The interior airlock door slid open with a slight hiss. Pierce squared his shoulders and glided over the sill and into the Autumnal Sunrise with Archie right behind him. Castor and Pollux waited for him and Archie with identical grins.

“Welcome back aboard!” Castor said, his twin mouthing the words.

“And welcome in the flesh, so to speak, Archie!” Pollux said.

Pierce never got completely used to the fact that as one twin spoke, the other would soundlessly mirror the words.

“Thanks, guys. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting you two and the Sunrise to be our transport.” Pierce shook their hands warmly. He was surprised at how much he missed the twins. He hadn’t seen them much since Rho.

“You know the commander. He’s got plans inside plans and doesn’t say much about anything until he has to. What do you think of the craft, Archie?” Castor asked as they headed to the bridge, pulling themselves along the corridor. “I mean, in person?”

Archie had been uncharacteristically quiet during the shuttle ride over. Pierce had let her be, knowing the AI would say something when she felt ready. Now, she beamed at the twins. “I love it! And the upgrades you’ve had done. And here I thought the old model had been ready for anything.”

The twins laughed. “Yeah, that grumpy old cyborg has had this thing retrofitted a few times already. We actually had just taken her out for a shakedown when Lars contacted us with the new orders.”

The bridge looked as Pierce remembered it—right in the center of the spacecraft, with the pilots’ chairs, command chair, a few stations to run weapons and defenses, and hardscreens scattered around, all of them chock-full of scrolling data output.

Pierce snagged a handle as he came into the bridge while Archie ghosted along to come to a halt next to a console.

“Pierce McCoy, it’s been ages since I’ve seen you. And you are even more charming in real life, Archie, than on the holodisplay.” The man in the command chair seemed too large for the small space. Oscar smiled at the two newcomers.

“Oscar? You’re the captain?” Pierce hoped his jaw hadn’t dropped in surprise.

“Flattery, Captain?” Archie grinned in response. “Do go on.”

The captain laughed. It was a friendly, deep laugh that put both Pierce and Archie at ease.

“Commander Stockwell recruited me personally. He practically forced-marched me through Navy enlistment as an officer, due to my experience. The commander had Hannibal design and drive an accelerated course on getting me to a captain’s commission. I asked him why he didn’t pick an existing officer, and he just looked at me and said, ‘Because I trust you, and you are more than qualified to command this craft.’ After that, I had no choice but to go through the wringer and earn the position.” Oscar shook his head. “I don’t think I made many friends in the Navy doing that.”

“Stop being so glum, Captain Leventis,” Castor said as he settled into his pilot’s chair, the head and spine jacks making a distinctive clicking sounds as the chair pulled him in.

Pierce took a hard look at Oscar. “The lens implants are gone and you have a last name. What did Lars do to you?”

The captain broke into a laugh, his mood clearly brightening. “I already had a last name, and that’s not it. I didn’t need the lenses anymore. But let’s talk later. I need to lay in a course. We’ll be stopping by a supply satellite for gear and Archie’s newest shell. After a short layover, we’ll meet up with a Third Fleet recon team. Abacus will be joining us then, too.”

“Thanks, Captain. We’re going to get squared away before we start skipping.” Pierce took another look around the bridge before leaving with mixed emotions, Archie following along.

Stockwell’s new team had assembled in the conference room for the all-hands meeting, each picking their customary seats. Jones and Melissa sat on the left side, while Justinian, Hannibal, and Vogel took the right side, Vogel a good distance from the AI. Lars stood at the end, his hulking metal frame gleaming in the room’s lights.

The big hardscreen popped into life.

“Grandmaster Sophia Vargas,” Lars said.

“Commander Stockwell,” Vargas said with a slight tilt of her head. As usual, she was dressed to the nines. “I wish I could have met your team under different circumstances.”

“As do we.”

“Perhaps when this is all over. But down to business. While Legion hasn’t moved against us with their forces, they have unleashed propaganda. Just watch.” The Grandmaster’s image was replaced with a middle-aged man with short brown hair, graying on the sides. He looked like everyone’s favorite older uncle. He wore a simple tan suit, several years out of style. He had a concerned but still somehow neutral expression.

“Citizens, subjects, and anyone in the sound of my voice. I am a concerned citizen, like you. Like you, I can see what’s going on and I have doubts.” His tone was soft and caring. “Our leadership is weak. The so-called ‘Coalition’ is nothing more than a collection of grifters and power-mad military men. Think about it. Is there even a President or any sort of single leader in charge to see that the various factions are working for the good of mankind? No.” Here, he frowned. “No, indeed. Instead, they have councils where nothing is done but arguments and dissension. A cyborg bent on destruction, ignoring the needs of the less fortunate. AIs, cold and impersonal, building weapons of war. No one is looking out for you or me! Without strong leadership, we are adrift, a ship without a captain. Now, some have claimed Legion wants to destroy humanity. Nothing could be the furthest from the truth!” He smiled a gentle smile, warm and friendly. It set Lars’s teeth on edge. “Legion has been unfairly characterized as nothing more than mindless killers. I want to set the record straight, here and now. They want to provide leadership to all of humanity to help us into a bright new future! They want—”

“Enough,” Lars growled. The vid stopped and Vargas returned to the screen. The cyborg frowned. “Who is that?”

“He goes by the name Richard Saunders.”

“Oh, for crying out loud. I can’t tell if he’s pretentious or just mocking. Doesn’t matter. He and his supporters are going to foster civil unrest, if not outright civil war.”

“That’s the Guild’s take as well. We had already started our own pro-propaganda campaign before this dropped, centered mostly around Pierce and Archie. It’s bad timing that both of them are not available, but when they return with their friend—June, was it?—we can use that success as well.” Vargas paused for a second, debating something internally. “I wasn’t going to bring this up yet, but maybe we start a campaign with Abacus and Pierce as well. I know, it places Pierce at the center of both, and I wanted to hold off on touting our AIs’ fighting capabilities until we had the popular sentiment numbers up for Archie as a household idol name. Unfortunately, circumstances are dealing us a different hand.”

Lars nodded slowly, chewing over the idea. “Alright, I can see that. After they get back—”

“Oh, I have enough material to work with as is, Commander. We won’t be doing talk show tours or press conferences, just infoblurts and bumper segs between trending vids. Something short with some details and a tag of ‘AIs working alongside of us to ensure the future of Humanity’ sort of thing.”

Lars grunted. He felt bad for Pierce. The kid didn’t like the spotlight as it was now, this will make things ten times worse. “Fine.”

“Fantastic! We can push against the negative sentiment trends with this. It won’t be a cure-all, of course, but doing nothing would be worse.”

“I’ll have the AIs work on projections for civil unrest,” Lars stated.

Hannibal stood up. “Pardon me, but we just finished our initial analysis. It is not good. Not absolute disaster, but there are at least two key locations on each planet that have a better than average chance of experiencing problems. If enough flash-points trigger, we will have a domino effect on our hands. If that happens, it could easily spill into civil wars. We are not ready to move the population to secure locations.”

Everyone looked at each other.

“This is what Legion does,” Lars said grimly. “They find weaknesses and cracks and hit them hard until something gives.”

Vargas nodded. “Reach out to me when you have some plans formulated.” She signed off.

Lars looked at his small team. “Jones, you and Melissa need to get moving on your parts.”

“Already going, but you’re right, we need to be there now,” Jones said as Melissa nodded.

“Good. Vogel, you up for some domestic terrorist hunting? Legion is going to hit us hard in those locales the AIs pinpointed, at the very least. Blow some buildings up, kill innocents, claim it’s because we are too weak.”

“I’ll cut off every serpent head,” Vogel promised. “I, uh, can I use the AIs for analysis and predictions? I have to admit, they’re better than the Expert Systems I have access to.”

“Of course. Hannibal?”

“It would be my pleasure, Colonel.”

“Justinian, send one of your Templars to Pierce and Archie. Also, it’s time to start coordinating with General Lee.”

The monk laughed and slapped the table. “We might lose to those monsters, but by God we’ll make them pay every step of the way!”

“If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you’re enjoying this.”

“I’m invigorated, Lars! A battle like this? Once in an eon. And we’re here to take the bull by the horns and acquit ourselves with honor in the service of humanity and God? The angels will sing about us, win or lose!”

Lars smiled in spite of himself. “Sounds like we have a plan. Go with God, each one of you.”

“Amen!”

Five days later, the Autumnal Sunrise and three ships from the Third Fleet dropped back into normal space near the last sighting of the Enclave’s asteroid home. Their location was well before the gravity shell boundary.

Pierce’s conference included all four crafts’ officers. The Sunrise’s bridge was a little tight with him, Captain Leventis (he still hadn’t told Pierce his real last name), the twins, and Archie, but he didn’t want to broadcast from the mess room for appearance’s sake. The Enclave asteroid spun lazily in the holotank while the bridges of the other ships filled the flatscreens. Captain LeCroix commanded the Forrester, Captain Wheeler the Santa Maria, and Captain Hawken the Refulgent.

“We’re about six hours at ten G’s from the asteroid. Abacus is taking a small recon probe out to confirm. The asteroid field isn’t too thick around here, making navigation a lot easier. We’ll position in front of the main entrance with the Forrester, while the Refulgent and the Santa Maria take up positions twenty degrees above and forty degrees below our plane and halfway around the asteroid, each fifteen degrees off the axis. Abacus will command a swarm around the circumference. Nothing gets in and nothing gets out without us knowing about it. Captain LeCroix, over to you.” Pierce had rehearsed his part a dozen times until Archie gave her approval. He had given many briefings, and yet he always felt on edge and under-prepared.

“Thank you, McCoy.” The Captain’s image took center screen. LeCroix was a middle-aged man, his hair just starting to thin and gray, but the steel glint in his eyes showed the captain still owned his position. “This is foremost a diplomatic mission. If at all possible, we are to negotiate the release of June to our custody. You’ve all been briefed on her role on Rho, and she’s the Bandit’s friend, making her a priority.”

Pierce hoped no one noticed him blushing at that. He didn’t know what caused him the most discomfort, being referred to as his nickname, or the gravity the captain placed on his association with June.

“Should negotiations turn sour, Supreme Commander Stockwell has authorized us to do whatever we deem necessary to rescue her. We have the full support of the Coalition on this. Ground approach will be two eight-man teams. McCoy and Archie are attached to Alpha. Alpha will have a Templar from the Order of Saint Demetrius with them,” LeCroix continued.

“If Legion has a hold, we pull out and incinerate the entire colony.” Pierce cut in. “Complete eradication.” He could see the other officers looked a little taken aback. “That is not negotiable.” It was one thing to engage Legion in space, it was a whole different matter dealing with them on the ground. Pierce wasn’t going to let those demons get anyone else in their claws.

There was an uncomfortable pause.

“Any other questions?” LeCroix asked.

“What if Legion attacks while we have men on the asteroid?” Captain Hawken asked.

“Evac under cover fire. Abacus, I believe that’s your assignment?”

“Yes, Captain. Between all the ships, I have access to ten fighters. Unless Legion brings an entire fleet, I can hold them off long enough for an emergency evac.”

Sure wish you were flying with me, Abacus said over their private channel. But I understand. June’ll be expecting you, not some joker from the 3rd fleet.

Same here. Just thinking about a repeat of Rho makes my blood run cold. But no way I’ll leave her here.

Cheer up, Pierce, this time you have me in this shell and Abacus buzzing about like a nervous hen! Archie said with a laugh.

Abacus hurmpfed.

“What about the witches, sir? I mean, the ones not June,” an officer from the Santa Maria asked. Pierce had heard the men calling the Enclave ‘witches’ before now. He hadn’t thought much about it, but the name did make sense.

“I know how we all feel about the transhumanists. But regardless of their treatment of their own bodies, the Church Council has declared them to be still human, even if they have confused superstitions about what it means to be human, and so diplomacy first. If they attack, you have the right to defend yourself and your brothers, as the situation warrants.”

“I’m wondering about the chain of command?” one of the other lieutenants asked.

“You mean regarding McCoy?”

“Yes, sir.”

“He’s to handle negotiations and threat assessment. Think of him as adjunct from another unit. Standard CoC.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Anything else?”

“Nanomachines to track our teams?”

The captain shook his head. “Not enough resources. None of our ships can print them, and this is just a minor mission. Command didn’t see that it was worth it.”

No one else spoke up.

“Alright then. Each section chief will go over the details with their teams. Communication is limited to emergency only until we reach our positions. Dismissed.”

There wasn’t much to do until they were in position. The full force of ten G’s kept the humans in their acceleration chairs.

Archie chatted with Pierce and with the twins over the internal communications. Pierce could tell she was feeling nervous. Her new shell looked much like her others, same height and basic build—if more bulky than normal. Archie was wearing a plain white jumpsuit with blue highlights, and her black hair pulled back in a ponytail. Pierce thought she looked adorable.

“If it’s any help, I’m tense about this whole thing, too,” Pierce told her.

Archie smiled at him. “Thanks. On Rho, I had to stay on the sidelines for the most part. This time, though.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what to feel. Or worry about first.” She blew out a sigh. “The good news is this combat shell has been working within spec so far. It feels a little odd, though. I have to watch my strength and it feels heavier. And before you say anything, it felt heavier than before we accelerated.”

“I noticed you have been looking a little, uh, stockier,” Pierce said as tactfully as he could. He remembered how sensitive his mother and sisters had been about their weight. Until Legion—Pierce cut off that thought and pushed down a lump in his throat.

“You calling me fat?” Archie said with mock indignation.

“No! Just more, uh, robust.” Pierce was grateful to think about anything else.

“I’m kidding, Pierce. Yeah, this shell has more mass from much denser materials than my others. Those were designed for me to move around on stage. This one,” her face turned hard, “this one is for pounding anyone in our way.”

“Easy there, bruiser. I’m hoping we can get in and out without much fuss.”

“Oh, you’re a fine one to talk with the whole,” Archie changed her voice to match Pierce’s for a second, “’Complete eradication’ thing you had going on.”

“Okay, okay, you got me there!” Pierce smiled as he held up one finger in surrender, fighting against gravity. “But, really,” he said somberly.

“I understand,” Archie said quietly. She laid a hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Geez, way to sour the mood you two. We’ll get June out of whatever mess she got herself into and it’ll be fine. You’ll see.

I hope you are right, Abacus, Pierce responded with a sigh. But what makes you think June is in a mess?

You did meet her, yeah? Spend time with her in Rho? Traveled with her? Girl has a knack of getting into trouble.

Pierce frowned as he thought back. It’s not like any of it was her fault.

Abacus laughed. Didn’t say that, just that she has a real talent of finding herself in the middle of something crazy.

True. Let’s hope it’s not as bad as Rho.

Hoping and praying, Pierce.

The time went by not quite quickly enough for Pierce but soon they had navigated their spacecraft into position.

Pierce and Abacus were on the bridge as the Sunrise slid into her position.

“Still no response on any of the channels?”

“Nothing, Captain. Heat signatures indicate the asteroid is active. No exterior lights reported,” Pollux responded. “Aside from the thermal activity it looks like any other rock out here.”

“Copy that. Pierce, all yours.”

Pierce patched into the communications system. “We repeat, this is the Coalition craft Autumnal Sunrise. We have taken position around the Enclave with hope of establishing honest communication with you, especially in regard to June. In one hour’s time, if we haven’t heard anything, we will send down a landing party under the assumption that you need help. Please respond.”

“Perfect, we’ll just loop this every five minutes,” the captain said. “All ships, we maintain this position for one hour. If there has been no response, we’ll send Alpha and Beta down to investigate.”

The hour passed at a snail’s pace. With fifteen minutes remaining, Pierce and Abacus left the bridge to ready themselves. Team Alpha had already assembled on the Forrester. The shuttle was to dock with the Sunrise and pick them up before heading to the main airlock.

Pierce donned his armored vacc suit. It was similar enough to the one he used on Rho that he didn’t struggle much with it. He couldn’t help but admire the deep gray with the gold filigree along the edges done in alternating stylized crosses. Blackoak had stepped up their game with these.

“Ready?” he asked Archie.

“Ready.”

Pierce sealed his helmet and entered the small airlock with Archie right behind. He waited until it cycled with the usual fanfare of flashing red lights and an alarm that stopped as soon as the air was flushed out of the chamber.

“McCoy,” the suit radio buzzed, “the shuttle is in position.”

“I see you,” Pierce transmitted, his HUD lighting up with details about the shuttle. “Launching now.” He positioned himself in the opening and then launched himself toward the shuttle. Archie waited thirty seconds then followed.

No matter how many times he had done it over the past few years, jumping between ships always made his stomach twist up in knots as he floated in the vast emptiness of space, one minuscule speck between equally insignificant specks.

“Forty seconds out.”

His worst nightmares of dying were either the hands of Legion, or floating lost until his air ran out. “Twenty-five seconds.”

Amazing how time could come to an absolute crawl. The shuttle was a big square block. It looked new. The white paint still looked in pristine shape, no visible scarring. Pierce could have sworn it took an eternity to get close to it.

The airlock was open as he approached. Holding onto an outside rung, a tethered figure waited to help him. “Three, two, one… contact.”

The sailor helped Pierce swing into the airlock where he snagged a rung and waited for Archie. She came sailing in shortly after with a grin on her face.

The airlock cycled and Pierce broke the helmet seal with a hiss. The inner door opened and he floated into the small room on the other side.

“Welcome aboard, sir. I’m Lieutenant Jackobson. I’m in command of Alpha.” The other man extended his hand.

Pierce shook it, sizing him up. The lieutenant was young, only a few years older than Pierce, but he carried himself like he knew what he was doing. His high-and-tight haircut showed he was starting to bald, his blonde hair already almost a memory. His blue eyes were sharp and missed nothing.

“Thank you, Lieutenant. It’s good to be aboard.”

The lieutenant shook Archie’s hand next. “Can I get an autograph from both of you? My girls are huge fans of Archie, and well, it’s not every day the Borderland Bandit is on my ship.”

Pierce felt warm again. He wondered if he’d ever get used to this sort of attention.

“Of course!” Archie bubbled. “Anything for fans!”

The lieutenant broke into a grin.

“After we rescue June,” Pierce said firmly. He could just see him having to sign autographs for the rest of the trip.

“Roger that, sir. The rest of the team is waiting.”

Jackobson led them into the interior. Everyone else was already in their acceleration chairs.

“Team Alpha, Pierce and Archie. Pierce, Alpha is composed of two naval officers, Ensign Braddock and Ensign Poundstock, two Marines, Corporal Shaw and Corporal Hopwood, and Templar Basil, who is on assignment from the Order of Saint Demetrius.”

Each of the men nodded as they were introduced.

Braddock and Poundstock could have been brothers, both of the same basic build and coloring, brown hair, blue eyes with Braddock being taller while Poundstock was more bulky.

Shaw was shorter than the others, with a slight squint in his left eye. He frowned at Archie as he didn’t know what to think about her.

Hopwood was the tallest with wavy dishwater blonde hair and a wide smile.

The Templar reminded Pierce of Lars in some way he couldn’t quite pin down. Maybe it was how he carried himself.

Pierce and Archie strapped themselves into the open chairs as the lieutenant kept talking.

“Insertion is in three minutes. So far, we haven’t seen any countermeasures but we’re coming in hot anyway, in any case. After touchdown, the corporals will secure the starboard side, the ensigns the port. We’ll exit after Templar Basil is in his armor—“

“I couldn’t fit in the chair with it on,” Basil explained to Pierce, craning his head around to look at him. The Templar was clearly the oldest of them all. His graying light-brown hair and craggy face spoke of his experience.

“—and then we’ll head inside. Gravity gens are still running, we’ll be at oh-point-eight standard. Standard radio encryption, voice construction when needed. Remember: ask questions first, second, and third before shooting. Our goal is to locate and secure June, then exfil the same way. Once we have June, Beta will run point to get us out. Both shuttles will meet us here. Standard VIP extraction and protection detail. Questions?”

“What if it all goes pear-shaped?”

“Good question, Shaw. We scrub the mission, regroup and get out. Priority shifts to Pierce and Archie, keeping them safe. Anything else?”

“I know this is a diplomatic mission, sir, but I’m not all that comfortable going into witch territory,” Braddock said.

“Neither am I, Braddock, that’s one reason we have a Templar with us. Father Justinian assured Command that Basil is the right man for this job.”

“How much protection does the AI need?” Shaw asked, staring at Archie.

She grinned. “I’ll be fine!”

“Doesn’t matter, Shaw, she’s under our protection and that’s all you need to know,” barked Jackobson.

No one said anything after that.

“Good. We’re two minutes out now. Hang on.”

The shuttle’s main engine rumbled the entire ship as they jumped to three G’s for a solid thirty-second burn, then nothing as the ship flipped. The reverse thrust briefly pinned Pierce against his harness. They hit with a slight thump.

“Go! Go! Go!” shouted Jackobson.

They all slammed down their helmets as the air was forced out. Archie watched with interest.

The Navy and Marine men spilled out of the shuttle, grabbing rifles as they exited.

As Pierce grabbed his assigned rifle and approached the exit with Archie, Templar Basil bounded to the back of the ship, past Pierce’s line of sight. Pierce and Archie stacked up behind the lieutenant on the port side. Pierce held his rifle with the barrel pointed down.

“Exiting craft!” Jackobson hopped out next to the ensigns with Pierce and Archie close behind. “Moving to entrance.”

Templar Basil was waiting as they rounded the back of the ship. The battle suit was stunning, a real work of art. The etchings were inlaid with gold and semi-precious stones. A resplendent Phos Zoe cross adorned his chestplate.

“Good to go, Lieutenant,” the Templar said over the radio, tapping his chest.

“Alright, move out. Hopwood, take point. Shaw, Braddock, you take the munitions packs.”

“Copy.”

The team moved as one with Pierce and Archie in the center. Shaw and Braddock were on opposites of each other, each with a substantial backpack strapped on.

Pierce, did you notice the exterior defenses are completely shut down? Archie asked Pierce over their private channel.

Yeah, and I have no idea what that means.

The spacious main entrance was under an overhang of rock. The hangar doors were wide open. Corporal Hopwood led the team inside, rifle up and sweeping his angles. There were no craft inside the hangar. There were bays for a dozen smaller spacecraft inside, but now just debris was scattered around.

“Shades of Rho,” Pierce muttered to himself.

The team moved to the outer airlock. Hopwood pressed his palm against the panel. Nothing happened.

“Locked, sir.”

Let me try, Archie said over the voice construct.

Hopwood moved out of the way.

Basic security on the network, give me a second to… got it.

The airlock silently opened outwards.

“Hopwood, Shaw, Poundstock, Templar Basil, you four move in first and secure the other side.”

“Copy, sir.”

Pierce gritted his teeth. This was taking too long. They hadn’t learned a thing as to what’s going on, or anything about June. He clenched and unclenched his fist.

Don’t worry, Pierce, we’ll figure this out. Archie said reassuringly.

Pierce didn’t respond. He just stared at the airlock as if he could will himself through it. He offered a silent prayer. Lord, if it be Your will, help us help June.

Two months earlier.

June had nothing but time on her hands. The cell was tucked away deep in the bowels of the asteroid, behind the Security sector. She woke up in there and hadn’t seen anyone since. All her meals were delivered by a slot and in pill form. No clock, no way of telling time.

White walls. White ceiling. White floor. White sheets on a white bed. She was even wearing a white jumper with white slippers.

The water closet was a tiny room with a shower head right over the toilet. When she used it, the bed sheets were changed and fresh clothes laid out.

June knew this was part of a torture regimen. Standard practice, the girls had rudimentary class activities learning the basics as part of their schoolwork. The monotony and isolation would break down resilience. Often, if left alone long enough, it would drive someone mad. June, for better or worse, had some experience in being tortured. Since she woke up she had been scratching out a count of the days onto her bed frame using her nail. It was slow going and mostly guesswork based on her own biorhythm. At least it was something to keep her busy. June couldn’t find any sort of vidcam in her cell. She doubted they’d leave her without having some way of checking in on her, if for no other reason to assess how she was responding.

The meal pills were drugged. June’s own system had been tuned to filter out a wide variety of drugs, but not everything. She had no doubt the Sisters knew just which ones would slip past her screening process. At least, they knew before she had tinkered around when her doubts started to creep up on her. Still, June felt sluggish and in a slight mental fog. Down, but not out. Not eating them would be worse; slightly drugged was better than being weak from hunger.

June’s thoughts kept turning back to dark paths. She had hoped the Sisters would merely slap her hand and make her do community service for her transgressions. But being locked in the cell like this made her think a much more serious form of punishment now awaited her. Not death, she would never have woken up if that had been the case. But it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

June estimated she had been in solitary for about a week. The whole time she didn’t see even the faintest sign from her captors. Then the cell door slid open.

The Matron of Questions stood in the doorway, flanked by two Huntresses in hooded robes.

June immediately dropped to her knees and bowed her head. The Matron smelled sour.

“Rise, child.”

June did so with the proper hangdog expression, studying the floor.

“Oh, don’t think I don’t know you are just playing the part,” the Matron snapped.

June shrugged resignedly and lifted her head to stare at the Matron. “What do you want?”

The Matron walked inside without a sound. She grabbed June’s chin and twisted her head back and forth. June didn’t resist, she couldn’t if she wanted to, the Matron was too strong. The Matron’s fingers were frigid and unyielding, like iron claws.

“What I want, child, is to find out what’s inside your head.” She twisted June’s head to look at her. June stared back into ice-blue eyes. “You may leave us.” The two Huntresses melted away.

“I’ve already been through torture at the hands of Legion, Matron. I don’t want to do that again. Ask me anything and I’ll tell you.”

The smile was cold and cruel. “Oh, you misunderstand, I don’t want to do this for just information, I want to do this for my own amusement.”

June smiled. Everything clicked into place. That was the last thing she needed to hear to understand her own role in the Enclave. “Thank you for that, Matron.” She pulled out the fingernail she had just stabbed into the side of the other woman.

The Matron’s eyes went wide as the poison raced through her system, shutting down organs and burning out her nervous system.

“You see,” June explained for no particular reason, “I’ve always wondered what I’d do if the Enclave turned on me for not fitting in. I knew how you’d search me, what chemicals you’d inject to suppress my own responses. So this was my last resort. Something you wouldn’t know how to look for.”

The lights went out in the Matron’s eyes as her breathing slowed and stopped. June grabbed the Matron’s head, and with a burst of energy, twisted her neck with a sharp crack to make sure she was dead. Tears welled in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. Survival first. That’s what Rho had taught her.

In seconds, June stripped the dead woman of anything of value and donned her robes. The pharms she had were limited, but a few in combination would flush her system of most of the drugs, given enough time.

June paused on the door’s threshold and looked back at the dead body of the Matron. She crossed a line she’d never be able to take back. June took a deep breath and shut the door behind her, making sure the lock was engaged. Since no one had raced down to see why the Matron had collapsed, June assumed the cell wasn’t being watched, at least not right now. She had to take advantage of that.

The corridor was dim and rough, carved out of the rock and only developed enough to support life. June walked down it, trying to look like the slightly taller Matron she had just killed. Part of her was still amazed that had worked. The Sisters were always so thorough. Then again, June realized with a shock, she was a full heretic. The Enclave hadn’t dealt with a heretic for generations. Girls who need some help adjusting or even looking to leave for good didn’t sneak around sending coded messages to AIs before killing a Matron.

June rubbed her temples, trying to think of what to do next. She would be a wanted woman as soon as the body was discovered. The Enclave had places to hide out, but they’d be short lived with the entire asteroid after her. The only thing left was to get to the main hangar, steal a craft, and make a break for the inner worlds.

With nothing left to lose, June adjusted her new robes, breathed in, and headed down the rough corridor to the main security area. There was no way for her to do any sort of facial transformation to look like the former Matron. June’s system was still awash with competing drugs to make any sort of attempt at transformations or shapeshifting.

The security sector was only lightly staffed as a general rule. The Enclave didn’t have much in the way of even petty crimes. June expected maybe one or two sisters at the front desk with maybe a few in the offices. She didn’t expect to enter the main area and find Mags and Becky waiting for her.

“June!” Mags threw her arms around her in a hug. “We were so worried!”

“You did it, didn’t you?” Becky said in a small voice, looking at the robes.

Mags pushed off and took a look at her friend. “Becky is right, isn’t she?”

“I, uh, you two need to get away from me, now!” June snapped. “They’ll blame you just as readily for what I did.” She wanted to sob but instead she glared at the two other girls.

Margaret touched June’s face gently. “I understand.” She looked at Becky. The other girl nodded and dashed over to the control panel embedded in the main desk. She worked the controls for a second. June could hear the main door swing close with a click and hum.

“We’re locked in for now,” Becky said. “If anyone shows up I can stall them for awhile. Why don’t you catch June up?”

Mags took June’s hand and led her over to chairs in the waiting zone. She helped the other girl sit down before she sat and moved the chair to face June.

“What I’m going to tell you is just what I’ve been able to put together over the past two weeks while you were being held here.”

“Two weeks?” June was taken aback. Something in the drugs must have messed more with her sense of time than she had thought.

Mags nodded. “The first week, I was going out of my mind trying to track down what had happened to you. None of the Matrons told us anything. They refused to answer any of my questions or even let me go looking for you. That’s when I decided you had to be locked up. The first time I showed up here, only one Sister was at the desk and she promptly turned me away. I came back after dinner, but then there were more Sisters and a Huntress here. They told me to leave and never come back. The Hunter suggested I should forget you ever existed. I was crushed. I tried to take enough pinks to forget, but I ended up getting sick and throwing them up.”

“That’s where I come in,” Becky said brightly from over by the main desk. “I heard her tossing her cookies in the bathroom and thought I should help whoever it was.”

“I was a mess,” Mags admitted.

“After I got Mags cleaned up and calmed down, I asked her what was the matter.”

“And I told her everything I knew.”

“Then something clicked. June, I had been asked by the Pod Matron, the Mental Health Matron, and the Purity Matron to discreetly pry into your life to see what you were doing. At the time, I agreed, not thinking much of it. Why should I even question what three separate Matrons had asked me to do? I followed you, June, and spied, and dug into your things when you weren’t around. I am so sorry!”

“I… there’s nothing to forgive, Becky. No one would have done anything different.”

“Nonsense! You would have, June,” Mags said firmly.

Becky nodded. “I was giving weekly reports for a while before even I figured it out.”

“Figured what out?” June asked.

“You weren’t fitting in. At all. Oh, sure, you were doing your best to fake it. Most of the girls just thought you were a little odd after your Ritual and needed some time to adjust.” Becky tapped a few buttons on the desk. “Hold on… Maintenance just asked about the door. I sent a generic troubleshooting error code which should keep them happy for now.” She looked over the console to double-check. She nodded, please with the readouts. “Even I could tell that you were heading toward some sort of nasty collapse.”

“Maybe even Expulsion!” Mags squeezed June’s hand. “I couldn’t let them kick my best friend out. So after we talked we tried to figure out what was making you so off.”

“And it wasn’t you, June. It was Legion. None of the Matrons were taking Legion seriously. You were, and that was driving a wedge between you and the Enclave. And that scared me. The Matrons were more interested in digging up dirt on you than planning how to deal with Legion. I know, I asked, and they told me Legion wasn’t a major concern. They acted like Legion was just a minor problem that would pass on. It seemed only you knew just how bad Legion really was.”

Margaret was nodding while Becky spoke.

June could only sit there with her mouth slightly agape. She had a million questions swirling through her head, but she couldn’t formulate anything into actual words.

“Since Becky was still in the Matrons’ favor, she asked them if she needed to keep spying on you. While she was doing that, I came down here again to see if I could get any more information from anyone.”

“I was told you weren’t going to be a problem much longer. The Matron of Questions had been tasked to break you, one way or another,” Becky continued.

“So it was clear we had to get you out right away. We decided you were seeing things better than anyone in charge and breaking you would be, well, wrong. I guess you did rub off on me!” Mags said with another of her rare laughs. “Imagine me thinking something was right or wrong before!”

“We decided the best time would be when the Matron was here,” Becky continued. “Everyone would be focused on you, we hoped, and they’d bring you out first.”

“It was a simple matter to give everyone posted here a slight case of delayed food poisoning. No one thinks to examine everything they eat or drink. We waited outside as soon as we heard the Matron was down here to see you. Then, when the two Huntresses left, we simply walked in with the right scent to trigger a violent response in the Sisters’ digestive tracts. Becky offered to take over and the Sister in charge agreed as she fled in a hurry.”

“We were still trying to figure out what to do next, when you showed up without the Matron and wearing her robes, and that could mean only one thing.”

“You did her in,” Mags stated matter-of-factly. “And one more problem was gone.”

June started shaking her head. “No, Mags, what I did, how I did it, I’m not just a problem, I’m a Heretic.”

The other two looked at each other. Something seemed to pass between the girls.

“Yes, and we are your disciples,” Mags smiled as she said it.

“Don’t be stupid! You’ll be killed or worse! You don’t have to do anything else, just let me go and say I slipped past you or something.”

“Nothing doing. You are the only one who understands Legion and what a threat they are to all of us. We want to take our chances with you,” Mags said firmly while

Becky nodded.

June groaned. “This is crazy!” She sank further into her chair and put her head in her hands. “Do you know what this will mean?”

“We’ll have to get away from the Enclave before we are captured or killed,” Mags said calmly, as if she was planning a casual group activity.

“They’ll purge our DNA from the archives. We’ll never have existed to the Sisters,” Becky said sadly. “But better than being a puppet for Legion. I listened to everything you said about them, June, and what you didn’t say. I believe you and I don’t want to end up in their hands.” She shuddered.

Mags nodded. “We’ve also been picking up transmissions from the inner planets. They are seriously worried about Legion, too. I… ugh, I almost can’t even think this way, but I don’t trust the Matrons on this.”

June groaned again. “If you two are sure?”

Both nodded.

June sighed. “Let me think. We need to get out of here. The security sector is a fine defensive position, but we’ll be trapped here. I was heading to the main hangar anyway, I’m sure we can find something for the three of us. Hey, what pharms do you all have?”

The other two turned out their pouches. June picked through the mix, ignoring the pinks completely.

“Thanks, I’m still trying to flush out my system. The healing mantra is useless right now. Too many weird combinations in my system right now. These should help.” June tossed the selected pills back and swallowed.

Becky clapped her hands excitedly and beamed. “Great! Let’s grab stunners and get moving!”

The three of them equipped themselves with the standard stunners—short staves with enough juice to knock out even a shifted Sister.

“Should be enough even for Sybil,” Becky said as she swung the stave. She sounded pleased.

“Now what?” Mags asked June.

“Um,” June said wisely. What would Lars do? Go in guns blazing with a squad of men. June didn’t have that option. “I’ll keep the robes on.” That sounded good. She’d pass for a Matron unless someone stopped and talked to them. “What if you two follow me looking penitent?”

“Ok, yeah, that could work.”

“Alright. Just be ready to hit someone.”

Becky unlocked the door and the three of them left security without a backward glance. June led the two others imitating a Matron as best as she could. She really wished she could modify her vocal cords at least. The drugs in her system were still too strong to let her do anything. They rounded a corner on the way to the hangar when June stopped in her tracks as she realized something. The other two came to a quick stop behind her.

“What is it?” hissed Mags, nervously.

June turned to face the other two, making sure they were alone. “I can’t shift. Or do much of anything. If things go bad, I want you to shapeshift and run. Leave me, I’m a dead girl walking as it is.”

The other two exchanged meaningful glances.

“Don’t be stupid, June. We’re in this with you, no matter what.”

Becky nodded.

June adjusted her hood to cover her emotions.

“Alright,” she said, trying not to break down completely. “Let’s go.”

They resumed their march into a major thoroughfare that led to the main hangar. It was an odd time of the standard cycle. It was late enough that most of the Sisters had retired from their work, but early enough the night shift hadn’t really started.

June was just settling into her Matron walk when in front of them a row of bright lights kicked on with a thump and a whine.

“June! Surrender! You are in violation of Enclave law for the murder of a Matron and for impersonating her!” A voice boomed out. “Lay down with your fingers interlocked behind your head!” The lights obscured who was talking.

They are afraid of me, June thought to herself. They want to make this into a big show to make them look stronger than me.

“No,” June said without much strength. She was afraid of them, too. She took a breath. “No!” she said again with more conviction and force than before. “I’m leaving before Legion makes us all their puppets!”

She was more afraid of Legion than all the Matrons and Sisters, and even the Matriarch combined. They might take her apart and kill her, but all that paled to what Legion would do to her soul. In this moment, under stresses she had never experienced, she knew what was her greatest fear and what kept her apart from the rest of the Enclave. She glanced back at Margaret and Becky. Their faces were pale, yet neither seemed ready to back down.

“You poor delusional child. You will be punished for harboring such thoughts and for leading others astray.” The Matriarch Mother stepped into the light, her features obscured except for her silhouette. Her voice, normally level and controlled, was cold with a tinge of anger. It was a disquieting combination.

“No,” June said again. “I’m leaving and whoever wants to come with me can.”

“Oh, and you think we can’t stop you?”

“I know you can. But you won’t.”

“Humor me. Why wouldn’t we do that?”

“Because you don’t know how I killed the Matron of Questions. You don’t know if I can do it again. The safest thing is to let me go.” June bluffed with all she had.

The Matriarch laughed. It was a cold, cruel laugh. “I can’t wait to pull you apart and see what made you tick. You think I haven’t done this before? That you are the first heretic in many ages? No, and you’ll end up the same as the others. Or maybe I’ll give you to Legion. They have expressed a great deal of interest in you. I’m sure handing you over would sweeten our deal with them.”

“You can’t! You wouldn’t!” June gasped.

“Not only can I, now I certainly will. And maybe I’ll toss in those two cowering behind you.”

Something snapped in June. The ultimate betrayal slammed into her like a rockslide. Feeling out of place was one thing; discovering her mother was plotting with her worst enemy, ready to hand June and her sisters over to them without a tinge of remorse was something else.

A low growl started deep in her throat. June started seeing red. Her heart was beating so hard and loud she was surprised it didn’t drown out all other sounds in the corridor.

“You think you can take me on, child? I know what drugs we pumped into you. It’s taking all you have to even stand. You can’t—” June lunged, her body rippling into her shifted form, covering the distance between them in seconds. She felt two darts hit her, fired from the Huntresses’ blowguns, but they had no effect—her blood neutralizing the drugs. Her vision shifted, muting the lights, showing heat sources. Six Huntresses, a dozen Matrons and Sisters were poised behind the lights. June didn’t hesitate. Her claws slashed down at the Matriarch with all her strength.

The Matriarch slipped aside, her eyes wide from shock. “Impossible!”

June attacked with all her fury, lips pulling back into a constant snarl, saliva dripping from her muzzle, fur bristling. Aside from her rage, she hadn’t felt a thing. Nothing hurt when she had shifted. She wasn’t even sure how she’d shifted. It didn’t matter—she had one thing on her mind: kill the Matriarch.

The Matriarch nimbly avoided June’s onslaught. After the initial shock, she regained her composure and poise, even if June’s attacks were keeping her on the defense.

She thought she could keep out of the maddened girl’s reach long enough for the tranquilizers to work. Skipping backward and side to side, the Matriarch stayed just out of reach of June’s claws.

This was getting tiresome, the Matriarch thought, trying to find an opening.

“I’ll kill you!” howled June in a thundering rage.

The Matriarch narrowed her eyes. There. She halted, dug in her back foot, and struck faster than even June could respond. She landed an open-palm strike against June’s abdomen.

June was blasted backward like she had been hit by a meteorite. She twisted in midair to land on all fours, gasping for breath. Something was ruptured inside her; she felt like her insides were on fire. June wrestled with the pain as the Matriarch stared down at her.

“Now do you understand, child? You won’t win this. Even with that surprise you pulled out of Darwin knows where.” June spat out blood.

“Already, your systems can’t take the strain. Without the proper chemicals and drugs, you will fall apa—”

June shut her out and focused on catching her breath and healing. She could feel her insides knitting back together. She ignored the Matriarch completely, trying to think of way out of this mess.

Two Huntresses sprang at her at the Matriarch’s order, pulling out long knives. June could see the poison coating the blades. The Matriarch said something else June ignored.

The Huntress on June’s right reached her first. June’s claws sliced off the arm holding the knife, shredding through flesh and bone like tissue paper. Her next slash tore the Huntress open, dropping her.

The second Huntress stopped and shifted into a massive gorilla. She roared and beat her chest, muscles rippling. Four more darts hit June while she was unsteadily assessing her opponent. Her skin turned necrotic where they struck, but her blood halted the poison’s spread. June wasn’t sure how much more she could take.

Suddenly, June was grabbed from behind. Before she could do anything, she was being dragged away at a high speed, the grip on her strong but gentle. She tried to squirm free. The Matriarch and her supporters receded in a blur.

“Ugh, hold still, June!” Mags snapped, tightening her grip.

June relaxed. She shifted back to her human form.

The three of them burst into a gym before skidding to a halt in a heap. The girls untangled themselves. June staggered to her feet.

Becky ran over to the control panel and sealed the doors.

“There! Let the Matriarch try to get now!” she sang out, adrenaline singing in her blood.

“This will only delay them,” Margaret pointed out. “We need to come up with some sort of plan.”

“For sure. But I want to know how you did that, June. I know you didn’t have the drugs to shift,” Becky said as she walked back to the other two, smoothing out her jumper.

“I… I don’t know,” June said sincerely.

“Yeah, what gives?”

“I just was really mad. And she threatened you two, threatened to give us all to Legion.” June shuddered. “I couldn’t let that happen.”

“It was a miracle!” Becky said with a giggle.

“Haha,” June fake laughed.

“Hmm, could be all those drugs you’ve been experimenting with recently,” Mags mused, looking at her friend.

“It doesn’t matter if we can’t escape before they kill us,” June pointed out.

“Right! I’ve been thinking,” Becky said. “Right now, it’s us against the Matriarch. We’re going to lose if we don’t get help.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Mags snarked, rolling her eyes.

“Where do we get help?” June asked, ignoring Mags.

“Oh, that’s the fun part!” Becky said brightly. “Other Sisters!”

“And why would they want to help us?” June asked, trying not to feel any sort of hope at this point.

“Do you really think we are the only girls who are worried about Legion?” Becky asked June.

“Well, I, uh, I don’t know,” June answered truthfully.

“That’s because you were too wrapped up in your own head,” Becky said with a giggle. “Of course, believing you and siding with you are two different things. We have to reach out now, before the Matriarch does, and st—”

“This is the Matriarch Mother.” The loudspeakers boomed throughout the entire Enclave. “June, Margaret, and Becky are branded Heretics. We will hunt them down and punish them with the ultimate punishment: Genetic Eradication. Anyone caught helping them will suffer the same fate. If you have any contact with them, report them immediately to the nearest Matron. Their actions were recorded and sent to every workstation so you all can see the depth of their crimes against the Enclave.”

“There goes that idea,” June groaned, sinking to the floor. How did things go so wrong and get so bad? She wished she could go back in time and not send that message to Archie. “The whole Enclave will be after us and we’re trapped here.”

They sat in silence for a while, each trying to think of something useful to do, some way to get out the mess they were in. No one said anything. Mags grabbed June and Becky’s hands and gave them a gentle squeeze.

There was a pounding on one set of doors. Someone was shouting something muffled, but it didn’t sound angry. The three girls looked at each other, confusion, worry, and fear clearly etched on their faces.

June stood up, brushed off her clothes, and headed to the door. Might as well get this over with. She took a steadying breath, and pushed the emergency bar, deactivating the lock down. Maybe she could plead for mercy for the other two if she went quietly.

The doors swung outward.

A small gathering of girls with a couple of Matrons stood outside. June recognized most of them from her own Pod, but a few weren’t. Something wasn’t quite right; they didn’t seem angry or ready to take June in.

June’s Pod Matron stepped forward.

“June? Is what the Matriarch saying true? We saw the footage of you attacking her, but I want to hear it from you.”

“It’s complicated, Matron. Yes, I did attack her, but she wanted to give me, Mags, and Becky over to Legion for, I don’t know, something about a deal she’s working on with them. I couldn’t let them do it,” June admitted, looking down at her feet.

“And you were drugged from the time in the holding cell?”

“Yes.” June shuddered. She still didn’t feel quite right.

“Those robes,” the Matron pointed at the tattered remains on June, “those are from the Matron of Questions. Did you kill her?”

June nodded mutely, tears welling up again.

The Matron looked at the expectant crowd. There was a slight rustle of girls and Matrons nodding. She looked back at June. “Then we will follow you.”

“Wait, what?” June felt like the Matriarch had just punched her again. She looked up in shock.

“You’ve surpassed all our training. You are clearly the next stage of evolution for the Enclave. The Matriarch Mother has set herself against everything we stand for in genetic and chemical modification and improvement. You’ve overcome all challenges the Matriarch has thrown at you. You have claimed the right to be our next Matriarch Mother.” The Matron dropped to her knees, the rest following. “Lead us to greater enlightenment!”

June stood there, too stunned to do or say anything.

“Well?” Mags hissed behind her. “Say something!”

June cleared her throat. What would Pierce do? What would Archie say? She didn’t know. She had to do what she thought was best.

“Then let’s get off this rock!”

The fighting erupted between the two factions. No Sister found herself neutral. Many sided with June as her message was spread. Sister on Sister, shifters howling and screeching, a thunder of chaos and confusion.

After what felt like weeks of clashes and skirmishes, June hadn’t yet claimed the hangar. Meanwhile, they had set up their headquarters in the gym where the rebellion started. Days were spent carving out territory, capturing and holding food vats, oxygen scrubbers, recruiting Sisters, and acquiring chemicals to fuel their pharms, while the Matriarch faction did the same. June had been grilled by the Matrons on how she managed to shift outside the normal path of chemicals and in the face of active anti-shifting drugs. June admitted she didn’t fully know why. However, she set up labs and taught her followers everything she had discovered about the Enclave’s drug programs beyond the official doctrines.

June’s followers took up a new name: Junones. They swore allegiance to June and willingly fought and died for her. June tried to teach them how to shift at will, but since she herself didn’t have a good handle on it, she wasn’t able to pass that along to others. She was more successful in teaching them how to create chemical solutions to resist the compounds the Enclave kept trying to use against them. Their pharmaceutical knowledge and usage went through rapid changes and in new directions, putting the smaller faction on nearly equal footing with the Matriarch’s faction.

Their more advanced pharmaceutical science kept more of the Sisters from getting seriously injured, even preventing death for some. June started issuing emergency packs with every sortie party to keep themselves alive. Return rates doubled. At least June could feel good about that.

The Enclave was being torn apart from the inside and nothing June did made anything better. She tried to reach out to the Matriarch to negotiate a truce, but the Matriarch sent back the envoys empty-handed and without an audience with her to settle things, one way or the other. It was as if the Matriarch was waiting. June hoped it was because she thought June’s faction would fall apart, and not because Legion was on their way.

“June! Mother June!” A Junone burst into her meeting room, panting.

“What is it, Sister?”

“There’s a commotion at the main hangar! Our patrol path took us near it and we heard clanging like someone was trying to break in! Then the alarms went off!” the Sister said, still trying to catch her breath.

“What’s the Matriarch’s troop presence there?” Mags, now June’s second-in-command, snapped.

“They’re dug in pretty well, but facing away from the airlock. I saw them trying to reorganize before I rushed back. Two other Junones are still there, watching.”

June stood up and pulled her robes around her, as calmly as she could. There would be only two entities at that airlock trying to get in: Archie or Legion. And she assumed the Matriarch would have let Legion waltz right in.

“Did we ever get any of the external sensors online?” June asked.

“No,” Becky said, shaking her head. “Since the Matriarch tried to sabotage the network, we still haven’t restored any of the nodes leading outside.”

June rubbed her temples, thinking for a minute. “Okay, I need runners to get in as close as possible and report back.” She paused, weighing her next words. “Girls, I don’t want to get our hopes up, but we have a slight chance of getting outside help.” She raised a hand in warning. “Stay alert and cautious!”

“Yes, Mother June!” they chimed and burst into activity.

June sank back into her chair, not daring to hope, holding her breath against her fears.

“We’re in, sir,” Hopwood reported over the radio. “And you better see this.”

The airlock cycled, letting the rest of the team join with Hopwood, Shaw, Poundstock, and Templar Basil.

Jackobson and Pierce quickly sized up the situation. They saw why Hopwood sounded on edge.

The area in front of the airlock looked like a standard loading and unloading zone for personnel with a neutral décor and color scheme. A large, low desk was empty, the side changing areas dark, the luggage racks empty. Instead, where the large room narrowed to several different corridor openings, stood a ring of women, some old, most of them just young girls, all of them staring coldly at the newcomers.

Lieutenant Jackobson exchanged glances with Pierce and Archie. Pierce nodded at the Lieutenant. Jackobson lowered his rifle. The rest of the team followed suit.

“I’m Lieutenant Jackobson, Coalition forces. We aren’t here to cause any problems, we just want to have a discussion. Can we speak to someone in charge?”

An older woman stepped forward. She had two gold bands around her right upper arm.

“I’m the Matron for this squad,” she said. “I’m afraid, strangers, you have come at a particularly bad time. I doubt we will be able to help you. I suggest you leave, now.” She crossed her arms as she talked to them.

Pierce took a step forward. “I’m Pierce McCoy. I’m here for June.”

The change was instantaneous. The women went from cold to hostile.

The Matron stood still as her Sisters stiffened in anger, glaring at Pierce.

“Heretic June is our number one target. She has brought discord and chaos to our home!” She spat on the ground. “If you are friends with that Heretic, you leave us with no choice but to kill you if you don’t leave. Now.”

Heretic? Pierce said more than asked Archie. Figures. Take action if you think it’s needed. He took another step closer. “No,” he said, staring down the Matron. “We won’t be leaving. I demand to see June. I’ll take her off this rock, if it helps.”

The Matron laughed a bitter laugh. “You are brash. Well, Pierce, even if I wanted to hand that monster to you, I can’t. She’s holed up inside, killing Sisters and making a mockery of everything we hold dear.”

“No problem,” Pierce said confidently. “Just move out of my way and point me in the right direction. I’ll take care of the rest.”

The Matron shook her head. “Impossible. The Matriarch has tasked me with keeping everyone from entering or leaving.”

“Fine. Let me talk to her.”

“The Matriarch? Don’t be daft. She won’t talk to the likes of you.”

Pierce stared at her, keeping his emotions off his face.

“Surely the Matriarch wouldn’t want an outside force wandering around the Enclave?”

“You won’t. We’ll keep you here, alive or dead,” the Matron sneered.

“You haven’t the power,” Pierce said, voice hard and cold.

“You arrogant boy!”

There was a flicker of motion. The Matron found herself pinned to the ground, right arm twisted behind her, unable to do anything but look up at the men. Something heavy and unyielding was on her back, gripping her with a strength she couldn’t overcome.

Pierce looked at the stunned group.

You don’t understand,” he said calmly. “I will get June out of here. It’s clear you want her imprisoned or dead. I won’t allow that to happen, not to anyone I care about—ever again.” He walked past where Archie held the Matron down to address the remaining women directly. “Just clear our path. I really don’t want to have to fight.”

“No,” wheezed the one on the ground. “You’ve sealed your doom! None of you will leave here alive! You—”

Archie adjusted her grip and locked the Matron in a sleeper hold. The woman’s body started to shift under Archie, but she applied pressure along the spine and neck in a way no human could. The Matron slumped, unconscious, her body rippling back to human. Archie stood up and brushed off her hands.

“Listen, ladies, you really don’t want to test yourselves against us,” Archie said as she walked over to Pierce. “And we really don’t want any more trouble. So, please, do what Pierce asked, and we’ll be out of your hair as quickly as we can.”

The group exchanged uneasy glaces with each other, unsure of what to do. Finally, another Matron, with only a single gold band, nodded.

“We’ll stand aside, but I can’t promise others will. The Matriarch Mother won’t be pleased.”

Pierce nodded. “Thank you.” He and Archie walked into the corridor one of the girls indicated, leaving the others behind.

“Sonofa—” Lieutenant Jackobson swore. “Pierce! What is he thinking? Poundstock, you and Shaw catch up with those idiots. We’ll be right behind.”

“Sir!”

The two men took off on a trot after the receding figures.

“I’ll go too,” Templar Basil offered.

“Roger. We’ll take rear.”

The Templar’s powered suit thumped after the others as Jackobson and his men moved with more caution. The lieutenant hated leaving the airlock in the hands of the clearly hostile force, but splitting up was an even worse option. He opened voice construction channel back to the Forrester and updated the captain as they moved deeper into the Enclave.

Pierce strode briskly, seething inside. How could he have let this happen to June? He should have kept in contact with her somehow. If for no other reason than that she was important to him.

It’s not your fault, Archie said, matching his stride.

Get out of my head, Archie! Pierce said with a frown that quickly softened. Thank you, I know, but still, I should have done something sooner. And thanks for handling that—what did she call herself? Matron?

Archie grinned at Pierce. I can’t help if you are an open book. And you’re welcome. For everything.

Do you think we’ll be attacked? Pierce asked as he looked around. The Enclave had been carved out of the asteroid’s rock, then the floor smoothed out. Lighting panels were staggered along the bare rock of the ceiling, providing adequate light in the sector. Conduits clustered in groups, ran along the wall, occasionally hidden behind paneling. A number of side tunnels opened up, plunging away from the main concourse they were on. Signs in a language he didn’t recognize were painted above doors, or on placards next to tunnels. It made him think of an organized rabbit warren.

not yet. They’ll let us get to June first and either try to take us all out at once or hold off until we’re trying to leave. Depends on their numbers, where June is holed up, and how daring their leadership is in these circumstances. Archie stopped. Shouldn’t we wait for the others?

Pierce halted and slapped his forehead. Oh, yeah, I got too focused on getting to June.

They turned as Poundstock and Shaw jogged up.

Hey, Pierce! Lieutenant says to wait,” Poundstock called out.

“Why didn’t he use the radio?” Pierce asked with a puzzled frown.

“Dunno what’s interfering but the range is limited the further in we go,” Shaw said as he scanned the area. The corridor here was rough-hewn from the rock and sealed in places with plasticrete. The lighting was good enough to see where the corridor dipped to the right and out of sight. “This place is starting to creep me out,” he muttered as he readjusted his rifle. “Too many unknowns.”

Hold on, how is your connection to your core, Archie?

She smiled back at Pierce. Don’t worry about me, the new remote software is very optimized for long periods of spotty reception. And I have these. She pulled out a small disc from her pack and slapped it against the wall. Range extenders.

The thump-thump-thump announced the Templar’s arrival.

“It’s weird,” Basil said as he joined them. “I haven’t seen any witches, but there are signs of fighting all over the place.”

“Yeah, now that you mention it, we’re in deep enough to see somebody,” Poundstock said, looking around if one of the Enclave was just waiting to pop out from a panel.

“I think we scared them,” Pierce said with more hope than certainty.

They stood on high alert until the rest caught up.

“Listen, Pierce, I can’t do my job if you take off like that,” Jackobson barked.

“You’re right, Lieutenant. I apologize,” Pierce said sincerely. “I got carried away.”

“It’s alright,” Jackobson said, mollified by his response. “Just keep your wits about you better.”

“Of course. Lead on. We’ll run into something eventually.”

“We need to figure out comms first, Pierce. I can barely raise anyone right now, and Beta is silent,” the lieutenant groused.

I’ve a solution, Lieutenant,” Archie said. “I’ve got a solid link out of here. You can relay any messages through me. I’ve informed Abacus, he’ll keep updating us. I’ll serve as our radio hub.”

Jackobson nodded. “Understood.” He turned to face his team. “Alright, listen up everyone. Comms have to be run through Archie for now, but that’s the only thing that’s changed. Until I or Pierce say otherwise, the mission is still a go.”

“Roger!” The team was unfazed by the news.

Pierce nodded in approval.

Good bunch of guys, he told Archie.

The lieutenant set up a marching formation: Pierce and Archie in the center, Corporal Hopwood on point, and he and the Templar taking up the rear. Shaw, Braddock, and Poundstock guarded the flanks.

“Nice move back there,” Pierce said to Archie as they walked.

“Thanks. I wasn’t sure how well this shell’d do, but so far, it’s living up to my expectations.” Archie swung her arms as if that showed off her abilities. “See?” “Uh, sure.” Pierce patted her head.

“Hey, cut that out or next time I’ll let a Matron finish shifting and you can deal with her!”

Pierce laughed.

Someone is up ahead, Archie told the team.

Copy, Hopwood responded. Spotted her now. Only one unknown. He stopped a dozen feet ahead and waited for the rest.

“Pierce? I’m looking for a Pierce McCoy,” a young voice called out nervously. “June sent me to take you to her.”

“How do we know you’re from June?” Pierce called back.

“She thought you’d be worried about that. She said ‘Remember the muzzle’. She said you’d know what that meant.”

Easy, Archie said, slipping her hand into his with a gentle squeeze.

Pierce nodded, forcing himself to breathe. “I do. Can you take us to her?”

She stepped into sight. Pierce was surprised how young she looked. She couldn’t have been an adult, more likely a teenager. She looked pale and worn, as if she hadn’t been getting enough sleep or food. But the eyes that regarded team Alpha were bright and curious. Her jumpsuit was clean, if showing signs of heavy use.

“This way,” she said, gesturing. “You can call me Pamela.”

The team moved out, following the slim Enclave girl. The team had their rifles ready, fingers off the triggers.

Can you really trust June, given everything we’ve seen? Basil asked.

Pierce narrowed his eyes. I trust her implicitly. If she’s at odds with the Enclave, that’s all more reason we need to be here. Besides, I have faith.

Pamela led them for several minutes in silence, through several corridors and junctions. There were signs of different eras of architectural styles and motifs.

“How big is this place?” the lieutenant asked their guide.

“Oh, it’s massive,” Pamela responded with a cheerful grin, obviously proud of her home. “We’ve been working on it for years and years! Some of our classes focus just on expanding and maintaining the Enclave.”

“How is June?” Pierce asked, not caring at all about the architecture.

Pamela just smiled back at him over her shoulder.

That wasn’t helpful, Pierce grumbled to Archie.

“How many of you are here? Latest intel we have put you all at about six hundred,” Jackobson asked, probing their guide for information.

“Oh! Well, that’s out of date.” She weighed the lieutenant for a moment. “Normally, I wouldn’t tell you this, but since things aren’t normal and Mother June wants to see you, maybe it doesn’t matter!” Pamela grinned again. “Let me see. There’s about four hundred still alive now. We have a few out on their Rituals. Almost two hundred Sisters have joined Mother June’s camp!”

Suddenly, they emerged into a wide corridor that clearly was part of a larger recreational facility. Now, the area had been fortified with anything the Sisters could scavenge. Office furniture was piled up on top and under exercise equipment to form makeshift barricades. One opening was completely sealed off by desks and chairs. The team passed a knot of girls heading out with empty backpacks, their expressions resolute.

“Welcome to our nerve center,” Pamela said, sweeping her arm excitedly.

Some of the smaller rooms had been converted into bunk rooms. One door was open, showing a dozen or so cots were crammed into what had been an office. Various girls watched the newcomers with curiosity and interest, the older women with suspicion, but no one approached them. Everyone looked weary and harried, but the mood of the camp was surprisingly upbeat.

“I thought June was the one causing problems?” Pierce asked, puzzled, as they picked their way through the camp. “You said almost two hundred had joined her? What does that mean?”

“Mother June is our leader. We’ve all rejected the false teachings of the Matriarch,” Pamela said fervently. “We are hoping the rest of our Sisters will join us!” “Oh,” was all Pierce could say in confusion.

“And here we are—the great hall!” exclaimed Pamela proudly.

They stood outside what clearly was a gym.

Pamela eagerly pushed open a set of double doors.

Pierce and Archie walked in first. Pierce was more than a little nervous about what he’d find. Archie had to refrain from skipping; she was almost buzzing with excitement.

The gym had been turned into a command center. Girls worked at different tables and whiteboards discussing plans for troop movement, resource gathering, key points to take, how to recover from their losses. Plans and charts covered every surface. A small dais at the far end held a single, nicer chair. June sat in it, flanked by two others. She stood up and adjusted her robes as soon as she saw Pierce enter. She waited until he got closer.

June was nervous. Now that Pierce was actually here, she didn’t know how to act, or what he’d think of her and what was going on. She barely even registered the rest of the team with him. She adjusted her robes again.

“June!” Archie called out. She ran toward the other girl, smiling.

June flinched at the stranger’s approach. Mags and Becky picked up on her hesitation and both stepped forward to protect June.

Before anyone could do anything, Archie wrapped June into a bear hug. June resisted, but then she realized the stranger wasn’t human.

“Archie?” June asked incredulous, pushing Archie away a little.

“Yup! This is better than even on the Sunrise, isn’t it?”

“And so much better than on Rho!”

They both laughed and hugged. Archie’s body wasn’t warm and soft like a human’s would be; she was cooler and more like hugging a statue, but she felt right to June.

“Archie, these are my best friends, Margaret and Becky,” June said warmly. “Mags, Becky, this is Archie. Last time I saw her she was just a holoprojection!”

Archie pulled away from June and smiled at the other two. “Any friend of June’s is a friend of mine!”

Mags and Becky smiled guardedly. While June was free with her affections with Archie, they didn’t quite trust her. Or the rest of the outsiders, for that matter.

Pierce watched their interchange with an amused smile. Seeing Archie and June hit it off so well warmed his heart. He could wait until they were ready.

June glanced past Archie with the most peaceful expression Pierce had ever seen on her face. “Oh! Pierce! I’m so sorry!” June exclaimed, flustered. “Don’t worry about it, June,” Pierce said with a laugh. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you.”

June actually blushed. She covered by adjusting her robes and stepping down to the gym floor.

The two of them stood there, grinning like idiots at each other.

“Oh, don’t be stupid, Pierce, give June a hug!” Archie snapped, exasperated at the two of them.

He did. June hugged back. They both found comfort in that simple human action.

June introduced him to Mags and Becky. Pierce shook Margaret’s hand warmly. Margaret smiled back at him; she could see why June thought so highly of him. Pierce was genuinely nice.

Pierce began to greet Becky, but halted abruptly for a second before he continued. While June and Margaret were attractive girls, Pierce found the slim blonde to be stunning. He was momentarily thrown by her beauty, but recovered as gracefully as he could. Becky pretended not to notice his reaction. She found Pierce to be completely different from what she had imagined and didn’t mind that at all.

Archie, however, didn’t miss a thing.

“Please, sit, and introduce yourselves,” June said as she walked over to a big conference table covered in maps. “After, I will tell you my side of things and answer any questions I can.”

It took a few minutes to get everyone settled and introduced, but eventually they got it done. June offered refreshments—“Sadly, I only have water and black coffee right now.”—and Pamela scurried off to retrieve some.

While team Alpha listened, June explained, with help from Margaret and Becky, everything that had been happening, since the time she returned to the Enclave.

“And that’s how we are here,” June finished, waving her hand around to include the buslting gymnasium. “I’m leading these girls because it was necessary, and they follow me because they believe in me. I won’t let them down.”

“What are your ultimate plans, June?” Templar Basil asked. He was the only one to remain standing, his power suit much too heavy for any of the chairs.

“Originally, I was just going to leave with the first group that joined me, but now we’ve grown into this. I can’t leave anyone behind. We have to find a way for all of us to get off this asteroid and head toward the inner planets, but after that? I’m not sure,” June explained, looking around at all her Sisters.

“Well, you certainly can’t leave them, not after becoming their ‘Mother’,” Pierce teased.

“That wasn’t my idea!” June spluttered.

“It’s true,” Mags said. “The Sisters needed to feel like their leader wasn’t an abstraction. The Junones started it and it caught on.”

“The Junones?” Lieutenant Jackobson asked.

“At first, it was a small group that self-assigned to be June’s bodyguards but now it applies to anyone who follows June,” Becky chimed in. “I think it’s a perfect way of letting everyone know who we are.”

“And the Matriarch? We know she’s not going to just let you all walk out of here. What does she want?” the lieutenant asked.

“She wants to bargain with Legion, using me and at least Mags and Becky to sweeten the deal,” June explained.

Pierce’s blood boiled in a flash. “No!” He slammed the table, making the girls start. “Archie?” He swung his gaze at her. “Can you bring the Matriarch here?”

“Hold up, Pierce,” Lieutenant Jackobson interjected. “We’re here—”

“Not anymore,” Pierce growled as he stood up. “The Matriarch is now a public threat. She’s chosen her side. Well, Archie?”

Archie tapped the table as she thought. She nodded. “I can do it. Just be ready for heavy retaliation.”

Pierce nodded in understanding and acceptance. He faced at the stunned group. “By authority of the Supreme Commander, I’m assuming full command of this team. If you have a complaint, take it up with Lars.”

“No dice, Pierce,” the lieutenant said with a shake of his head, his voice turning hard. “We have orders straight from Coalition Command, signed by the Supreme Commander himself. You are adjacent but not in our chain-of-command here. You might be the Borderland Bandit, but name and fame don’t grant you authority over me.”

Tension mounted between Pierce and the rest of the men. He saw the Templar shift his weight to face Pierce, his stern face frowning at Pierce. Only Archie was unfazed.

Pierce worked his jaw but refrained from speaking. He wanted to lash out and force the lieutenant to accept his plan. He could ask Archie to incapacitate Jackobson, and she’d do it in a heartbeat, but did he really want that on his conscience, making Archie attack someone just because he wasn’t doing what Pierce wanted? No. He knew where that led. But he had to convince him somehow. Pierce was clenching his fist as he started feeling trapped. Archie stepped up next to him and took his hand, gently opening it up and interlacing his fingers with hers.

Pierce felt some of his anger dissipate. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Alright, but if the Matriarch is colluding with Legion, we have to stop her. And even if she isn’t, we still need to convince her to let June and the rest leave, including us. What do you propose to do?” Pierce asked Lieutenant Jackobson. He tried his best to keep the rancor out of his voice.

“June, do you have contact with the Matriarch?” the lieutenant asked calmly, his eyes never leaving Pierce.

“No, sorry. She’s refused any contact I’ve tried. Every day, she makes a public announcement that any Sister who brings in my head will be pardoned. That’s all we hear from her,” June shrugged sadly.

“It’s odd we got all the way here without anyone from the Enclave trying to dissuade us,” the Templar mused aloud. “And no one has tried to, I don’t know, contact us or something. It’s odd.”

Pierce nodded. “I don’t like it at all. What do you need me and Archie to do, Lieutenant?” This time he really felt calmed down. He squeezed Archie’s hand in gratitude.

The tension drained out of the room as it became clear Pierce was going to accept the lieutenant’s refusal to hand him command.

“How far are we from where the Matriarch’s HQ?” Lieutenant Jackobson asked June.

June thought for a second, mentally running the path.

“It’s a thirty minute walk from here,” Mags chimed in before June could respond. “That is, before all this mess. Now, it’s closer to an hour.”

“Maybe there just hasn’t been enough time for them to send someone out here?” Pierce suggested.

“Regardless, we need to make contact with your Matriarch so we can at least make an attempt to negotiate,” the lieutenant said.

Mags snorted. “Good luck. That woman is as hard as iron.”

“We could send a small group of Sisters and some of your men,” June started to say when there was an outcry from the hallway.

One of the younger Sisters ran in, yelling for June.

June was up in a flash and dashed out.

Pierce and Archie didn’t hesitate, they quickly followed their friend, with the rest of the men trailing behind.

There was a knot of girls around a battered group of Sisters. June was in the middle of them, quickly assessing their injuries.

“Mags! Becky!” June shouted. She pointed at three of the injured girls. “Get these Sisters to the medic right now! The others aren’t as badly hurt; we can tend to them out here.”

“Right,” Mags said. She and Becky enlisted a few others to help put together some makeshift stretchers.

Pierce moved in to help but froze when he noticed the girls stiffening and eyeing him with suspicion.

“Uh, Archie, do you want to help?” Pierce asked as he backed away.

“Sure!” Archie immediately helped Mags move a severely injured girl onto the stretcher.

June bent over to rub the girl’s forehead. “It’ll be okay, Sofia,” she said softly. The girl stifled a sob and nodded. She clutched her ruined left arm where something big and sharp shredded her flesh down to the bone.

“I stopped the bleeding on my own,” Sofia said in a halting tone, struggling against the pain.

“I can see that. I’m so very proud of you.” June nodded to the waiting Sisters who picked up the stretcher and headed down to the other end of the hallway. June checked on each girl before they were carried off to receive whatever medical attention they needed.

The remaining Sisters needed minor attention to help bandage or wrap various injuries. The Sisters all pitched in to tend to their wounded.

“Now that’s under control,” June said loudly, “can someone report?”

One of the Sisters pulled herself upright, wincing in pain. “I can, Mother June,” she said quietly. She looked battered but mostly unharmed. “Thank you, Debora. Please tell me what happened.”

“It was supposed to be a simple supply run. We had just swept the area over by Pod Ocher yesterday. The false Matriarch’s forces hadn’t been seen there in several days.” Debora looked like she was about to cry.

“Go on,” June said kindly, patting her on the arm.

Debora nodded and took a deep breath. “We had just started opening cabinets when we were ambushed. We fought back, but they hit us really hard before everyone could shift and pharm up. We couldn’t do anything.” Tears started to well up in her eyes. Debora kept going with a shaky voice. “Some of us got away, while a few tried to slow them down. It didn’t work. We grabbed everyone we could and just ran.”

“Did you have an emergency med pack?” June asked kindly, placing a hand over Debora’s and giving it a little squeeze.

Debora nodded. “I did. I… dropped it and left it behind! Everyone is hurt because of me!” She broke into inconsolable sobs, hiding her face in her hands.

June rubbed her back, murmuring soothing words until Debora’s sobs subsided. “Here, take this,” June said, handing her a small orange pill. “This is one of my formulas. It helps you calm down without fogging your head. It wasn’t your fault. Don’t you dare blame yourself!”

“Th-thank you, Mother June.” Debora reached out with trembling hand to take the offered drug.

“You see what they are up against? We need to end this fast!” Pierce said to the lieutenant insistently.

“And I agree, Pierce, but we still must try to negotiate with the Matriarch first. We need to send a small team to see her soon.” Jackobson looked around at the injured girls. “I wish we could help, but they seem not to trust us.”

Pierce narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like this. He found something to stand on and cleared his throat to get the Sister’s attention. June looked up at her friend, arching an eyebrow and a faint smile tugging on her lips.

“Listen, I know we are strangers here, but we do want to help!” Pierce called out. “I know you all have this under control, but just point us at things you need done!”

There was a hurried discussion among the girls, with some older Matrons coming over to see what was going on. A quick huddle later, and a Matron approached June. June motioned Pierce over.

“Mother June, we do have some of the heavier items we can’t move without shifting, and no one wants to shift just for small task with our drug supply so low. We’re wondering if the men could help us out?”

June glanced over at Pierce, her smile widening. “What do you say, Pierce?”

“I don’t know,” he said slowly, pretending to ponder, “I was thinking more along the lines of interior decorating. Some of these rooms could use a fresh coat of paint.”

June burst out laughing.

The Matron stiffened. “I don’t see what’s so funny!”

June clamped her hands over her mouth to stifle her laugh. “No, you’re right.” Then she didn’t dare to say anything else until right then to keep the giggles from bubbling out.

Pierce, seeing June struggling, bowed to the Matron. “I apologize. Of course we’ll help.”

The Matron looked between the two of them, not quite sure what to think.

“Oh, he’s as good as his word,” June vouched, finally trusting her voice. She looked at Pierce with bright eyes and mouthed “Thank you”.

“In that case,” the Matron said, mollified, “let’s get you boys to work!”

Jackobson pulled team Alpha over to get orders from the Sisters.

As Pierce helped, he started feeling angrier at the Matriarch for attacking her own girls, no matter the reason. He started becoming curt and brusque the more he stewed on the matter, his previous good mood evaporating. Finally, he walked off in a funk.

June and Archie exchanged looks. Archie sighed and went after Pierce. She caught up with him and fell in beside him as they walked.

“What do you want to do?” Archie asked Pierce after he had stopped.

Pierce looked down at Archie, frustration written on his face. “You know what I want to do!”

“I know, but you can’t go that route, at least not yet.”

“How do I convince the lieutenant, then?”

“You aren’t going to like my suggestion,” Archie said.

Pierce shot her a sidelong glance. “You’re going to suggest I let him lead,” Pierce groused.

Archie didn’t say anything. She did smile.

Pierce rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. I see your point.”

“There you go! You’ve already made a great start!” She playfully punched him on the arm. “He’ll be more open to your plans if he doesn’t think he has to fight you all the time. Remember, it’s not just you and Abacus with the two of you calling the shots, and this isn’t Rho.”

“Yeah, yeah, team player and all that,” Pierce grumbled without any ill will.

Archie was right, he admitted to himself. It had been a while since he and Abacus weren’t making decisions in the heat of some battle or planning their attack while on the way to a target. He loved spending time with Archie, but he also missed working with Abacus. At least the AI was nearby. He looked back at Archie who was still smiling at him. Maybe they could adopt Abacus, though the AI had no real desire for a cybernetic shell. Pierce had no idea about the legal ramifications of that. Adopting someone who had no body. But what was the difference between that and shell-hopping like Archie did?

Pierce started, realizing he had wandered down a lane of thought he hadn’t realized he was even on.

“I’m going to talk to the lieutenant,” Pierce told Archie, focusing back on the problem at hand. “Ask if I can join him.” He paused, feeling uneasy about his earlier actions, almost embarrassed. “I hope he will allow me. Well, I’ll have to ask to find out.”

“Good idea. I’ll come with you.” Archie fell alongside Pierce as they headed to where Jackobson was still helping June.

Grandmaster Martin left Brother Thomas in his office. He didn’t tell the other man where he was going, and the acolyte didn’t seem to care. Thomas was more than happy to work on the illuminated manuscript Martin had assigned him as part of their cover.

Martin walked down the old familiar hallway that led from his office block to one of the many halls that served as a hub for the Grandmasters and lesser ranks. The Guild was a sprawling affair, the main campus a maze of buildings, offices, laboratories, workshops, storage, living quarters, and more. Martin had his office in Building Silver, Floor Opal, Subsection Dalmatian. Even after working here for decades, the acronym still made him chuckle. Vargas didn’t find it funny. He thought the world of Vargas, but the woman had no sense of humor. But then again, their division, the Public Opinion Division, wasn’t known for its sense of humor.

Now that Archie and Pierce were off on their little adventure to the Enclave, Vargas had thrown herself into her work, more determined than ever to push Archie into interplanetary superstardom. To that end, the other Grandmaster had holed herself up in her own office to watch vids of Archie’s shows and plan her next moves with the AI. Or, rather, for the AI.

The whole thing had gained enough momentum and interest to take on a life of its own. Archie was quite willing to go along, but Martin got the sense she wasn’t all that enamored by the spotlight. His own role had diminished over the course of events, and he wasn’t too broken up by that. He’d do whatever Vargas asked of him, it was her operation, after all. They’d both get promotions and commendations after this. Perhaps Martin would run his own team again; it had been a few years since he was actively in the field.

He had tried to recruit Vargas into the task assigned to him by Stockwell. Vargas muttered about having too much to do for Archie to be chasing wild geese. Martin didn’t press the issue. Besides, Thomas had investigated Vargas but didn’t catch anything more wild than the hair dye and various facial creams Vargas used.

“Don’t breathe a thing about this,” Vargas hissed to her subordinate after Thomas had pointed out the dye.

Martin assured her he had no intention of shaving years off his life.

Thomas had nothing more to say about Vargas. Martin was relieved Vargas wasn’t plotting to betray them. It would have made things awkward at work.

Martin reached the entrance to the hall without noticing a thing along the way, so wrapped up he was in his thoughts. Still on autopilot, he walked over to his accustomed drink station and poured himself a mug of black coffee.

“Martin! There you are!”

“Phinas, you old dog!” Martin exclaimed. “Where have you been hiding?”

Grandmaster Phinas pointed at a nearby table. “I’ve staked a claim over there. I have a story to tell, if you have some time.”

Martin nodded. Even if he didn’t, he’d make the time for one of Phinas’s stories. Phinas was in the Infiltration and Countering Division, and the things he’d get up to were legendary. Martin followed the shorter man to the plush chairs around a dining table. He sank into one as Phinas settled into his. Phinas sliced off a piece of his steak and took a bite while Martin waited. Martin knew Phinas’d start in on his story as soon as he was good and ready and nothing Martin could do would speed him up.

“You know the anti-AI movement?” Phinas asked without really asking. “Of course you do.” He ran a hand through his sandy hair as he gathered his thoughts. “I was embedded in one of the media crews doing a report on them in Ani.”

“Ani? Who’d you piss off to get that assignment?”

“Shut up, it’s not important. We ended up on mobile platform three-hundred-seventy, chasing a solid lead. We did the whole interviewing whomever would talk to us—I was posing as a gaffer for the interviews—and somehow our lead reporter scored an interview with one of the cell leaders. She promised the usual song and dance about wanting to tell their side of the story while batting her eyes and all but cooing at them. It worked.” Here he paused to eat more of his steak with a sudden dive into his mashed potatoes.

Martin sipped his coffee. Grandmasters were often sent undercover for all kinds of jobs, depending on which Division they were assigned. Phinas was especially gifted in that line of work; his command over his facial muscles allowed him to appear anywhere from a young man to a tottering old gray-hair.

“We’re led into a warehouse, blindfolded, naturally.” He sipped his wine. “The room was some rusted-out hole in the backend of nowhere, shaking and rattling and raining rust flakes as the platform rolled along. The cell leader was wearing a ski mask, showing only his eyes, which were covered in a cat-like contact lenses. He was no idiot.”

“Voice modulated?”

“No.” Phinas shook his head. “It didn’t matter, though, the guy wasn’t in any system we had access to.”

“Why the theatrics, then?”

“Hold on, I’m getting there!”

“My coffee is getting cold. The heat death of the Universe is now closer than it was before.”

“As I suggested earlier: shut up. I wanted you to get the picture.”

“It’s as if I was in the room with you,” Martin said dryly.

“We set up some basic equipment,” Phinas continued, ignoring the comment. “Lights, two vidcams, the standard. The guy is getting more and more fidgety. Finally, he bursts out and asks us if we are using AI-powered equipment. Our reporter just smiles, perfect white teeth in a face that could melt any man. She pats him on his hand reassuringly. ‘Oh, no!’ she declares, still smiling, ‘all our equipment is AI-free!’ This settles down our cell leader.”

“Wait, what? Why would he think some rando news crew would have an AI assigned to them?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking. I’m looking for the best way to exit in a hurry. Then the leader grabs the mic and asks, while staring directly at our reporter, if the mic had an AI in it. She laughs nervously—I mean who wouldn’t—and denies it. He nods at one of his crew who drags out a box yea big by this wide, full of blinking lights. ‘This will see if you are telling the truth!’ the leader snaps.”

“What was in the box?” Martin asked, trying to imagine something to detect AIs hiding in microphones.

“Junk. Just parts jammed into the case. But I wouldn’t learn that until later.” Phinas stopped to attack his steak again, mopping up some of the remaining mashed potatoes with the piece of meat. He chewed slowly while Martin nursed his coffee.

With a quick sip of wine, Phinas continued. “The minion pulls off an attached wand and waves it over the mic, and all the lights start flashing angrily, then stop. A single red light starts blinking slowly. ‘I have pulled the AI into the entrapment box!’ cries the minion. ‘We are safe from AI machinations!’ Then it hits me, these people aren’t just anti-AI: they are full-on crazy. This is some sort of cult. No one is wearing a cross of any kind, no one mentions God, nothing Christian at all. The whole time they were obsessed about AIs inside mics and vidcams.”

“So what was going on? Brainwashing?”

“That was my first guess, but this is beyond just normal levels of your average cult, right? How many cults have just you and I dealt with over the past several decades? A handful at most, and they are generally just misguided fools convinced that some nigh-random contingent factoid is the key to understanding the Universe then building on sand from that. But this was different, it was like something much deeper had been rewired in their brains. Whatever it was, it puts our mental reconditioning to shame at the sheer depth. No matter what the news crew said, or even showed them, no one was budging from their belief that AIs were lurking everywhere.”

“You pulled one aside?”

“Of course! I ran a few quick tests under the guise of showing off AI-free equipment. The guy didn’t respond to either level one or two psycho-stimulant input. Hand pressure, arm meridians, auditory stimuli, nothing from him but the barest responses.”

Martin sat back in his chair to think. “No obvious scarring?”

“Ah-ha! I thought of that too, but no, no signs of surgeries. Out in the hinterlands, med facilities would leave obvious traces, but I saw none.”

Something tugged at Martin’s memory. If Legion was involved…

“Biological agents,” Martin said sharply.

“Sound. But how to test?” countered Phinas.

Martin chewed on the problem for a bit. “Without a decent laboratory, I can’t think of anything off the top of my head.”

“You’re getting soft, Martin. Think a little harder.”

Martin frowned at the smiling man. Obviously, Phinas determined something on site. Martin ran through Phinas’s description of the location, then his eyes widened when he realized what Phinas did.

“You shocked the poor guy.” It wasn’t a question.

“Correct! Making sure no one was watching, I apply the right pressure points and stop his heart, but just for a second, and he drops to the floor. People start yelling. I’m apologizing and shouting that I’m a trained medic. I start to do standard CPR on the guy.”

“And that’s when your saliva reacts.”

“Correct, again! It takes me a few tries to build the right protein chains, but with the fourth try he’s foaming at the mouth. Sickly pale yellow-green foam at that, stinking to the heavens. Foreign biological agent confirmed. I kill the entire group at that point with the silenced pistols hidden in my gear. The news crew is upset, understandably. I invoke my Guild authority, which shuts them up. I haul the leader’s body onto a table and start doing a field autopsy. The guy is riddled with a fungus I don’t recognize, and with several big, gray nodules clustering at key junctions in the body. After that, I order an evac. I’ve seen enough.” Phinas stopped to finish off his now cold steak and potatoes.

Martin sipped his coffee, thinking things over.

“Puppets,” he finally decided.

“In a sense, yeah, and controlled in ways that I’ve never seen.” Phinas pointed his knife at Martin for emphasis. “Even the reports from Rho can’t fully account for it. These guys weren’t possessed and they weren’t all there. If it’s Legion, they’ve changed something.”

Martin rubbed his chin. “Brainwashing combined with a bio agent. That’s nasty stuff.”

“I dropped off a fungal sample at the Lab Works. I wanted to bring a body back but cargo space was too constrained. I did bring back that box of junk, too, in case there was more going on with it than I could see. Filed my report, had the full psych-analysis done, re-tuned, and now I’m telling you my story.” Phinas flashed a pearly-white grin at the other Grandmaster. “The lab rats are going to have a field day with that stuff. Ran this up to the Division head and I was promised there would be prompt action taken.”

Martin nodded slowly. Everything about this sat wrong, but there was something that bugged him, something he couldn’t put his finger on it. He was going to have to mull things over more. He finished his cup. “Thanks for the story, Phinas, but I have to get back.”

“Yeah, yeah, I need to get going, too. Oh, hey, I’m shipping out on another assignment. After that, you have got to tell me about this pet monk you adopted.”

“No rest for the wicked!” Martin grinned at Phinas.

“Ha! Got that right!”

Martin and Phinas went their separate ways.

Martin had a lot on his mind after his friend’s story. The first thing he did was to check his personal armory. He had a sinking feeling he was going to need it and then some. Everyone was watching the skies for Legion. But what if they were already here?