Lapis did not know whether to cry in relief or scream in warning as she raced towards a boxcar set across the tracks just in front of the room where she left Sanna, Linz and Brander. Her group manned it with Chiddle; Patch and Tearlach, weapons out, stood ready with the three terrons. On the other side, Dagby and Brander faced the other direction, intent on the deep shadows, both armed with a small tech weapon that did not belong to them. In between, N035NX knelt, head bowed, a wire dangling from his ear, which attached to a square, plate-sized device Jhor held. The pink khentauree and Linz sat with him, waiting.
Linz had sponoil splattered liberally down their clothes, and it fouled their hands and hair. Remembering the sickening smell of it from other khentauree, Lapis hoped the stuff did not make them ill.
“The enemy’s behind us,” she called. Everyone nodded, as if they already knew. She hurried behind the barrier, her chest aching with the effort.
The modder’s grimness made her queasy.
“I don’t know where they got this code,” he said, as if continuing a conversation. “It isn’t what the researchers were working on—or at least, what they had saved on the servers. I read through all that.”
“They tried different codes on all the khentauree they broke,” the pink khentauree said.
“Yes, but it was based on the original Silverhead military programming you all shipped with. This . . . isn’t.” He bit his lower lip as he typed furiously into the mechanism. “I think that’s why N035NX could resist the commands. The two aren’t playing nice with each other.”
“He thought it was the interference,” Lapis said, huffing, leaning over her thighs. Ghost halted next to her, and she had a brief shing of envy, that he did not gasp for breath, too.
“That’s part of it, too.” Jhor looked up at Ghost, his hesitancy not quite hidden. “He said they implanted sprites like yours.”
“Not like mine. They flew, but they were unwieldy. They did not act together. They broke easily.”
“Did Rin and Tovi and the khentauree make it here?” Lapis asked.
“Yeah, they’re in the room.” Patch said, jerking his thumb to the doorway.
“How’s Sanna?”
“She’ll recover,” the modder said, aggrieved and upset. “Path and Duxe have the equipment to mend her, and they brought the special lubricant I created for them, so she’ll regain functionality, and faster than you think. She told me to help N035NX because others could care for her. That’s true, but . . .” He firmed his lips, shook his head once, and concentrated on the small screen.
“The men in black uniforms broke through the first door,” Ghost said. “You must move N035NX to safety, before they arrive.”
Jhor glanced up and gritted his teeth. “Gredy’s men?”
“No,” Lapis said. “And they weren’t Hoyt’s. And . . . they weren’t like the guards the markweza had with him, either.”
“No,” Ghost agreed. “They wore a patch with a bright red trident. The markweza is as dull as the blue rock he says symbolizes him and his riches.”
The modder grabbed the wire and yanked; a round something popped from the khentauree’s ear. “Did someone come to collect a wayward prince?” he muttered. “N035NX, we need to get you to my lab. I can put you through the same wash I did with Sanna.”
“Are all the khentauree going to be affected by that code?” Tearlach asked, eyes riveted on Ghost.
“No,” Jhor said. “I messed with it enough, I created ways for the ones from the pool to maneuver around the commands. The head researcher isn’t as smart as he thinks he is and doesn’t understand how the code interacts with the unique workings of khentauree insides. Unfortunately, that’s only for the ones from the pool. The khentauree they resurrected, to get them functioning, they had to use a different code, and mine isn’t as effective against it. And what N035NX has . . . how many others did they install this code in?”
The khentauree’s head swiveled to him. “They have four others. The coder said, it was to replicate what Gedaavik did in the beginning.”
“Replicating what Gedaavik did is beyond them,” Jhor stated darkly.
“The other khentauree are ones who went to silence in the flower room. They want to return to silence there. But I do not want to go to silence.”
Jhor patted his arm in comfort. “And you won’t. You won’t be quite the same, though, once you go through the wash.”
“I want to carve wood. Will that go away?”
“No. You’ll still make those wondrous little sculptures. Nothing like that will change.”
Ghost jerked his head up and froze, as if listening. “They come.” His head swiveled to Lapis, then Jhor. “N035NX said the coder commanded him to harm me, take me to them, and they would evacuate with me.”
“Evacuate?” Jhor asked sharply. “Eldekaarsen planned to visit other mines that might still have khentauree. If this new group wants the same thing and uses the new code on those—”
“We will stop them,” Ghost said, in time with the sprites activating. The humans’ eyes bulged, but Vali jumped past the barrier and stood with him as more uniforms shuffled into view, hunched over and alert. She signed a few words, and he stamped a hoof in response. It took a moment for the enemy to realize they had reached the people they followed, but before they recovered their senses, the terron rushed them. Mint and Tia barreled around the boxcar, unconcerned about a tech attack. Cyan beams shot in all directions as the men faced an unexpected foe that did not fall to their weapons.
Patch looked at her, and she produced a watery smile for him, then padded to the room. The terrons would care for the enemy; they hardly needed her help for that. She peered inside.
A khentauree and Cassa tended Rin and Tovi; the scientist’s tear-stained but relieved expression conveyed everything salient concerning the teens. The rat looked at her, and she wondered if she reflected the same.
“I’d ‘spect, you’d be pissy,” Rin said. “But y’ ain’t.”
“Rin, it was brave to go with Tovi when Badger took him.”
“Just followed ‘m. Wouldn’t go ‘way. Gots under thems skin, buts they’s didn’t take me out.”
A glow, out of the corner of her eye. Ghost streaked past.
“Dammit, Ghost!” Jhor called, rising. “Shit!”
Shanks ran up the tracks, panicked. Ghost, a gleam of white, accompanied by heavenly rage, broke the group apart and they shrieked, heading for the protected insides of boxcars. Behind them were more of the uniforms; the sprites plowed through, wreaking havoc among them. A few crisp cyan beams reflected to the ceiling, and debris fell on impact, but none struck the khentauree.
Chiddle sprang after him.
“Fuck,” Jhor said with feeling. “Path, where’s Ghost going?”
“He asked the birds to help. They showed him the evacuation,” the pink khentauree said. Their voice sounded feminine and lighter than Sanna’s. Did that distinguish all khentauree, as it did humans? “The people move things from the labs. He wants to stop those who hurt N035NX. He does not want other khentauree to suffer, as we have.”
“And he won’t be helping much, if he gets blown into bits.”
“I’ll go after him,” Lapis said.
“It’s in our interest to prevent anyone from resurrecting an army of code-screwed khentauree,” Tearlach said. “Patch, Brander, Dagby, go with Lapis.”
He did not have to enumerate what a khentauree army might do to the rebel cause, if Dentheria got their hands on them.
“I will take you there,” Path vowed, rising gracefully to her hooves.
“Are you up to this?” Jhor asked.
“Yes,” she said. “We must protect other khentauree. We must stop this evacuation.” She hummed, a sound filled with laughter. “You are protective, like Ghost. But this is more important.”
Jhor’s pursed-lipped annoyance brought a smile to Lapis’s lips. “Do you have the lock passes?” he asked.
She paused. “Sanna gave them to me. We will find Ghost and Chiddle. And we will very sternly tell them they should not be blown into bits.”
Lapis covered her mouth, hoping to muffle the laughter at Jhor’s dark lack of amusement. Khentauree, just like humans, said strange things.
“Let’s get that tech, before we go,” Patch said, eyeing the lumps of black cloth and crimson stains.
