“So am I,” Juno said. “But my people leave today richer, despite the setbacks.”
“You have your cytonics back,” I said.
“It is more than that,” Juno said. “We are no longer isolated.”
There was still so much to figure out, so much work to do. The ever-present political squabbling would continue on.
But Juno was right. We weren’t alone anymore. We were still fighting for our lives, but at least now we could fight side by side.
I squinted up at Detritus, which hung in the sky like a second moon, a bright sphere of metal and glinting shield. Stars, I didn’t know how long we should leave it here, but I was going to let Cobb make that call. And all the calls from here on out, just as soon as I explained everything to him.
A transport ship hyperjumped into the middle of the road below the cliff face, probably carried by one of the taynix from Platform Prime. I squinted, watching as the ship’s cabin lights illuminated a man in a vice admiral’s uniform.
Stoff climbed out of the ship and moved toward the library. The medtechs were just pulling Cobb and Gran-Gran down the stairs, still on their stretchers. They left Cobb at the top and carried Gran-Gran, who protested loudly all the way down to the transport ship.
“I have to go talk to my superiors,” I said to Juno. “It’s better if you don’t come with me this time.”
“That’s all right, shadow-walker,” Juno said, lifting his book. “I have a great many things to record.”
“Snuggles,” I said, and I urged her to hyperjump us to the roadway beside the ship. When we arrived, I could hear Gran-Gran yelling at the medtechs.
“I can walk!” she said. “I may be old and blind, but I’m not infirm!”
I stepped aside as the medtechs persisted in carrying her to the transport ship. “It’s okay, Gran-Gran,” I said. “No one thinks you’re incapable.”
“They’d better not,” Gran-Gran said. “Or I’ll show them.”
I was sure she would.
Stoff had already made it to Cobb’s side. FM came up next to me—I saw her ship parked up the road now, by Sadie’s.
“Sir,” Stoff said. “We are so thrilled you’re back. We’ve made some great strides in securing alliances with the UrDail and the kitsen.”
“That’s good,” Cobb said. He looked over to me, like he was waiting for me to say something. His face was still bruised, his left eye partially swollen shut.
“It’s true, sir,” I said. “We have made progress.” I knew Stoff was going to take credit for everything now that it had panned out, and I didn’t want to start a war with him. I was too tired from the one we’d just fought. We’d saved lives and made alliances. That was what mattered, not the petty politics of who ordered what.
I glanced at FM, thinking she’d be glad I wasn’t picking this battle.
“Stoff had nothing to do with it,” she said.
“Excuse me?” Stoff said.
Cobb looked over at her.
“Permission to speak freely, sir?” she asked.
“I think you’ve already started doing that,” Cobb said, his voice hoarse. “So go on.”
“Stoff had nothing to do with the alliance with the kitsen,” FM said. “He refused to make the call to send the flights to help them. He dumped all the responsibility onto Jorgen so that if it was the wrong choice, Jorgen would take the fall for it.”
Stoff’s mouth fell open.
“Is that true, son?” Cobb asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Though in Stoff’s defense, I did come in swinging.”
FM gave me a sharp look, like she didn’t understand why I was speaking in Stoff’s defense, but it was the truth.
“I told him we were already authorized by you to make alliances,” I continued, “and we weren’t going to hear anything more from the assembly about talking to the Superiority.” I was pretty sure I’d implied we weren’t going to hear anything more from the assembly ever, but that was obviously not a long-term solution.
“Before we knew of your whereabouts,” Stoff said, “we felt it was best to follow your last orders.”
“Who is we?” Cobb asked. “Last I checked, in the absence of the admiral the vice admiral’s job isn’t done by committee.”
Stoff stammered.
“If he hadn’t listened to me,” I said, “we might never have found you and Mrs. Nightshade. I don’t know how long your bodies would have lasted with your spirits in the portal, but I can’t imagine it would have been long.”
Cobb gave me a look that said I wasn’t helping myself, but it was true. Stoff was a coward, but he’d stayed out of my way when it mattered.
“The point is,” FM said, “Jorgen is the one who found Kauri’s transmission, which led us to you on Evershore. He made the call to travel here to find you, and to try to follow your last orders to us and make alliances for Detritus. And when everything went wrong, Jorgen is the one who made the call to pull in more flights, to put Rig and his team on moving the platforms, and to ultimately make the discovery together with them that we could move the planet.”
Cobb looked at me. I couldn’t deny anything she’d said. Those were the facts. “That’s true, sir. Though she did leave out the part where I manifested mindblades in a meeting full of alien politicians. So it wasn’t all good.”
“Yes, well,” Cobb said, “you seem to have overcome that misstep all right.”
“Sir,” Stoff said. “I’m sure you understand that I was only trying to do what was best for the people of Detritus. Clearly you had put your trust in Flightleader Weight, and so I—”
“That’s enough,” Cobb said. “Stoff, take a walk.”
Stoff’s jaw dropped again. “Sir?” he said.
“Take a walk,” Cobb repeated.
Stoff blinked at him, and then he turned around and left.
“It really was a good thing he listened to me,” I said. “If he hadn’t let me make the decisions, we could have lost the whole kitsen planet.”
“That may be,” Cobb said. “But a commander who shuffles off the hard choices is no commander at all.” He looked at me like he was considering something. He bent over for a moment, coughing, and FM and I looked at each other in alarm.
I had no idea what being half-stuck behind that portal had done to Cobb’s body, but he seemed to be weathering it poorly.