Page 98 of Echoes of the Tide

Tera clacked a few times and then seemed to head toward Byte. The other droid reached out its arm and gently slotted Tera against his side. The glass cleared in front of them, and then words replaced the video she had made as Tera spelled out words.

I love you.

Let me do this for you.

A sob broke free, and Ace slapped her hand over her mouth. She stared at the words, imprinting them on her memory so that she would never forget the bravery of this droid. The one and only thing that would save her people for good.

Mira reached out and took her hand, squeezing it. “Your droid is remarkable.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “They really are.”

The other undines joined them, and she could see the troubled expression on Maketes’s face through the glass. Something had happened. They were rushing toward them too fast, and all of them looked angry in some measure.

“I think we’ve run out of time,” Anya said, placing her hand on the glass for a second before turning. “We have to decide what to do now.”

“We send the message,” Ace said, determination hardening every muscle in her body. “We must have faith that there are still good people out there. That even with all the struggles they’ve been through, there are enough people in the cities who will look at this tragedy and see it for what it really is.”

She made eye contact again with Fortis through the glass. All those swirling colors had stilled, and finally, he nodded. It was all the reassurance she needed.

This was the path forward. She would stride down it with confidence, even if it meant she had to lose something she dearly loved.

Grabbing Tera from Byte, she placed the droid in her pocket. Instantly, the entire room flooded with movement. Bitsy held onto Anya’s head as her owner stripped down and started shoving her limbs into a wetsuit. It was the first time Ace noticed there were three laid out by the moon pool, just waiting for them.

Mira started boxing Byte up, closing all his compartments with rushed movements. “Go ahead of me, Ace. I’ll get this place all set up.”

“Why?”

“I think we’ve been found out.”

She raced for the wetsuit, setting Tera on the ground while she shoved her limbs into the stretchy fabric. Daios was already in the moon pool, reaching for Anya the moment she was ready.

It brought more tears to Ace’s eyes, seeing how gentle the big man was with Anya. Yeah, he was kind of an ass. He’d been gruff and hard to deal with, but he loved Anya. That much was so obvious.

Maketes’s head appeared next to his brother, right before he lunged out of the water. He propped himself up next to her, the sea splashing up and over her knees as he reached for the wetsuit to help.

“Quickly now,” he muttered, forcing one side up and over her shoulder and nearly lifting her off the ground. “They’re coming.”

“Who?”

Mira blasted past her, handing Byte over to Arges, who tucked the droid under his arm. She was faster at putting the wetsuit on, but she’d had a lot more practice than everyone else. “Tau,” Mira grumbled. “I wasn’t as good at hiding us as I thought.”

“How do you know it’s Tau?” Ace asked, but then she turned and saw what was coming for them.

Lights in the distance. So many of them they looked like a giant band of white. So many lights that all she could think was that those were the people who were going to... Fuck.

“Oh, we’re so screwed,” she muttered, yanking the last bit over her shoulder and zipping the suit up to her chin. Tera clacked at her feet, and she gripped the droid in her fist.

“You’re with the fastest male you could find. We’ll be fine.” Maketes’s hands landed on her waist. “The others, though? I pray they learn how to swim.”

Arges gave his brother a dirty look and yanked Mira into the water. It was rather strange to watch someone else put a tube in their throat. Ace watched Mira’s throat bulge with the tentacle in it and wondered if that’s what her own looked like. It was a surreal thought as Byte poked his head out one last time. He threatened ruining his functions with water, all to toss out a few words of wisdom.

“I transferred all information from the keycard to a secret location. Your droid absorbed the tracking of the keycard, but all information is now maintained within Bitsy and myself.”

Those tears burned again. “Thank you, Byte.”

Arges and Mira sank underneath the churning waves and then Maketes dove in with her as well. She could feel the cold sinking over her head, and everything inside of her burned.

He held her close to his hearts, closer than she’d ever thought possible. She curled into him, needing to be held and reassured that they were going to be okay.

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