“Jeth?” The microscopic scales on his gray skin, shoulders as big as barn doors, gills that flared on either side of his neck when he laughed. “It’s you!” He took a step toward him.
“Don’t come any closer!” Jeth pulled his stunner out and aimed it at Aly, his huge eyes narrowing to slits and his skin turning a shade of crimson. Aly took a step back as Jeth panned it between him and Kara and then at Pavel, then back again. “Don’t you choirtoing move, Alyosha.”
“Are you serious?” Jeth, Vin, and Aly had come up together in boot camp. They’d been inseparable. Three stars in the same constellation, Jeth’s mom had called them.
“Shut up. And you,” he said to Pavel, who rolled alongside them, “you try anything and I’ll run an EMP that will fry you beyond recognition. Now turn around,” he said, and motioned for Aly to put his hands behind his back.
“You are serious,” Aly said as Jeth snapped cuffs on Aly’s wrists. He had tiny suction cups on his twelve fingertips, and they popped when they separated from the metal cuff. “You choirtoi.”
“Shut up and start walking.” Jeth cuffed Kara, too, and shoved Aly to get him to start moving.
“What happened to the safe house?” Kara asked, as Jeth frog-marched them down the hall. “What happened to everyone?”
Jeth didn’t answer. He shoved them into what looked like an old office, with a holo projector so old you could call it vintage and sell it in the city. He turned and kicked the door closed behind him with his enormous boot. Jeth was a head shorter than Aly but three times as strong. “Of all the luck . . .” He shook his head, raked a hand over his bald head. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Aly looked at Kara. She nodded. “We came to find her mom,” Aly said. “We thought she’d be here.”
Jeth shook his head. “There were fifty squatters when we came,” he said. “But the camp was cleared out days ago.”
“Where?” Kara asked, and Jeth snorted through his gills.
“Think I’m going to tell you?”
“Don’t be a dick,” Aly said. “She didn’t do anything.”
“Well, where have my manners gone?” He bowed his head to Kara with a whole lot of flourish. “Begging your pardon, and your girlfriend’s, except I don’t give two taejis.” Aly wished his hands were free so he could clock his old friend right in his stupid snout.
“If you’ve already cleared the place, what are you still doing here?” Aly asked.
“Great question. Because they needed a skeleton crew for this outpost assignment hellhole and I was their top candidate.” He started to pace. “On a radioactive moon where I’m scared to even touch anything. Look at me, Mom! A shining choirtoing star . . .”
It was almost comical, hearing him cuss up a storm in that wholesome Chram accent. But Aly knew what kind of assignment this was. The UniForce had tons of old bases and “key strategic locations” where they posted a dozen soldiers, tops—far-flung locations that weren’t all that relevant, and soldiers they were trying to punch. And Chrams were the bottom of the barrel when it came to the hierarchy of Kalusian allies. Of course Jeth would be one of the first ones on this taejis of an assignment.
Jeth kept eyeing Pavel, who was draining his battery over in the corner like a little dunce. Jeth knew the droid was sending out a signal jammer, and the fact that he hadn’t powered him down meant Jeth was on the fence about reporting them.
“How long has your unit been here?” Aly asked. Maybe there was still a chance to get Jeth on their side.
“This isn’t my unit, Alyosha.” Jeth glared at him, and for a second he looked just like the skinny punk Vin and Aly had adopted on their first day in boot camp. “It’s me, with a bunch of godsdamned security guards on a power trip.” He was talking about the Tasinn. “We’ve been here two days. And get this: Our orders are coming from a piece of taejis DroneVision host! Nero is dictating military strategy now. Dude has never even touched a uniform,” Jeth spit. Aly thought of the big man on the train, squeezed into his expensive suit. Aly wasn’t feeling too charitable seeing as his hands were cuffed, but he’d give Jeth this—he should be pissed. They all should.
“Nero?” Kara said under her breath.
“Where’d they send the squatters, Jeth?” Aly tried again for intel. It was worth a shot, since it looked like Jeth was feeling chatty.