“Yes, but from where I stand, the name means more than that.” Dacha gestured again. “Your squadron is itself a half-breed. Half-elf, half-human. And yet it is a whole squadron. One unit, undivided, made all the stronger because of its mixed parts.”
Ah, now Fieran saw what his dacha did there.
He huffed a sigh and gazed in that direction. There wasn’t much he could say to argue against that metaphor.
But that still begged the question. How did he embrace his elven side the way he’d managed to embrace both halves of his squadron? And would that fix the problem he had with his magic?
Chapter
Thirteen
Pip hefted her bag higher on her shoulder as she stood on the train platform within the AMPC’s secure boundaries. Troll and human workers loaded crate after crate filled with new synchronization gears—as many as AMPC and several other manufacturing companies could put together in the past few days.
Instead of patenting the item, Louise had made the plans available to other manufacturers so that more could be made on a short timeline. While they hadn’t managed to make enough for even a full squadron, more gears were being made every day. Luckily, most of the parts were standard parts from other sources, so only a few pieces needed to be made specially for the gear.
“That looks like the last of it.” Louise examined a clipboard she’d been handed before she signed the paper on it. She handed it back to the clerk, who scurried off to tend to the next item on his list.
“Thank you for seeing to it that I was sent back to Fort Defense with this shipment.” Pip shifted closer to the train. The sooner she boarded, the sooner she could be on her way back to Fieran.
“I like you. I’m invested in you and Fieran.” Louise grinned, sharing a look with Pip.
Pip grinned back, though she wasn’t sure what to say besides, “I’m glad.”
And she was. Louise already felt like a sister, and Pip was rapidly coming to love Fieran’s whole family. How could she not, when Tryndar had hugged her around the legs that morning and cried at having to say goodbye to her too?
Though Fieran’s dacha was still intimidating. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to get so much as a word out the next time she saw him.
“Besides, everything I included in my report was true.” Louise turned back to the train as the workers slid the door closed. “It will be helpful for you to be there with your squadron to install the new gears and monitor their effectiveness. We tested the gear as much as we could, but it hasn’t been tested as rigorously as I’d like. A mechanic with your training and skills needs to be on hand in the field. Not just for this, but for anything else we send your way.”
Pip nodded, edging another step closer to the train. She’d helped with the new radios when those had arrived at Dar Goranth, and now she could help with this.
That record would, hopefully, mean that she would stay at Fort Defense with Fieran for the rest of the war. Lance Marion, Louise, and Bennett had things well in hand here. Another inventor might help, but not enough. Not the way she could help at the front lines with real-world testing.
The train gave a whistle. A warning that it was leaving soon.
“I need to board.” Pip turned to Louise. Should she hug? Elven hug? Just wave?
Louise didn’t seem to have any hesitation as she hugged Pip with the enthusiasm of a sister. “Stay safe. And keep Fieran safe, even though I know that’s a tall order.”
“I’ll do my best.” She knew all too well that she couldn’t promise anything more than that.
After returning Louise’s embrace, Pip stepped back, gripped her bag, and boarded the passenger car. She found a seat at the back. Right now, she was the only military passenger headed for the front, but she’d heard they’d be stopping to pick up a unit of infantry also bound for Fort Defense.
Within a few minutes, the train pulled from the station, the gates set in the wall opening to let them through.
Pip watched as the buildings and sprawl of Aldon flashed past the window. As this was a military train, it didn’t stop at any of the stations, though it remained at a slower speed until it left the last of the city behind.
She settled down for a nap. After all, today would be a long day of travel.
When the train slowed and pulled into the station at Fort Charibert, Pip roused and scrubbed at her eyes. The train car was about to become very crowded and very noisy. Her nap was definitely at an end.
After several minutes, she could hear the barking of sergeants outside of the train. Then a column of men in olive-green uniforms marched into the train car. They filled the train car from the front to the back until one of the men broke ranks to take the seat next to Pip.
Pip scrunched closer to the wall to give him more space. She had expected to have to share a seat, but she wasn’t in the mood for chitchat.
The young man had brown hair, brown eyes, and a complexion that had burned slightly pink instead of browning in all the time he must have spent out of doors during basic training. He smiled at her before he stuck out a hand to her. “Myles Kinsley.”
“Pippak Detmuk-Inawenys.” She shook his hand firmly, not sure why he was bothering with introductions. They would just be seat mates until Fort Defense, then they’d go their separate ways.
