Page 104 of Alien Soldier

“We used to do this before dance competitions,” she mumbles into my chest.

“Treat…wounds?” I ask, confused.

“Yeah, that,” she snorts. “Toes usually. But no—we would huddle up and say a little cheer. Hands in, boys.”

I frown as she takes my hand and puts hers over it, then places Malix on top of hers. She looks between us, that single eye so bright and beautiful that I wonder if she even needs two. Finally, she raises her hand, sending ours up into the air.

“Go team,” she says. “Let’s get the bad guys.”

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

??

FRANKIE

All I want to do is take some painkillers and pass the fuck out. My face isn’t bleeding anymore, but it still throbs. My eye is…well, I’m trying not to think about my eye. I’ve lost a considerable amount of blood and I’m not as steady as I should be, feeling weaker by the second.

But the magic sex wall wants us going toward trouble instead of away from it, and I’m not going to leave our people in the lurch.

Even now, I’m not done fighting like hell.

The temple guides us where it wants us, lights flickering along unused passageways off the main corridors. The foliage is thick here, reminding me more and more of azephtan—as if it’s carved out a route for us, wanting us to rescue it from the Second House. Malix takes the lead, Taraven the rear, the two of them insisting on sandwiching me in to “protect” me.

I have to admit I’m glad Taraven’s back there. I want someone there to pick me up off the floor if I pass out.

On the way, we tell Taraven everything we’ve surmised about the device and how it works, along with the weird messages from the sex wall. He nods along, making small noises of understanding every so often, and finally confirms what we’ve suspected.

“You’re right,” he says. “It sounds like azephtan—from the vague signals in the foliage to the way that the general is connected at a central node.”

“But what about thewayhe’s connected?” I ask. “It’s…well, it’s fucking brutal. He looks like the temple is tearing him apart from the inside.”

“It’s something that can happen if a pilot isn’t fully attuned to theirzephtan,” I say. “Without a cultivated connection, one might have to be hardwired into the cortex—and even then, there’s a risk of psychic shock from experiencing something with a mind so vastly different from ours. Remember, Jaya almost killed Bekah when she connected and took us to Skoro.”

“Right,” I say. “So you think the system is rejecting Qiloka?”

“Sounds that way,” Taraven says.

“And maybe it wants us instead?”

He strokes his chin. “Zephtanare capable of choosing their pilots through touch; on Razakii, ranchers form bonds with specificzephtan. There’s a poorly understood psychic link achieved through interfacing that takes place through fibers in their root system.”

I laugh softly. “Is it wrong that it gets me all hot and bothered when you talk science?”

He chuckles. “I would be offended if itdidn’t.”

“My question is what happens if we pull Qiloka out of the system,” Malix says. “We could sever the roots, but he seems woven into it; I don’t know how we’ll get this done.”

“My assumption is that the temple will go inert again,” Taraven says. “It’s clearly been idle for thousands of years; if the pilot is removed, it should become docile.”

“And you’re assuming this why?” I ask.

“Because that’s what azephtanwould do,” Taraven says. “They’re more interested in grazing than anything else; what makes them powerful and useful is attunement to a pilot’s will.”

“So the plan is to get Qiloka out—that’s the natural first step,” I say. “Then what?”

“Then we wait for reinforcements,” Taraven says. “Mai and Reza have to have taken care of the soldiers in the dock by now. Apparently comms don’t work down here so all news has to travel by word of mouth.”

“And we took them by surprise,” I say. “That’s good. Okay…so we go and pull Qiloka out of there, then we hope Mai shows up?”

---