CHAPTER SEVENTEEN I CAME ANYWAY
ROWAN
Juno blocked the transport bay with a baby. Effective. Manipulative. Renn stared at me from his father's arms with four bright eyes and the moral authority of someone who still ate fabric.
"No," Juno said.
"I haven't asked anything."
"You packed the deep-root transmitter."
"Observant."
"You are not medically cleared."
"I'm medically functional."
"Different."
Behind him, Vorrn filled the rest of the doorway. That was less subtle. I tightened my pack straps.
"The remote signal is losing too much strength underground."
"We know."
"Then someone has to carry a source down."
"We know."
"Good. Moving on."
I stepped left. Vorrn moved with me.
"You're enjoying this."
"No."
"Liar."
His jaw plates shifted. Juno looked exhausted.
"Your implant hit dangerous load during the first expedition."
"Correct."
"You lost motor function."
"Temporarily."
"Rowan."
"There is a child trapped under the nursery."
That stopped him. For a second. Then:
"Shaarr is there."
"Exactly."
Vorrn's eyes narrowed.
"He asked for distance."
"He did."
"Returning may violate that."
"No."
My answer came immediately.
"I'm not going back for the bond."
Silence.
"I'm going because his nursery is collapsing and my nervous system happens to be part of the only adaptive frequency model we have."
Juno looked at me for a long moment. Then down at Renn. The baby clicked. I pointed.
"Don't recruit him."
"He agrees with me."
"He licks walls."
"Selective criticism."
Vorrn moved away from the doorway. Juno stared at him.
"Traitor."
"Choice."
Juno closed his eyes.
"Stop using my own philosophy against me."
"I learned it from you."
I liked him more every day. Dangerous. Juno caught my sleeve before I entered the transport.
"Pain scale."
"Three."
"Anything above five, disconnect."
"If possible."
"Rowan."
I looked at him. He knew what I was going to say. I knew what he wanted. We compromised badly.
"Above five, I disconnect unless immediate loss of life makes that impossible."
He hated it. Accepted it.
"Come back."
"I plan to."
"Plans aren't outcomes."
"No."
That was the problem with people who loved data. Sometimes they were right. I left. Vorrn came with me.
I objected. He ignored me. Apparently compatibility with Hunt-Born culture was contagious. We abandoned the transport at the western road. The ground beyond it had split. I climbed the rest.
Slow. Human slow. By the time we reached the nursery, half the western guardians were evacuating young. Vyrr saw me.
"Human."
"Yes."
"Shaarr said no."
"Popular today."
She pointed at the collapse.
"Below."
I opened the transmitter pack.
"Access?"
She led me to the shaft. Vorrn looked over the edge. Then at me.
"You cannot climb that safely."
"That's not the same as cannot."
He growled.
"Now you sound like Shaarr."
That shut him up. For almost five seconds. I descended. At six meters, my hip protested. At eight, the implant began picking up the contaminated frequency. Pain bloomed behind my eyes.
Four. Then five. Keep going. At ten meters, something else reached me. Not machinery.
Shaarr. Presence. Alive. Furious.
Afraid. Not for himself. For the child. My hand slipped.
I caught the line.
"Shaarr!"
Static. Then:
"Rowan?"
Hearing my name in his voice almost made the climb worse. I reached the lower chamber. Shaarr was against the far wall with the young guardian tucked behind one arm. A Rootmaw filled the tunnel opposite them. He saw me.
Relief hit first. Then anger.
"You came."
"Apparently."
"I told you—"
"Later."
I dropped the transmitter. Connected the bridge. The Rootmaw lunged. Shaarr turned over the child. I drove the local frequency into the mineral layer. Pain detonated through my skull. Six.
The creature recoiled. Not enough. I shifted phase. Seven.
Its jaws snapped closed. It backed away.
"Move!"
Shaarr ran. The child stayed against his chest. Good. A rescue line dropped from above. I pointed up.
"Kid first."
Shaarr clipped him in. The line rose. The chamber split. More soil fell.
The Rootmaw turned back.
"Now you."
"No."
"You're bleeding."
"You climb."
"You're eight feet tall and injured."
"Rowan."
My left hand went numb. Bad. Shaarr saw it. His face changed.
"Enough."
"Almost."
He grabbed me. No argument. I wrapped both arms around his neck because dying over a technicality would be embarrassing.
"Temporary," I muttered.
"Obviously."
The chamber collapsed behind us. The Rootmaw surged forward. Vorrn hauled from above. Shaarr climbed with one arm.
My interface screamed. Eight. Too high. I disconnected.
The local signal died. The Rootmaw accelerated. Shaarr threw me upward. Vorrn caught my vest and dragged me onto the platform. I turned.
"Shaarr!"
The lower wall collapsed over him. For one second there was nothing but soil. Then pale armor broke through. One claw.
Then another. Shaarr climbed out under his own power. Blood streaked his shoulder. His damaged eye was black with dust. Alive.
I laughed. Could not help it. He crossed the platform. Stopped in front of me.
His receptor burned under cracked armor.
"Why?"
I knew exactly what he meant. I looked toward the rescued child clinging to Vyrr.
"Because he was there."
Shaarr's eyes stayed on mine.
"And me?"
The honest answer hurt less than the safe one.
"You too."