—Zirkus Crayt, in a video accompanying encrypted data files for the construction of the elemental nullifier, Earth year 2055

A Place to Start

HE WOKE TO THE SMELL OF FICKEN. GARLIC AND herb variety.

The spongy chunk of chemically engineered chicken facsimile was impaled on a fork hovering right under his nose. The smell of garlic was intense—probably the thing that woke him.

“Look who decided to come back to us.”

Leo’s eyes danced from the fork to the person holding it: Gareth, dressed in a wry smile and another clean Coalition uniform, though there was no patch on the shirt this time. He looked different—his hair cropped short, his fledgling mustache shaved clean. The half circles still anchoring his eyes suggested he hadn’t slept much, but otherwise he looked ten times better than when Leo saw him last. He pointed to a plate piled high with ficken nuggets. “There’s plenty to share this time. And we can order more if you want,” he said.

Leo shook his head and tried to sit up, but his left shoulder strongly suggested that this was a mistake, the throbbing instant and intense. Now he was definitely awake.

“Yeah, take it easy. The doctor says the wound’s healing well, but you’re still going to feel it for a while.” Gareth set the fork down beside the plate. “Those Djarik rifles pack a heckuva punch, but you took it like a champ. Thanks for that, by the way. Should be me in that bed. You want some water?”

Leo nodded and took a long swallow from the cup his brother offered. His voice still came out all scratched up. “What happened? Where are we?”

Gareth sighed. “I’ll start with the where ’cause it’s the easy part. We’re on an EDF medical frigate orbiting Earth—the Nightingale—where you have been unconscious for a few days. As for what happened . . .” Gareth leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. “Not sure what all you remember, but the short version is the Djarik tried to blow up our planet and we stopped them. I say ‘we’ but honestly, I had almost nothing to do with it. Then we landed on the Djarik mother ship and you went and got yourself shot pushing me out of the way.”

Leo remembered now. Standing next to his brother in the cockpit of that Aykari transport, waiting. The Djarik coming on board, sniffing them out, the exchange of fire. The pain, like a hot coal burning through his shoulder.

And his father. His father was there. It was his voice calling Leo’s name. His arms lifting Leo up.

I’m here now. I’ve got you.

Except he wasn’t. Here.

Gareth must have noticed Leo anxiously scanning the room. “If you’re looking for Dad, don’t worry. He’s fine. He’s safe. He’s in debriefing with some of the bigwigs from the government,” Gareth answered. “This makes day three.”

“Day three?”

“I told you—you’ve missed a few things,” Gareth admitted.