The hushed voices of the newly awakened Olympians sitting in clusters on the floor under the grand, arched ceiling of the central tower’s lobby echoed as Raiden and I moved from group to group, handing out the meal bars we had pilfered from the Order’s supplies. It boggled my mind that hours ago, these people—or, rather, their bodies—had been my enemies, but now they were my people. They were Olympians, in mind, if not in body.
They knew how they had come to be here and who had brought them back, and now they awaited Hades' return from the Omega site, as did I. Thankfully it was night in Egypt, meaning Hades was able to get the Argo into the Omega site without being noticed. According to his last check-in, he had finished the repairs, and the Omega sites' mainframe was stable for the first time in millennia. His work there was done, and now it was only a matter of waiting for him to return.
I spotted the body that had been Henry Magnusson, the Primicerius of the Custodes Veritatis and all-around douchebag, in a nearby cluster of Olympians as I approached their group to hand out meal bars to them. His body now housed an Olympian geneticist named Niall, but I couldn’t help but wonder if some slivers of Henry’s toxic soul was still embedded deep within him. Niall must have sensed me watching him because he looked up. When his eyes met mine, I forced a closed-mouth smile and handed him a meal bar.
Could they reach any of their host's memories, or were the bodies little more than a shell? Having recently been two people in a single body, it was hard not to project my dual-consciousness experience onto them. I felt torn about what had happened to the humans—to the minds that had been overwritten, all but erased from existence. They had chosen this path, given their lives to the Order, and followed Henry to this point. To this end.
But my mom had been one of them once, as had Emi, and from their experience as Order devotees, I knew it wasn't the kind of organization one had the option to walk away from. To join the Order was to sign one's life over. There was no retiring. No chance for a career change. Belonging to the Order was a life commitment—or a life sentence.
Just because these people had come here under Henry's tyrannical command didn't mean they had chosen this particular battle. They hadn't come here of their own free will, and that bothered me more than I would have liked to admit. I had been just like them, once, a brainwashed pawn blindly following Demeter's commands.
An approaching energy signature tripped my psychic radar, far off in the distance, but closing in fast. I hurriedly handed out the remainder of the meal bars before rushing to the doors at the front of the lobby and pushing out into the filtered sunlight seeping in through the thick layer of ice sheltering the city. I watched the Argo coast through the hole it had bored into the glacier and glide lower, weaving around the towering buildings.
The small ship landed nearby, and I jogged out to meet Hades as the loading ramp lowered to the ground. Hades appeared, descending the ramp, and I slowed to a walk.
“Glad you’re back,” I said, reaching out to grip his arm when I reached him.
He stared down at me, his ice-blue eyes filled with warmth. “Glad to be back.” The corner of his mouth ticked upward, and the silence stretched out between us, turning expectant.
I cleared my throat and released his arm. “They're, um, all waiting for you in the lobby,” I told him, pointing over my shoulder with my thumb.
Hades nodded. “Good. I’m eager to speak with them.”
I turned and started back to the central tower, Hades falling in step beside me. Raiden stood in the doorway ahead, holding the door open as he waited for us. Something had shifted between Raiden and Hades. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was more respect between them now, as though they were both able to fully grasp what the other meant to me. I wasn’t sure what it would mean for us moving forward, but I was hopeful that the big, scary either-or I had been dreading wasn’t quite so hard and fast.
“Raiden and I are packed and ready to go through the gephyra,” I told Hades as we drew near Raiden and the open door. “Do you want us to wait for you, or . . .?”
Hades shook his head. “You should go. Make sure the Elysium is prepped. I'll brief our people on the situation and give them guidance on what to work on while they await our return.”
I glanced at him sidelong. “And you'll make sure they understand why they need to stay down here . . . no matter what?” I said. “I already told them as much, but I’m sure it will mean more coming from you.”
Hades nodded once. “And Tammy should be here,” he said, a soft smile curving his lips and warm fondness in his voice. “She'll keep everyone in line.” He spoke of his long-time Genetec second-in-command, Tammyris, who had been placed into the body of an unassuming middle-aged woman. The body was perfect, emulating everything I remembered about Tammyris. She was easy to overlook, but one glimpse into her eyes, and there was no mistaking her keen intelligence or iron will.
Raiden stepped out of the way as Hades and I passed through the doorway into the lobby. Transplanted Olympians rose to their feet all around us.
I stopped and turned to Hades. “Don't take too long. The sooner we can get the Elysium off the ground, the sooner we'll get back here to load up the rest of our people.” And hopefully, do something to avert the approaching shitstorm that didn’t involve nuking this whole planet, I thought but didn’t voice.
Now that we had “Henry” on our side, there was a chance we could sway the UN Security Council to our way of thinking. The Tsakali were a plague on the universe, and if the world leaders couldn’t see that, there wasn’t anything we could do to save this planet.
Hades nodded, his lips curving into an all-business smile. “As you say.” He looked at Raiden, and the two men exchanged a nod.
Raiden started for the stairs at the back of the lobby that would carry us up to the gephyra chamber.
I turned to follow but hesitated. Keenly aware of the Olympian eyes watching us, I kept my hands to myself and touched the comms patch stuck behind my ear, meeting Hades’ watchful gaze. These people were researchers and scientists, not fighters. I hated leaving them here to fend for themselves. “If you catch even the slightest whiff of trouble . . .” I raised my eyebrows to emphasize my implied directive.
Hades smiled, warmth in his expression this time. “You'll be the first to know.”
I held his stare for a long moment, not liking the idea of splitting up again. But it had to be done. I nodded and turned away, jogging to catch up with Raiden. We hurried up the spiral staircase and into the gephyra chamber, where the quicksilver orb marking the opening of the bridge to the frozen settlement shimmered on the golden platform.
We made a beeline for our packs and weapons propped up against the back of the control panel. Once we were geared up and ready to go, we headed for the gephyra in the center of the room.
“You ready for the next adventure?” Raiden asked as we closed in on the opening to the bridge.
With him by my side, how could I not be? I grinned, shooting him a sideways glance. “Wouldn't miss it for the world.”