Defy the Worlds (Defy the Stars #2)(99)

Akide nods absently. “The Council has had a preliminary talk. Some form of citizenship for the Vagabonds fighting for us… that may be appropriate. Of course they would have to follow our core philosophies, and we’ll come up with forms for citizenship, but I imagine most of them will consider that a fair trade for a true home.”

Harriet and Zayan might be able to have a place to call their own. Ephraim might choose to open a clinic here. Virginia—no, Virginia is happy on Cray and will certainly return. But even Abel’s selflessness functions can’t outweigh one core thought: He can stay with Noemi. “I would wish to apply.”

“You?” Akide sits upright, startled back into the present. The surprise on his face slowly shifts into disdain. “You are… a piece of machinery. One built to serve humans, and a kind of machine we have no use for here on Genesis. Mechs are forbidden here, for good reason. Vidal may be caught up in her fanciful notions about your ‘soul,’ but no one else is likely to make the same mistake. I’m sure when you process this through your programming, it will make sense to you.”

Abel is still not accepted. He is still less than. Genesis cannot be his home.



Later that night, when Noemi joins him aboard the Persephone, her outrage eclipses his hurt. “Akide said that to you? After what you’ve done for this entire planet? It’s so—ungrateful, so mean—”

“It is a logical extension of his worldview,” Abel says. “It’s not a tragedy, Noemi. I will resume the existence I had before, as a Vagabond. It’s a way of life I enjoy. Granted, if Harriet and Zayan stay here, I’ll have to hire a new crew, but I’m confident other good people can be found.” So many Vagabonds need homes, and as his friends have told him many times, he pays well.

Noemi stands on the other side of the bridge, suddenly awkward. She shifts her weight from foot to foot, then says, “So—you’re hiring?”

Fresh hope floods Abel’s mental processes as powerfully as excess voltage. It’s a state of mind he’s rarely experienced to such a degree. Not since the first time he saw Noemi in her starfighter, flying closer to his ship, about to set him free from three decades’ confinement—

Maybe they’re about to set each other free. “You would leave Genesis?”

She hugs herself; obviously she’s thinking this through at the same moment she says it. “I can’t protect my world in the military anymore. I’ve brought them medicines and allies—I don’t know that there’s anything more I could ever do. And nobody here’s going to miss me that much.” Her smile is crooked. “Maybe we both need a new Directive One, huh?”

Abel nods as he takes a step closer to her. “We can explore the galaxy together.”

“Figure out what we want. Where we want to go. What to fight for.”

She takes one more step—then bounds into Abel’s arms, which are already open and waiting. He swings her around, a human gesture he wouldn’t have thought he was programmed with, and hugs her tightly. Noemi laughs out loud with joy, and everything seems possible—

And that’s when the ship’s communications begin to shriek, an automated siren he’s never heard before.

Noemi’s face goes white as she slides from Abel’s embrace. “That’s the call to arms.”

Earth’s attack has finally come.





33



NOEMI RUNS TO THE NEAREST COMM PANEL AND SWITCHES to full audio reception in time to hear: “—near the Gate suggests imminent intrusion. All military personnel are ordered to combat positions.” But the true horror comes with the next words: “All civilians should proceed immediately to designated shelters.”

Stricken, she turns to Abel. “They don’t do that. Ordering people to shelters, I mean—we’ve fought only in space for years and years now. It’s been decades since they attacked us here, at home.” Earth never wanted to mess up Genesis too much; they wanted to claim a prosperous planet, not a demolished one.

“As you predicted, the revelation of Haven has forced Earth’s hand. Instead of admitting guilt and dealing openly with its citizens, they’re trying to win a victory that could eclipse their own wrongdoing.”

She thumps her fist against the wall, overcome with fury at Earth but most of all at herself. “I shouldn’t have said a thing about Haven until after we’d distributed the cure and Genesis was back to normal. While Earth thought we were helpless, they weren’t in any rush to—oh, God, what were we thinking?”

“We made the best decision we could based on the information we had. We couldn’t have predicted Earth would be petty enough to attack while vulnerable to unrest at home, out of what appears to be spite.”

Is that really all this is? Earth’s pettiness? Doesn’t matter. “I’ve got to get to one of the exosuits.”

Abel puts one hand on her shoulder. “Noemi—you’re not a military officer any longer.”

“Do you think I’d ever forget that? But if Genesis is in danger, I have to fight. If they want to reprimand me, they can do it later.” She thinks fast. “How much work have you and Virginia done on the corsair? Enough?”

“It can fly,” Abel says slowly, “but it’s not a starfighter.”