Sadie sat with Grandma Snibbs with an unopened can of food. Grandma Snibbs needed to eat, but the stubborn old goat was waiting next to the radio and refused to do anything else. Sadie’s amazing logic that the woman could eat and wait at the same time did not sway her. Lure had set up five minute radio checks for any sign of a breach. With the number of fortified outposts and patrols in effect, there was always somebody talking. Lure wanted to be out there, but she’d been tasked with a quick relief force of five security personnel at the home base.

“No sign of any disturbances,” reported Lure, sounding antsy.

“How’s he doing?” grumbled Grandma Snibbs.

“Who?”

“Louis.”

“Probably in a thousand stomachs by now.”

“Not you,” Grandma Snibbs nodded to Sadie, “her.”

“Grandma, how would I know?” asked Sadie.

“How do you think he’s doing?”

“He’s,” Sadie paused. How would a man be in a hive? “He’s like you Grandma.” That caught her by surprise, the old woman scrunching up her eyebrows. Sadie smiled. “He’s tired. He’s hungry and just wants this to be done, but he won’t show it.” That caused Grandma Snibbs to laugh. She nodded reluctantly to the can of food. Processed mushrooms and some nutrient paste that tasted as good as it sounded.

“Who is he?” asked Lure.

“Louis Sunkissed.”

“Where did he come from? What is he really?”

“He’s from Earth.” Grandma Snibbs waited for them to absorb that. Earth was the mythical homeworld of humanity, lost tens of generations ago. “He’s a Delta.”

“The tale of the Broken Triangle?” scoffed Lure.

“Not just a story. Many cycles ago, before our homeworld was destroyed, something took the best of humanity and changed them into one man armies. But something changed with their bodies. Some say the aliens corrupted their minds, maybe the soul. When Earth fell and its survivors were sent to the reservations, the Delta abandoned us.” Grandma Snibbs waved a shaky hand to the heavens. “We don’t know why they do what they do now, or where they go, but a Delta can change the world.”

“And you think this guy is a Delta?”

It was Grandma Snibbs turn to scoff. “How many men tower over you? Or can kill a bug with his hands?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been out of the reservation. For all I know, all men can do that, and we’re just stuck with the runts.”

“He’s a Delta alright. He’ll be coming back soon.” Grandma Snibbs sighed and reached out a shaky hand for her granddaughter. Sadie held it. “It wasn’t right for me to ask you to go to the city, child. What I’m going to say next isn’t right either, but it’s the best thing I can do for you.”

“What is it?” asked Sadie, feeling like she wasn’t about to like this.

“When he comes back, you’re going with him.” Sadie flinched and Lure gapped. “You’re going to the stars.”

“Grandma Snibbs, why would you say that?”

“Because there’s nothing left here. I’ve lost three children and nine grandchildren to these mines. It’s no way to live. It’s not how humans were meant to live. All that’s left is you and your mother. And if I can get you off this god forsaken rock, I will.”

Sadie didn’t know what to say. Leave the reservation? Nobody left the reservation. The rarest person earned the right to work in the city as a rat or maybe a butler. There were rumors that sometimes people left to fight with the Bastion, but she didn’t think any of them were true. People born in the reservation died in the reservation. Sure, life was rough, but was it so terrible she should bargain with a complete stranger to get out? Without anything to offer, Louis would practically own her. He could take her into orbit and immediately push her out into space. Why would he ever agree to take her? She tried to share a concerned look with Lure. Lure’s normally stoic eyes were filled with wonder. They said if Sadie didn’t want the opportunity, Lure would take it.

The moment was ruined by the smallest of tremors. Rock had just come down somewhere and there were no active mines currently. Lure ripped her radio free from her vest.

“Report!”

“This is Hole Forty-Two, we had a rockslide.” Lure was already running, her team of five behind her. The radio chirped again.

“This is Louis.” Lure stopped dead in her tracks, looking at her radio like it must be possessed. “I forced a breach, no bugs following, survivors are at my location.”

*

Half an hour later, Louis was stepping back into the main base with Lure behind him. He was disgusting, covered in dry blood and other unknown bodily fluids. His flechette cannon was gone, his jacket and pants torn, and he looked beat. But he never slowed, never showed signs of weakness, and hadn’t escorted the survivors to medical. With only the barest of assurances the swarm wouldn’t be coming, he headed to where he started. To confront an angry, bitter old woman who dared him to be better.

“You look like shit,” commented Grandma Snibbs. Sadie thought he looked more frustrated, like he was torn between a shower or kicking Grandma Snibbs off a cliff.

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“I fulfilled my end of the bargain.”

“And my daughter?”

Louis sighed and shook his head. Grandma Snibbs huffed a couple of times, clutching her wheelchair to keep her composure. She’d lost almost her entire family. Losing one now wasn’t any easier. She’d learned to hide the pain, but it never went away. Her last memory would be of her daughter being dragged away to be eaten. She would take solace in the hell that she’d sent into the hive.

“If you’ll tell me where my friend is, I’ll take my leave.”

Grandma Snibbs came back to reality, remembering what had to be done. She buried the thoughts of her daughter, and what it meant to give up her only surviving kin, and did what was right.

“Your friend is on Amoroso Four, operating a mining station on the gas giant.” She bit her lip, waiting for the blow to fall. Louis regarded her sullenly, seeming to read her thoughts.

“You know the price of dealing with my kind?”

“I do,” she said in shuttering breath.

“Sadie will accompany me.”

“As proof of claim.”

Grandma Snibbs nodded. She’d bullied a Delta into helping her, and now the cost would be steep. Louis was taking Sadie not as a kindness, but as insurance. If the information was wrong and the Delta wasn’t there, Louis might come back for vengeance. He might cut his losses and abandon or kill Sadie as punishment. It was the cost of saving the reservation. It was the risk of Sadie getting a new chance off world. And if Grandma Snibbs was wrong, it might cost them everything.

“It’s a deal.” Louis turned to a stunned Sadie who hadn’t gotten past the news that her mother had died. He held out his hand to her. “Do you agree to come willingly?”

Sadie didn’t know what to say. Was her mom really dead? Had Louis or anyone even checked? Why had Grandma effectively promised her to this murderous stranger? Did she think something good was going to happen? She stared at the blood crusted hand and without thinking, shook it. Something tingled through her arms and then it felt like someone took a bat to her brains. She blacked out into Louis’s arms.

*

“Alive,” confirmed Louis among the uproar. He shot an accusing glance at Grandma Snibbs. “She’s not sick, is she?”

“No. Sadie has always been healthy.”

“I swear if she dies before we leave system.” Louis blew out a deep breath. The old woman was not trying to con him. This was not a trick. He knew that. He needed her alive in case she was lying. And if she was…

Laying Sadie on the table, Louis pointed to some people. “Make sure she’s packed and healthy enough to travel.” He didn’t know if they even knew Sadie and didn’t much care. They were so frightened of him they’d make sure it’d get done. “Grandma, tell everything you know about my friend to Maia here.” He pulled out a small cube with a glowing blue corner. “I’ll be back for that.”

“You’re not leaving?” asked Grandma Snibbs, surprised and alarmed for the first time.

“Not until I get a shower and some clean clothes.” Louis looked around the room until Lure nodded and he followed her out.

“We can run your clothes through a disinfectant process we use for gear exposed to toxic chemicals. It’ll sanitize everything. It’s kind of rough on normal clothes but,” Lure admired the shredded outfit, “I think you’ll be okay.”

“Good. In the meantime, I’ll take an oversized coat and some pants.”

“Some of the bigger surface gear might fit you. I doubt we have any boots in your size.”

“Then don’t destroy these.”

Lure used a keycard to open an office which led to a surprisingly nice shower. It wasn’t anything more than a big stall with a high pressure nozzle and some industrial cleaner for soap. Satisfied there were two towels on the wall, he pulled off his ruined jacket. He could feel Lure admiring the armored weapon systems fitted over his spine. Tubes fed expertly along his arms to feed the twin wrist cannons strapped to both forearms. There were open slots along the fake spine for the small grenades he’d been using earlier. He disabled the weapons and began to untie the connectors around his front and shoulders that kept the system in place.

Lure was glad the Delta was facing away from her because this was a slightly embarrassing moment. She’d seen naked men before and Louis wasn’t even naked, but he was different. The shirt had to be peeled off and it took most of the blood and grime, leaving a muscled back the likes she’d only heard stories about. The men who mined were fit, but Louis was, well, healthy. There were no blotchy patches and growths. All of his skin looked smooth to the touch.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Louis paused unbuckling the second wrist cannon. Lure’s eyes were fixed on his excessive wounds. They weren’t bleeding now, but were ripe for infection.

“They do.”

“Will you be okay?”

“They’ll heal in the next few days.” The next few days? That was absurd. Wounds like that should’ve left him crippled for life.

“It’s a shame,” blurted out Lure, instantly wishing she hadn’t.

“What is?”

“Your skin. It’s going to scar.” The scars would help give him a manly look, but it did seem a waste to ruin that shiny body. Louis smiled.

“I told you, it’ll heal in a few days.” Lure’s jaw dropped. There wouldn’t even be a scar after this? Maybe Grandma Snibbs wasn’t lying about the story of the Broken Triangle. “Say your piece.”

“Hmmm?” Lure had been distracted by the guns and his apparent invincibility when she recognized that his skin was pale and his hair was blonde, just like Sadie said. How had he done that? Could other humans change their skin and hair color?

“Why should I take you?” Lure’s eyes went wide. “I want a private shower so you’ve got one minute.”

“Because I’m useful.”

“That’s it?”

“What do you want from me? I can work a mine, I can shoot, and I’m not afraid to die. I’m not going to woo you with my administrative skills.”

“I honestly hate administrative work.”

“If it gets me off this planet, I’ll sit in front of a console all day, every day.”

“What’s the point of getting off the planet then?”

“You do not ask a woman trapped in Hell why she would want Purgatory.” That made him turn around. “Sadie’s nice, but she’s a child. She’ll have to be cared for. Take me and I can watch your back.”

“You know I’m not taking her because I think she’s useful.”

“I’d make just as good of a hostage.”

“No, old Snibbs doesn’t care about you, not like her.” Lure considered that, tapping a finger against her flechette cannon.

“What will you do if your friend isn’t there?”

“I don’t know.”

“Would you kill her?” Louis wondered if Lure planned to kill him if he gave the wrong answer. Probably not after all he’d just done. She seemed more curious than hateful.

“I don’t know. Depends what kind of mood I’m in and how good the information is. If he’s not there, but people know he was, it’s a start. She’ll live.”

“If he never was, would you come back for us?” Would he come back and kill the reservation was what she really wanted to ask.

“Probably not.” It wasn’t a no. They both understood that. “Your minute is up. You did good.”

“But you’re not taking me,” she said, crestfallen.

“You did good. I just don’t need you.” He gave her a halfhearted smile. “Thank you for not trying to sell yourself to me.”

“The reservation is 75% women. You just proved in a single day that you’re better than every man we have memory of. You could take a harem of ten women out of here and have a hundred children in ten years, and they’d all be happy for it. Why would I try and sell you my body when you can take whatever you want?” Lure gave him a raised eyebrow and a flirting grin as she walked away.

Louis turned on the water with enough heat and pressure to take a layer of skin off. He smiled under the water. He truly didn’t need Lure for anything, but that spirit was admirable. If he did come back and killed everyone, he would take her out of Hell first.