Amber
The next morning at breakfast, Matt came sprinting into the mess hall faster than I’d ever seen him run. Rylen and I were immediately on our feet.
“Meeting,” Matt said to the room at large. “Now.”
Breakfasts were left right where they were, though some grabbed bites and coffees to go.
Everyone jogged to the main building with the biggest meeting room. It must have been where ceremonies were held, because it had chairs and a small stage. Top and Colonel Latham were waiting when we all piled in.
J.D. sat with me in the back again. I could sit up front with essential personnel, but I liked to keep J.D. company and let the fighters sit together.
“Those who were in the Dugway bunker with me,” Top said, “are going to shit yourselves when you hear this. We received Morse code communications early this morning that we believe was from First Lieutenant Linette Thompson.”
I slid to the end of my seat, not believing my ears. A hum of adrenaline began beneath my skin as chattering rose up in the room.
“Oh, my God,” J.D. said.
“Here is what we know. Her code was not the best.” Small laughter. “There is a human encampment on Nellis Air Force Base. She is joined by Sergeant Jacob Tate and civilian Remy Haines.”
A sound of shock and elation sprang from my chest, and I covered my mouth with both hands. I felt J.D. rubbing my back and laughing with joy as a cheer rang out in the room. My vision swam with tears, and the loudest sobs in history rose from my soul. I fell forward, begging myself to calm down, but finding it utterly impossible. Two seconds later, I was scooped into a pair of strong arms, and Rylen’s voice was laughing in my ear, his voice choking up.
“Pepper, holy shit!”
I looked up to see tears falling from his eyes, too, and I grabbed his cheeks, kissing him, and hugging his neck as hard as I could. I could hear people around the room murmuringbrotherandbest friend.
We wiped our eyes and I saw everyone turned, beaming at us until Top went on.
“If we deciphered her code correctly, the mating definitely begins in three days time. There are approximately one hundred humans on base willing to fight, and there are, or were recently, cells of humans outside of base rebelling. On average, there are ten guards in the encampment, though that number could be lower during mating. She’s not sure of the total number of enemy, but the base is fully stocked. Our plan is to have a handful of paratroopers land inside the camp with weapons for the prisoners.”
I couldn’t stop smiling. Tater and Remy! Other humans! Unbelievable.
“Sir,” New York Josh called out. “Do we know how she was able to communicate if she’s a prisoner?”
Top shook his head and chuckled. “My guess is that she got her hands on a radio and converted it to a transmitter, then used the relay method to bounce the signal.”
Everyone in the room grinned at this, nodding their appreciation. I had no idea what any of that meant, other than Linette was a genius with ovaries of steel.
“We’ve got two days to complete preparations,” Colonel Latham said. “At 0300 on day three, we travel. A handful of soldiers will remain here to man the base. Everyone else will have specific jobs to carry out. Every single man and woman is essential. There will be no wiggle room for mistakes. We train all day today. Hooah.”
“Hooah,” we repeated.
Everyone stood to go, many of them patting my shoulder and shaking Rylen’s hand in congratulations. I couldn’t imagine what Remy and Tater had gone through in their time with the Baelese. My brother was already mentally brittle before he was taken, so it seemed like a miracle that he was still alive.
When Devon and Shavontae came over, I hugged them both. Shavontae looked well, other than dark circles under her eyes.
“How are you feeling?” I asked her.
“Girl.” She shook her head and laughed a little. “Not good. But I’ll be all right. I’m staying here with Tyree and J.D. when y’all go.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “That’s what you want?”
She gave a slow nod. “Not at first, but yeah. This base needs protecting too.”
“Yes, it does,” I said, hugging her again.
She held me tight and said into my ear, “If my man gets hurt, you fix him, okay?”
My heart squeezed. “He’ll be a first priority. I promise.”
