“Wait, hold on a second,” Dax breaks in from behind us.  “Who said anything about Scilla?”

I pivot to find him strolling toward us, wearing his usual lopsided grin.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Astrid shoots back. “If you already have fighters near Scilla, this is the perfect opportunity! We need to strike now, before Gant strengthens his position. He’s still weak. Free my father and all of Neoden will rally to his side!”

“Okay, Sunshine and Rainbows.” Dax gives her a condescending smirk. “Let’s just say, for arguments sake, that we launch a surprise attack on Scilla Rock to bust out your dad. If, by some miracle, we manage to break through their defenses, and if, by an even bigger miracle, we find him alive, what happens next? Wilmington? Vineland?” He waves his hands around to invite a response. “Anyone?”

“We’ll be trapped,” Ferro finally mutters.

“Correct!” Dax turns back to Astrid. “Gant’s got a hundred thousand ‘Forcers fighting the Sinovoss in the Eastern Territory, and you’d better believe none of them are loyal to your father. They’ll block all escape routes out of Scilla and then close in on us like a noose.” He clenches his fists in a throttling gesture to illustrate the point. “You’ll be playing right into his hands.”

“I’m not afraid of Gant,” Astrid snaps.  “He’s a coward, hiding behind his wall of Enforcers.”

Dax whistles loudly. “That’s some wall. More like a fragging mountain.”

Astrid ignores him and turns to Cael. “That’s just an illusion. Gant’s still weak. Why do you think he’s moved my father across the Great Sea?”

The brawny Aletheian smiles, showing off his perfect teeth again. “Because he’s afraid there will be an uprising. Augustin Blake is still very popular.” He pauses before adding, “And so is his daughter.”

“That’s right,” Ferro cuts in, wrapping a protective arm around Astrid’s waist. “Gant’s ruling by fear, not loyalty. Our people will turn on him as soon as they’re given the opportunity.”

Dax chuckles. “You mean like your dad? Yeah, he really seemed to be distancing himself from the Prime Psycho in that broadcast we just watched. Tell us, Peacock. Does Chief Justice Rhone cozy up to all his enemies like that?”

Fahrenheit reacts as expected: by blowing his top. “My father had no choice!” he shouts, stomping his feet. “What was he supposed to do? Denounce Gant and end up branded a traitor?”

Astrid narrows her eyes at him. “That’s what my father would have done, Ferr. He would’ve stood by his friend, whatever the price.”

“Then he would have made a huge tactical error,” Ferro counters, but he’s lost all his bluster now.  He swallows and rubs his eyes, looking like he’s struggling to keep his composure. “Come on, Astrid! Don’t you see what they’re doing? They’re trying to drive a wedge between us. Dad will do whatever he can to help your father, but how is he supposed to accomplish anything if they’re both locked up?”

For once, I see Fahrenheit’s point. “Okay. Let’s assume your father is still loyal. Then what’s his next move?”

Ferro snaps his head around to face me. “I, um…” Suddenly, he’s all tongue-tied. Guess I’m the last person he figured would be defending him. “I don’t know what he has planned, but he’ll keep pretending to be Gant’s ally. And if he’s plotting a counter-coup, he’ll only confide in other Guardians.”

“Makes sense,” Cael muses. “The Loyalists wouldn’t risk having their plot exposed by some random Sifter.”

“Loyalists?” I ask. “You’ve used that term before. What does it mean?”

Cael hesitates, eyes shifting to Thea. “I’m not sure I’m the best person to answer that.”

“Please.” Astrid touches his arm. “I need to know who my father’s allies are.”

Thea must give him some imperceptible cue to go ahead, because he nods and says, “There’s a group of High Founders who still support your father. We think most of these Loyalists are Guardians, and we’ve been in sporadic contact with one of them.” He pauses, gaze returning to Thea.

“Someone in Gant’s inner circle,” she adds.

Astrid shifts to the edge of her seat. “Who?”

“We call him Echo,” Cael replies. “He’s kept his identity a secret, for obvious reasons.”

“So, this Echo person,” Astrid presses. “Does he control any Enforcers?”

 Thea shrugs. “We have no idea. All we know for sure is that he’s a High Founder. He first contacted us last year, on behalf of your father. At the time, he wanted to discuss our terms for a peace treaty.”

A peace treaty? Augustin Blake was holding secret negotiations with the Aletheians! No wonder Gant chose to make his move now. I can tell from Astrid’s expression she’s as shocked by this news as I am.

As if just being told she’s a Gamma wasn’t enough.

“It was Echo who warned us about the Washton bombing,” Thea explains. “We also think he engineered the explosion that brought down your Silver Wing on its approach to York.”

“But why would he do that?” Brenne asks, her shaky voice reminding me that she and Vin are new to all this madness. It must feel like they’ve just been dropped into an alternate universe where nothing makes sense.

“Yeah,” Vin adds. “I thought you said Echo was on our side.”

“No I didn’t,” Thea corrects. “The Loyalists have their own agenda, and they’ll do whatever it takes to restore Augustin Blake to power.” She gives Astrid a knowing look. “They were even prepared to sacrifice his daughter, if that’s what it took.”

“Hold on.” Astrid breathes in deeply. “You mean these Loyalists tried to kill us?”

Thea nods.

“But… why?”

“Because they knew Gant was going to use you to bring down your father,” I say, seeing the puzzle pieces fit together.

“That’s right,” Thea confirms. “But if you died in a tragic accident, that would unravel his plan. Your father would benefit from a wave of public sympathy. He’d be practically untouchable.”

Ferro snorts. “This is bleeding insane! Do you really expect us to believe a secret group of High Founders tried to assassinate the Prime Founder’s daughter?”

“Face it, Fahrenheit,” Vin says. “It makes sense.” Brenne nods in agreement, while Astrid’s wide eyes speak for her.

“They were right to try.” She massages her temples, like she’s trying to scour away reality. “I wish they’d succeeded.”

“You don’t mean that,” Thea says. “Keeping you and Wil safe… there’s nothing more important now. You’ll understand this when you’re ready to embrace the truth.”  

Astrid glares at her. “And what truth is that? That I’m defective? That I’m a Gamma, just like you and Wil?”

Ferro reaches for her hand, but she wriggles away. “Well, guess what? Even if you’re right, I don’t give a rot! The only thing that matters right now is my father. He’s the only hope we have, and we’ve been given one chance to save him.”

She pivots from Cael to Thea. “Talk to your friends. Convince them to join us in a rescue mission. Become my father’s ally and you’ll have a voice in the future.  Or you can stick to spray-painting graffiti on the walls… that is, until Gant hunts down every last bleeding one of you.”

Thea considers her fiery words for a long moment before finally saying, “You’re right, but launching a raid on Scilla Rock… that’s not my decision to make.” She turns abruptly to Kobari. “Can we surface for long enough to contact the Core?”

Kobari frowns. “Risky. If there’s a destroyer within a hundred miles, she’ll fix on our coordinates and transmit them straight to Gant’s low-orbiting satellites. Then they’ll be able to blast us out of the water. It would be much safer to send another Mib.”

“A Mib?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

“Message In a Bottle,” Cael explains. “That’s how we’ve been sending updates to the Core. Thea records her message, then it’s jettisoned to the surface with a time delay of one hour before transmission. That way, even if a destroyer pings the signal, we’ll be long gone. In theory, they could try to guess our trajectory by connecting a chain of Mibs, but the Captain’s way too good for that. He changes course every time a new Mib is released.”

Damn, this Cael guy’s brain must be as big as his muscle mass. I remember something he said about being an engineer. Only Founders would have access to that kind of training, which makes me wonder how he wound up joining the Aletheians.

“A Mib won’t do this time,” Thea tells Kobari. “We need to establish either a vid link or two-way audio contact.”

The Captain massages his stubble, looking far from happy. “It’s a risk,” he finally says. “The Navy’s been hunting for us since we joined the cause, and there’s a good chance they’ve figured out by now that we extracted you from York. You know our mission isn’t sanctioned. If we’re caught –”

“Understood,” Thea cuts in sharply, “but I agree with Astrid. If we have a chance to disrupt Gant’s plans before they take root, we should take it. Freeing her father would send a powerful message.”

“It will prove Gant’s vulnerable,” I point out, thinking of my sister. If by some miracle we can stop Gant’s coup, this may be my only chance to save her. “We have to try.”

“Sounds like group suicide for whoever goes on that mission,” Dax grumbles, but before Astrid can lay into him, he throws his hands up and adds, “But you’ve got my vote, Sunshine. An island fortress in a war zone, guarded by a thousand plus ‘Forcers. Probable torture. Certain death. Where do I sign up?”

That earns an unexpected chuckle from Vin.

“It’s agreed then,” Thea concludes. “We need to discuss Astrid’s proposal with the Core.”

Kobari rises from his seat to give her a crisp salute. “We’ll plot a course for deeper water and let you know when we’re ready to go to periscope depth. If you limit your transmission time to under five minutes, we may even avoid detection.”

“Five minutes?” Astrid asks in dismay once Kobari has marched off.

Thea pats her back. “That’s how much time you’ll have to make your argument. There are four members of the Core – one for each territory of Neoden. You’ve already convinced me, but the other three will be harder to persuade, so…” Her lips curve into that all-knowing smile of hers. “I’d plan my words carefully.”

***

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