Page 95 of Echoes of the Tide

He’d been so focused on swimming, and swimming fast, that he hadn’t realized she’d gone so still. So quiet. Or maybe he had realized it, but he was so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn’t... realized.

Mira gave him a curt nod, waving at him with her hand. “It’s too small of a facility. We set up in front of a window so everyone could hear. Your brothers are out there.”

“But she’s?—”

“She’s fine, Maketes. This is what we sign up for when we stay with you.” Mira gave him a small, tight smile and then waved at him again. “We’ll get her warm.”

He hated to leave her, especially when he felt like he’d done something wrong, but he still sank back into the water and headed out to find this window. It didn’t take long. Three large males were clustered around it, each of them jostling to get closer. But he refused to be stuck in the back. Wriggling up between them, he made sure he was the closest to the window.

“It’s about time you got here,” Daios grumbled. “I’m tired of being in these depths. Too close to the sulfur smelling bastards.”

“You like us well enough,” Fortis replied. “We got you where you are today.”

He could feel the tension building in the water. If he wasn’t careful, these two were going to tear each other to pieces. “Stop it. I want to hear what the women are saying.”

It was Arges’s hand on his shoulder that calmed him, though. His brother had always been good at doing that. With just a touch, Arges spread that calm throughout the body of anyone who was near.

“She’s fine, brother,” Arges said, that deep voice sinking through his anxiety. “They are hardier than they look.”

“I remember you told Daios that they are more delicate than we could imagine.”

“Because Daios needed to hear that. They are fragile creatures. Easily broken if one doesn’t watch them carefully. But you watch yours too carefully, little brother. Now I am telling you that they are stronger than we give them credit for.”

He had to take it to heart. He knew how strong Ace was. He’d seen it with his own eyes. Her muscles, her ability to take whatever was thrown at her and continue forward happily. All of it was far beyond what he had thought she could do.

And still. He feared for his mate.

He didn’t settle until Ace wandered into view. She had different clothes on, and a crinkly metallic material covering her shoulders. But her lips were no longer blue, and she clutched a cup in her hand that was steaming.

“What did they give her?” he asked, a low growl rumbling through his chest.

“It’s just hot water. They found it when we got here. Apparently, one of the replicators is still functioning.” Arges squeezed his shoulder. “Calm yourself. No one is hurting her.”

It felt like he was the one hurting her. But then he had to focus, because Mira sat down in front of the window and held the keycard up. “Everyone ready?”

No. He wasn’t. He wouldn’t ever be ready for this.

But he could feel the energy from behind him as all the males gathered themselves, ready for whatever would come from it.

Mira lifted a small device and then picked up Byte. The little droid backed right up to the window and then reached out its metal claw for the keycard. He’d forgotten that Byte was capable of that.

“Wait,” Anya said. She pulled Bitsy off her head. “She said she has a protocol that should keep anyone from knowing where we are. I’m not sure if Tau has better technology than Alpha did, but it’s worth a try.”

Bitsy clambered over to Byte, then wrapped herself around the other droid. Even from here, he could see the little hearts floating on the lens that Bitsy held. She really adored Byte, and he was sure it was no task for her to plug herself into him.

Then Ace stepped forward too, pulling Tera from her pocket where she always kept the little bead droid. “There’s a few protocols on Tera that might be helpful as well. They can’t block anything from coming through, but they can scatter any messages. So... can’t hurt.”

Tera joined the other two droids, and then Mira plugged the keycard into a slot in the front of Byte’s belly.

They all held their breath. Waiting to see what happened.

Nothing.

Nothing happened for long heartbeats and Maketes was sure he’d gathered them all for a stupid reason. This wasn’t useful at all. It was a key to nothing. And then a chirp from Byte. A rumble of noise, and a sudden projection up onto the glass.

Words. So many words. Mira reached up and scrolled through some of them, her fingers touching the glass as though it were a screen.

“Schematics,” she said, her voice filled with awe. “All the cities they... they have deeper portions. They weren’t just built on top of the ground, they have roots that stretch deep into the stones. They blasted into the base of the stone that surrounds each city. There are hidden bases in every city.”

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