TWENTY-FOUR
The group of warriors filed through the library to a loft area, where X stood at a wood balustrade with Imulah and Sergeant Wynn. Miles moved up beside X, pushing his muzzle through the bars.
Below, Colonel Forge and Lieutenant Colonel Ranker made their way through the maze of dimly lit tables, their black capes fluttering behind them. The Hell Divers came next, in their jumpsuits and armor, ready for whatever orders awaited them.
Seeing them had X reconsidering his decision. He worried that many of these warriors would leave the Vanguard Islands to do their duty, and never return again.
Captain Mitchells towered above the group with Eevi by his side. The woman had suffered much over the years, losing a child and, most recently, her husband.
X had considered ordering her back to the Hell Divers, but she was needed more on the bridge of Discovery.
“Welcome, everyone,” X said. “Let’s get started. Imulah, bring me the maps.”
The scribe returned, and Wynn helped him unroll the large scroll and spread it over the table. Mac and Felipe came in and joined the rest of the group at the table.
“This first map is of the Outrider, once called Aruba,” X said. “I need to know how long it will take to get there, how much fuel we have, and what we expect to find when we get there.”
“It’s about a two-day sail to Aruba,” said Lieutenant Colonel Ranker. “We’ve already combined our fuel, and it should get us there if we don’t push too hard.”
“So how do we get back home?” Arlo asked.
“Outrider is another refinery,” Imulah said. “If you are victorious, you will have access to a new fuel source.”
“Precisely why I don’t want to have Discovery just blow the place up,” X said. “We still don’t know if the Iron Reef in Belize is destroyed. If it is, this is our only known source of fuel.”
“What about sending Discovery?” Rodger said. “We could dive in and surprise the skinwalkers. It’ll be a slaughter.”
“Yeah, it could be a slaughter—of us,” X said.
Rodger wasn’t thinking logically, and his comment proved it.
“I’ll kill ’em all,” Rodger said. “Every last one of them.”
“Sending in a diving team isn’t a bad idea, Rodge,” Magnolia said. She rubbed the bandage on her head. “But don’t forget about the machines.”
“What about sending out Renegade to Belize, to check on the fuel outpost?” Wynn asked. “Do we have the time?”
“I thought about that, but we can’t risk sending out one of our warships,” X said. “We’ll need them to defend the Vanguard Islands and for the mission to the Outrider, which brings me back to my original question: What should we expect to find there?”
Ranker interpreted for Forge. He was the highest-ranking soldier left at the islands, but as far as X knew, most knowledge of the skinwalkers had died with General Santiago in Rio de Janeiro.
“We know that Horn killed half the crew of Raven’s Claw,” Ranker said. “That puts his numbers at anywhere from a hundred to a hundred and fifty. Minus however many he lost in the attack here, and on the ground in Rio.”
“We saw at least thirty there,” Michael said. “Maybe more.”
“We know he has two more submarines,” said Wynn, “and while they are small—probably some sort of research sub—they can do real damage.”
Imulah went to another table and brought back a green hardcover book with an octopus logo engraved on the spine. He dusted off the cover—also marked by an octopus—and handed it to X.
“Most of us were children when the colony was abandoned,” Ranker said.
“Very little is known now,” Imulah said. “I found that in the archives, but the other books were missing—probably destroyed by el Pulpo.”
“So what do we know about it?” X asked.
“Colonel Forge said it was another training facility for warriors,” Ranker said. “In fact, he went there when he was a teenager and was stationed there for a few months.”
X looked to Forge, who simply stared at the map as if recalling memories of long ago. He glanced up and caught X’s gaze.
“Lieutenant Colonel Ranker, ask Colonel Forge why it was abandoned,” X said.
The two Cazador officers spoke for several moments. Ranker then stiffened slightly. “The metal gods found it, sir.”
“What!” X blurted. The secrets these people held continued to infuriate him. “Look, I still haven’t figured out how you forgot to tell me el Pulpo had a bastard son, or that Moreto was the mom, but not revealing this…” For the moment, words failed him. “I want to know everything you know,” X said. He glared at Imulah. The muscles in the scribe’s cheeks trembled slightly.
“While some of us suspected Moreto was Horn’s mother, speaking this would have been treachery,” he said.
Ranker nodded. “The scribe is right. Moreto would have killed anyone who spoke such truth.”
X scratched his beard. It didn’t matter now anyway. What did matter was that the machines had found the outpost, so maybe Horn wasn’t lying about working with them.
“That’s why they wear people’s skins,” X said. “They must worship the machines. It makes total sense now.”
“I suspected that myself when I was in Rio,” Michael said.
X took another look at the map of the former colony. What he was about to order must be done. The soldiers and divers all waited for what many of them knew was coming.
“Sergeant Wynn,” X said.
The Asian man stiffened. “Yes, sir.”
“You’re being promoted to lieutenant and will oversee defenses at home while we send Shadow and Renegade to the Outrider. The warship Elysium will remain here to guard our homes.”
Wynn nodded. “Thank you, King Xavier.”
X looked to Forge and Mac next. “Mac, I’m assigning Renegade to you and the Barracudas and promoting you to colonel,” X said.
“That would be my honor, sir,” Mac said, bowing his hunched back.
“Ranker, I want you to relay this to Colonel Forge,” X said. “Colonel Forge, I’m promoting you to general of the combined armies of the Cazadores and sky people,” X said. “Your first orders are to sail Shadow to the Outrider.”
Ranker translated the first part.
“I will join you on this mission, along with a select group of my people,” X said. “Together, we will destroy Horn and the skinwalkers.”
Several people seemed surprised by the order, but X realized now more than ever that they needed the Cazadores all in on their cause, and the best way to do that without Rhino was to give his position to another Cazador.
After listening to the orders, Forge thumped his armored chest, and X nodded back. He didn’t fully trust the man, not as he had trusted Rhino by the end, but Forge had helped save his life with the nanotech gel and had also kept the truth about what happened to the warship Lion under wraps. He had also helped them clear the capitol tower of Sirens. If he was a collaborator with the skinwalkers, he was doing a lousy job.
“That takes care of one threat, but what about the machines?” Les asked.
X had a feeling this was coming. “I’m getting there, but first, what’s the status of the airship?”
“Sir, Discovery should be ready in three days if all goes to plan,” Les replied. “Samson managed to locate some parts thanks to Tomás Mata.”
“Good news.”