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The next day, Inese caught me and Lance in the hall after our daily meeting. “Jenna—before you meet with Gwen, I have a question for you.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I still need one more person to come with us on the OA tour. I don’t want to be the only experienced member in the car with your parents and two mercs. You want to come? You might be able to soften the blow. I don’t think your parents are going to like the reality of the situation.”
I didn’t really want my parents going on the tour, but they’d already made up their mind at today’s meeting. If they were going to stick around on a rebel airship, they wanted to know what they’d gotten themselves into. Couldn’t say I blamed them, since I’d wanted proof, too.
“Maybe Jack or I should go,” Lance interrupted. “You haven’t had much time to work on the memory seeds, and—”
“It’s just a tour, and they’re my parents. Besides, I have gotten better with the memory seeds.” Lance worried his lower lip, but I turned to Inese. “I’ll go.”
“Good. I’ll add you to the list.” She readjusted her sunglasses on top of her head, and then headed on upstairs.
Lance took my hand in his. Skin touching skin... Beasts shapeshifting together, merging into one screaming vessel—
It took all my resolve not to yank my hand away and prove myself wrong about the memory seeds. I gritted my teeth, staring at the stairs’ spiral railing. The merge wasn’t happening. It wasn’t real.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Lance whispered.
I forced a smile. He was trying to be helpful. “I’ll be fine. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to talk to Gwen.” I pulled my hand away and rushed from the room, away from Lance and my memories.
Unfortunately, I had a lot of work to do before those seeds were truly under control.
The next morning, I chased after Jack through the airship corridor, my vines tucked comfortably around my arms. “Are you coming with us?” I hadn’t thought so, but why else would he go to hangar?
“Nah.” Jack shook his head. “You’ve got a full car as it is. But it’ll be fun seeing everybody off.” He grinned, his green eyes glinting mischievously.
What was fun about watching the flying car take off?
“There you are!” Lily rounded the corner, followed by Quin. They both wore lightweight tunics, which I suspected gave them a bit more freedom to move when fighting. I was still stuck in clothes that Gwen picked up from the old Coalition base in South Africa, stuff she’d outgrown years ago. They weren’t as form-fitting as the tops and jeans that Inese liked to wear, so they worked.
“Are you ready?” Lily asked. “Inese is getting impatient.”
Jack snorted.”Inese can hold her horses until we get there. Jen—you still got yer bracelet, right?”
I held up the flimsy trinket on my wrist. The metallic centerpiece glinted in the yellow lights of the hall, and though it looked like little more than a gaudy piece of jewelry some leaders might wear, I wasn’t going anywhere near Japan without the thing.
Jack shoved his hands into his coat pocket and extracted two similar bracelets, one a dark, shiny yellow, the other blue, and then tossed them to each of the mercenaries. “Wear these. Don’t take them off unless you’ve got a death wish.”
Lily eyed hers and frowned. “What’s it for?”
“Mechs.” Quin slipped his on over his wrist. “I’d suggest doing what he says.”
“But what does it do?” Lily protested, following her brother to the hangar bay. “And isn’t it a bit early for a mission?”
At zero six hundred, I was inclined to agree.
“It keeps the OA’s mechs from killing you,” Quin said simply. “And yes, it’s early, but don’t forget who the tour is actually for. We just get to tag along.”
Jack chuckled and elbowed me in the ribs. “That is why I’m here. Mixing mercenaries with Community? Bound to be interesting.” I rubbed my forehead and sighed, annoyed. At least I only had to deal with Jack’s antics until we got in the car.
Inside the hangar, a sleek black sedan with square fenders and an open hood attracted all the attention. Mom stood at the front of the car. “I see how the invisibility generator works, but this whole system is impractical. There are at least five unnecessary electronic gadgets on this thing which are a drain on your power supply, and three hoses which could be rerouted for fuel efficiency. Think of how much fuel you could save.”
Inese braced one hand defensively on the upright hood. “This is the best—the only—prototype we or anyone else has, and its invisibility generator has already been minimized for the car’s capacity. There is no way to reroute any of the systems.”
Mom tapped a metal plate below the battery. “Move the weapon compartment down here, remove this whole underside framework and replace it with a single titanium structure. It’s highly efficient and perfectly safe.”
“Where am I supposed to get titanium? The Oriental Alliance isn’t going to divert resources from their mechs, and your Community hoards it like their mines are running out.”
“We can’t hoard all of it, can we? Besides, there are titanium mines in South Africa, so either they’re selling it behind your back, or they’re the ones hoarding it. Unless they’ve run out and—”
“What they do with their mines is their own business,” Inese snapped. “They’re a free country, entitled to free trade, and they have to ensure they stay independent from both the Camaraderie and the OA.”
Mom twisted her lips in disapproval. “Don’t blame the Community for your own problems. Doesn’t matter anyway. You would need to replace the engine first. Give this thing a couple years and it’ll be eating fuel like a coal plant.”
Inese scrunched her face at the idea.
Lily made her way behind Mom and peeked over her shoulder. “What’s that?” She pointed to another contraption of wires and pipes.
Inese stepped between them and slammed the hood shut. “Not for you look at.”
Lily took a couple steps back, disappointed. “I was just curious.”
“Keep your curiosity to yourself and get in.” She gestured to the door. “Jack, did you give them the bracelets?”
Jack nodded. Dad twisted his own bracelet between his fingers before finally putting it on.
“What exactly is this for?” Mom asked, holding hers to the light.
Jack winked at me. “Want to be stepped on by a couple tons of metal?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?”
“That little thing marks us as allies of the Oriental Alliance. It’s all that stands between you and being electrocuted, stomped on, or various other unpleasantries that can be exacted by a mech.” He grinned. “I suggest you wear it.”
Mom’s face paled. “This is safe?”
Inese shrugged. “Safe as you can get around here.”
Lily punched her brother’s forearm. “You mean it’s a recognition key. Why didn’t you just say so?”
Quin shrugged nonchalantly. “I figured you’d get it eventually.” She stuck her tongue out at him. He grinned, and it was the first time I’d actually heard him chuckle.
“Now get going before you’re late.” Jack lowered his voice and leaned toward me. “Though, with your mother around, you’re probably going to be a couple hours early.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” I muttered. Just because my parents were from the Community didn’t mean he had to make fun of them. But Jack didn’t seem aware of my irritation, and he patted my back hard enough to push me toward the car. My parents took the two empty front seats, and I scooted in beside Quin.
“Don’t worry,” I told them. “You’ll get used to Jack eventually.”
Mom made a disapproving “uh-huh” sound as she settled into the seat between Dad and Inese. The hangar doors opened, the car went invisible, and out we flew.
We reached Japan shy of fifteen hundred hours. The trees and snowy mountaintops disappeared into a vast sea of skyscrapers. Then, when the city gave way to forest, our car descended. Several concrete compounds spread out between large, muddy fields for the mechs to practice drills. Concrete walls covered in moss blocked the outside trees, their walls complete with punctual turrets and rolled barbed wire.
Inese powered down the engine. “Everybody out.” The car became visible. I scooted out and stretched, relieved to be standing. Dad helped Mom from the car. She paused, her mouth agape as she stared at a huge, silvery mech. Crackling, purple electricity rotated around its arm. The other arm was shaped like a giant shovel—maybe for digging trenches? Somehow I suspected trenches would be more of a hindrance to these things than helpful.
“They’re so big,” Mom said as I came up beside her. “Not at all clunky.”
“Yeah. They’ve made some improvements since the pictures we’ve seen in the Community textbooks.”
Mom nodded numbly. “Can you imagine the power needed to sustain these?” She leaned to the side, as if that would let her see some secret power supply behind the mech. “Incredible. I’d love to get my hands on the blueprints.”
I blinked. For all that I knew Mom had worked on designing airships, somehow I couldn’t see her working on a mech. Or maybe that was the problem... I could picture her working on a mech, and the sheer pride she would have if she could get one working—
The image of beasts running at a mech and being batted away like toys nestled its way into the back of my mind, waiting to strike. I clenched and unclenched my fists. I could control the memory attacks. I could—
“What about the Coalition?” Mom brushed a loose strand of hair aside and then twisted her lips and tucked the loose piece into her bun. “How do you maintain security?”
“The car has missiles, but that’s about it,” I admitted. “Otherwise it’s just us, guns, and our powers. Lance uses swords—”
Lance stood in a hallway, leaving me on the opposite side of a force field to face Lady Winters on my own—
I took a deep breath, focusing on the tiny pits in the concrete wall. I would use the flower charm to calm myself if I had to. Gwen went over the basics with me last night and, since I’d been practicing, it was easy to separate emotions from thoughts. Technically, I still wasn’t supposed to use the charm on my own, but if it was focus on someone else’s emotions or suffer a memory attack, I’d use the artifact. I couldn’t risk hurting the team by being distracted.
Mom glanced between me and the giant shovel on the mech’s arm. “What about the airship? I don’t recall any armaments, or even an invisibility generator.”
“Well... we don’t have any.” I wished we’d get off the topic of weapons. We had plenty of ways to destroy each other and not enough ways to fix things. “We mostly try to stay out of range of anyone who would notice us, and we keep the airship moving so we’re harder to track.”
Mom frowned. “That won’t do. You’ve got too many enemies chasing to you to go without either a strong offensive or a strong defensive. I might have a few ideas, based on what the ship was originally designed for...” She quieted as a man in uniform approached us from the path behind the mech.
I narrowed my eyes. I recognized him from his crooked nose and scars. His muscled form filled out a crisp, dusky green uniform, though he wore a formal white dress shirt underneath. Like most the soldiers here, he had short black hair and looked to be of Asian descent.
“Commander Kita,” I murmured. Too bad his android hadn’t come to greet us instead. She actually seemed nice.
“I take it the two of you don’t get along?” Mom asked.
I shook my head. “Difference of opinion regarding beasts.”
He smiled grimly as he approached, and Inese shot me a warning glare.
“Konnichiwa,” he said, his accent heavy. “I am Commander Kita. Welcome.” He eyed everyone cautiously, his nostrils flared. Three people from the Community and two mercs. He was probably thrilled to have us here.
Regardless of his opinion, he led us down an open road. Students in dark green uniforms and camouflage hurried around us with tablets and textbooks. Most of them bowed their heads politely as we passed, their quiet hustle and bustle similar to the Community. Inese trailed behind us, one hand on her pistol holster as she kept her eyes to the sky. The last time we’d been here, Inese had asked Kita questions, helping teach what we didn’t know that we needed to know.
Now she remained silent; Crush’s recent death had her more on edge than usual.
After an explanation of the facility and the process the OA used to recruit their techno sight users, Commander Kita led us into the largest building on the base. Men and women sat in front of tall monitors that lined the walls, and most of them simply stared at the computers or made notations on a tablet while the monitors flashed from screen to screen.
Mom’s eyes widened. “They’re all using techno sight?”
Commander Kita raised his chin and a smirk tugged at his lips. “Indeed. Very efficient, is it not?”
“Very.” Mom smiled, impressed. “I wish we knew about this in the Community.”
Dad shot her a glare, a reminder that Pops had known about this in the Community, but Commander Kita scoffed. “Your Community is far too docile and brainwashed for powers to be of use. Your leaders wouldn’t have the guts to place those with powers where they are needed. They’re too afraid of revolt. They need sheep.”
Mom narrowed her eyes. “If that’s the case, then why is it that most of the Community runs fine? Why is it that we have constant innovations and improvements in our technological fields, and that we have obviously held our own against the likes of invasion” —she looked pointedly at a diagram of a mech on the wall— “even without powers?” She raised her chin defiantly. “Like it or not, powers have been put to use in... inventive... ways. I just think it might be better if we were aware of those powers. Assuming, of course, that they were vetted as safe to the Community and not a security risk.”
I grinned. Finally—someone on my side. I turned toward Inese, to see if she was going to give Mom the same lecture she gave me the last time I spoke to Kita, but Inese was staring at a single, unlit light on the wall.
“Inese? You all right?”
She slowly shook her head. “No. Something’s wrong.”
“I understand you think the Community is safe” —Kita forced a smile as he confronted Mom— “but the Oriental Alliance will defeat the Camaraderie in due time. We are already pushing the Camaraderie back, and their beasts are woefully ineffective against our mechs. One day, the Community will fly a very different flag—”
A siren shrilled, blaringly loud even through the concrete walls. The lights switched from the bright panel lights overhead to deep, flashing red warning lights—the same ones Inese had been staring at.
