Aura Overload

23 – It’s About Timing

Hector’s instinct was to confront Simo immediately. Visions of swift, brutal justice danced through his mind, but he pushed them aside, carefully applying some logic to the situation. If Simo were working for the people who wanted Freddy dead, he was either an actual collection tech who’d been bought or blackmailed into the job, or he was a dangerous operative implanted with the team.

Judging by the look Simo had been giving him, Hector was inclined to believe it was the latter. He wanted to know more before he called him out because if he were dangerous, then cornering him would only amplify the risk. No, it would be better to learn more, to spend some time assessing things, first.

“Freddy,” he subvocalized into their shared comm channel.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t turn your back on those techs, especially Simo.”

“You saw something?”

Hector leaned back onto his foam pad, setting his helmet to the side. “Yeah. Caught him looking at me, and there was something behind his eyes that I didn’t like.”

“Noted,” Freddy replied, and then Hector closed the comm link.

How long until the other boosts process?

//Their propagation is imminent, but you should eat.//

Evie’s words hit home like a punch to the stomach. Hector was feeling lousy, and he realized he was starved for nutrients; the nanites he’d injected twice in the last twenty-four hours combined with the work his aura system was doing had taken a toll on his body’s resources. He climbed to his feet and walked over to the mules.

Despite his efforts to go unnoticed, Paige stood from Mathews’s side and walked over. When he looked up from the ration crate, she said, “The commander won’t wake anytime soon. I gave her a heavy dose of trauma meds.”

Hector pulled out two meal pouches and an electrolyte gel tube. “She gonna recover?”

“Yeah. Unfortunately, her onboard nanites ate the bullet, though. I can’t verify the caliber.” She sighed, reaching up to tug some loose hair back into her hair tie. Her fingers shook. “The burns are bad, but nothing the smart grafts can’t manage. I don’t understand how she followed us.”

Hector nodded, squeezing the sour, sickeningly sweet gel into his mouth. When he’d gulped it down, he grabbed a plastic water bottle and motioned for Paige to follow him as he returned to his bedroll.

He sat, back to the cavern wall, and Paige sat in front of him. “Hungry?”

She shook her head. “I ate one before the commander…arrived.”

Hector ripped the heating tab on the first pouch. It hissed, and a moment later, gravy-scented steam drifted out of the opening. He took a bite of the “beef stew” and smiled. “Not bad.”

“Mathews doesn’t skimp on supplies.” Paige glanced at the unconscious commander, and her eyes grew moist. “You really think—”

“Not worth talking about right now. If she is, then we’ll let the IG sort it out.”

“What if she’s still in there, though?”

Hector shrugged. “Maybe she is—doesn’t mean she’s not going to hurt people if we let her loose.”

“What’s the point? Why do fiends…” She trailed off, looking from the commander and then back to Hector. “Do you even know?”

“Why they want out there among us? It’s a good question. Sure, they gather potentia, but there’s more of that to be had here.” Hector shook his head. “I mean, there are a million theories. You dig deep enough and you’ll find people speculating that the Empire is run by them.”

Paige’s eyes widened and he chuckled. “I only ever saw a couple—back when I was running more rifts, I mean. Like they do with most topics like that, the Empire keeps facts scarce.” Having said everything he felt was worth saying, he dug into his stew, and Paige watched him eat.

When he finished, he set the empty pouch aside and picked up the other one—“chicken and rice” flavor. While it heated, he said, “I’ll head out soon. I’m just waiting for a couple of abilities to propagate.”

“What about…” She leaned close, whispering. “What about Frederick, though? You know, he has that mirror-image ability. What if…”

“What if he used it to shoot the commander?” Hector shook his head. “For one, he’s not good enough. He was too far from the commander and he didn’t have a clear line of sight; that ability requires him to picture what he wants his doppelgänger to do when he summons it. That’s hard to do when you can’t see the target or area. Secondly, I can feel it when he uses it. I’m pretty sure I would have noticed.”

Paige nodded, inhaling shakily. “You’re not going to wait for me to get the drone up before you go out?”

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Hector looked around the cave. He didn’t want to send Paige into a spiral; she seemed like she was barely holding it together. The truth of the matter was that every minute they sat in that cave, unbothered by the denizens of the rift world, was something of a minor miracle. Sure, they’d taken precautions, and the rain was helping to hide them. The turrets were a good deterrent—while they had ammo.

There were things on the rift world that gave full Invicti squads trouble, though—things that his current team would have been hard-pressed to deal with before they lost most of their gear and some key personnel. He glanced toward the techs; Simo was lying back, eyes closed. And we can’t even trust each other.

“Hector?”

He turned back to Paige. “Sooner I figure out where the rift is, the better. I want us to be ready when it shifts.”

“But the drone—”

“You’ll send it out when you can. Just pick a different direction.”

She nodded, licking her lips. “You’re not scared?”

Hector ripped the top off the pressed fiber-and-resin pouch, using its concave shape as a spoon—the intended design, he was sure. He nodded, said, “Sure I am,” then put the too-salty food into his mouth.

He wasn’t, though, not really. Death had lost its menace to him. Been dead before.

//If we die here, we may never be recovered.//

Evie was talking about the neurodeck, of course. Hector hadn’t even thought about it. I know. Don’t worry; I’m not trying to die.

//You have things to live for.//

Hector scowled as he chewed, his mental “words” with Evie more forceful than usual. What? Vengeance?

//Don’t pretend you don’t care what happens to Lemon or Kit—to Sass.//

They’re okay.

//You’d like—//

Enough, Evie.

Regardless of the internal debate, his words had seemed to calm Paige. He’d used the same trick on shell-shocked troops—admitting his own fear while still being full of bluster and fight. It made people want to rise to the occasion when they realized someone could function while being terrified.

“Should you be eating two of those?” Paige asked as he scraped the bottom of the pouch with his “spoon.”

“We’ll either be dead or out of here long before we starve. Promise.”

“I wasn’t trying to pick. I’m just…”

Hector was going to reassure her, but then his vision flickered and faded to black momentarily. When it returned, he was slumped to the side, his mouth agape. “Damn,” he grunted, blinking as he wiped some drool off his chin.

//Your Critical Eye and Shadow Stalk abilities have finished propagating. I’ve compiled a report.//

“Are you okay?” Paige was holding his shoulder, and he realized he would have fallen over if not for the support.

He pushed himself up. “Damn system wasn’t gentle, but it’s done with the update.”

“Need anything?”

Hector shook his head, cracking open the plastic water bottle and gulping the entire half-liter. “Gimme about ten minutes,” he said, wiping his mouth, “Then I’ll head out.”

Paige pressed her lips together, nodding. She was clearly trying to put on a brave face, and she looked so vulnerable that a wave of something heavy passed through Hector’s heart, something very close to despair as he watched her walk back over to Mathews. He couldn’t imagine how she would survive until the rift shifted again.

//I think you’ll see her through.//

Dammit, Evie, you weren’t like this in my last life.

//It’s the same life to me. We just slept for a while.//

Hector didn’t take any further bait, but expanded the window with her report:

//Shadow Stalk has been successfully integrated and is available for use. This ability will allow you to use aura to gather shadows, eschew light, and mask your presence from the watchful eyes of your prey. The air will grow still around you, holding your scent close and muffling the sounds of your passage. Cost: 5 aura per 30 seconds.

Critical Eye has been successfully integrated and is available for use. Activate this boost to enter an aura-induced combat trance that will temporarily enable you to more precisely land devastating strikes. Cost: 2 aura per second.//

Hector mentally marked Critical Eye as an ability he might use someday when he had a lot more aura in his pool. Shadow Stalk, though, looked promising. His passive regeneration on the rift world was high; he’d be able to keep the ability active for a long time.

Evie, aura report.

//Aura Pool: 26/26

Aura Gain: 4.78 units per minute.//

He’d still burn through his pool in a handful of minutes, but he could manage with that. Smiling grimly, Hector pressed his helmet over his head, clicked it into the gasket on his armor, then stood and walked over to Paige. He scanned the room, pleased to see that everyone else seemed to be sleeping. He squatted before her. His visor was still up, so he whispered, “You think you’re going to sleep soon?”

She shook her head. “I can’t.”

“I want you to keep eyes on those techs, and I want you to keep a comm-link open with me. I don’t care if we can hear each other breathing—that’s what I want.”

“Should I wear my helmet?”

“If it’s easier for you. Can’t your AI read your subvocalizations?”

“I hate doing that.”

“Then wear it. You’ll be safer, anyway.” He watched as she reached over to pick up her much lighter helmet and pulled it on over her head. Nodding, he said, “Wake Kristy in a couple of hours to relieve Freddy.”

“And if Mathews wakes?”

Hector glanced at the sleeping, heavily bandaged woman. “You think she will?”

“I doubt it, but…what if?”

“Remember the story. Wake Bobby to help you, if you want. I’m betting she’ll behave normally—might even want to help with watch rotations.”

When she nodded, Hector returned to his bedroll, picked up his rifle, and then ducked through the polymer sheet blocking off the tunnel. On the other side, he tested his comm-link with Paige. “Do you hear me clearly?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not kidding. Keep eyes on those techs.”

“You think—”

“I don’t think anything. We’re just being careful.”

“Right.”

Hector moved to the tunnel opening and found Freddy there, looking his way, the rain beading on his shiny, winged helmet. “What’s the plan?” the kid asked.

“The plan is for you to stay out here until Kristy comes to get you. Be ready for trouble—from either direction.”

“Man, if you think someone in there has been compromised, shouldn’t we just—”

“There’s something off about Simo, but I haven’t got it figured out yet, and I don’t want to jump the gun. It’s all about timing.”

“You’re worried, though.”

“Not about you. Not yet. I’m worried about Paige and Bobby. They aren’t cut out for this.”

Freddy nodded. “I’ll keep alert. Um—” He hesitated, but when Hector just stared, his face masked by the opaque visor, the young Royal said, “I have eyes in there—a spider drone. I’m watching things.”

Hector smirked, though Freddy couldn’t see it. “Of course you do. Well, keep me posted.” He held out an armored fist, and Freddy bumped it. “Be back soon, I hope.”

With that, Hector slipped into the dark, rainy night, crouching low as he hurried along the ridgeline, climbing for a clear vantage and distancing himself from all the aura his team represented. He wanted to get clear and open himself to the strange atmosphere of the alien world. With any luck, he’d feel the rift.