Page 13 of Rebels Rising

‘Just call me Artemis,’ I told her with a smile I hoped was as soft as I was trying to make it.

She hesitated, the break in protocol not something she would have been accustomed to, but she met my smile with one of her own. Her body relaxed slightly at the friendliness I was attempting to exude. I’d been trained in many ways to interact with a person to get something from them, but genuine friendliness was not one of them so I was pleased it seemed to be working.

‘Artemis,’ she tested my name on her tongue. ‘If we’re ditching the titles then call me Eloria.’

I beamed at her, my smile wide and lively even when I felt my exhaustion attempting to pull my muscles back down. ‘Eloria. Sorry for the, uh… secrets,’ I finished lamely.

She let out a tinkling laugh that reminded me of tiny bells. It was a beautiful sound, and I found myself gaping at her before slamming my jaw shut. Embarrassment heated my cheeks, but it merely softened the interaction between us even more.

‘Under the circumstances, I can’t really blame you. Though, I don’t understand why you went undercover in the first place,’ she prompted.

‘Stay for the meeting and I’ll explain everything,’ I offered. ‘There are quite a few still left in the dark, and it’s easier if I don’t have to keep repeating myself.’

‘What meeting?’

‘The captain and Adara are gathering… well, the original rebellion, I suppose. We’re going to debrief and plan. You should probably be a part of that, too, since you’re piloting.’ I turned to the marksman, noting the way he was listening intently while attempting to appear like he wasn’t eavesdropping.

‘Who are you?’ I asked him.

He didn’t respond, instead staring with wide eyes and a flapping mouth where no sound came out. Eloria let out another tinkling laugh.

‘That’s Julius. Don’t mind him, he’s just a bit shy,’ she teased him.

It snapped him out of his stupor and he sent a playful glare her way, though he didn’t move any closer, still wary of me and Dave Junior. When the latter moved to the corner to settle in for another nap, it seemed to prove helpful in putting them both at ease.

‘Well, Julius, since you’re the one in charge of our weapons you’re also welcome to stay, but you don’t have to. It’s about to get pretty crowded in here and tensions are still high, and they’ll likely climb even higher before this meeting is over.’

He cleared his throat, unable to make direct eye contact, but he managed to speak which I took as a small victory. ‘I think I’ll make myself scarce,’ he decided. He rose from his seat and edged his way around the room, giving Dave Junior more of a wide berth than me which I considered a definite improvement, and then he disappeared out the door.

I pressed a button on the floor with my toe and a holo-table emerged. I took Julius’s vacated chair and placed Bal forward-facing on my lap.

‘I hope you don’t mind, but I need to contact his mother,’ I said, already leaning towards the controls to do so.

‘The woman from before?’ she asked.

I nodded. ‘Libby.’

She gestured to where I was already pressing the necessary buttons, a single white eyebrow raised and amusement shining from behind her eyes. ‘Go for it.’

Within a tick, Libby’s face was a hologram above the holo-table and Bal was clapping his hands excitedly.

‘Mama! Mama!’

Libby’s choked sob had my own eyes stinging with unshed tears, and I had to clear the lump that suddenly clogged my throat. ‘Hi, my sweet boy, I missed you!’

I sat back and watched as I let the reunion play out. It wasn’t the reunion we were looking forward to since Libby still wasn’t able to hold her son in her arms, but at least she could see he was safe. He had me, and I wasn’t about to let him go again.

CHAPTER 5

Artemis

The sound of arguing drew my attention, the raised voices putting me on alert. I exchanged a look with Eloria and an unspoken understanding passed between us. Without interrupting Bal and Libby’s rather one-sided conversation, I slid Baldr from my lap and placed him on the chair and Eloria moved closer to keep an eye on him while I investigated the fuss. I caught Libby’s eye as I moved away, and without pausing in her long-winded baby-talk speech she gave me a nod to acknowledge she was aware of what was happening.

‘We deserve to be a part of this just as much as any of you,’ came a vaguely familiar voice, his tone verging on snobby.

‘The last thing you will ever be doing is joining us while we plan a fucking rebellion, you backstabbing sack of shit,’ Cadmus responded, the venom in his tone almost drawing me up short. I’d heard him angry a few times, but this was more than that. His tone was filled with unadulterated loathing.

I rounded the corner then to find everyone creating a wall to block off access to none other than the Christianson siblings, but while everyone was focused on Tarren my gaze went straight to Katira. She was standing a few paces behind, head bowed and shoulders hunched as she slowly inched away from the tension-filled interaction.

---