“You’re quiet over there, T. Look, if I offended you again, I’m sorry. Truth is, I like what you’re doing with this Shadow Gambit. There’s rot everywhere. It has to be cleaned out. We have to take a stand.”
“Even if the enemy believes they’re in the right?”
Connor blew at the lit end of his cigar. The ash flickered.
“Our enemy is a disease. We have to annihilate it, right down to the last cell. Leave a few behind? It grows again.”
“I don’t disagree. I’ve just never heard you talk like that. You said you were a new man. I can see it.”
“What do you think?”
“It’ll take some getting used to.”
“Sort of like seeing you in that ridiculous fluffed collar.”
Trevor took heart at the light jab: A little sense of humor where there used to be an endless supply.
“Seeing life outside the station must have been eye-opening.”
Connor shook his head.
“You have no idea how bad it is, bruv. The filth is everywhere. Worse than you see on the streams. But all that shit is gonna change. We’re gearing up and counting down the days.”
Nothing about that sounded good.
“Days toward what?”
Connor didn’t answer right away. He puffed and blew rings again.
“I count my blessings, T. I was lucky after I joined up. I met a recruiter looking for volunteers. Special training, he called it. Fast track to advancement. I fell in with the best crew in the UNF.
“We’re leading the way and shaping the future.” Connor tapped his bars. “You asked how I reached Lieutenant so fast. I proved myself. I put my life on the line for my brothers and sisters.”
“Your life? How?”
“In war.”
Trevor winced. “What war?”
“It’s too soon to share the details, but not much longer. You’ll be amazed what your little brother’s been up to.”
Trevor wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He glanced to his left, where Mau sat with a stoic disposition.
Is he deceiving me now?
“No. The bag is sincere. He has killed many other bags.”
Trevor shouldn’t have been shocked. Connor went off to fight at a time of inevitable war. Sooner or later ...
“You’ve seen combat, Connor?”
“And a shit-ton of death.”
“You’re assigned to the Interdiction Fleet. Yes?”
Connor waved a disapproving finger.
“Details are classified, bruv.”
“Understood.” Trevor turned to a different tack. “How did you fly to Amity?”
“Hitched a ride.”
“Meaning what?”
“The ship where I’m deployed rendezvoused with a couple of transports bound for Amity. My Captain’s a good guy.”
Trevor sat up. A few pieces slipped into place. He remembered Adm. Nagano’s timetable.
“Transports? Are they outside Amity now?”
“Yep. Deploying drones with singularity bombs. From what I heard, they’re building a defense web.”
Mau replied:
“The bag knows more details than he implies.”
Trevor ran with the Enzathi’s observation.
