Page 41 of Swamp Kings 2

“I know, brother,” Bishop muttered, hoping he heard the truth in his words as he tried to glimpse what he was about to say.

He pinned him down with his gaze again. “Send me to scout ahead of you. Twenty miles, that’s all I need. I’ll bring my drones, make sure the path is clear, because we both know that no amount of recon can guarantee a fucking thing, you need real eyes on the ground, you need my eyes out there.”

Bishop held his gaze for many seconds, amazed. He grabbed his shoulder, shaking it a little. “That’s fucking genius, brother. Hell yeah you can scout. You got your gear?”

“I fucking do,” he gasped, nodding and bear hugging Bishop again. “Merci beaucoup, mon frere,” he gushed, grabbing Bishop’s head and pressing their foreheads together. “Merci beaucoup.”

He released him and Bishop looked behind Spook. “Where are your things?”

Spook glanced back. “Hiding in the bushes,” he said, making Bishop laugh lowly.

“You knowwhy I agreed to this, oui?” he asked.

Spook nodded, side grinning. “Because you knew I would go either way.”

Bishop wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “And I wouldn’t fucking blame you. Or try to stop you. Not with this, not with her. Look at me, mon frere.” They locked gazes. “When it comes to your wife? You have only one boss,” Bishop said, pointing up. “It ain’t me.”

He gave one of his rare Spook smiles, the one that mirrored his pure spirit. “I wanted your blessing.”

“And you got it. A thousand percent.” He shoved him back a little, then gave his neck a squeeze. “Damn, I’m glad you’re coming. Get your gear and come inside. I’ll let them know.”

Bishop walked in, making his way to the group circling their big round table as 8-Bit pulled a small device from his pack. They all gathered closer as Bishop grabbed Beth’s hand next to Maggie and Seer, glancing at Zodak and the Triplets on his right.

“This is your connection,” 8-Bit said, holding out the silver rectangular device and moving it slowly before them. “It taps into the bio-signature locked into Rukem’s bridge. It will keep us tethered to her—wherever she moves, we’ll have her location in real-time.”

Bishop realized those usual design details and measures didn’t automatically pop up in his head while looking at it. The second he wondered, they appeared. Before he could wonder again, he realized he’d created a toggle switch for it. He didn’t remember doing that. He recalled his adaptive gift. So it worked while he wasn’t even aware or trying. And if it was a problem for him, it adapted to fit his personal preference. How fucking polite and useful. “How strong’s the connection?” Bishop asked.

“Strong enough,” 8-Bit said, not lifting his eyes from the device. “As long as she’s within range and not blocked by anything too dense, we’ll get a clean signal. It won’t pick up much else, just her location.” 8-Bit finally looked up. “If the signal gets weak, this here,” he pointed to the small display, “shifts from green to yellow. If we lose it, it’ll turn red. If that happens, I can manually restart the connection from here, but if something actively blocks it, we’ll get a false feed which means fake data. But I built this system myself, and I’ll know if it’s compromised.”

Bishop took in the information, glad it was 8-Bit on the tech stuff. Not that he didn’t trustthe Creole Kings, he justknewfor a fact 8-Bit’s genius. He needed as many near guarantees as he could get for this little road trip with his pregnant wife and her pregnant sister. Fuck, he was glad Spook was going, even if he would be twenty miles at their twelve.

“What if something happens to her?” Maggie worried, right as Spook came up behind and wrapped his arms around her.

“Well,” he said, his tone lifting along with his gaze. “Though this device is a one-way street, we can send small neural pings—like a tap on the shoulder. Andthen,” he said, looking at them, eyes stopping at the triplets with a nod. “We have a failsafe with our buddies here. If the signal gets cut, it’ll automatically tap into their technology. Fetch has built in AI that cantrackdark energy. If we lose her, he’ll use whatever’s around to keep her on the radar. And if there’s any kind of electrical disruption, Fathom’s ability to resonate with electromagnetic fields will kick in. His power lets him detect and manipulate electrical currents, so if interference scrambles the signal, he’ll isolate and neutralize it, letting the device recalibrate.” His gaze landed on Fin next. “And if that fails, Fin’s ability to trace vital energies would kick in. He can use the final read outto obtain a residual reading of her bio measures and follow them.”

Bishop felt a huge drop in tension, feeling like it was collectively tied to every muscle in the room. “And then we have the ultimate failsafe,” Bishop said, glancing at Seer who peered into things that sat right behind the air. “Let us know if you see anything we need to know, mon frère.”

He gave a solemn nod and quiet, “Oui.”

8-Bit handed the device across the table, and Bishop reached for it. The second his fingers closed around it, his mind shifted and opened to the circuits, energy flows, and how it was put together. Almost like he was connected to it. He instinctively knew that if he wanted, he could open the cover and understand everything. How to fix it, change it, or even make it better if he wanted to.

“You okay?” 8-Bit wondered, snapping Bishop from the trance.

The power hummed under his fingers as he slid them over the metal casing. “I’m good,” he said, slipping it into his back pocket rather than handing it to Fetch like he’d intended. Not when he was the most qualified in the room to carry it. “Let’s talk other strategy,” Bishop said. “I’m sending Spook out to scout ahead. He’ll use thecloaked drones to keep us updated. I want real eyes on the actual ground out there. Anything goes wrong that our machines can’t pick up for whatever reason, we’ll know early.” He glanced at Seer. “Any reason you canseewe shouldn’t send him?”

Seer took a contemplative moment then shook his head. “Nothing I can see.”

Bishop nodded in quiet relief. “So, we’ve got about 600 hundred miles to cover before reaching western Kentucky. We’re going as rural as we can to avoid trouble. We drive straight through, no stops. We’re stocked with everything we need—fuel, food, gear, and we’ve got enough people to rotate drivers. We’re looking at a fifteen-hour drive if we hit no snags. The known snags we’lllikelyhit are rogue groups, criminal factions, stranded and desperate families.”

“And now Chaos Points everybody will be scrambling for,” Spook muttered.

“Right,” Bishop said, pissed. “It’s getting colder, so weather’s another factor.”

“Uh yeah,” Beth said quietly, getting his attention. “I’ve been keeping an eye on weather. We’re scheduled for a major storm.”

“When?” Bishop wondered on a breath.

“It’s supposed to reach all the way here in two days. Maybe we’ll be back before it hits there.”

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