Unity by Carl Stubblefield (epub read online books TXT) 📕

“But how? Comms shouldn’t work over a long distance; it doesn’t make sense we all wouldn’t be connected,” Seneschal mentioned over the comms.

BoJack leaned forward, whispering conspiratorially, “I’ll tell you all, but this stays between the Crew. Agreed?”

Yuki and the others nodded, and BoJack looked around nervously.

“I bonded Gus as his mentor—”

“You did what!?!” Aurora barked.

“Hold on, let me explain…”

“You don’t have training, do you? You know how crazy dangerous that is?” Grimdark spat.

“He needed to learn! It was the fastest way.”

“And you told him the trade-offs, I’m sure,” Aurora said, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow.

“Well, no. There wasn’t really time for that…”

“And the risks of feedback?” Yuki added.

BoJack winced, baring his teeth and inhaling sharply. “Also no, but hear me out—”

“Are you kidding me? You just spent this time dressing down Gus for being irresponsible and grabbing for XP, and you’ve been doing the exact same thing? Hypocritical much?”

“Yuki, you don’t understand—”

“Oh, I think things are becoming clear. Do as I say, not as I do. Because I know better. Am I hitting the high points? You obviously don’t have kids, if you think that little gem works.”

BoJack’s countenance darkened considerably. “Don’t you say that. Don’t you ever say things like that. You think I didn’t want to be a father?”

“Want, don’t want. What difference does it make? You took advantage of him, and he didn’t even know it. He trusted you, and you used him. Have you leveled up since then?”

“Twice.”

“Nice. I hope you enjoyed those levels. Is that why you want to help? Don’t want to let the golden goose escape?”

“I never said I wouldn’t help, but damn, Yuki. It’s a suicide mission. I wouldn’t even recommend attempting it if I didn’t know through this bond that Gus is still alive.”

“I’m not going to give you the choice!” Yuki spat, poking BoJack in the chest. “You owe him. First as his mentor, and second for not giving him the full story before he made the choice. Don’t you remember anything they taught us in those ethics classes in the Academy? Didn’t you just say they pounded something into our brains so much that you couldn’t fathom how someone could break those rules? I know sometimes they’re annoying as hell but we can’t ignore that stuff.”

“That’s partly what I was trying to help Gus understand. He hasn’t had any of that training. I just anticipated more time; this whole situation has gone sideways.” BoJack ran fingers through his hair and grabbed the back of his neck. “You think I don’t know I buggered everything up?”

“I just want to know what you’re going to do about it. Nowadays no one seems like they give a damn. But Gus is the first person in a while who has treated me like I actually have some kind of potential. So if he believes in me, I believe in him.” Yuki stared defiantly at the skeptical looks of the others. “Screw all of you guys, I’m going to find him. Go and justify your actions to yourself. Good luck with that.”

Yuki spun and stormed away.

BoJack jogged after and grabbed her arm. “Yuki, stop. Let’s talk about this.”

She turned and tried to yank her arm out of his grasp but his grip was too strong. Her face went hot and her eyes narrowed.

“Let go of me, BoJack.” Yuki’s eyes turned feral as she glared at him.

“Not until you listen to me. You need me to find him. And I never said I wouldn’t help. We just need to be smart about it. I want to help Gus as much as you do, but I don’t want to rush in without a plan.”

“I’m listening,” she said out the side of her mouth. The glare continued, but she stopped pulling against his grip and he let her go. She shook her arm, rotating it and rubbing her bicep as he continued.

“We need to figure out how to approach this. I don’t know how much you know about Mengele, but I’ve been researching him since we left Hinansho. The guy is serious bad news, Yuki. He’s first generation and everyone is scared of him. I mean, the fact he chose that name says volumes about him. He’s equal parts Jack the Ripper and Moriarty. You saw some of those experiments going on in that facility. I keep imagining Gus in a place like that and I… it’s tearing me up inside.” He swallowed back emotion and continued.

“I feel like I’m being dipped in a molten vat of anger one minute, and then a liquid nitrogen bath of guilt and helplessness in the next. I want to help, but I don’t know how we can beat someone who has had decades to hone his skills. Even if we had the whole Crew, I fear we would be outmatched.” He held his hands out in front of him, half-pleading, half-defeated.

“Then we just don’t brute force it. Not everything requires a direct attack. Come with me and let’s get this thing planned.” Yuki put an arm around his shoulder and looked at the others. “Huddle up, here’s what I think we should do…”

Chapter Eighty-One

Behind Blue Eyes

As soon as he moved out of cover, he noticed movement to his left. Five balls of cracking plasma were heading toward him.

Slave, extrapolate his position by analyzing direction of attacks and audio feedback. Render a three-dimensional representation on my display. Use proximity markers for all attacks and codify threat levels.

As you command, came the robotic reply.

Mengele angled his trajectory for the open doorway. If he could make it to the Vault, then this would be over quickly, without surprises. Sending a quick burst of healing, he forced the skin on his feet to reconstruct. He was leaving bloody footprints which would not only show his position, but would be a liability on the smooth corridor floors beyond.

He pushed himself, but knew that he could not outpace this attack. He had never seen the need