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Exton led Aerie back down the hill toward the settlement. He thought of the photo she’d shown him and grimaced. Exton didn’t want to think about those days—those days when he knew who his family could trust and how to protect the people who meant the most to him.
Maybe that’s all the more reason to tell her.
“I’m really glad you’re here,” Exton began, as he held her hand tightly in his own. “It feels like forever since you were taken away.”
Aerie nodded. “When I think of all the hours I was stuck at work or in the med ward, I’m tempted to ask for some more Memory Serum,” she said. “It almost seems as bad as the Reeducation Center.”
Exton smiled. “I take it you hated your job? Or,” he teased, “did you just hate following orders?”
“Both!” Aerie declared with a small laugh. “Director Anand was a nightmare to deal with. And I didn’t have any friends.”
“Well, you’ll have friends here,” Exton said. “But the nightmares might continue.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re officially at war.” There was just no other way to tell her. “We went on the offensive at Chaya. That was why I was there.”
Aerie’s eyes darkened, making him think of St. Cloud. “You didn’t go to war just to get me back, did you?”
“No. I didn’t want to do that,” he said. He drew her close to him, never taking his eyes off her face. “Believe me, I love you. I would’ve done anything to get you back. When I was saved at Halifax, after losing you—both to your father and likely to the Memory Serum—I was devastated and injured. War did not seem like a wise move.”
“What changed your mind?” Aerie asked. “You didn’t know about me until you saw me.”
He hesitated. “There were ... other complications, mainly that there was nothing stopping St. Cloud from destroying Petra now that he had you, anyway.”
“I doubt he would do it.”
“Maybe,” Exton said. “He has always been a man of his word.” Another reason I did not want to risk Petra when he demanded Aerie back in the first place.
“What there something else?”
“You could say that.”
“What was it?” Aerie asked.
Exton sighed. “I found out who Osgood promoted to your father’s old position.” With his free hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the photo again. “He promoted a man named Gerard Dubois to his third in command.”
“We’ve met,” Aerie muttered dryly.
Exton scowled. “How?”
“He was the one who carried out the arrest,” Aerie told him. “And he was the one who ... who was in charge of my reeducation.”
The chill in the air disappeared as he felt his heart ice over. “He was the one who tortured you?”
“It was his old job, I guess.” Aerie looked away. “Meredith was surprised to see him—”
“I can’t believe it,” Exton muttered. “He’s gone too far, and he’s too far gone. I’ll have to kill him for sure now.”
“What are you talking about?” Aerie asked.
Exton held out the photograph to her. “This man in the picture here is his father,” he said. “Gerard’s dad was a member of the Ecclesia, same as me. He was also in your father’s class, the one he used to teach in New Hope. Gerard was older than me, like most of the students, but we were good friends.”
Aerie gazed at the photo with renewed concern. “I didn’t think about the man,” she said, her fingers gently touching the photograph’s edges.
“Gerard was the one who actually took this photo,” Exton told her. “He was always interested in the arts. To this day, I’m convinced that he was only let into the class because of St. Cloud. Not that Gerard wasn’t smart, but he never managed to keep up. I think he made St. Cloud look bad. I know St. Cloud hated him for that, even though Gerard was always very agreeable.”
“What happened to him?” Aerie’s voice was soft and quiet. “He definitely doesn’t seem to be the same person anymore.”
Exton felt the sting of Gerard’s fate, even as he wanted to hurt him for what he’d done to Aerie.
He stopped walking and strengthened his grip on Aerie’s hand. He didn’t want to tell her the story, but he had to. Especially since it’s clear Gerard is completely gone now.
“When me and the others went in to steal the Perdition from the URS,” he began, “we had to time everything perfectly. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, trying to infiltrate New Hope’s military base. We had plenty of first-hand insider reports, since most of the people who were defecting with me worked there at one point or another.”
He turned and looked over at Petra, his gaze glossing over as he relived it. “I was eighteen years old at the time. Gerard was in his early twenties then. I was in university, and he was one of my main contacts at the base. He worked as a sentry.”
“He helped you steal the Perdition.”
He nodded. “Yes. He provided the codes for us to break in and steal it, and with his help we coordinated a diversion.”
“I’m guessing that he didn’t make it onboard?”
Exton shook his head. “No. There was an issue, and he stayed behind to save me. He was captured and assigned to the Reeducation Center.”
Aerie flinched. “I was only there for a couple days,” she said, “and that was long enough. If it’s been more than six years, then ... ”
Exton nodded glumly. He didn’t have to tell her that the Reeducation Center had dehumanized Gerard before remaking him into the hardened, hollow man he was now.
“He still knows you,” Aerie told him. “He told me that you had run off to join MENACE, even though you were just a kid from his class.”
“I imagine the Reeducation Center did a thorough job of reorienting his memories and his desires,” Exton said. “I couldn’t save him. Once we were up in space, some of the med students tried to find a way to undo the damage done by the Reeducation program. We never had much luck.”
“That’s why you were so certain I was done for.”
He nodded. Exton began walking again, more stiffly this time. “When I heard Gerard had been released, I didn’t think he would ever be anything but a cog in the State’s system. But when he was promoted, to third in command no less, I knew it was much worse than I could have ever imagined.”
“He told me he hasn’t told Osgood about you,” Aerie said.
Exton was surprised. Or maybe I’m not. What better way of proving himself to the URS than by taking me down?
“He was my friend, and I failed him. If he hasn’t said anything to Osgood, it’s more likely because he wants revenge himself rather than any latent feeling of loyalty. When Gerard was captured, Tyler and I promised we would do everything we could to find a way to reverse the reeducation process, but success has been extremely limited. We have only had a few people, yourself included, be able to overcome the effects of the treatments. And most of them, also like you, were not under their influence for very long.”
Aerie said nothing, but Exton had a feeling he’d guessed the truth. She slowed her pace down as they drew closer to the settlement.
“So you heard he’d been promoted and you wanted to go to war for that?” she asked.
“There are other reasons, too,” Exton said. “The URS has been unable to stop the dissenters from leaving—part of the reason their work force is always lacking, even if their military recruits keep increasing—and a number of other things that all suggest they’re ready to go on more of an offensive role.”
“So you’re trying to go on the offensive before they do?”
“If we can stop them, we should.”
“I know you’ve been angry with the URS for some time,” Aerie said. “But this is taking it to a new level.”
“A level where we can win,” Exton said. He was discouraged to see the doubt in her expression. “A level where we can save people, not just separate ourselves from the status quo.”
“Who told you that?”
Exton almost told her the truth about her mother, but he decided to give Merra a chance to do that herself. He made a mental note to mention it to her when he called in for a report on Chaya. “We’re fighting for the things worth fighting for, Aerie.”
“The URS has been fighting, too,” Aerie said. “Don’t you think it’s the same thing?”
“Not at all,” he said. “The Founding Fighters of the last two generations fought for the people to conform to their image of fairness. That’s not how life works—that’s tyranny. People are intrinsically different, and we need a system that rewards that, not punishes it.”
“But you could lose,” Aerie said.
“War is always a gamble.”
“It could be the end of us.”
“It could be the beginning of something greater than just us.” Exton felt a rush of anger as his intentions were questioned, and by Aerie of all people. How can she still defend the URS enough to let it stand as it is?
He softened a moment when she thrust herself back into his arms. “You could get hurt,” she said. “I could lose you.”
“It was not an easy choice,” Exton told her softly, running his hands down her back as he tried to comfort her. “But plenty of good has already come from fighting the URS. And more will follow.”
For a long moment, he just held her. “War was not an easy choice, Aerie. But this—what we have, you and me—it’s the easiest thing in the world.”
He could feel her body mold against his. Finally, he heard her whisper, “I know.”
Before he could move to kiss her again, she stepped back.
“The General will not be happy about this. Promise me you will not underestimate my father.”
“I’m not worried about him,” Exton told her.
“I read his accounts with the real MENACE,” Aerie said. “If anyone can win a war, it’s the General.”
“I know him well, too, Aerie. I studied under him for years. I thought he was my family’s friend. He and Merra both came to my community in friendship and in faith.”
“And he still caught you off guard,” Aerie pointed out apologetically. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt either.” He sighed. “I’m confident it was the right decision after speaking with a variety of people on the matter,” he told her. Remembering Marcus at Chaya, he knew he had made the right choice, even if it hadn’t been easy.
Apprehension came over him swiftly, like a shadow. Aerie might have wanted to join the military before, but Exton knew—as did St. Cloud—that she did not have the temperament for it. Would Aerie still want to stay with him if he was leading the small nation of the Ecclesia remnant and their allies into war?
Glancing over at her now, seeing her worried, doubtful expression, he did not know how she would answer that.
Maybe she will change her mind once she settles in.
“Well,” he said as he pulled her into the entrance of the settlement’s hangar. “We need to get you checked in and registered, but it shouldn’t take—”
Exton faltered as he saw an all-too familiar ship docking in one of the open landing sites.
“What is it?” Aerie asked him.
Before he could reach for his comm, the ship’s entrance opened up and Merra St. Cloud came walking down the gangway.
“Aerie.” Merra’s voice called out as she turned to face them.
Even from where he was standing, Exton could see she was full of the same self-assurance she’d always worn as she strutted around Petra’s settlement.
He felt Aerie’s hand go limp.
“I might as well tell you now,” Exton said. “Your mother’s alive.”