“Ito, why did the official report make it sound like an accident?”
Reyer and Ito were in their second game of chess. The large red sun had fallen halfway below the undulant horizon. Adan Vas was standing by the window, watching the sunset. He turned slightly when he heard Alix ask the question, but then returned his attention to the scene outside.
“How did you get the official report?” Ito asked.
Reyer showed no interest in answering her question.
The general retreated her queen. “I’m sorry, Alix—”
“Nearly fifty people died on Geonon. They were heroes. You made them sound incompetent. You lied about why we were there, lied about what we found, lied about what we did, and you lied about what happened.”
“Alix, do you trust me?”
“Should I? Is Ivan Rurik really dead, or is he only my kind of dead?”
“He’s dead, Alix. You were the only survivor.”
“Did I survive?”
“I understand why you’d be upset, but there are things you have to understand.” Ito motioned for Reyer to take her move. “A lot happened before we wrote that report. Lauren told us what he thought he’d heard when he received the messenger you sent, but he wasn’t certain. He said you sounded delirious. When he went down, he found you still alive, picked you up, and ran. He didn’t have time to try to figure out what happened, and you were in no condition to tell us what was going on. We decided to be cautious. When you woke up and told us it had been Rurik, it became even more important to keep what happened a secret.”
“Even from their friends? From their families?” Reyer placed her knight with a loud click.
“From everyone, Alix. Rurik was dead, but we didn’t know if he’d been acting alone. In time, our fears were proved correct. It became obvious someone was giving the Supremacy our information.”
Vas wandered toward them. “Ivan Rurik was the traitor?”
Ito’s eyes flickered up to Alix.
“Yes,” Reyer said.
“You will be discrete, Captain Vas?” The general’s tone was sharp.
“Did you even need to ask, General?”
Ito nodded with satisfaction, then returned her attention to the game. She moved a bishop, taking a pawn.
“Is it possible that Rurik might have given them all the information before Geonon One?” Vas asked.
“No.” Alix’s voice was soft but insistent. “He wasn’t that stupid.”
“You knew him well?”
Reyer moved her knight again. “Very well.”
Adan leaned his arms on the back of the chair in front of him. “Then how do you think he would have done it?”
“He would have told them about Geonon to prove that he was willing to betray us, but he would have required his own safe extraction for any more information.”
“That’s exactly what I thought,” Ito said. “Since he was dead but we were still compromised, the only safe assumption was that there was another traitor. If that was true, we didn’t want the spy knowing that we were looking for him, and if you were dead, we hoped he wouldn’t go looking for you.” She let out a short hiss of irritation. “And that didn’t work.” She moved her queen to take the knight.
“What could they want from me?” Reyer asked. “Do they think I know the name of the other traitor?”
Vas shook his head. “If you had known the name of the traitor, he would have been caught. Since he remained at large, the Supremacy should have assumed you really were dead or ignorant of who it was.”
“No more, you two,” Ito said. “The interrogation is tomorrow, not tonight.”
Reyer lifted her hand toward the board but let it drop back to the table. “I wouldn’t have told them anything, even if they had found me. I would have sooner died, General.”
“I know, little warrior. Believe me, I never doubted your courage.”
“Then why did you send for me? You’re confined to your quarters because you rushed the order without approval. They might not have given approval—didn’t you realize that?”
“They would have been fools if they didn’t.”
“Yuuna, you shouldn’t have sent for me.”
The general looked up at the unfamiliar sound of her given name. She sighed when she saw the expression on Reyer’s face.
“If you go, I’ll answer your question.”
Alix moved her queen forward.
“So impatient.” Ito shook her head while moving her own knight to take the newly placed queen. “Alix, we don’t know what you know or why the Supremacy wants you, but considering how important it is to them, isn’t it reasonable to assume it would be important to us? Yes, we could have let you die. But since you’re here, now we might be able to learn something we can use against them.”
Vas watched Reyer closely. She seemed to accept the argument and finally made her next move.
“No.” Ito’s whisper was abrupt and unexpected. “No, I think I’m done pretending.” She looked up at the girl she had known for decades—the girl she had held as a baby. “Alix, when I heard your voice telling me goodbye, I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you. I’ve lost so many people, and I knew, right then, I wouldn’t let you go without a fight.”
Reyer sat back in her chair. If she was trying to hide her feelings, she was failing. Vas could see she was deeply moved. With a faint smile, Alix chided the general: “You told me not to get attached. You told me that we were born mortal—that we were of the nature to grow old, get sick, and die.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“I know I did, darling. I know I did.” Ito laughed as she moved her piece. “What can I say? I was never good at nonattachment.”
“I thought the Rising was done with me. When I woke up in that bed and you told me—you ordered me—to retire, I thought I had outlived my usefulness. You sent me away.”
“Oh, you were always useful, Sergeant Reyer. I think we used you too much. When I retired you, I was relieved because I finally saw the chance to make sure that you, at least, would outlive me.”
Alix reached out to the side of the chess board. The general took her hand. The two sat there for a moment, squeezing each other’s fingers.
Adan turned his head away while trying to subdue his smile. He felt like a trespasser who saw more than he should have.
His small movement broke the spell. Reyer and Ito let go of each other.
“Oh, sit down, Captain Vas,” Ito said, pointing to the chair he’d been standing behind. “Stop pretending like you’re not there.”
He sat. “I didn’t want to distract you from your game.”
Ito looked at the board. “Who’s turn is it?”
Reyer pointed to her chest. “It’s mine. Don’t you dare take a double move.” She reached out and moved her king. When she sat back, she picked up one of the pieces she had captured and twisted it around, admiring it in the soft orange glow of the dim lights. “It’s been a long time since I’ve played.”
“Not even a hologram game?” Ito asked. She moved her castle. “Check, Alix.”
Reyer frowned at the board before moving her king again. “You know me, I don’t like hologram games.”
To Vas’s surprise, the general let out a loud laugh. “Oh, yes.” She turned to the captain. “Did you know, when she was eight years old, she told me that she preferred real chess pieces because they made better weapons? She said, ‘You can’t—’”
“‘—You can’t hit someone on the head with a hologram,’” Reyer finished. She laughed at the memory.
Adan Vas smiled. As Ito moved her bishop, he said, “Maybe I can ask you.” He motioned to Reyer. “I asked her, but she wouldn’t tell me. Why did you send the knight?”
Ito held up a finger. “Not just any knight—the white knight, Captain.”
“Why the white knight then?”
Ito looked over at Reyer. “Should I tell him?”
Reyer blushed, but she waved her hand as if dismissing the idea it was important enough to worry about. Then she took her move.
The general moved her castle. “Alix is the white knight. She always prefers to play first, and she plays aggressively. She also has an unusual strategy that she uses, no matter what.”
“What’s that?” Vas asked.
Ito turned to him. “Captain, weren’t you paying attention?”
“I’m sorry, General. I’m afraid I wasn’t.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Then you’ll have to play her yourself someday.”
“You play?” Reyer asked.
Vas leaned back. “Oh, yes. That’s your fault.”
“My fault?”
“He’s telling the truth,” Ito said. “I was spoiled. When you were gone, I didn’t have anyone to play against. One night, when I was particularly missing our games, poor Captain Vas brought his transfer orders to my quarters. He wasn’t considered fit for duty anywhere that required an actual hierarchy, so they thought he might be useful as a special reserve.”
Reyer looked at Vas.
He explained, “I had a problem with some of my commanders—”
“All of your commanders,” Ito corrected him. “Anyway, when I was done warning him that this was his last chance, I asked him if he played.”
“General Ito ordered me to learn. And I had just been warned it was my last chance.”
“Are you any good?” Reyer asked.
He shrugged. “I’m tolerable.”
“He’s unpredictable,” Ito said. “He doesn’t always win, but when he does, I never see it coming.” She sighed. “Chess is so revealing, don’t you think? A person’s habits, thoughts, and philosophies all come to bear on sixty-four squares. You can’t help but give yourself away when you’re so focused the rest of the world disappears.” She tapped the edge of the board. “Speaking of focus—Alix, that’s mate in three moves.”
Alix stared at the board, then laughed.
“You’re out of practice,” Ito said with another of her straight, subtle smiles.
A young soldier stopped by Ito’s quarters before they were able to set up for another match. He’d been sent to show Reyer to her temporary quarters. Reyer picked up her kit bag, and she and Vas told the general goodnight before excusing themselves. The soldier took her through the maze of corridors until they reached her room. When he asked if there was anything else she needed, Reyer asked for a map of the facility.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the boy said. “I’m not sure we have any. I’ll ask though.”
“Don’t worry,” Vas said, “I know my way around.”
“How does that help me?” Alix asked as the boy walked away.
Adan smiled at her. “You don’t think you’re going anywhere without me, do you?”
She scoffed. “So am I stuck with you? Or are you stuck with me?”
Vas opened the door and motioned for her to go in. When she had, he followed and shut the door behind them. “Both and all of the above.”
“It seems a bit much. I should be fine here.”
“I think you’re underestimating how serious the general is about looking after your safety. Not to mention how determined the Supremacy is to find you.”
“I told you I can take care of myself.” She put her kit bag down on the table in the front area, opened it, and pulled out the bottle of Tranomine. She held it for a moment, then turned to Adan. “At least, I can with most things.”
He shrugged. “Then I’m here for everything else. I apologize if there’s any inconvenience, Miss Reyer. I’ll try to stay out of the way.”
“You’re going to sleep here?”
“Either that or out in the hallway, but I hope you’ll let me use the couch. Surely I’m not that annoying, am I?”
Reyer started to unpack the clothes they’d gotten for her on Mesa Rojo. “I assume that you’ll need a break sometime. What happens then?” She looked over at him. “Will I finally get some privacy?”
“Lynx will cover for me, unless General Jordan or the assembly decides to approve the order and assigns someone else.”
“Is the bot programmed to fight?”
“Yes. He’s lethal too.”
“Bots usually are.” Reyer went back to her bedroom.
Vas followed her and stood in the open door. “But he’s not very good at quick response. He’s better with orders and known enemies, or if the threat’s obvious. Ciro’s been working on that, but a bot is only a bot—even one as good as Lynx.”
Reyer finished refolding her clothes, put them away, and shut the drawer. “So not as quick to react as the hero-types?”
“No, Miss Reyer. That’s why I’ll be around, making life pleasant for you.”
She gave Vas a look as she pushed past him. He returned it with a playful smile.
She picked up the rest of her clothes. “You can have the couch. “
“Thank you, Miss Reyer.”
“Good night, Captain Vas.”
“Good night, Miss Reyer.”
[https://i.imgur.com/6iM8gcI.png]
Hours later, Vas was laying on the couch, dozing, when something woke him. Whatever it was had been subtle, leaving him with a sense that grew into a certainty: someone was in the room with him. The lights had been dimmed to nothing, but by the starlight he was able to make out silhouettes and shapes.
His hand was on his partly drawn sword, but then he stopped himself.
It was Reyer.
She was standing at the large window, gazing up at the stars. He could see the line of her profile and make out the shape of her body. As he watched, she lifted one of her hands and put it against the glass. In that artless moment, even in the faint light, he could see the wonder and pleasure on her face.
It took him a while to realize how much time he’d allowed to pass simply watching her. When he did realize, he felt a tendril of guilt creep into his chest. He grit his teeth, turned his face away, and sat up.
“Miss Reyer?”
Alix gasped and took two steps back. With her hand over her chest, she took one or two laughing breaths. “Geez. I thought you were asleep.”
Vas stood up and walked over. “I wouldn’t be much of a bodyguard if I couldn’t tell someone was sneaking around.”
“Hmmm. And here I was hoping I had enough skill to not wake you.”
“Ah, well. You might be a bit rusty.”
“I’ll have to work on that. I’m sorry I woke you, Captain.”
“Not at all, Miss Reyer. I just wanted to make sure there was nothing I could do for you.”
“No.” She turned away. “I think I’ll go back to bed.”
“It’s your window, you know,” Vas said.
She stopped and looked back.
He added, “If you can’t sleep, you have every right to enjoy the view.”
“The man who has to ask permission to sleep on the couch is telling me I’m allowed to look out my own window?” She smiled. “Good to know. Thank you, Vas.”
Adan looked down at the floor to hide his own wry smile, before looking back up at her. “I meant that you shouldn’t mind me.”
“I don’t.” She continued on to her bedroom. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” he said. But she was already gone.
For a second, Vas stood there, staring out the window. Then he went back to the couch and crashed down onto it with his hands behind his head. “Yeah, right,” he muttered.