“What an absolute disaster,” Commander Carver growls, not caring that he’s chomping on a lit cigar in the sterile medical bay of the Floating Fortress.

Chase lies in a hospital bed, attended to by a team of doctors, nurses, and who knows what else, hooked up to more machines than seem reasonable. Electrodes are attached to his forehead; an IV bag drips into his arm. Hanami, Reo, and Kora stand to the side, watching the medical personnel work as electronic chirps and beeps indicate various vital signs.

The scene makes Kora think of her little sister back home.

The Commander continues his rant, “The Squadron Leader is still missing. One pilot unconscious. Another almost drowned. Got in a firefight with an UNIDENTIFIED hostile force. Red Star and Neo Yamato blaming each other for a massive explosion that destroyed half of a disputed island while world peace hangs by a thread. Oh yeah, and significant damage to the Mechs.”

“On the other hand,” Doctor Yi says in a soothing voice, “none of our pilots were killed, none of our Mechs were lost, and Icarus did not fall into enemy hands.”

A nurse draws blood from the pale, motionless Chase.

“What were you thinking?” the Commander says, wheeling to face the pilots and ignoring the Doctor. “Trying to interface with Icarus like that.”

“I don’t think Chase was expecting it to fry his brain,” Kora says with a snort.

Doctor Yi responds, “Icarus is—WAS—a Mark VI. Very advanced machine. None of you are even close to being rated for a Mark VI. Plus, as one of you hypothesized, as the Mechs synergize with their pilots, it makes it more difficult for another pilot to just swap in. The neural patterns are too different.”

“Would have been nice for you to mention that in the briefing…” Kora mutters.

“Hanami was able to interface with Icarus. Right, Hana?” Reo says.

She ignores his use of this unwanted nickname. The Commander and Doctor Yi stare at Hanami in surprise, waiting for confirmation.

“That… is correct. Only a little. The mainframe was damaged, and I could only access fragmentary information…”

The Commander and Doctor Yi share a meaningful look.

“She looked rough after her attempt, to be honest,” Kora adds. “I think she should be examined too for any kind of brain injury.”

“Thank you, Kora. We’ll take that under advisement,” Doctor Yi says.

“We will have time for a full debrief tomorrow,” Commander Carver says. “Reo and Kora, go ahead and get cleaned up. Hanami, stay here until medical clears you.”

“And all of you—don’t forget to take your vitamins!” Doctor Yi adds.

---

The next morning Hanami, Reo, and Kora sit in the briefing room. Commander Carver and Doctor Yi stand at the front. Winter leans nonchalantly against the side wall, examining the back of a gloved hand behind her dark glasses.

“Okay, this morning I want to—” Commander Carver begins.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

He is interrupted as a side door opens. A member of the medical staff enters the room, pushing a wheelchair. Chase MacArthur sits in the wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown. He gives a weak smile and waves at the other pilots. Ignoring the protests of the medical person, Chase shakily rises to his feet.

“Chase!” Kora shouts.

“Braddah!” Reo says.

They race over. Kora gives him a gentle side-hug and Reo gives him a fist bump.

“You feelin’ alright?” Reo asks, looking him over.

“I just want to know… when can I get back out there and fly?” Chase says.

Kora shakes her head.

“You’re a hard-case, Chase. But I’m glad to see you.”

“Well, this is a surprise,” the Commander says. “MacArthur, we were just about to begin our debriefing of the last mission. Care to join us?”

Chase nods, hobbling over and taking a seat in the first row, oblivious to the opening at the back of the gown showing his butt crack. Reo and Kora return to their seats. The Commander resumes his talk.

“Reginald Cook is still missing in action. It appears that Icarus was fired upon, and he attempted an emergency landing. It is reasonable to assume that the bastards who shot him down are the same ones who ambushed you. If Reginald is alive, he is probably in Red Star custody, which means they know far more about Aegis Drift than we thought possible.”

“Are we sure it was Red Star? I mean, that’s what I thought too, but the vehicles that attacked us had no identifiable markings, nothing,” Chase says, wincing a bit at the exertion of speaking up.

“Who else could it be? The Red Star Empire has been salivating over the Pinnacle Islands for years, just like they are with Formosa Island and every other damn place on this half of the planet.”

The Commander turns to address Winter.

“Winter, I want you to check every person on the Floating Fortress. And then check again. Whether it’s deliberate or accidental, there is a leak somewhere and I want it found.”

Winter straightens up a bit.

“Umm, right now?” she asks.

“Yes, now!”

Winter gives a polite bow and departs through the side door.

“Our Head of Intelligence is also monitoring the chatter from half a dozen intelligence services. See if anything comes across the wire about a high-value target in custody. Now, before you practically disintegrated the habitat of several critically endangered species by setting Icarus to self-destruct, what were you able to discover?”

“We found the number 22 carved on the inside of the cockpit. Like, scratched there in a hurry. At least we think it was 22,” Reo answers.

Commander Carver looks at Doctor Yi, “Does that mean anything to you? Twenty-two?”

Doctor Yi scrunches up her face, nudges her glasses. But she shakes her head ‘no.’

“You said Reggie was doing a routine test flight,” Reo says. “I keep thinkin’ about the thrusters I saw on Icarus. Really nice. I bet they even had capacity for sub-orbital flight.”

The Commander bristles.

“That… is above your paygrade. Cook routinely ran test flights of Icarus and other Mechs. And he would also run reconnaissance flights. He had discretion to operate independently, within certain parameters. His last flight may have been a bit of both. If he had been doing some recon work, we were in the dark about what he was looking into.”

Doctor Yi looks at some notes on her tablet.

“Miss Goto,” she says. “You managed to interface with Icarus, or what was left of its mainframe. What information were you able to glean?”

Hanami stares at the long rectangular desk / table in front of her row of seats. Her mind goes back to that moment in the cockpit of Icarus.

“It… is a bit scrambled. I need more time to piece it together.”

“How much time?” the Commander grumbles.

“It was like I could hear the other pilot, hear his voice in my head. Bits and pieces, only. Scrambled.”

The Commander and Doctor Yi share a meaningful sideways glance, which Chase notices.

“Bits and pieces might be all we have to go on…” Doctor Yi prompts.

Hanami closes her eyes and concentrates. She tries to recall the elusive snatches of information from deep in her brain.

“White… Rock… Black… Box… Osiris…” Hanami recites in monotone, almost a chant.

“I’m sorry?” Commander Carver asks.

“White. Rock. Black. Box. Osiris. That is all I can recall…”

Doctor Yi makes some notes on her tablet. Commander Carver scratches his head.

“That is not much to go on. We’ll have our people start digging and see if anything turns up. Winter might have an idea where to start. In the meantime, Doctor Yi has an update.”

Doctor Yi seems to be caught off guard, then remembers what it is she has to say.

“Oh, yes! Good news. You all have advanced to Rank 2 pilots! Based on the data analysis and biofeedback collected from your time operating your respective Mechs, we have cleared you for more advanced models. As we are in the middle of repairs, now is actually a perfect time to make upgrades. You are all cleared for Mark II models.”