“That sounds more like Thomas. Still, I’m surprised he even taught a course. He just doesn’t have the temperament for it.”
“I got the impression he wanted to make sure no one else took over his patch.”
“Oh. Well, that sounds like Thomas too.”
We followed the hall as it turned left, which involved a lot of new experiences in ways my body could hurt me. Our conversation lapsed for a few minutes while I worked my way through the process, methodically shifting my weight and turning my body as pain screamed through my limbs.
No one but Raven saw what I was going through. The headquarters building was largely staffed by android proxies, with a few technicians and a rotating staff of visiting instructors. It was a slick facility, nearly every surface coated in black, radiation-absorbent material that gave the place a vaguely nightmarish quality. From above, it was the Hotel du Lac, a world-class choice for dignitaries and VIP travelers passing through Bruges. Deep below, it was the secret warren of Section 9 headquarters.
Most of the hotel staff didn’t know we were there. Using a hotel for cover made it possible for visitors and heavy traffic to enter our Headquarters without drawing suspicion. The same benefit applied to any guests with odd travel patterns, and our deliveries could be easily disguised among the normal activities of an upscale hotel.
The funny thing was, our unit was hardly ever there. We relied on Headquarters daily—most of our support resources operated from somewhere inside the building—but even when operating on Earth, we were usually working from one of our many safehouses. Few of the staff, if any, even knew my face. I found myself somewhat grateful for the anonymity as I stumbled through the halls like a newborn calf.
“I think you’re getting better at this.” Raven’s voice sounded bright and cheerful, although I couldn’t tell if she meant what she was saying.
“You might be right. It doesn’t hurt as much. Keep talking, Raven. It’s helping.”
“What was your favorite course here?”
I thought back to the months I spent training after I first joined. Owing to my experience as an Arbiter, I already had a lot of the skills I needed. Still, Section 9’s training was far superior to anything I’d ever been given before, and the unique requirements of the job meant learning techniques I’d never known.
“Tracking,” I answered. “That’s the one skill I wanted most.”
“So what does that mean,” she teased. “Are you trying to take my job?”
As our expert sniper, Raven was usually responsible for assassinations. There were some jobs that simply had to be done from up close, though. In East Hellas, I had been assigned to assassinate Sasha Ivanovich with poison.
“Your job is safe,” I assured her. “But I do like tracking.”
“I think you’re going to need to get some practice walking before you can get back to shadowing anybody.”
“Maybe not that much. The dizziness is gone.”
“Do you want to try walking on your own?” she asked.
“Yeah. Give me just a second.”
I leaned on her, breathing deeply and gathering the strength I would need for the effort. Then I pulled my arm away and stood on my own for the first time since jumping out of that ship above Europa. I waited for the dizziness to come back and swamp me, but it never did. Everything still hurt, but my head seemed clear.
“Do you need me to get you again?” Raven was hovering, ready to catch me if I tumbled over.
“No, I think I’ve got this.”
I took a step and was both surprised and gratified to find that it was possible. I took another, and moments later I was walking on my own. Slowly and haltingly, but I was walking.
“Dr. Markov’s work is really incredible,” Raven remarked.
“I don’t think I’m doing too bad myself.”
“Don’t take it like that, you’re doing great. It’s just incredible your brain can sync with the augments so quickly. The physical therapy and training needed to get someone just to walk with these things even a few years ago was staggering.”
I hobbled into the lab on my own two feet—prosthetic though they were. When I got through the door, I was surprised to see something huge and round looming over me from the center of the room. It was the device we had found on Llyr Station.
It was exactly how I remembered it. A large metallic ring with a sort of chair suspended in the center. Andrew Jones was standing in front of it, staring into an open panel to one side of the ring. Thomas Young sat at a nearby table, swiping through something on one of his many devices. I couldn’t see it clearly from where I stood, but it looked like a blueprint or a schematic of some kind.
Jones raised a light and peered into the open panel. “Circuit 33-G. Same structure as the last three. Flow is in the same direction.”
Thomas stopped typing and gave him an impatient look.
“How many times must I say it, Andrew? Unless you are specific, there is always the possibility for error. You need to report exactly what you see, every single time.” Thomas sounded testy, and as far as I could tell he had no idea we had just entered the room.
Andrew sighed. “Of course, Thomas, of course. Circuit 33-G has… what was it, structure 15? Flow is to circuit 50.” Andrew turned and noticed us.
“Oh hey, buddy, you’re up. That was really something, Tycho. How the hell did you manage to crash the ship?”
Raven stifled a laugh. “He threw a grenade at Katerina.”
Both of Andrew’s eyebrows went up. “You threw a grenade inside a luxury yacht? You do realize that type of ship isn’t armored, right?” I was obviously never going to hear the end of this from him.
“She was going to get away. There wasn’t any material evidence on—”
“Holy shit, Panic.” He shook his head. “I’ve got to say, your devotion to this job is breathtaking, that’s the word.”
Thomas finally deigned to notice us. “I would characterize it as disturbing. In fact, I’m not quite sure how he survived it.”
For some reason, his comment made me feel like I had to explain. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. “The grenade just exacerbated what was already there. The ship was venting through a hole from an energy weapon.”
Now Thomas’s eyebrows were raised as high as Andrew’s.
I continued. “The grenade made the hole large enough, so I jumped out of it.”
“Wait a second,” said Andrew, now giving me his full attention. “Just so I understand here, you mean like those energy weapons the androids were using?”
“Yes, the exact same.”
“So someone was blasting holes in the bridge with a beam weapon? And they were doing this on the same yacht where you were chucking grenades?”
“Katerina was. She killed Li Fei with it, actually.”
“Shit, Tycho. That’s kind of a nightmare scenario, actually.”
“Once I got out, I set up for a drop on the moon’s surface. The stability thrusters on the suit kicked in when they were meant to, but I guess the insertion on Llyr took most of the fuel. They burned out early and I fell from orbit at speed.”
Andrew whistled and shook his head. “That is one for the books, my friend. Glad to see you up and with the living. You don’t look too banged up, all things considered. So, I take it you’re here for an update on the Warwick node?”