"Here you go," Rose said, offering some bread to the geese treading across the water's edge. They squawked and dove at the free food eagerly. She smiled at their blatant greed.
The park bustled with activity, folk seeking some normalcy in these troubled times. Rose watched two brothers with their husky, laughing as they ran across the vibrant field. It brightened Rose's dour mood somewhat.
"I thought you might be here," Sandage said as he approached.
"How did you find me?" Rose got a sneaking suspicion, glaring at her bodyguard, Brown. The traitor.
"He didn't help. I had a hunch. You rather like nature," Sandage replied, reading her mind.
"Yeah, I didn't feel like being cooped up in my house right now. What do you want, Mr. Sandage? You know I have no intention of talking with you, right?"
"I thought coming was worth a shot," Sandage said with some humor. "I just want to say I'm sorry. I wronged you."
"You did," Rose replied, her tone flat. "Badly."
"I was being an idiot. You deserved better." Sandage said with total honesty. Rose's hostility softened somewhat, and she sighed and motioned for him to sit next to the lake's edge with her. The LUVOLT agent joined her in feeding the ducks.
They sat in silence, Rose fighting her conflicting emotions. What should she say? I forgive you for betraying me?
She stewed for several long moments before speaking again. "Look, I understand. Nobody would want to deliver that news." Rose's voice broke, her lip quavering. "That Vera's gone, replaced by a monster. But I'm not a child. You should have told me."
"Rose, you literally can't vote or even drive yet," Sandage smirked and fought back laughter as Rose scowled.
"You don't have to put it like that," Rose said, her temper flaring hot.
Sandage's expression became more serious. "And I couldn't bring myself to tell you. I wanted to preserve your innocence. You're too young to deal with a tragedy like this."
"My innocence?" Now he was treating her like a child.
"Stupid, I know. I care about you, Rose. It kills me every time you bring the Luyten V into battle. I should be the one risking my life in that pilot's seat, not you. You deserve better."
Rose wanted to argue, say how silly his worrying was. Sandage's earnest expression, however, stole the words from her mouth. He meant every word. The pain and guilt were evident all over his expression. While it still didn't excuse what he did, Rose found the grip on her anger slipping.
"Okay. But never do this again. Otherwise, I really will refuse to talk with you ever again."
"Fair," Sandage replied. "Can't argue with that logic."
"You really owe me," Rose said emphatically.
"Sure," Sandage said, resigned. "Another family dinner, then? My wife, Jocelyn, has been begging me to bring you over again. Joe wants to see you, too."
"Hmm, that might work." Rose had to admit Sandage's wife was an amazing cook, even better than her mom. "But this time my whole family comes. We don't have as many outings as we used to. Oh, and you also owe me plenty of ice cream."
"Fine, fine," Sandage said, laughing.
"Anyway, what did they decide?" Rose said, her mood souring. "About the fake Vera." She had an inkling of what they decided.
"Can't say I'm pleased about it, but we're using the Altair disguised as Vera as bait. For simplicity, we've designated her as Altair Pyrite."
Pyrite? As in fool's gold? How fitting. That imposter didn't deserve Vera's name. "Yeah." And the fake had seemed so real, basically indistinguishable from the real Vera. They'd had fun and even laughed together. Some part of Rose hated throwing Pyrite to the wolves. But why? The impostor wasn't the real Vera. Why were her emotions so knotted?
"I guess we have no choice. We need to stop Altair Beta." Rose said, resigned. Besides, arguing was pointless. The adults wanted to do this. They won't listen to someone who couldn't even drive.
"That part's still getting hashed out. But Prince Hallfar is pushing the plan for this weekend."
"That's only three days away!"
"I know. But General Kuiper agrees. Altair Beta poses too big a threat."
"Okay, I'm ready for some payback." Rose punched a fist into her hand. "Luyten V too, I imagine." For whatever reason, she sensed hatred against the Altair whenever she piloted the machine. It was subdued, but there. A question for the philosophers, Rose supposed. She hadn't a clue what it meant.
Rose's phone buzzed, interrupting their conversation. She glanced down at ither phone, her heart racing with excitement. "It's from Cecilia. She says she's landed in New York. Her next plane should land in Minneapolis in about three hours." Her town didn't have an airport.
"Perfect. Burbidge has been worried about her." Sandage released a heavy sigh. "Me too. The poor girl's been through a lot. If I'd known what would happen, she'd never set a foot in that stupid spaceship." As with Rose, he blamed himself whenever something bad happened to Cecilia. What a softie.
"Uh, may I come with? I'm sure she'd like to meet a friendly face."
"You remember it's a school night?" Sandage said, his tone disapproving.
"I'm still going," Rose said stubbornly.
"Okay," Sandage said, laughing. "We can both go. Cecilia has had a rough time. It'd be good if you're there."
"Thanks. I've been so worried about her." Cecilia had really liked Prince Imrele.
"Those Altair monsters—how dare they?" Rose thought, her anger so hot she wanted to smash anything nearby. They likely turned him into an imposter, too.
Sandage checked his watch. "We'd better be going soon, then. It's a long drive to the Cities."
"Okay, I'll text my mom about this." Rose's fingers were already tapping the message. She won't be happy about this sudden late-night excursion either, but she'd understand. This was too important. Cecilia needed her. She needed them both.
///
"How are you feeling?" Al-Kindī said as they entered the Minneapolis airport proper. The station was full of people, all conducting their affairs, arriving and departing. It was so crowded that Cecilia walked quickly to keep pace.
"Okay, I guess," Cecilia said, still green around the gills. It'd been an effort not to throw up on the plane. Unlike the alien craft she'd flown in early, this ride hadn't been nearly as smooth. Her escort gave her a sympathetic look. "Is there a car ready for us?"
Al-Kindī smiled at Cecilia's question. The reason soon became apparent as two familiar faces waved as they approached the street outside the airport.
"Rose?" Unexpected tears stung her eyes. What was wrong with her? But Cecilia didn't protest as her friend threw her a sudden hug.
"Of course I came," Rose replied after releasing the hug. "After everything, I had to. Mr. Sandage came too." For whatever reason, she shot the LUVOLT agent a sardonic look.
"Yeah, obviously. You can't drive." What had that been about? And Sandage's expression at Rose's comment was also strange. Cecilia decided she'd ask later.
"We have tons to talk about!" Rose gestured to the person accompanying Cecilia. "But who's this?"
"Esra Al-Kindī." The woman was short for an adult, almost head-height with the unusually tall Cecilia for her age. But Al-Kindī was well-built, her face used to hardship. "And you must be Rose." Al-Kindī shot Rose a welcoming smile.
"That's right," Rose smiled back.
"Joe Sandage." He clasped hands with Al-Kindī. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for watching over Cecilia. It's been a hard few days."
"My pleasure, Sandage," Al-Kindī replied. "The Turkish government assigned me to make sure she got home safely, though I wasn't expecting a welcoming committee. It pleases me to see Cecilia so loved."
"I don't know about that," Cecilia said, somewhat self-conscious. Still, her dour mood brightened somewhat. A dark cloud had hung over her since the incident, and she didn't realize how much she needed to see her friends. It threatened more tears, but she refused to break down, especially in public.
"Sorry you flew all this way, only to fly back," Rose said. "Are you staying for some sightseeing at least?"
"Apparently, she's my bodyguard now?" Cecilia supposed it made sense after what happened on the Ectutai ship, but it still seemed excessive. She wasn't that important.
"Really?" Rose said, surprised.
Sandage nodded. "The Turkish government already approved the transfer. Welcome to LUVOLT, Miss Al-Kindī."
"Makes sense. The Altair will probably come after her," Rose tapped her chin. "They'll want what's in your head, Cecilia."
"What?" Cecilia paled. Why would that be? Had the Altair somehow learned her secret?
"Yes, for humanity's sake, Cecilia must be protected at all costs." Al-Kindī's expression hardened. "I'll protect her with my life." She'd been a member of the Turkish Special Forces, from Cecilia's understanding.
"We can talk about this on the ride back home," Sandage said. "There's much to discuss."
"Right." Rose's expression darkened, drawing a curious glance from Cecilia.
The incident on the Velgr had changed everything. Prince Imrele was gone. Hallfar, too, most likely. And it was all her fault. Her vision had done nothing to fix anything. She quaked with pent-up emotion, barely keeping them under control, but a warm hand grabbed hers.
"I'm here, okay?" Rose said, squeezing tight.
Unable to speak, Cecilia nodded. She allowed her friend to pull her into a waiting van. Brown was driving. Once they got comfortable, they drove off, whileand Rose and Sandage caught her up on concurrent events.
///
"And he's really alive, not some Altair imposter?" Cecilia said, her tone skeptical. Of the current events, Rose's friend had the greatest difficulty swallowing this one. "They lost contact with him. They couldn't raise him on the comm at all!"
"The trash disposal unit has some thick walls. No signals can easily pierce them," Sandage said. "Lucky for him, the Altair cared more about achieving its objective than chasing him."
"TWas there was a trash compactor?" Rose had always really enjoyed that scene in Star Wars. "Were there any alien creatures inside?"
"It's awfully convenient," Cecilia said, interrupting Sandage's response to Rose's lighthearted query. "That was unusually quick thinking."
To this, Sandage only shrugged. "Prince Hallfar is a trained soldier. He's not afraid to get a little dirty for the sake of survival." Jumping into the waste area of a ship sounded revolting, but still better than dying in Rose's reckoning.
Rose put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "It was a lucky break. We've needed those, especially after what happened to Vera."
"Vera, replaced." Cecilia shook her head dumbly. "It's just crazy. How did this happen?" She tensed. "What if someone else in our class has been replaced?"
"They're all clean," Sandage said, voice sly. "The staff, too. We've been on it."
"Wait," A sudden thought occurred to Rose. "So that's why we had that weird, random physical?" The whole school had been required to do it. Many students had complained about it, especially about the seemingly needless blood-drawing part.
"Yep," Sandage replied. "We're not fools, Cecilia. We've been very careful about Altair infiltrators. I remind you to keep this secret. The public would cause a ruckus if this leaks."
"I can imagine." Cecilia's eyes lowered to her knees, her face tense.
Rose nodded. It'd cause a stir for sure. Still, she wondered how long this secret would remain under wraps. No secret lasted forever. Too many people knew about it. It'd break loose eventually. Rose only hoped people wouldn't panic too much.
"They could have easily gotten you, Rose," Cecilia said.
That was certainly true, but the Altair's cautiousness worked against them. She wondered if they were trying to glean Luyten V's secrets from her. Rose counted herself the world's third-best expert on the machine. She'd been observing its functions for many months. Whenever the support crew repaired the Luyten V, she'd always been there to watch the operation. Besides vTubers like Stella, she loved watching repair videos.
"Makes you wonder if they'll actually fall for our plan. It will obviously seem like a trap." In Rose's estimation, it seemed like a long shot.
"Yeah, that has me worried too," Sandage said, staring forward. "I fear Pyrite won't be enough to lure him out."
"Then we need better bait." But what, Rose wondered. She looked at Cecilia, but dismissed the sudden idea. No way, that'd be too dangerous.
"Uh, what?" Cecilia said after catching Rose's strange look.
"Don't worry about it," Rose replied. "It's a stupid plan."
"You have an idea?" Sandage asked. "There are no bad ideas here. Throw it out."
"Well…" Rose hesitated. She'd heard that advice before, too. Any idea was good if it created discussion, even if it was brain-dead stupid. A bad idea might become a good one later. "We can't! Cecilia might get hurt!" This really caught everyone's attention.
"We can't be certain the Altair know about Cecilia's special talent," Sandage said, considering. "But…"
"They took Prince Imrele; they must know." Somehow, the Alair stole memories when they copied a person. Otherwise, how was Pyrite able to perfectly fool everyone else in Vera's life, even her parents?
"Me as bait?" Cecilia said, alarmed.
"No, it's not happening. Forget I said anything!" Rose said, putting her foot down. She refused to allow her friend to get hurt.
"It's not a bad idea," Sandage hedged. "Pyrite and Cecilia together would be impossible to resist, even if it's an obvious trap. But you're right, it's too risky."
"I agree with Rose," Al-Kindī said. "Cecilia just became my charge. It'd be negligent on my part to allow her to be in danger."
"Forget it," Sandage said, sighing. "Pyrite will have to be enough. If they don't buy the bait, oh well."
"No!" Cecilia shouted, startling everyone. Brown almost lost control of the vehicle and careened into a truck. "I'll do it." Her voice was hard as steel, unmovable as a mountain.
"You can't be serious." Cecilia hated danger. Besides, that was Rose's job.
"To avenge Imrele, I'll risk anything." Cecilia's eyes blazed with anger. Her words were acidic. "Because of Altair Beta, my friend died. He will pay for that. Them and the rest of those Altair jerks."
"Cecilia," Rose had no other words. What could she say?
The adults were equally quiet. Finally, Sandage spoke. "We'll talk about it with General Kuiper and Prince Hallfar. I'm opposing the idea, but it's still an option. Everything needs to be considered. But don't worry, Rose. We'll make sure Cecilia isto kept from any serious danger."
When Rose heard this, she only scowled. She couldn't believe they were having this conversation.
"You are very brave, Cecilia," Al-Kindī said, squeezing her charge's hand.
"Not brave, angry." Cecilia squeezed her other hand so tight that crimson droplets dripped through her fingers. "They're laughing at us. About how they made us utter fools. Never again. They don't know who they've messed with."
"She wants revenge," Rose's heart sank.
It was hardly surprising. Cecilia had never lost anyone in her life before. Even though she only knew Prince Imrele for a couple of days, the wound ran deep. While Rose sympathized, she hated the Altair too; this sudden turn in Cecilia's turbulent mood seemed extreme. She'd never seen this ugly side in her friend before. She didn't like it. It set Rose's teeth on edge.
Rose spent the rest of the car trip in silence, stewing on this development. She wished she'd kept her stupid mouth shut. This could only end badly.