Children of the Void: Book One of the Aionian Saga (26 page)

Alexia moved between the two of them and placed a gentle hand on Gideon’s shoulder. “Sweetie, stop and think for a moment. Who patched all the armor after we found out it was compromised?”

Gideon’s eyes went wide, and his knees became weak. If Devereux was smart, and he was, his patch was just as fake as the drone network controls. With a touch of a button or a simple voice command, he could trap Gideon in his own armor. “Holy crap. How did I forget about that?”

“You let your emotions get the best of you, and didn’t stop to think,” said Vincent. “It happens to everyone at some point, but you’ve got to learn to stay in control, or you’re going to get yourself killed.”

Gideon steadied himself against the bulkhead. “So what do we do?”

“First, we’ve got to get out of these suits.” Vincent put his head in his hand and sighed. “After you left, Devereux insisted all members of the Order wear Sentinel Armor from now on. I hate to admit it, but it’s a brilliant plan. First, he makes us feel safe in our armor, sending us all on a mission to find the admiral. When we’re far enough from camp, he freezes us where we stand, takes us out one by one, and returns to camp with whatever story he wants.” He turned to Alexia. “Is it possible we’re being tracked right now?”

She folded her arms across her chest. “It’s practically guaranteed. He’d be stupid not to keep tabs on us.”

Vincent nodded. “Any possibility someone is listening in on us?”

Alexia furrowed her brow. “Without our helmets, the suits don’t have any microphones.” She pointed back at the cockpit. “It’s possible they could tap into the mic in there. Though if they were listening right now, we’d probably already have company.”

Vincent ducked down to walk back into the cockpit. “Can you block this microphone?”

She shrugged. “I could try, but there’s no way to guarantee...”

Before Gideon could blink, Vincent yanked the microphone right out of the console. With uncanny speed, he had his knife in his hand and sliced through the cord, tossing the useless mic aside.

One eyebrow rose on Alexia’s face. “Not the most elegant solution, Vince.”

“But it’s a solution.” Vincent crouched and walked back out of the cockpit. “Lex, can you rig these suits to look like we’re still wearing them after we take them off?”

“Yeah, I think so. Once you pull it off, you can open up the control panel inside the chest plate and have it play back the vital signs for the past few hours in real time. Anybody watching would think we went back to sleep, and unless they’re abnormally thorough, they won’t realize what’s going on until the cycle stops.”

Vincent nodded pensively. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. Gideon, you take off your suit and set it up on repeat. Once it looks like it’s working, you’ll go back and wake up Takomi. Have her leave her suit where she was sleeping and set it up too, then meet back here. We’ll get the others. If anyone is watching, it’ll look like Alexia and I went back to sleep and Gideon stayed here to watch the shuttle. With any luck, Devereux is asleep. For now, let’s assume he’s not working alone.”

“But Vincent,” said Alexia, “how will we know if we can trust the rest of the Order?”

“There’s no other choice. If we leave someone behind and they aren’t in league with Devereux, he’ll kill them.”

Alexia frowned, but nodded. “So you’re planning on leaving tonight?”

“You’d rather stay and find out what Devereux’s planning?”

She sighed. “Good point. We better get moving.”

“G
IDEON
,
WHAT
DO
you want?” said Takomi, much more loudly than Gideon was comfortable with.
 

He shushed her and leaned in close to her ear. “Quiet,” he whispered. “Don’t say anything, just do exactly what I tell you. I’ll explain in a minute.”

He was absolutely freezing. The clothes he’d worn under his armor were not meant to keep him warm, and he’d walked back from the shuttle without shoes on. Before waking Takomi, he’d pulled shoes and warmer clothes from his gear and put them on, but his body hadn’t warmed up yet.

Takomi glared at him, but followed his instructions in silence, even when he told her to get out of her armor. After setting up the suit the way Alexia had showed him, they gathered their gear and headed back to the shuttle.

“Now will you tell me what’s going on?” said Takomi once they were inside the shuttle. Thankfully, Alexia had had the foresight to turn on the heat inside before they’d left.

Gideon sat in one of the chairs near a heat vent. “Once everybody gets here.”

She sat next to him and held out her hands to the warm air. “Once who gets here?”

Before he could answer, the door swung open and Connor stepped in. Once he realized what they were doing, he moved to join them near the heat. “I don’t suppose you two know what’s going on?”

Takomi jerked a thumb at Gideon. “Supposedly he does, but he’s not saying.”

“Vincent will fill you in when he gets here. The rest of the Order should be here soon.”

They didn’t have to wait long. One by one, the remaining members of the Order of the Luzariai stepped into the shuttle. Each one asked the same question, and each time Gideon told them the same thing. Finally, Alexia opened the door and came in, followed a few seconds later by Padre and Vincent.

However, Vincent was not the last person to come through the door. A sleepy and confused-looking Joseph followed behind him. Once they were inside, Vincent looked around at the others. “Looks like we’re all here.” He turned and sealed the door.

“We’re still missing... one more,” said Sophia, looking warily at Joseph.

Vincent’s eyes turned sad, and he let out a long breath. “That’s what we’re here to talk about. Once you hear what’s happening, you’ll understand why I’ve brought Joseph along. Joe,” he said, turning to his son, “you’re going to be completely lost for a while, so for now just be quiet.”
 

With the help of Alexia and Gideon, Vincent did his best to explain the situation while addressing everyone’s doubts and fears. When he finished, the group sat in stunned silence for several seconds. Joseph blinked and stared ahead with his mouth wide open, but didn’t say anything.

Finally, Padre cleared his throat. “So what’s the plan, Vincent?”

Vincent scanned the group. “Any moment, Devereux may decide to play his hand. If he does, we’re dead. Right now, he has all the cards, so our only option is to run.”

“Run where?” said Tawny.

Vincent smiled. “That’s the good news. A few hours ago, Gideon picked up a signal that is likely coming from Admiral Killdeer’s Sentinel Armor.”

Tawny, Sophia, and Joseph were the only ones who hadn’t heard this already, and the three of them nearly hit the roof as they jumped out of their chairs.

“We’ve lost the signal,” said Vincent, silencing their questions. “And we can’t get the drones back online to find it again, thanks to Devereux. The only way we’re going to beat him is with the help of the entire crew, and the only way we can get them to side with us before Devereux catches on is if the admiral tells them to. So instead of wasting more time, I suggest we take off now and continue this conversation in the air.”

Sophia snorted. “In the air? You honestly think Devereux left the shuttles wide open to anyone?”

For the first time in his life, Gideon saw Vincent thrown off his guard. They all looked around at each other as Alexia moved into the cockpit, manipulating the controls. They waited in silence.

Alexia cursed, turning to face them again. “She’s right, he’s locked us out. There’s no way we’re taking this bird any time soon.” She swore again and pounded a fist on the console.

Tawny turned back to Vincent. “It looks like we’re walking, Vince.”

“Without armor?” said Connor. “That’s suicidal. Devereux will just hop in a shuttle and pick us off at his leisure, unless something eats us first.”

“Maybe not,” said Gideon. “We still have a few hours before anybody knows we’ve gone, and Devereux doesn’t know the coordinates for the beacon. Even with a shuttle, we’d be tough to find in the forest.”

Vincent had regained his normal composed demeanor. “Lex, is there any way Devereux can use the drones to search for us?”

She placed a hand on her chin and looked up at the ceiling. “We won’t have beacons, but with the drones, he could cover a lot more ground. Let me check something.” She spun back around and typed some more; a moment later, she looked over her shoulder at Vincent. “If you want, I can take out the drones completely. It’d be permanent though.”

“Do it,” said Vincent without hesitation. “Devereux hasn’t been using them to find other survivors anyway. Right now they’re a liability.”

She shrugged and turned back around. “It’s done. Drones are offline.”

Tawny let out a long breath. “I hope we don’t regret that later.”

“Better to be alive to regret it,” said Vincent. He bent down and picked up his rifle. “We’ve wasted too much time. Are we ready to go?”

They all looked around at each other. Connor coughed and opened up a storage compartment. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m going to find warmer clothes.”

The rest of them followed his example. While the group loaded up backpacks with supplies and checked their weapons, Vincent made his way over to Gideon. He unfolded a sheet of paper on a bench, revealing a partially completed map.

“Can you pinpoint your father’s beacon on this?” asked Vincent.

Gideon nodded. The memory of seeing his father’s signal lit up on his map inside his visor was burned into Gideon’s memory.
 

“Here,” he said, pointing at the map, “at the base of these mountains.”

Vincent produced a pencil and marked an X where Gideon had pointed. “I could really use a compass.”

Sophia leaned over and put her hand on Vincent’s map. “Gideon and I found a north star the other night. Well,” she said, smiling at Gideon, “he found it and showed it to me. Will that help?”

Vincent grunted. “Better than nothing. We ready to go?”

The remaining members of the Order of the Luzariai, minus Morgan Devereux, but plus Joseph Uritumbo, all nodded to Vincent.

“All right,” said Vincent, standing in front of the door. “Everyone follow me. Don’t speak, but don’t act like you’re sneaking away either. If anyone sees us, we don’t want them to think anything of it. Let’s move.”

If anyone saw them, they didn’t make it known. They moved around to the edge of the camp and headed for the trees to the northwest. Under the canopy of the trees, the ground was completely clear of underbrush. Someone had taken Vincent’s instructions to heart when clearing it away. Just as they were about to enter the untouched part of the forest, a bright light clicked on in their faces, blinding them for a moment.

“Who’s there?” said a male voice from behind the flashlight.

“Get that light out of my face, soldier,” said Vincent.

The light clicked off immediately. “Major Uritumbo. I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t recognize you. I wasn’t expecting a relief watch for several hours.”

“Is that you, Tony?” said Padre, squinting into the trees.
 

Tony Díaz stepped out from behind a tree and approached them. “What in the world are you all doing out here?”

Vincent strode forward and stood right in front of Tony. “Let me see your rifle, soldier.” Tony looked confused, but he did as he was told. “And your sidearm.”

Once Tony handed Vincent his pistol, he looked warily at the well-armed group. “May I ask what’s going on, sir?”

Vincent placed his large hand on Tony’s shoulder and squeezed enough to make Tony flinch slightly. “We’ve discovered that Commander Devereux is a traitor, and all our lives are in danger. We’ve also found out that Admiral Killdeer might still be alive, and we’re going to go find him, bring him back here, and convince the crew to rise up against Devereux. Now that you know all this, we either need to take you with us, or slit your throat and drag your body out into the forest for the animals to dispose of. It’s up to you.”

Tony’s eyes went wide, and his face turned as pale as the moons in the sky. “What do you mean Devereux’s a traitor?”

Vincent smiled, then shoved the rifle and pistol back into Tony’s hands. “That was the perfect response. We’ll tell you on the way. Now let’s go.”

T
RAVELING
ACROSS
V
ALKYRIE
at night was a whole different experience without Sentinel Armor. Gideon had a new perspective on this world, and it wasn’t comforting. With his armor, the sounds of the forest had been unnerving, but fascinating. Now, exposed as he was, every noise was absolutely terrifying.

They moved in single file, weapons at the ready. They didn’t slow down, rest, or even speak for hours. As they got farther from camp, the creatures became more numerous and bolder. Gideon found himself truly praying for the first time in his life.

Vincent led the way, occasionally cutting away vines and thorns with a big knife. So far, the noise seemed to keep the creatures at bay, but Gideon couldn’t help but think of the mangled bodies of Garth and Jared Fitzsimmons. The brothers were strong and clever, but the rasp had torn them to pieces. He tried to think of something else.

They trudged on all through the night, occasionally orienting themselves with the north star that Gideon had found. After hours and hours of marching, light finally peeked over the eastern horizon.

“Well, that’s comforting,” said Connor. “Looks like we have been heading north after all. Good work, Gideon.”

“Thanks,” said Gideon. He was too tired to say anything clever. They continued on a while longer until the sun finally broke over the horizon, flooding the forest with light. Vincent led them to a dry stream bed, and they set down their gear and took their first break.

Gideon and Takomi practically fell to the ground. Gideon’s legs ached from the constant exertion, and his shoulders and hips were tender from the backpack. Gideon lay down on the smooth river rock, oblivious to the bumpy terrain. Takomi leaned up against him, and they both closed their eyes.