I’ve waited three months that felt like a lifetime for him to say my name, but I did not think he would preface it with those words.
“Now,” I insist.
“Amy,” Dad says, turning away from the control panel to face me, “I don’t think you understand. We’re on a mission. This is work. We need to ascertain the situation, confer with the shipborns’ leader, and take control of the outlying area. ”
“But Dad, I—”
“Amy, I would love to stop everything and talk to you. I would love to be your daddy right now. But this is a crucial situation, and what I really need to do is figure out why this code has been changed and talk to the leader of the shipborns. ”
“Well,” Elder says as he pushes open the door of the armory, “then it’s a good thing I’m here. ”
8: ELDER
The first thing I notice is the doubt etched on the man’s face.
“Dad,” Amy tells him, “I want you to meet the leader of Godspeed. Elder. ” She stares at me hard, and it takes me a moment to realize that s
he’s analyzing my wounds. I tug on the clean tunic, careful not to wince when the skin made raw from the beast’s claws rubs against the rough cloth. “Elder,” Amy continues, “this is my father, Colonel Robert Martin. He’s—after the deaths of the other two frozens, he’s in charge of the military from Sol-Earth. ” Her voice catches over her introduction of her father. I can tell that she hadn’t realized he would be next in line to command the frozens.
I step forward, my mind racing, trying to remember the proper way to formally greet someone from Sol-Earth military. I shouldn’t bow, should I? That seems so archaic—but then again, so is he.
Before I can do anything, though, the man turns to Amy. “I don’t have time for your games,” he says. “Where’s the real captain?”
Amy glares at him, her shoulders rolling back and her eyes flashing. “Elder is the leader,” she says again, a steely edge to her voice.
Colonel Robert Martin casts me one disdainful look. “He’s a kid. ”
“Sir,” I say, my voice dripping with derision, “I am the leader of Godspeed, and if you want to get past any of the locked doors on this shuttle, including the one to the armory you’re trying to get into right now, you’re going to have to show me a little more respect. ”
One of the colonel’s eyebrows shoots up, but he doesn’t argue. “I need access to the shuttle computer,” he demands.
Of frexing course he does.
I explain the situation: how the glass windows opened up to create the ramp, how there’s no protection from the massive, reptilian bird that wanted to eat my face off, how the computer is outside on the now-exposed bridge.
“I understand,” Colonel Martin says in a voice that makes it seem as if he’s bored with my assessment of the monsters, “and we will be armed—but it is essential that I have access to the computer. ”
I step out of the way of the armory door, letting Colonel Martin and the woman with him select weapons. Amy shoots me a questioning look. “Let me handle this,” I whisper, hoping my eyes communicate my need for her to let me meet her father on my own terms. If Colonel Martin wants to talk to a leader, I don’t want him reminded that I’m younger than his daughter.
Amy doesn’t look happy about this, but she nods and returns to the cryo room. When Colonel Martin and the woman finish arming themselves, I lead them down the hall to the bridge door.
Amy’s father strides forward onto the bridge, one hand resting almost casually on the gun strapped around his waist. The woman with him, a tall, slender woman with darker skin than I knew was possible, follows him without even glancing at me. I close the door to the bridge, trying to ignore how vulnerable to the dangers that lurk in the skies we now are.
I can tell immediately that Colonel Martin and the woman with him are unimpressed by the world spread out before them. When the honeycombed glass dropped away from the bridge earlier, I was so overwhelmed by the boundless sense of freedom that I longed to rush into it, relishing every single thing I discovered. They are ambivalent at best. A warm breeze floats past us, and I want to close my eyes and savor the scent of plants and earth it carries, but neither of them even notices.
“It’s not that different from Earth, is it?” the woman says in an undertone. Her voice has such a heavy accent that I never would have understood her if I hadn’t already gotten used to Amy’s.
Colonel Martin grunts. “Except for this Lord of the Flies shit going on. ”
The woman mutters something I can’t hear, then moves down to the edge of the bridge. She sets up a rifle with a small tripod and angles it above us, pointed at the skies. There are two more guns and a series of grenades within her reach. At least they listened when I told them the bird-thing was dangerous.
“So you’re the leader of the shipborns,” Colonel Martin says to me.
“So you’re Amy’s father. ”
“I am Colonel Martin, and since General Robertson and Brigadier General Kennedy are out of commission, I’m the highest-ranking officer for this mission. This is Lieutenant Colonel Emma Bledsoe. ”
I take a moment to process this information. This means Orion didn’t just target people in the military—he was going down the line, killing off the most important people first. I should have recognized Lieutenant Colonel Bledsoe from when I saw her under the ice, but I certainly hadn’t expected Colonel Martin to be so unlike his daughter once awake. I do not see anything of Amy in his judging eyes, his stiff posture.