Page 55 of Choosing Jenny
Discord nodded her appreciation. “What are we waiting for? Deacon, your ship can fly, right?”
“Yes.” His eyes darted to Rhonda on Longshot’s arm and his jaw tensed. “Longshot, I need to know yourfriendisn’t going to cause a problem.”
“Rhonda only causes solutions. I swear it.”
Deacon hesitated, then gave a short nod. “Then let’s go. Sarah, we’ll be back—”
“You promised!” she said insistently.
He let out a sigh of resignation. “Very well. But when we get to that island, you are staying on the ship and there is no negotiating that order. All aboard.”
She expressed her gratitude by kissing his cheek as she entered the ship.
As I passed Deacon, I said, “I’m not kissing your fucking cheek.”
He laughed, and I was relieved to see it since panic would do none of us any good until we knew what we were up against. Somewhere, buried beneath all that protocol and paranoia, was still a human. Still capable of humor. We were wearing him down, piece by piece. And maybe there was a decent man under that stiff, classed exterior after all.
Abyss stayed back at the manor to run things with the silverguard, and as we pulled away, five other dead conduits came to her side to wave at us as we left. I’d never been anything resembling devout, but spending time with the conduit, seeing their utter devotion to Sarah and witnessing Abyss’ bravery when we were dealing with Credo, I understood why people used to pray to them. They had been the only tether between Orhon and Halla for the devout, a way to speak to their dead. Now that Orhon no longer had the conduits, only those wealthy enough to have their own ships could see or speak to their dead, but they had to travel here to do it.
Which was precisely how Justice wanted things. Cutting people off from their religion and their loved ones meant all they had to depend on washim.
I let my rage settle in my chest like a weight. It was easier than grief, and safer. If I thought about what Jac had said, about Tiger and Surge, I’d unravel. So, I didn’t. I wouldn’t let it be true until I had proof otherwise.
Deacon’s ship,Allegiant, was a high-end cruiser, with most of the same attributes asCheesecake, but without the flashier upgrades. His pilot, Drift Skir, flew the ship while the rest of us were seated in the lounge around a small round table. The lounge featured a large window behind the seating, so our view was the moonslight shining over the treetops as we sped to our destination.
“Does your ship have a printer?” Discord asked Deacon.
“Yes, right there,” Deacon pointed to the wall. “It is food and drink only, unlikeCheesecake’scapabilities.”
“It’s fine. I need coffee.” She went to the printer to fix a cup. Abruptly, the wall near the printer moved, making Discord jump into a fighting stance.
“Apologies,” Deacon blurted out. “That’s my android, Lanai Dea. She is charging. Sometimes, she moves when her proximity sensors are triggered.”
“Fuck, Deacon,” Discord cursed, then went back to her coffee.
Longshot eyed the android. “A Dea model? Can she fight?”
“Quite well,” Deacon said, then listed her other attributes. “She can also mog, speaks multiple languages—”
But Longshot held his hand up. “I was thinking of her within the context of this mission.”
“Ah. Yes, she’s fully equipped for combat.”
“A shame she doesn’t have the personality that Camp Deo has,” Sarah said, joining the conversation, which we all welcomed to keep our mind off of what we were heading into.
They have an obsolete model of android?“You prefer aDeomodel?” I asked incredulously.
“Not exactly,” Sarah said. “Jac’s android, Camp, has a thing about children.Livingchildren, I mean. She has doted on Silence and her babies since she met her. She loves them so much, Jac reassigned her to be their nannybot.”
“I always heard the old Deo models were quirky.”
Sarah smiled, taking no offense. “She is, but she’s such a dear. Plus, she can do that nifty screaming thing to scare away jem’hora.”
“Useful, only ifyouare not around,” Deacon said, his tone laced with affection.
I recalled that Jenny had mentioned her sister’s connection to those fearsome birds, which I found fascinating. “I heard you can speak to them. Control them. Is that true?”
“It seems to be,” she said. “Whenever they’re around, they do what I want them to do. It’s been useful, to say the least.”
