies, even if he knew it would only take a couple of hours. The cloud cover posed other threats, too; there were traces of toxins and ash, left over from the nuclear radiation, and it was entirely possible that the cargo ship could disappear without a moment’s notice. Especially, he thought, if they are only headed this way with the hope of losing us.
He hesitated for the longest moment he could. Emery looked back at him, and Exton had no answer. But he made his choice, praying that it was the right one.
“See if you can track the cargo ship directly,” Exton ordered. “I know it’ll be hard with all the cloud cover, but it’s more important that we follow that one than the others. We don’t know enough about them. Their orders might be to act as decoys now.”
“Roger,” Emery answered. “Thora, can you help me with the tracker?”
Exton sat back in his chair, trying to calm his nerves and release the tension in his body. He’d been so close to getting Aerie back.
I hope you’re okay, Aerie.
Exton knew he was going to get back to her. He knew it, just as surely as he knew it was only a matter of time now.
Emery had insisted before that God was still a god of miracles, and if there was ever a time for miracles, it was now.