He shuddered, still staring at the Deliverance. For him, it had only been a little over two years since he ran counter-terrorism missions as a Marine Raider. The worst problems humanity faced back then were problems humanity had created. Problems they had at least some hope of solving, and he did his part to make it happen.

  This was so far beyond that. Hell, it was so far beyond the trife. There wasn’t just a random asteroid-bound alien organism that coincidentally crashed on Earth. There was a whole damn pantheon of alien races that made humankind look like amoebas in comparison. He could only imagine what kind of technology they possessed. Technology that made the trife seem strangely primitive in comparison. A species that selected planets like he might pick an apple out of a bowl of fruit, and their main weapon was a demonic batman?

  That wasn’t right. Hal said the uluth were designed to match against the species they were sent to destroy. But if the Relyeh were so superior, why didn’t they make a virus that killed one hundred percent instead of eighty? Why even give them a fighting chance? Hal had also said humans were incapable of thinking like the ancient race. Maybe that was true. Maybe he was simply incapable of understanding the logic behind their methods and motivations. It probably all made perfect sense to them.

  Bastards.

  Caleb sighed heavily. He needed to calm down and refocus. They had to keep their attention on the present. They needed to take it one minute at a time. Maybe a thousand years was a blink of an eye to the Relyeh or even the Axon. For humans, a thousand years was a long haul. It was half the age of what they considered modern civilization. Who knew what could happen in a thousand years?

  He wouldn’t be here to see it, but he still had a job to do to make sure someone was.

  “Wash, Flores, let’s get a couple of birds in the air.”

  “Roger that,” Flores said, vanishing back into the ADC. Washington squeezed his shoulder before following after her.

  “Hal, tell me how you can make yourself useful to me.”

  The Axon stared at him. “You are useful to me.”

  “I get that you think you’re superior. But you’re also a machine, which limits you in ways it doesn’t limit us. Not to mention, your creators took us to your corner of the galaxy for a reason.” Caleb stomped his foot on the ADC. “My boat. My team. My orders. Got it?”

  Hal seemed amused. “Yes, Sergeant Caleb Card.”

  “And I want you out of Sho’s body as soon as possible. It makes me sick seeing what you did to her. How can I make that happen?”

  “I require an alternate host.”

  “You managed to survive in the Cerebus armor. What if I give you an SOS?”

  “An SOS?”

  Caleb tapped his chest. “Combat armor.”

  “It will do.”

  Caleb nodded. He wished he had taken an extra SOS so he would have one to give to the AI. Knowing how the Axon had defiled her made looking at it an exercise in will. It both angered and sickened him at the same time, and he was sure Washington and Flores felt the same way.

  “As soon as we have a host, you’re out of there,” he said.

  “Roger, Sarge,” Hal replied, his tone still hinting at amusement.

  “Try not to sound too patronizing,” Caleb said. “We took you out once. We can do it again.”

  “Roger, Sarge,” Hal repeated, its voice more even.

  “Let me ask again. How can you be useful to us?”

  “I will monitor the proximity while you scout the area,” it replied.

  “Do you want a rifle?”

  “I require it not.”

  “Good. I wasn’t going to trust you with one, anyway.”

  “Sergeant, make no mistake. I am tolerating your typically human attitude because it suits my requirements. I need no outwardly visible weapon to force you to comply, or to end your life.”

  Caleb glared at the AI, who returned the stare with blank, silver eyes. Then Caleb lowered his gaze to the open hatch before pivoting and putting his feet in to descend. How were the AI’s creators handling the humans they had taken? Were they considered inferior too?

  They might not be enemies at the moment, but they would definitely never be friends.

  Chapter 25

  Sheriff Lasandra Dante woke up in almost the same place where Doctor Rathbone had put her to sleep. She was familiar enough with the hospital to recognize the room right away. The dull walls of peeling paint, the rusted food cart, the centuries-old entertainment terminal, the faded and threadbare blue and white sheets.

  She swallowed, noticing how dry her throat was, a side-effect of the sedative. A glass of water sat on the cart beside her, and she took it and drank the whole glass.

  She tried to reflect on the events of the last few hours, finding it more difficult than she would have guessed. After so many years of sameness, the flurry of chaos should have been a welcome change of focus, but after so many years of sameness, the chaos was almost too much.

  She glanced to her left, at a clock resting on the simple metal table next to her. Rathbone had told her the sedative would take her down for three hours or so. Two and a half had passed.

  She tried to push herself up to a sitting position on the bed. The movement sent waves of throbbing pain to her temples, and she gritted her teeth, forcing herself to move. She had never been the sort of person who would let pain get in the way of anything, and the city needed her now more than ever. She hated the thought, but she couldn’t escape the feeling she was the only one with any level of authority that hadn’t gone completely insane.

  Of course, she might have already spent that authority helping Sergeant Card recover Private Flores. Caleb. She had been impressed with him the moment she first saw him. It wasn’t because he was especially handsome. It was all in his eyes and his body language. He was strong. Confident. Loyal. He was afraid, but he controlled his fear, not the other way around. He commanded respect. She admired that. Who wouldn’t? She would do her best to help him from here. He had the best interests of the city at heart.

  Why the hell didn’t Governor Stone?

  A short knock at the door was followed by Doctor Rathbone entering the room. The Doctor’s face was red and tired, her eyes heavy with exhaustion.

  “Gina,” Sam said. “What’s going on?”

  “Sheriff,” Rathbone replied. “I’m glad you’re awake. It’s been a hard couple of hours.”

  “Sergeant Card?”

  “Not exactly.” She paused, looking at the ground. “I didn’t know about the hallucinations. I didn’t know about the enemy on the loose in the city. No one told me.”

  Ali’s heart began to pulse. She grabbed her blankets and threw them off her, rotating to stand. “What happened?”

  “It attacked some of our guards. Or I guess it made them attack one another. Sergeant Card and his Guardians left some of the men with broken bones and lacerations, minor cuts and bruises in comparison. I’ve got two men in critical condition with heavy burns, another that needed his legs amputated and will probably have brain damage if he survives at all. And seven others are dead.”

  Tears ran from Doctor Rathbone’s eyes. Injuries like that didn’t happen in the Metro she knew. The one that was cut off from the truth. The one where they were trapped inside like prisoners.

  That wasn’t right. The original colonists like Lily Aveline had boarded the Deliverance with the hope of escaping almost certain death and providing a future for the people who came after them. They didn’t know what the Earth military planned for them. Even Sergeant Card hadn’t known that.

  “It’ll be okay, Gina,” she said, getting to her feet. “I know things are scary right now, but that’s only because they’re new. We’ll figure it out. What happened to the Guardians?”

  She was still a little shaky, and she used the bed for balance as she looked for her clothes. She found them on a small table near the bathroom, and she walked over to it, pulling off her hospital gown and starting to get dressed.

  “You should stay in bed,” Rathbone replied, wiping her eyes and recovering from her brief meltdown. “You need more time to get your strength back.”

  “I’m strong enough,” Sam said. “I can deal with two of you. What happened to the Guardians?”

  “They got out of Metro. Deputy Lane said there was another person with them. A small, bald woman. Nobody who saw her recognized her as one of ours, but Shwarna in nursing said she passed her in the hospital maybe ten minutes before that other soldier… what was her name again? Valentine? Shot herself.”

  Sam turned to face Rathbone. “What?”

  “There’s a connection, that’s for sure,” Rathbone said. “The enemy helped the Guardians escape.”

  “He had a reason,” she said.

  “You don’t know that.”

  “He had a reason.”

  Otherwise, Caleb wouldn’t ally himself and his team with the alien. She knew that as well as she knew her own inclinations. But did it have anything to do with Riley Valentine’s escape? The alien had gone out of its way to kill her or try to kill her. Was the crazy doctor the common enemy that brought them together?

  Sam grabbed the pants that had been left for her, noting they were a simple pair of old blue sweatpants and not the bottom of a sheriff’s uniform. She knew she was going to be in trouble, but she had led Governor Stone to believe she was still on his side. Had the death of the guards moved her actions beyond his ability to forgive them? On one hand, she could understand if they had. On the other, if she had known what the enemy would do, she would have reacted much differently.

  “It won’t bring any of them back,” Rathbone said.”Or take away the pain from the ones who were unfortunate enough to survive.”

  “I know,” Sam replied. “There’s nothing we can do about that now. My job is to defend the colony, and make sure Governor Stone doesn’t screw it up any more than he already has.”

  Rathbone put a finger to her lips. “Shhh. Keep it down. Governor Stone is here.”

  “He’s here?”

  “He came to the hospital to check on the injured. He’s planning to stop by here too, which is why I came to check on you.”

  “I’m up and dressed. That’s a start. As soon as the room stops moving, I’ll be perfect.”

  Rathbone smiled. “I hope so. We need you. We need everyone we can get. If you thought the people were angry at the soldiers before… some of them were demanding to be allowed to go outside the city. They’re ready to charge into an alien world to get their revenge.”

  “Against someone who’s doing his best to help them. Is there anything you can give me for a headache?”

  “Not if you want to stay sober. Where are you going?”

  Sam started for the door. “I’m not going to lie here and wait for Stone to come to me.”

  She slipped past Rathbone, through the door and into the hall, bumping into someone as she exited.

  “Excuse me,” she said, looking up at the bearded, tired face of Governor Stone.

  “Lasandra Dante,” he said. It was impossible for her not to notice he had omitted sheriff. “Just the woman I was coming to see.”

  Chapter 26

  “Governor Stone,” Sam said, stepping away from him. “Sir. I just heard what happened. I just woke up. I’m so sorry for the men who were killed and injured.”

  “I’m sure you are,” Stone replied. “I’m sure we all are. I want to know what happened to you, Sam. I want to know why you were helping Sergeant Card and his Guardians.”

  “Do you want to talk about it here?”

  “No.” He pointed to her room. “Inside.” Sam retreated to her room, with Governor Stone right behind her. “Doctor Rathbone,” Stone said. “Could you excuse us?”

  “Of course, Governor,” Rathbone replied. She glanced at Sam and then hurried out of the room.

  Governor Stone closed the door behind her and then motioned to the bed. “Sit.”

  “Governor, I—“

  “Sit,” he repeated more forcefully. Sam sat at the edge of the bed. Governor Stone stood in front of her. “Do you know how long it’s been since somebody in Metro was killed by violence?”

  “Yes, I—“

  “Almost eighty years,” he continued, cutting her off. “Until today, only hours after Sergeant Card and Doctor Valentine broke through the outer seal and entered my city. Before they ruined my life and the lives of a dozen families.”

  “They needed our help.”

  “Be quiet!” Stone snapped. “I’ll tell you when it’s your turn to talk.” He paused, pacing the length of the room before stopping in front of her again. “The truth is a funny thing. It’s so easy to manipulate. It’s so easy to bend and stretch and mold until it becomes a lie, and the lie that you want to be the truth replaces it. But do you know what happens when you take something and you bend and stretch and mold it?”

  Sam opened her mouth to answer. Stone didn’t give her a chance.

  “It shatters into a thousand damned pieces! Like my Orla. Like Doc Brom. Like my soldiers. Like their families. They lied to us, Sam. They told us we were going to a new world. That we would be safe. That we would be happy. They told us we were free. Everything my grandfather did, everything my father did, everything I did was based on that truth. Except it was a damned lie the entire time. For two hundred years it was a lie, with the truth bent and twisted beneath it. And big surprise, the whole damn thing fell apart.”

  He paused again, pacing the room and returning. Sam knew better than to say anything. She would just be reprimanded for the effort.

  “They deserved it,” he said. “They deserved to have the tables turned. To think they were safe, that we would help them, and then have us treat them like animals, the way they were going to treat us like animals. Worse than animals. They were going to treat us like things. Tools to use. And you were helping them. You defended them. You’re thirty-five years old, Sam. No husband. No children. No men or women in your life that I’ve ever heard about. Did you fall for Sergeant Card? Was that it? Did the so-called Space Marine have something none of the people in Metro do? It wasn’t honesty. It wasn’t integrity.”

  “I’m trying to protect Metro, Governor,” Sam said.

  “Really? Because you did a bang-up job, didn’t you? You protected it so well, seven people are dead, and three are critically injured. You protected it so well, not only did Sergeant Card get away, but so did Doctor Valentine, and by the way, so did the alien. Do you have any idea what that means? They could be going to tell its friends we’re here right now.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. We crashed in a two-plus kilometer long starship. I think they probably noticed.”

  “Don’t take that tone with me, damn it. I could have you put in front of the firing squad in Flores’ place. You betrayed me, and worse you betrayed Metro.”

  “I didn’t. When you asked for my loyalty, I gave it to you. I didn’t know the weapon wouldn’t fire on Caleb.” Sam winced when she said it.

  “So you’re on a first name basis?” Stone said. “But it’s nothing, right?”

  “He cold-cocked me and knocked me on my ass. I’ve got a headache to prove it.”

  “That’s the only reason you’re not about to be executed for treason.”

  “I screwed up, Governor. I know I did. And I’m sorry. I didn’t know Sergeant Card was compromised. How could I?” She grabbed at her head, putting on a show. “I should have guessed that’s why he wanted me to help him find the hidden weapons cache. He said it was so we would be better equipped to defend the city, but now it all makes sense.”

  She looked up at Governor Stone. She almost smiled at the way his whole demeanor changed when she mentioned the hidden armory. He buried the sudden excitement quickly, his face turning sour again.

  “You know me, Sam. You’ve been working for me for a long time, and you know I’m a forgiving man. You’re damn lucky you were wearing that body armor, and that nobody saw your face or knew it was you except for Doctor Rathbone or I’d have no choice but to lock you up at the very least.” He paused, letting out a deep sigh. “I’m not going to do that. You apologized. You know you did wrong. I know you well enough to know it won’t happen again, and to be honest I need you now more than ever. The people are spooked, and they have every right to be. It’s our job to protect them. I need you to swear your loyalty to me, Sheriff.”

  Sam smiled, though the fact that he asked for loyalty to him versus loyalty to the colony wasn’t lost on her. “I am, Governor. I want to prove myself to you and the people of Metro.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. I need you to tell me everything that happened after you headed to Law with Sergeant Card. Sheriff Zane told me what he knew, but it’ll help to get it straight from you.”

  “Of course, Governor. Do you want me to brief you now?”

  “No. Not now. Why don’t you head back to your cube? Clean yourself up. Get a fresh uniform. Meet me back at the Law Office in an hour. I want to see this weapons cache you mentioned myself.”

  “Yes, Governor.” Sam let her smile spread into a large grin. “You’re going to love it, sir.”

  Governor Stone returned the grin. “I know I am.”

  Chapter 27

  “Nothing so far, Sarge,” Flores said. “Just a sea of green as far as our friend’s little eyes can see.”

  Caleb leaned over Flores' shoulder, getting a closer look at the display. The feed from the drone was up on the screen, the visual matching her description. The canopy seemed to stretch on forever in what should have been an unadulterated utopia. The planet had water and plant life, which meant there was a chance it had human-edible food. Even if it didn’t, the colonists had brought along their hydroponics and purification systems. All they needed was the water, in any condition so long as it was wet, and they could grow enough food to support the colony and its eventual growth.