Fletcher’s attempt at consuming dinner was interrupted when the central radio inside the camp went off, loud enough for everyone to hear. He wasn’t sure why they set it up that way, but he assumed people were going to take shifts sleeping, so it probably allowed them to wake easily while still sleeping comfortably.

  “General, we have movement out here. It’s small, definitely not an Unhuman. I’m thinking an animal,” Captain Naeku’s voice said.

  “Confirmed. An animal,” Sosa added. “It’s a blur, but I think it might be a dog.”

  Fletcher sat up. It couldn’t be… could it?

  “Scare it off. We don’t need animals sniffing around here,” Hazel ordered.

  There was a pause for nearly a minute before the radio went off again.

  “It’s a skittish thing, but it’s hanging around. I’m not sure he’s willing to leave. He seems focused on staying close,” Naeku reported.

  “Then take care of it. Quietly,” Hazel said.

  “Wait,” Fletcher said, sitting forward with a grimace. “You can’t kill him.”

  Everyone looked at him in surprise.

  “It’s just a dog, Fletcher,” Simpson said.

  “No. It’s my dog,” Fletcher corrected.

  “Your dog?” Johnston asked.

  “I’ll show you. Just give me a chance,” he said.

  His mother glared at him for a moment and then spoke into the radio. “Stand down. Let the dog through if it tries to pass.”

  Fletcher put his fingers to his mouth and produced a shrill whistle, one he’d practiced with Backup for weeks to signal the dog from around the ruins. “Backup, come here, boy!”

  A few moments later, a black and white streak tore through the entrance and bounded across camp, leaping straight into Fletcher’s open arm.

  “There we are.” Fletcher ignored the waves of pain from Backup crashing into him, just happy to get his best friend back. He rubbed Backup’s fur as the dog licked his face, obviously just as excited to see him as he was to see the dog.

  Ibara looked at him with one eyebrow raised. “When you told me ‘backup’ was already waiting out in the ruins for you weeks ago, did you mean the dog?”

  Fletcher shrugged. “I’m sure it’s not the first time someone’s lied to you during an investigation.”

  “First time it was an Anders,” Ibara said.

  “You’re giving Nora a lot of credit there,” Simpson countered. “General, we’re not actually keeping that fleabag around, are we? I’m not scooping that thing’s poop.”

  “Backup is clean. I make sure of it,” Fletcher said defensively.

  “The dog stays, at least for now. Unless you want to be Fletcher’s amusement the rest of the night while we all sleep?” Hazel turned to Simpson.

  “Come on, Simpson. Stop being a hater. It’s a cute dog.” Johnston stood up and walked over. “His name’s Backup?”

  Fletcher nodded.

  She held a hand out to the border collie. “Hi, Backup. You’re a good boy.”

  Backup stared warily at her, briefly sniffing her palm and then tentatively allowing her to rub behind his ears. Johnston crouched down, giving Backup proper attention with a smile. “So how did you find him?”

  “Long story,” Fletcher said, not wanting to get into the details of his fight with the cycat when he first met Backup.

  “Deities, Fletcher. Do you have anything else in your vocabulary?” Simpson asked.

  “I ran into trouble my first couple of times out in the ruins. Backup helped me out,” he said succinctly.

  “Trouble with cycats?” Teller asked. “Naeku mentioned you had a thing for that one you guys saw while you were out together.”

  “That and a tooth fairy,” he answered.

  “Explains some of the scars,” Ibara said.

  “Yeah.” Fletcher joined Sergeant Johnston in petting Backup as the others returned to their earlier conversation and eating.

  “I’ll let you eat. He’s a good dog,” Johnston said, still smiling. She walked away, leaving Fletcher alone with Backup.

  “Just me and you. Just like old times.” Fletcher gave a half smile as Backup settled onto his lap, thumping his tail in contentment.

  That contentment was replaced by eagerness as soon as Fletcher reached back over to his food. Having Backup around put him in a better mood, and he was more willing to eat. The problem was that Backup was even more willing to eat, jumping up to try to snatch a bite.

  “Easy, boy.” Fletcher held the food higher. It was a lot harder to deter the dog when he only had one usable arm.

  The others took notice of his dilemma, and Simpson of all people was sent to help. Frowning, the Major grabbed the dog and held him back.

  “I knew this was a bad idea,” he muttered.

  “Look, Major. He likes you,” Ibara called out.

  Simpson’s frown deepened as Backup attempted to lick him.

  “Thanks,” Fletcher said sheepishly, taking a bite of his food. He’d been living off rations for so long while being at Vesi that he hardly noticed the lack of flavor.

  The others went back to their conversation while a grumpy Simpson sat nearby, holding Backup and looking as miserable as Fletcher felt.

  While Fletcher ate, his mind went back through the past few hours of his life, and he recalled his conversation with Kirred.

  “Hey, Major. You’re pretty clued into things happening with the Unhumans, politically speaking, I mean, right?” he asked quietly.

  “Yeah. You could say that,” he answered.

  “Do you know what the Diplomacy Initiative is?”

  Major Simpson looked at him with wide eyes. “Where did you ever hear that term?”

  “Oh. Kirred just happened to mention it during the interrogation. I was just curious. Sorry,” Fletcher said quickly. He hadn’t meant to bring up something that they didn’t want him to know.

  Simpson glanced back at the others. “General, guess what your son just asked me about.”

  Hazel looked at them with annoyed eyes. “Do I want to know?”

  “The Diplomacy Initiative. Kirred talked about it with him,” Simpson continued.

  Everyone stared in silence at Fletcher.

  “Talked about is a bit of an exaggeration. He mentioned it once. That’s all,” Fletcher corrected him.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  “You didn’t tell me that when I asked about your conversation with him,” Hazel replied coolly.

  “You wanted to know what I told him, not what he told me,” Fletcher defended himself. He already regretted that he dared ask about it.

  “The full story, Fletcher. Now,” Hazel demanded.

  Uncomfortable with so many eyes on him but unable to go anywhere to avoid them, he had no choice but to tell them all exactly what happened when he first captured with Ssiioowwll revealing his true name and then Kirred calling him a candidate for the Initiative. “And that was it. That’s all he said. Vi’le never mentioned it to me the whole time I was in Bren’it’p so I was just wondering why that might be,” he concluded.

  “You personally worked with Prime Minister Vi’le?” Teller asked.

  “No. I mean, sort of. We just met a few times, especially after any big events like before I left for the holidays or when I came back,” he answered.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t mention any of this, General,” Simpson said.

  “It’s not like he told me.” Hazel stared at him, a cool stare, but not altogether angry.

  “You didn’t ask.” Fletcher pulled his left arm close, disliking all the attention about such a stupid question. A question that didn’t even get answered.

  “I did ask, but all you wanted to talk about was screwing your Unhuman girlfriend,” his mother replied sharply.

  He groaned and rubbed his hand over his face. Always, it came back to that. Somehow, his mother found a reason to bring that back up.

  “Unhuman girlfriend?” Ibara whistled. “What species?”

  “A [Jinn],” Fletcher answered tightly.

  “Atta boy. The kid’s got taste.” Ibara chuckled.

  “Was she a perk of the job?” Simpson asked.

  “What? No! We met outside of work. Why would I have a government sponsored girlfriend?” Fletcher dug his fingers into his hair. Okay, now things couldn’t possibly get worse. “Look, it’s not a big deal. Forget I asked.”

  “It’s not that easy. We need—”

  “He’s right. It’s not a big deal. We have bigger concerns right now, Major.” Hazel cut him off, one of the few things she’d ever done that Fletcher actually appreciated. “I think it’s time we got some rest. Teller, Johnston, you’re on watch next.”

  Simpson gave Fletcher one last hard look and then sighed and released the dog. “Fine,” he muttered to himself, going back to the others on the other side of the heater.

  The others prepared for bed, and Fletcher subtly snuck the rest of his food to Backup. The dog then curled up on his lap for the night, and Fletcher leaned his head back, watching the stars since sleep was so far out of reach. It was a long, painful way to spend the night, but there was nothing else he could do about it. The morning came slowly. So very slowly.

  ***

  “Ready?” Naeku asked the next morning. They’d all finished breakfast and packing up, though on Fletcher’s end, that meant watching the others work.

  “Yeah,” Fletcher answered. He gave Backup one last pat. “Be good, boy.”

  With that, Captain Naeku hoisted him up, putting him over his shoulder. Ibara cleaned up the blankets Fletcher left behind, and Backup whined when Fletcher gasped.

  “It’s alright,” Fletcher assured his dog. “I’m fine.” His [Frenzy] turned off during the night, and he hadn’t cared enough to turn it back on since the pain was just a part of his life now, and [Frenzy] made him extra alert which in turn made long stints of sitting alone or being carried extra boring.

  Backup looked at him with unsure eyes, following Naeku’s every step.

  Daylight streamed in from the few holes in the roof, and everyone else stood near the doorway, ready to leave. Fletcher had no idea how long they’d be walking today, or even where they were going. He didn’t ask, and nobody told him. After the Diplomacy Initiative fiasco the night before, he wasn’t in the mood to ask questions and risk that kind of response.

  It turned out that they were going to be walking for a long time. After an hour, Naeku switched Fletcher to his other shoulder. And then an hour after that, Simpson took a turn carrying him. And then Ibara a couple of hours after that. They didn’t even stop for lunch. Everyone else just ate while they walked, and Fletcher passed on taking any food since he wasn’t in a good position to eat while being carried.

  Yeah. Cargo was a very accurate description of his role in this scenario. Only most of the people were annoyed to have him along, and the few times his mom looked his way, it was to glare at him or shake her head in disappointment.

  It hurt being hauled around, even with all the bandages wound around his abdomen and the jacket for padding. But Fletcher didn’t complain, and he made a big effort to not show any amount of pain since Backup whined anytime he even grimaced.

  The dog stayed close, trotting right next to whoever was carrying Fletcher at the time. Simpson especially disliked that, but his mom allowed the dog to stay with them. His theory was that they were going to spend another night out here and she wanted the dog for his “amusement” as she put it the night before.

  Fletcher was passed back to Naeku during the mid-afternoon, but as Ibara was handing him off, he noticed Backup had strayed away from him. The dog was standing several yards away, on a tall piece of rubble, gazing out deeper into the ruins. His ears were perked up, and his body was tense.

  “What’s out there?” Fletcher asked, drawing the others’ attention to Backup.

  Ibara scrunched his face. “Nothing. Just some animals.”

  “Maybe Trevor is around,” Naeku suggested.

  “Backup doesn’t act like that around cycats. He’s used to going on patrol and passing Trevor. And tooth fairies. The only time I’ve seen him like this was when we found Unhumans in the ruins,” Fletcher said.

  “I’ll talk to the General.” Ibara walked away.

  “Call him back. If there are Unhumans out there, we don’t want the dog chasing after them and alerting them,” Naeku said.

  “Backup, come here boy,” Fletcher called out. “Come on. It’s alright. Come here.”

  Backup turned to him and whined softly.

  “I know. But we’re not going to chase whatever is out there,” he said, lifting his head so he could give the dog a firm stare. “Now come here.”

  Reluctantly, Backup abandoned his post and came over to Fletcher and Naeku.

  “Good boy.” Fletcher wasn’t able to pet him, but he gave the dog a big smile.

  Backup thumped his tail on the ground, glancing between Fletcher and whatever he noticed.

  “Stay close, okay? No wandering off,” Fletcher told him.

  Backup didn’t respond, but Fletcher trusted he understood. Or at least he hoped the dog understood. He hadn’t done all that much training with Backup.

  Ibara came back. “General said to keep going and stay on guard.”

  “Very well.” Naeku began to walk, and Backup trotted alongside, if a little less eager than before.

  Fletcher let his head hang down, his neck sore after all that time looking up and around. As boring as sitting awake by himself all night had been, he’d take that any day over being carried like a sack of flour for hours on end, especially with all the pressure against the burns on his abdomen and the broken bones which kept getting jarred.

  It’d probably been another hour when they stopped. This time the group circled together, and Fletcher was set down against a rock he could lean against.

  “We should take a break,” Hazel said.

  “A break? General, your timetable. We have to keep going,” Teller insisted.

  “So we can make it to the ambush you set up for us?” Hazel asked.

  Fletcher’s eyes went wide. Ibara, Sosa, and Johnston looked as surprised as him, but Simpson and Naeku kept even faces.

  “W-what are you talking about?” Lieutenant Teller asked nervously.

  “I know what you are and what you’ve done, Elise. You gave a list of bases to the Unhumans for options to attack and then gave Kirred my location when I was assigned to run the investigation at Vesi,” Hazel continued. “I know everything.”

  “I-I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Save it, Teller. You’ve betrayed us. You can’t lie your way out of this,” Simpson said.

  Backup sat close to Fletcher, and Fletcher rubbed his head while watching the drama play out. Deities, there was so much he didn’t know about all this. He hated being in the dark about things, especially big, important things, but obviously his mom only told a few people about Teller’s betrayal.

  Teller’s face went from surprise to anger. “Fine. If we’re revealing lies, why don’t you tell everyone the truth about the Mixed, General? About how so many suffer in conversion facilities because of the ‘work’ you claim to do?”

  Fletcher stayed silent, though his chest was tight. No. That wasn’t true. He’d seen for himself that the Mixed rescued those trapped in conversion facilities.

  “That’s right, Hazel. I know about the provision in the Second Treaty. The one the Mixed violated which led to the creation of the conversion facilities. My brother was taken away and converted, and it’s all because of officials like you who care more about their private war than what’s best for the others!” Teller was shouting, but the others didn’t care for her speech.

  “Shut up, Teller,” Johnston spat. “We don’t want to hear whatever propaganda they gave you to convince you to turn against us. You don’t even deserve to live.” She held her gun up.

  Hazel put her hand out. “No. Tie her up and gag her. She’ll come with us, for now.”

  Teller held her gun up like she was about to shoot, but Simpson was on her in an instant, ripping the weapon away while Sosa produced rope from her bag. Together, they bound Teller and left her lying on the cold ground.

  “Naeku, carry her. Ibara, take Fletcher. We have a backup safehouse for tonight, far from where the Unhumans would be expecting us,” Hazel explained. “Move out.”

  Ibara didn’t say anything as he lifted Fletcher up and over his shoulder. Fletcher didn’t even groan, his mind still whirling from the big reveal. Hazel said Teller gave the Unhumans a list of bases to attack, which meant the attack against Vesi was her fault. Hugo, Kenzo, and all the other lives lost were because of her and her betrayal. He was angry at such a casual waste of lives due to such a deep betrayal, but Teller would face his mother’s justice, and that would have to be enough of a punishment.

  Patreon for 18 advanced chapters!